If you ask a group of tech-oriented people who they believe is the most influential tech leader of this era, you’ll probably get a wide range of answers. From industry “celebrities” like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk to the quieter but still very inspirational leaders.
Their opinions are carefully read by hundreds or thousands of regular followers. They publish, test and comment products or services, having successful businesses, and much more. Who are these inspirational people in tech industry in Europe? Just check out this list and see if there’s one in your area of interest.
Victor Paradell, Global Director, Ingram Micro Cloud
Based in the city of Barcelona, Spain, Victor Paradell is the global director of CloudBlue, a division of leading global cloud ecosystem and digital commerce platform Ingram Micro Cloud. With over 30 million cloud subscriptions and 80,000 global partners, the CloudBlue platform speeds up the transition from market to revenue for both traditional and digital products.
Jag Singh, Managing Director, Techstars Berlin
Jag Singh describes himself as “one of Europe’s most active investors,” looking to invest in high-growth startups in Europe. He is also the managing director of Techstars Berlin for entrepreneurs, an accelerator offering them an investment, innovation and networking opportunities. Techstars Berlin has a portfolio of over 2,000 entrepreneurs.
Radoslav Stompf, CEO, FUERGY
Radoslav Stompf is the co-founder of Slovakian renewable energy startup FUERGY, which aims to optimize energy consumption and max out the efficiency of renewable energy sources. It does this by encouraging its customers to sell their excess energy to members of their own community — at a cheaper price — instead of back to the grid.
Balint Bene, CEO, bene : studio
Balint Bene has been the CEO of Bene Studio – a web and mobile app development studio for startups since 2009. The studio specializes in digital strategy, design and development solutions for enterprises. Based in Budapest, Hungary, he has over 15 years of experience in the tech industry and product strategy – with strong connections in the HealthTech industry.
Wesley Lorrez, Founder, Toadi
Toadi, a company that believes worker robots are the answer to a sustainable future. Lorrez’ plan is for these AI-powered robots to start out completing tasks such as mowing the lawn, generating cash flow and more. His personal mantra is “earth, a universal city.” In Belgitrum, where he’s from, Lorrez is also a philanthropist and his background is in creating product innovations.
Chantelle Bell, Co-Founder, Syrona Women
Having graduated with a Master’s of Bioscience Enterprise from Cambridge University, Bell teamed up with her would-be co-founder, Anya Roy, to develop a device for home-testing for cervical cancer. The pair went on to found Syrona Women in 2018. The company provides tracking and screening, online counselling and education for a variety of medical issues.
Uranik Begu, Executive Director, Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK)
Uranik Begu is the Executive Director of the Innovation Center in Kosovo. The innovation center aims to connect scientific research and development with the business sector in order to create more job opportunities. Begu is also a country manager for the StartUp Europe Awards, an initiative promoted by the European Commission to recognize the work of EU-based startups.
Nikolay Storonsky, CEO, Revolut
Nikolay Storonsky is the founder and CEO of UK-based fintech Revolut, one of Europe’s fastest-growing unicorn. The fintech has almost nine million personal account users, whose financial health is Revolut’s top priority. Its services range from providing surcharge-free access to ATMs abroad and currency exchanges to global transfer payments.
Nadine Khouzam, CEO, CodeNPlay
Nadine is an ex-goalkeeper for the Belgian field hockey team-turned entrepreneur. She founded CodeNPlay – a non-profit that teaches 6 to 12-year old children how to code robots. CodeNPlay also cooperates with local primary schools to train teachers in computational thinking and programming. Alongside running her own business, she also works as a data analyst at Facebook.
Christiane Vejlø, Director, Elektronista Media
Christiane Vejlø is one of the Europes leading profiles when it comes to technology versus humans and digital culture. She works as an acknowledged digital trend analyst and strategic adviser – guiding both CEOs, boards and the danish government towards the digital future. Christiane is also a member of the Danish Prime Ministers counsel, the danish Data ethics counsel and the government advisory board for the Covid-19 app.
Javier Sanz, CEO, ADSLZone
CEO and founder ADSLZone, a comprehensive news service about the internet and mobile world, one of the most popular tech blogs in Spanish. Except for news about hardware and software, it covers blockchain and crypto topics. Starting his business at a relatively young age, Javier Sanz manages a group of 13 websites, reaching millions of geeks and tech enthusiasts.
Artur Kurasinski, Founder, Aula Polska
One of the most active initiators of the Polish tech startup stage. For over a decade his blog kurasinski.com (previously: AK47) is a must-read for everyone in Polish tech industry. Artur is also a founder of Aula Polska – a series of most recognizable tech meetups for startups and scaleups. He is an often guest speaker at various tech-related meetings and conferences.
Olivier Ezratty, Consultant, Author and speaker, freelance innovation expert
Olivier Ezratty is a French business consultant with quite an experience in tech corporate world, including the role of CMO at Microsoft France. He advises top French and international companies on innovation strategies and helps investment funds working in technology and business due-diligence.
Salvatore Aranzulla, CEO and owner, Aranzulla
When you are looking for tech-related advice on Italian internet, starting your search with “how to…” most probably your search engine will return Aranzulla.it links, where you will find an easy but precise instruction on solving your problem. Salvatore is the youngest, and the most successful tech influencer, as well as respected SEO and marketing expert. His website Aranzulla.it has around 15 million visitors each month.
Daniel Ek, CEO & Chairman, Spotify
Stockholm-born Daniel Ek is leading one of the most successful tech startups – Spotify. The company has more than 180 million users, 87 million of whom are paying subscribers. Ek’s first foray into the business world began at age 13 when he started a business making websites for clients from his home. To help expand the business, Ek recruited students from his class to work on the websites from the school computer lab.
Elizabeth Varley, CEO and Founder, TechHub
TechHub – the home for technology entrepreneurs and startups. As well as being the global community for startups, TechHub works with corporates to help them with innovation culture. Elizabeth has appeared in all of the major UK tech and business press, including the Guardian and the Economist, Computer Weekly’s UKtech50 top influencers.
Alice Bentinck, Entrepreneur and Co-founder, Entrepreneur First
Alice is a British entrepreneur and co-founder of Entrepreneur First (EF), a London-based company builder and tech startup accelerator. She also founded Code First: Girls, an organization offering free web programming courses for women. Bentinck was named by Computer Weekly as one of the most influential women in UK IT.
Anne Boden, CEO and Founder, Starling Bank
Welsh tech entrepreneur and CEO of Starling Bank, a UK mobile-only bank. In 2018, she received an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for services to financial technology. Boden founded Startling in 2014, naming it Possible Financial Services, drawing upon her over 30 years of experience in the banking industry.
Yori Kamphuis, Board member and Artificial Intelligence speaker, Sustainable Scale-Up Foundation
Yori is passionate about providing a safer, more secure world. He is co-founder and CBDO of Storro, a peer-to-peer, blockchain application that allows you to easily create secure collaboration spaces. He has national and international experience in futurism, geopolitics, IT, security, technology and sustainability.
