Kick off 2026 by connecting the dots between AI, Web3, media, and leadership — with real insights, clarity beyond hype, and powerful connect
About the Event
2026 will not be shaped by individual trends — but by how AI, Web3, media, leadership, and society intersect.
Connecting the Dots of Innovation is HerBizz International’s official 2026 Kick-Off Event, bringing together leaders, innovators, and decision-makers for an evening of clear perspectives, real insights, and meaningful connections.
This is not a conference built around buzzwords.
It’s a curated in-person experience designed to help you understand what truly matters now, what will matter next, and how to position yourself ahead of the curve.
What You Can Expect
By attending, you will:
🔹 Gain clarity beyond the hype
Understand which developments in AI, automation, Web3, and media are creating real impact — and which are noise.
🔹 Learn how innovation connects across industries
Discover how AI, digital infrastructure, finance, media, and leadership increasingly influence one another — and why this matters for your business and career.
🔹 Get practical, forward-looking insights
Hear expert perspectives on:
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AI and automation in real operations
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Agentic systems and decision-making
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Media as soft power and influence
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Stablecoins and real-world Web3 adoption
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The future of money and financial literacy
🔹 Reflect on leadership priorities for 2026
Leave with a clearer sense of:
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What leaders should focus on this year
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Where to invest time, energy, and resources
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How to lead with intention in a fast-changing environment
🔹 Build valuable connections
Enjoy an extended networking cocktail with senior professionals, founders, innovators, and leaders.
This event is ideal for:
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Executives and senior professionals
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Entrepreneurs, founders, and investors
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Professionals working with AI, digital transformation, media, finance, or Web3
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Leaders who want clarity, perspective, and strong networks to start the year
If you want to start 2026 informed, connected, and inspired, this event is for you.
Location
Speakers
Ruben is a 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 AI Austria and 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐈 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬. Through AI Austria, he actively drives the national AI ecosystem and represents Austria at the European AI Forum.
Maria is a seasoned expert in 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, with more than 25 years of senior-level experience at the highest levels of the industry.
𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐚 is a 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 and 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫, and 𝐂𝐨-𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 & 𝐂𝐎𝐎 of Top Ideas Digital, working at the intersection of hashtag#business, hashtag#AI, and hashtag#digitaltransformation.
Tetyana is a 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧 and 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 at ks actuaries | Versicherungsmathematik in Austria, with deep expertise in financial risk and quantitative finance. She understands how early habits shape lifelong decisions — and why confidence with money must start early.
Kambis is 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. He is the 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 of several startup companies, including whatchado, 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐨, Carployee | part of RideAmigos, Freebiebox or 𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫
A biotechnology leader and entrepreneur with 18+ years of experience, Priyanka has been turning cell, gene, and regenerative medicine innovations into scalable, commercially viable ventures - building companies at the intersection of science, business, and long-term impact.
As crypto moves closer to mainstream adoption, the conversation shifts from speed to sustainability. Voices with deep legal, regulatory, and institutional expertise become essential — not to limit innovation, but to enable trust and scale.
𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐡-𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫. She worked for many years in strategic procurement of IT and services at ÖBB, before strengthening her bridge between technology and strategy with a second master’s degree in computer science and research on generative AI.
Astrid Woollard sits at the point where ideas become infrastructure. As an early-stage Web3 investor, she doesn’t chase momentum — she examines what can actually hold. From token architecture to digital business models, she looks at Web3 as a long-term system. That perspective is rare — because it focuses less on what is trending, and more on what will still be standing years from now. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥: 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥. Astrid is a 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 at SMAPE Capital, 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐛3 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. She is an avid token design enthusiast and brings a strategic focus on digital business models and intellectual property management strategy to the evolving Web3 landscape. A graduate of the University of Oxford, 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬. If you are interested about where Web3 is heading, this is a perspective you should not miss: Feb 19 | weXelerate Vienna | Limited seats Register now and join founders, investors, and decision-makers: https://lnkd.in/dPbJ_sr4 Elena Petrova, eMBA Benjamin Levit Astrid Woollard hashtag#Blockchain hashtag#Innovation hashtag#Investments hashtag#Web3 hashtag#Leadership hashtag#Empowerment
