The Network for the Universe – powered by Diversity in Tech at Mobile 360 APAC

Candace Johnson – Chair of Advisory Board and Partner of Seraphim Space Fund, Vice Chair of NorthStar Earth and Space, and Non-Executive Director of SES-imagotag, the world’s leading IOT/Electronic Shelf Labelling group.  Ms. Johnson is a member of the Executive Board of the ICC, International Chamber of Commerce and is Vice President of Institut EuropIA, the European Institute of Artificial Intelligence.

Serial Entrepreneur and Investor.  Founder/Co-Founder of SES ASTRA and SES Global, the world’s pre-eminent satellite company, Loral-Teleport Europe, Europe Online, VATM, Succès Europe, OWNSAT, GTWN, and GBRW;

Candace Johnson is a global infrastructure, network and innovation entrepreneur and investor.   She is Founder/Co-Founder of SES (Société Européenne des Satellites), Loral-Teleport Europe, Europe Online, Oceania Women’s Network Satellite (OWNSAT), a founding investor in the Kacific Satellite System. Ms. Johnson is also Founding President of the VATM, the Association of Private Telecom Operators in Germany and Founding President of the Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN). In 2012 she and a group of engaged women created the Global Board Ready Women initiative, (GBRW). She is President Emeritus of EBAN after having completed a four year presidency of EBAN, (European Business Angels Network), during which she was honoured to help found ABAN (African Business Angels Network) and Rising Tide Europe, amongst other initiatives.

She has been decorated by the Luxembourg Government with the Commander of the Order of Merit and the Officer of the Oak Leaf Crown as well as being decorated by the German Government with the Officer of the Federal Order of Merit.  Ms. Johnson has received numerous Lifetime Achievement Awards from such prestigious organisations as the World Communication Awards, Women in Aerospace and The International Alliance of Women.

Ms. Johnson has an honorary doctorate from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Masters with honours from the Sorbonne and Stanford and an undergraduate degree from Vassar College.

Professional Career

• 1 April 2015 – now
  President Director & CEO, PT. XL Axiata Tbk.
• January – March 2015
  Deputy Chief Executive Ocer, PT XL Axiata Tbk.
• June – December 2014
  Group Chief of Marketing and Operation Ocer, Axiata Group
• 2011 – 2014
  Director/Chief Digital Service Ocer, PT. XL Axiata Tbk.
• 2007 – 2011
  Director/Chief Network Service Ocer, PT. XL Axiata Tbk.
• 2005 – 2007
  Sr. VP Network Planning & Development, PT. XL Axiata Tbk.
• 1996 – 2005
  Various Key Position in Network & Engineering PT. XL Axiata Tbk.
• 1991 – 1996
  Starting career in telecommunication industry under Network and IT roles.

Personal Awards

2021

• Marketeer of The Year 2021 – Telecom Services Sector (Markplus)
• The Most Popular Leader in Social Media 2021 – Kategori Pemimpin
  Korporasi Swasta (PR Indonesia)
• Best Women Empowerment Initiative with Oustanding Female
  (Warta Ekonomi)
• Leadership Indonesia Best CEO 2021 (Iconomics)
• TOP Leader on CSR Commitment 2021(Bisnis Indonesia 2021 )
• Indonesia Most Powerful Women 2021 (warta Ekonomi)
• Spoke Personof The Year (Majalah MIX Marketing)
• TOP Leader on CSR Commitment 2021 (TopBusiness)

2020

• The Best Industry Marketing Champion 2020 for the Telecom Services
  sector ( Marketeers)
• The Best CEO 2020 – Mobile Telecommunications (ICONOMICS)
• CEO of The Year (Selular Award)
• Most Popular Leader in Social Media (PR Indonesia)
• Indonesia Most Admired CEO Award (Warta Ekonomi)

2019

• One of Asia’s Power Businesswomen (Forbes)
• Apresiasi Perempuan Hebat Indonesia (SINDO Media)

2018

• The Best CEO 2018 (Majalah Swa)

2017

• Satyalencana Pembangunan Medal (The Indonesian Government)
• Most Inspiring Woman CEO (Obsession Award)

2016

• Indonesia Most Admired CEO Award (Warta Ekonomi)
• PR People of The Year – Spoke Person of The Year – CEO Level (Majalah MIX)
• Elle Career Woman of The Year (Majalah Elle)

2013

• Lifetime Achievement Awards (Golden Ring Award)

Education Background

• Bachelor of Electrical Engineering,
  Bandung Institute of Technology (1991)
• Harvard Advance Management Program,
  Harvard Business School, USA (2013)

Dr Anna Yip, 53, was appointed Deputy CEO, Singtel Singapore and CEO, Business Development of Singtel on 1 June 2023. She joined Singtel as Deputy CEO, Consumer Singapore on 7 December 2020 and subsequently as CEO, Consumer Singapore on 1 April 2021. Since coming onboard, Anna has been focused on strengthening Singtel’s market position with network superiority and customer centricity. Singtel was the first to achieve nationwide 5G coverage in 2022, and has been a keen supporter of national digital initiatives such as the Smart Nation and Digital for Life. Anna also strives to make easy, friendly and smart customer journeys both online and offline a key differentiation for Singtel.

Before joining Singtel, Anna was the CEO and Executive Director of Smartone Telecommunications, a position that she had held since 2016. Under her leadership, Smartone was named Best Mobile Carrier by the Communication Association of Hong Kong in 2019.

Prior to Smartone, Anna headed up Mastercard in Hong Kong and Macau. She was previously a partner with McKinsey & Company in Greater China where she co-led both the Financial Institutional Group and payments practice.

Anna was appointed to the Board of Commissioners of Telkomsel on 1 June 2021. She sits on the Board of Advisors of Singapore Management University’s Institute of Service Excellence and is also a Council Member of the Singapore Cancer Society. She is an independent non-executive Director of BUPA (Asia) Limited and was formerly a Council member and then Court member of the Hong Kong Metropolitan University.

Anna holds a DPhil and MPhil in Management Studies from Oxford University and a First Class Honours degree in Business Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Jaya Deshmukh is Executive Vice President (EVP) – Strategy and Transformation, reporting directly to Colt’s Chief Executive Officer, Keri Gilder.

In this newly created role, Jaya is responsible for managing and driving Colt’s strategic roadmap and relationships, all while striving to elevate the organisation’s overall purpose and vision. Jaya joined Colt from Google Cloud, where most recently she held the position of Head of Strategy – EMEA, heading up the creation and curation of Google Cloud’s EMEA strategy.

She has also held roles at Microsoft, PwC and Cognizant, where she was responsible for implementing digital solutions and accelerating cloud consumption to drive customer success. Jaya is based in London, UK, with her two daughters.

Julian, Head of Asia Pacific at GSMA, drives collaborative efforts between the mobile industry, policymakers, and ecosystems to advance digital economies. With 20+ years of global experience in Wholesale, Business, Regulatory, Policy, and Digital Transformation, he’s a pioneer in forging digital partnerships and units. His fervor lies in mobile tech as the cornerstone of economic resilience, sparking dialogues for sustainable, inclusive digital nations.

Jeanette is Head of Public Policy, APAC at the GSMA. Her role entails providing public policy support for mobile network operators on telecoms, data privacy, spectrum policy, IoT, 5G and competition policy.

Before joining the GSMA Jeanette ran a Telecoms Media and Technology consultancy firm where she led a wide range of projects including development of fixed broadband strategies and business plans for mobile operators across Asia: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Jeanette is a former British Telecom Director where she held senior roles in the areas of strategy, portfolio management, product development, Merger& Acquisition and IT.

Jeanette graduated from Loughborough University in the UK with a BSc (Hons) in Management Sciences. She is a Sloan Fellow with an MSc from London Business School and has a post graduate Diploma in Marketing from the UK-based Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Susan Brazer is a global tech, media and technology visionary who has led development and the launch of video, TV, mobile, and consumer entertainment services and products for Apple Computer, DirecTV, SES ASTRA, Viacom, FIFA World Cup, Virgin Mobile and Nokia. Susan is a champion for the creator economy and the open Metaverse. She’s managed $100M P&Ls and excels at setting strategic direction for disruptive new user experiences, platform development, strategic partnerships and business models to drive disruptive change, revenue and EBITDA growth. Susan holds a B.A. in Economics from Brandeis University, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and attended the London School of Economics, specializing in international business. Susan is a mentor at Princeton University on Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Board Member for Global Women in Blockchain.

Lynette Tan is the Chief Executive of SSTL, and also a co-founder! She provides business management advisory, consulting, technical training for capability and talent development for the space industry. Also active in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics interest amongst youths and young ladies, she was awarded the “Lancome Visionary Award” by one of Singapore’s leading female magazine.

As APAC Head of Business Development, Media and Entertainment at AWS, Shweta works closely with media organisations on their strategy to leverage benefits of the cloud across their workloads in order to drive new business outcomes. Before joining AWS, Shweta was with NDTV in India for 19 years, where she led several transformation projects and new initiatives in leadership roles across technology and new business development.

Having worked in media industry for two decades, Shweta has a deep understanding of the challenges as well as the innovation which the industry thrives on.

Sheena Jacob is the Head of the regional Southeast Asian Intellectual Property practice at CMS Holborn Asia. Qualified in Singapore, New York, England & Wales, she is a leading international lawyer in the field of Intellectual Property with more than 25 years of specialist experience in Asia. Sheena manages a team that handles trademark and patent prosecution in Southeast Asia, IP litigation and commercial IP transactions such as licensing and commercialization deals in the tech, media and life science sectors in Asia Pacific. Sheena is known for her sound, commercial advice and is widely acknowledged as a global thought leader on cutting-edge issues in the Intellectual Property field.

Rosalia Gitau is an attorney, author, and humanitarian who works in the technology industry. She is the founder and CEO of Bixie (www.mybixie.com), an award-winning wealth-building software for women that has been named a Top FinTech firm by The Manila Times, The Manila Bulletin, 1Million Startups, the Financial Alliance for Women, and Women’s World Banking. She has worked for the United Nations, Alibaba, Shearman & Sterling, and the governments of the United States, Liberia, and Sierra Leone for over 15 years throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.