Leading AI expert and innovator Didem Ün Ateş, chief executive of LotusAI Ltd, will give a keynote address at FIDIC’s 2024 Global Leadership Forum (GLF) Summit when it meets in Geneva next week.
The second annual GLF Summit, on 25-26 April 2024 and organised by FIDIC, will see around 100 of the world’s most influential infrastructure leaders gathering to exchange knowledge and discuss some of the key challenges and opportunities currently facing the industry.
Keynote speaker Ün Ateş has a 26-year background spanning management consulting and key industry roles at companies like Microsoft and Schneider Electric. With expertise in AI, generative AI and responsible AI, she has led significant initiatives in AI strategy, diversity in technology and responsible AI practices. Her contributions have made substantial impacts on AI innovation and ethical technology development.
Speaking to the Forbes website earlier this year on the impact of AI, Ün Ateş said: “What a year 2023 was. Even for us AI professionals, it’s been hard to keep up with the news (and drama) of AI – and especially generative AI. I expect 2024 to be no less active with Apple, AWS, Google and more players either coming into the landscape or accelerating their efforts.
Speaking ahead of the summit, FIDIC president Catherine Karakatsanis, said: “The Global Leadership Forum is a very important initiative for FIDIC. When we set it up back in September 2021, our aim was to provide a forum to discuss the key issues and challenges facing our industry, the wider infrastructure sector and our world. As well as providing a forum for discussion and debate, we also, crucially, wanted to give ourselves the space to map out strategies and workable approaches to successfully address those challenges that we all face. Our forthcoming summit in Geneva will certainly do that in the company of some of the leading minds from the global infrastructure sector.”
As well as looking at the key area of AI and receiving an advanced preview on a new industry report on the issue, delegates at the summit will also take part in discussions on decarbonisation, the net zero transition, market intelligence and the increasingly important role of leadership in a rapidly developing and evolving global infrastructure sector.
Commenting on the summit, Global Leadership Forum advisory board chair Bill Cox, chief executive officer of Aurecon, said: “Our focus for this GLF Summit is on artificial intelligence and carbon measurement – two of the big issues that the world and our industry is facing and which, if we get things right, have the potential to transform the way we live, work, do business and function as a society. The summit will discuss both areas in some detail and we will seek to develop implementable solutions to map out a practical way forward by raising our knowledge levels about how they can impact our businesses and understanding how we can make the most of the opportunities they present to us.”
FIDIC president Karakatsanis added: “This second GLF Summit will provide a platform for insightful discussions on many of the issues that matter in the world of infrastructure and also enable attendees to take part in valuable networking opportunities with other construction, infrastructure and business leaders, making for a must-attend gathering in Geneva.”
