Robin Bagchi
Honorary Practice Fellow, Department of Management and Entrepreneurship - Business School

Robin serves as Chair of the Advisory Board for the Centre for Responsible Leadership at Imperial Business School. He is an Honorary Practice Fellow at Imperial and an Honorary Visiting Professor at Bayes Business School. A seasoned advisor and scholar, Robin brings a unique blend of practical leadership experience and academic insight to his work.

He is the Founder of Flourish Consulting, which focuses on evidence-based behavioural change strategies, and Chairman of the London Technology Club, a venture fund and exclusive tech-focused membership community.

Robin began his career at Goldman Sachs and has held senior roles across investment banking, private markets, and venture capital in London and New York. He previously served as CEO of a multinational investment holding company. His extensive leadership experience spans both institutional and entrepreneurial environments, informing his research and advisory work.

Academically, Robin holds law degrees from the London School of Economics and Harvard Law School (as a Fulbright Scholar), is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and earned a PhD in Leadership Psychology from City St George’s, University of London. His work focuses on leadership dynamics and organisational effectiveness, bridging the gap between high-level strategy and human behaviour.

Emma Chandra
Director of External Affairs, Europe at Clayton Dubilier & Rice

Emma is Director of External Affairs, Europe at Clayton Dubilier & Rice, where she leads communications and public affairs strategy across the region. Prior to joining CD&R, Emma earned her MBA from Imperial College Business School, building on a distinguished career in global broadcast journalism.

She spent nearly eight years at Bloomberg LP, where she was a prominent television news reporter and producer. At Bloomberg TV, she spearheaded the “retail beat,” forging high-level relationships with Fortune 500 CEOs and covering major corporate news, earnings, IPOs, as well as breaking events like Brexit and U.S. elections. Prior to Bloomberg , Emma was a senior producer at BBC News working on the flagship 6 and 10 O’clock News and BBC World Business Report.

With a strong foundation in political and business journalism—developed across roles in London, New York, Washington D.C., and Moscow—Emma brings deep expertise in media, messaging, and strategic stakeholder engagement. She is known for building effective communications platforms at the intersection of business, government, and public discourse.

Kate Coombs
Managing Director, Centre for Responsible Leadership

Kate Coombs is a leading behavioural scientist in financial services and the Managing Director of the Centre for Responsible Leadership at Imperial Business School. She specialises in designing and testing behavioural interventions to drive cultural change within organisations, particularly in financial institutions. Her expertise lies at the intersection of leader behaviour, employee voice, inclusion, and behavioural risk.

Previously, Kate was Head of Insights and served on the Executive Committee of the Financial Services Culture Board (formerly the Banking Standards Board), where she led a multidisciplinary team of behavioural scientists, policy experts, and data specialists to drive organisational culture change. Before that, she was a Senior

Behavioural Scientist in the Financial Conduct Authority’s Behavioural Economics and Data Science team, the first group to apply behavioural science to UK financial services regulation and policy.

Kate has extensive experience working with leaders and teams to overcome workplace challenges and enhance organisational performance. In addition to her research and advisory work, she designs and delivers executive education programs at Imperial Business School, equipping C-suite executives and senior leaders with practical strategies for responsible leadership and ethical decision-making.

Dori Dana-Haeri
Managing Partner, Sanddollar Partnership

Dori has over 20 years of experience in private equity and venture capital, specializing in funding, management, and growth strategies for early-stage companies. She is a Partner at Stardollar Partnership LLP, a London-based family office focused on real estate investing, and she is a Managing Director and Partner at Sanddollar Partnership LLP, investing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alongside Converge Gate Holding Company.

Previously, she was a Senior Advisor to Alvarium Investments and advised institutional VC funds backed by leading chemical and energy companies. Dori founded and was General Partner at Eden Ventures, an early-stage tech VC firm.

Earlier in her career, she worked in strategy consulting and founded DDH Consultants Ltd, advising Fortune 500 companies. She has supported businesses from seed to pre-IPO across sectors including healthcare, agribusiness, and chemicals.

Dori also serves as Chair of the King’s Coronation Food Project Development Committee and is a Trustee of the National Opera Studio and Persia Educational Foundation.

Martin Gilbert
Executive Chairman, River Global PLC | Chairman, Revolut, AssetCo & Toscafund
Co-founder & Former CEO, Aberdeen Asset Management

Martin is one of the most respected figures in global asset management. He co-founded Aberdeen Asset Management in 1983 and, as CEO, grew it from £70 million to £312 billion AUM before its 2017 merger with Standard Life to form Standard Life Aberdeen, where he served as Co-CEO until 2019. Today, he is Executive Chairman of River Global PLC and Chairman of Revolut, AssetCo, and Toscafund, as well as Senior Independent Director at Glencore.

Martin has held senior roles including Deputy Chairman and Chair of Sky PLC and Chairman of FirstGroup. He is active in sustainability and philanthropy as Chairman of the Net Zero Technology Centre, Honorary President of VSA, Chairman of Scottish Golf, and NED of the European Tour.

Recognised among Harvard Business Review’s top-performing CEOs, he has advised regulators globally. He holds an MA and LLB from the University of Aberdeen and is Adjunct Professor at Imperial Business School.
 

Amanda H. Goodall
Professor in Leadership at Bayes Business School & Research Associate IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn

Amanda is Professor of Leadership at Bayes Business School. Her research shows that expert leaders—those with deep domain knowledge—consistently outperform generalist managers across fields like healthcare, business, universities, Formula 1, and professional sports.

Using large-scale datasets from the US, UK, and Denmark, Amanda argues that effective leadership requires understanding an organisation’s core business. She has risen through the academic ranks at Bayes and previously worked in fashion and NGOs, bringing real-world insight to her research.

Amanda has held fellowships at Cornell, Yale, and University of Zurich. She publishes in academic journals and practitioner outlets and is a frequent media contributor. Her recent book ‘Credible: the power of expert leaders’ was Winner of SABEW 2023 Best in Business Book Award for Management and Leadership. She is an environmental and climate change advocate (Tiger Ambassador with Save Wild Tigers). Her work continues to challenge traditional views on leadership.

Vikash Gupta
CEO & Co-founder, VAR Capital | Co-founder, Monument Bank

Vikash is the CEO and Co-founder of VAR Capital, a boutique wealth management and investment banking firm where he leads the company’s strategic growth, client development, and institutional partnerships. With an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, a degree in Engineering, and a Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma, Vikash brings a multidisciplinary perspective to finance and leadership.

He is also a Co-founder of Monument Bank, a UK-based challenger bank serving affluent clients, as well as a founder of Greenr.com, a digital platform focused on sustainability, and Liberate, an IFA consolidator aiming to modernize independent financial advice.

Beyond his professional roles, Vikash is a passionate advocate for social mobility and children’s education, causes deeply rooted in his own humble beginnings. He actively supports initiatives in these areas with his time and resources. In his personal time, Vikash enjoys being with his family or exploring the open road on his Ducati Diavel.

Conor Hillery
Co-CEO, J.P. Morgan Europe, Middle East & Africa 

Conor is Co-CEO of J.P. Morgan for Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Head of Investment Banking in the region. He grew up in Dublin where he was educated at Gonzaga College SJ and University College Dublin. He trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and then joined Kleinwort Benson in London where he worked in the firm's corporate finance department. He joined J.P. Morgan Cazenove in 2001. He was Co-Head of UK Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan from 2013 until 2016 and subsequently co-headed the firm's Financial Institutions Group globally. He became Co-Head of Investment Banking for EMEA in 2020 and took on his current role in 2025.

Conor is a Trustee of the Ireland Funds of Great Britain, the global philanthropic network. 

Zhiliang (Zhi) Li
Director, VMS Asset Management | Co-founder & Non-Executive Chairman, PurerAir

Zhi Li is Director at VMS Asset Management in Hong Kong, where he leads the firm's Digital Asset initiatives. VMS, managing over $4 billion in assets, was established in 2006 and specializes in alternative investments across private equity, real estate, and structured finance.

Before joining VMS in 2024, Zhi was a Partner at Preon Capital in Geneva, following earlier roles at Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, and Credit Suisse. He is also the Co-founder and Non-Executive Chairman of PurerAir, a company developing innovative digital solutions to monitor and improve indoor air quality.

Zhi is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration at Bocconi University in Milan, with research focused on the application of blockchain technology to advance global decarbonisation efforts.

Celia Moore
Professor of Organisational Behaviour; Director, Centre for Responsible Leadership

Celia Moore is Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Imperial Business School, where she also directs the Centre for Responsible Leadership. Her research sits at the intersection of leadership and ethics, focusing on how individuals can develop and enact moral agency in professional settings, and how organisations can foster ethical behaviour while mitigating unintended moral failures.

Before joining Imperial, Celia was Associate Professor at Bocconi University and Assistant Professor at London Business School. She has held visiting positions at Harvard Business School and was a Fellow at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.

Her work has been published in top academic journals and featured in the Financial Times, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fast Company, as well as on NPR and the BBC. She frequently collaborates with public and private sector organisations including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and NHS—to apply insights from her research into practice.

Celia holds degrees from McGill University, Columbia University, and the University of Toronto, and spent eight years in HR consulting and nonprofit leadership before academia. She is an Academic Fellow of the Ethics and Compliance Initiative and serves on the Advisory Board of the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics in Financial Services.

Peter C. Oppenheimer
Chief Global Equity Strategist and Head of Macro Research in Europe, Goldman Sachs

Peter is chief global equity strategist and head of Macro Research in Europe. He is a member of the Research Operating Group and the Structured Research Products Group. Peter joined Goldman Sachs in 2002 as European and global strategist and was named managing director in 2003 and partner in 2006.

Prior to joining the firm, Peter worked as a managing director and chief investment strategist at HSBC and was previously head of European strategy at James Capel. Prior to that, he was chief economic strategist at Hambros Bank. Peter began his career as an economist at Greenwells in 1985.

Peter is a Trustee of the Development Committee for the National Institute of Economic & Social Research. He is also a Trustee of The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, a children's nonprofit dedicated to providing training and support for child mental health services. In addition, Peter is a member of the Motability Endowment Trust Investment Committee, a charity that helps people with disabilities with mobility. He is also a member of the Investment Committee of the Wolfson Foundation, a nonprofit that supports and promotes excellence in science and medicine, health and disability, education and the arts. He is also a Trustee of the Weiner Holocaust Library, which is one of the world's leading archives on the Holocaust.

Peter is also the author of The Long Good Buy: Analysing Cycles In Markets and Any Happy Returns, Structural Changes and Super Cycles in Markets. Peter earned a BSc, first class, in Geography from the London School of Economics in 1985.

Ash Pournouri
Founder at UNLTD Group

Ash is a visionary entrepreneur, strategist, and cultural architect known for building iconic brands and catalysing global impact. As Founder & CEO of UNLTD Group, Founder of Belong, and Co-owner of Triller, he has led branding and positioning initiatives for global icons including Coca-Cola, IKEA, Avicii, Madonna, Daft Punk, and H&M—shaping pop culture through bold storytelling and strategic innovation.

With a background in law from Stockholm University, Ash has leveraged his expertise across sectors, founding and advising ventures at the intersection of technology, creativity, and social impact. He is the founder of the Brilliant Minds Foundation, Super Human Network, and Norrsken Launcher, and plays a key role as angel investor and advisor to startups like Bolt, Antler, Foodiq, and Akash Systems.

Across ventures, Ash is recognised for his ability to elevate brands through digital strategy, marketing, and elite network-building, while championing purpose-driven innovation. He was previously the founder of At Night Management and PRMD Music, managing the meteoric rise of Avicii.

Ash continues to shape the future of entrepreneurship and branding with a portfolio that spans music, tech, sustainability, and social entrepreneurship—all connected by his drive to empower creators and transform culture.

Lisa Quest
Partner, Head of UK & Ireland | Co-Head of Government & Public Institutions – Europe Oliver Wyman

Lisa is a Partner at Oliver Wyman. She leads the firm’s work with both public and private sector organisations to drive digital transformation, boost productivity, and enhance the effectiveness of public services.

With over 15 years of international consulting experience across the UK, Europe, and North America, Lisa has advised senior government leaders, CEOs, and executives on strategy, governance, risk management, regulatory policy, and financial planning. She previously led Oliver Wyman’s Anti-Financial Crime practice and its Public Sector Governance and Transformation platforms, and was a member of the firm’s European Leadership Team.

Lisa is a recognised voice on regulatory innovation and digital policy. She has co-authored key reports for the International Banking Federation (IBFed) on topics such as BigTech’s role in financial services and the future of supervision.

A committed advocate for diversity and inclusion, she sits on Oliver Wyman’s Inclusion Council, is Executive Sponsor of Women of Oliver Wyman, and has been named a HERoes Top 100 Female Executive and Management Today’s Mentor of the Year finalist.

She holds degrees from the Ivey Business School and the London School of Economics, where she is also a Visiting Academic Fellow.

Karen Seward
Head of A&O Shearman Leadership Centre

Karen is an accomplished global leader with a distinguished career at the top of Big Law, having worked across three continents. Renowned for her strategic advisory expertise, empowering leadership style, and commitment to diversity and inclusions, she now brings her experience and insights to Imperial Business School. 

As a qualified executive coach, Karen is passionate about developing future leaders and through her coaching and mentoring, she supports the holistic growth of students, helping them build confidence, purpose and resilience while inspiring them within their communities. 

Karen's deep understanding of leadership dynamics and global business environments enables her to make a lasting impact in shaping the next generation of professionals.

Konstantin Sidorov
Founder and CEO at London Technology Club

Konstantin is an international entrepreneur and investor with over 30 years of experience building, scaling, and restructuring technology businesses. He is the Founder and CEO of the London Technology Club, a platform for investors and tech professionals to co-invest, network, and share ideas.

He has successfully founded and exited several ventures, including the sale of RRC Group’s Eastern European division to Ingram Micro (2016), data centre operator DataLine (2020), and SaaS platform Channel Mechanics to a U.S. private equity firm (2024). He was also an early investor in Spotify and Airbnb.

Konstantin holds an Executive MBA from TRIUM (NYU, LSE, HEC Paris) and a degree from St. Petersburg Engineering University. An avid traveller and mountaineer, he has summited peaks such as Aconcagua and the Matterhorn. He serves on the board of the London-based Scientific Exploration Society and has lived in London with his family for over a decade.

Joseph Sitt
Founder & Chairman, Thor Equities Group

Joseph is Chairman and CEO of Thor Equities, a leader in the global institutional real estate industry with divisions currently spread across four continents and a focus on multiple subniche asset classes. Founded in 1986, Thor Equities owns prime assets in North America, Europe, and Latin America, with a development pipeline spanning 50 million square feet. Joseph is an experienced leader with a proven track record in driving business growth across different industries and developing real estate globally. Thor Equities’ portfolio and developments is valued at $20B and comprised of properties across all sectors and geographies. With an entrepreneurial mindset and passion for consumers, he founded Ashley Stewart in 1991, a women’s clothing chain which grew to over 380 stores in over 100 cities. In 2012, he launched Thor’s Latin America division, with the launch of the Montage Hospitality brand and went on to develop over 20 million square feet leading hospitality brands including the Ritz Reserve, Ritz Carlton, Scorpios and Four Seasons, as well as many retail mixed use lifestyle centres and luxury second home communities. Joseph is a graduate of New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Naveed Sultan
Professor of Practice Department of Finance - Business School

Naveed Sultan is a globally recognised banker, entrepreneur, academic, and advisor to boards, CEOs, and policymakers on strategy, digital transformation, sustainability, and responsible leadership. He is Professor of Practice and Co-Director of the Centre for Financial Technology at Imperial College Business School, where his academic work focuses on financial technologies, digital policy, and sustainable leadership.

Over a distinguished career, Mr. Sultan held senior global roles at Citi, most notably as Chairman of the Institutional Clients Group (ICG) and Global Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS). He led multi-billion-dollar businesses, spearheaded digital innovation, and advised governments on digitising economies and financial systems. Under his leadership, TTS became a global market leader known for capital efficiency and sustained growth.

Mr. Sultan has pioneered financial reforms in emerging markets, introduced tech-driven solutions in remittances, and revitalised businesses across Europe and the Middle East. He founded Citi’s Innovation Centres, launched the Digital Money Index, and co-founded Imperial's Centres for Financial Technology and Responsible Leadership.

He sits on Imperial’s Advisory Board and has served on multiple corporate and public boards. Mr. Sultan holds an MBA from IBA, Pakistan, and a Master of Science from MIT Sloan School of Management.