Mr. West has served as President of Moody’s Ratings since November 2019. Mike served as Managing Director—Head of MIS Ratings and Research from June 2016 to October 2019. Previously, Mike served as Managing Director—Head of Global Structured Finance from February 2014 to May 2016 and Managing Director—Head of Global Corporate Finance from January 2010 to January 2014. Earlier in his career, Mike was also responsible for the research strategy for the ratings businesses and before that led Corporate Finance for the EMEA Region, European Corporates and the EMEA leveraged finance business. Prior to joining Moody’s in 1998, Mike worked at Bank of America and HSBC in various credit roles.

Dr. R. David Edelman is Director of the Project on Technology, the Economy, & National Security (TENS), part of the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative (IPRI). He holds joint appointments in the Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and the Center for International Studies (CIS). 

At MIT, David leads IPRI’s AI policy research, with a particular emphasis on domestic and international governance of machine learning systems and is the lead organizer of the annual MIT AI Policy Congress. 

David came to MIT following a distinguished career managing international and domestic technology policy in the U.S. federal government: Until January 2017, David served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President for Economic and Technology Policy at the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP). From 2010 – 2012 David served as the first Director for International Cyber Policy on the National Security Council (NSC) — making him, upon appointment, the youngest Director in the NSC’s seventy-year history. Previously, he helped found the State Department’s Office of Cyber Affairs, where he developed the U.S. government’s early diplomatic strategy and international legal doctrine on cyber issues. During this time, he also served as the United States’ lead negotiator on Internet issues at the United Nations, for which he was recognized with the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and twice its Meritorious Honor Award. 

Dr. R. David Edelman holds a B.A. from Yale University in History, and a Master’s and Doctorate in International Relations at Oxford University, where he was a Clarendon Scholar. 

Amy Nordrum is the executive editor of operations at MIT Technology Review. She coordinates the annual lists of 10 Breakthrough Technologies and Innovators Under 35 and oversees the newsroom’s copy flow processes, freelance contributions, fellowship program, and engagement team. She joined the staff as a commissioning editor in July 2020. Amy has a master’s degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting from New York University and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. 

Cristina Pieretti is a General Manager at Moody’s, where she oversees the Digital Insights Operating Unit, having responsibility for the digital delivery of Moody’s research and insights, primarily through Moodys.com. Previously she led Moody’s Commercial Real Estate Data and Analytics business, being responsible for the integration of REIS, Moody’s first acquisition of a publicly listed company. Before this, Cristina was driving efforts in Moody’s Accelerator to identify and develop new business opportunities, with a special focus in AI and machine learning. She was also responsible for evolving the company’s innovation processes. Cristina joined Moody's in 2008, and held product management roles in the structured finance and credit risk measurement businesses. Prior to joining Moody's, Cristina worked in banking, where she participated in multiple transactions in Latin America.

Cristina holds a Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, as well as an MBA. She is also a CFA charterholder.

Fabian Astic serves on Moody’s Ratings’ Senior Leadership Team as Managing Director, Global Head of Digital Economy, and Chair of the AI Oversight Working Group. He leads the rating agency’s preparedness efforts related to the digitalization of the global economy, including Digital Finance, AI Analytics, and Cyber Credit Risk.

Fabian is a recognized expert in traditional and digital finance, often contributing to industry events and conferences. He serves on the Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Global Markets Advisory Committee, and on the board of QuantCubeTechnology, an AI-powered predictive analytics company.

Prior to his current role, Fabian led quantitative analytics and innovation for the rating agency. He joined Moody’s in 2006 and had various roles in the Credit Strategy & Standards and Structured Finance groups.

Fabian’s academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics with a focus on Mathematical Finance, and a Master’s Degree in Mathematics Applied to Economic Sciences from Université Paris Dauphine. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Science and Executive Engineering from the Ecole des Mines de Paris, where he specialized in Quantitative Finance.

Atsi Sheth is Chief Credit Officer and Head of Credit Strategy & Standards at Moody's Ratings.

Prior to her appointment in 2024, she held several leadership roles at Moody's, including Managing Director and Global Head of Credit Strategy and Research from 2021 to 2024.

She also served as Managing Director, Chief Credit Officer for the Americas from 2018 to 2021, and Managing Director, Sovereign Risk Group from 2016 to 2018.

Atsi is a long-time champion of Moody's Community Impact and Inclusion initiatives. She serves on the Board of Moody's Foundation and was the Executive Sponsor of the Pan Asian Impact Business Resource Group.

Earlier in her career, Atsi was the Chief Economist at Reliance Capital and taught courses on International Political Economy and Emerging Markets at Columbia University and Northwestern University.

Atsi has a PhD from Northwestern University and a B.A. from Bombay University.

Reporting to the Global Head of Digital Assets & Financial Markets, Andrew leads the innovation and Advocacy efforts in North America. The group focuses on enabling strategic decisions through market intelligence and research on regulatory and industry trends and exploring emerging innovations and technologies with a focus on education, commercialization and experimentation.  Andrew is responsible for supporting business unit strategy development in relation to market and technology innovation to drive profitable growth while also coordinating key industry associations and regulatory engagements aligned to the bank’s strategic innovation initiatives.

Andrew has over 30 years of experience at financial services institutions, major derivatives exchanges, clearinghouses and trading firms.  He has been responsible for directing research on industry leading trends, functional design, testing and implementation support of industry leading technology and the digital transformation and globalization of traditional and digital infrastructure and client activities, leading to increased growth opportunities and client efficiencies.

Haimera Workie is Vice President and Head of Financial Innovation at FINRA.  In this capacity, he is responsible for leading FINRA’s Office of Financial Innovation, which focuses on analyzing financial technology (FinTech) innovations and emerging risks and trends related to the securities market. As part of these responsibilities, Mr. Workie works to foster an ongoing dialogue with market participants in order to build a better understanding of FinTech innovations and their impact on the securities markets.  Previously, Mr. Workie served as Deputy Associate Director in the Division of Trading and Markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Mr. Workie also previously served as Counsel to the Chairman at the SEC. Prior to joining the SEC, he was an associate at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, with a practice focusing on corporate law. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S., M.S.) and Harvard Law School (J.D.).

Fabian Astic serves on Moody’s Ratings’ Senior Leadership Team as Managing Director, Global Head of Digital Economy, and Chair of the AI Oversight Working Group. He leads the rating agency’s preparedness efforts related to the digitalization of the global economy, including Digital Finance, AI Analytics, and Cyber Credit Risk.

Fabian is a recognized expert in traditional and digital finance, often contributing to industry events and conferences. He serves on the Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Global Markets Advisory Committee, and on the board of QuantCubeTechnology, an AI-powered predictive analytics company.

Prior to his current role, Fabian led quantitative analytics and innovation for the rating agency. He joined Moody’s in 2006 and had various roles in the Credit Strategy & Standards and Structured Finance groups.

Fabian’s academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics with a focus on Mathematical Finance, and a Master’s Degree in Mathematics Applied to Economic Sciences from Université Paris Dauphine. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Science and Executive Engineering from the Ecole des Mines de Paris, where he specialized in Quantitative Finance.

Prasad is currently responsible for Relationship Management of Financial Institutions and Digital Finance in North America. He leads a team that works with issuers across banking, insurance, funds & asset management. At Moody’s, Prasad is member of the Global Digital Economy Leadership Team.

Before Moody’s, he worked in sales leadership roles at London Stock Exchange Group and Citi Global Markets. He has an MBA from the University at Buffalo.

Cynthia Lo Bessette is head of Fidelity’s Digital Asset Management division where she is responsible for leading the teams responsible for the management and development of the investment framework and infrastructure for crypto research, asset tokenization, digital asset/crypto trading, and settlement. In addition, she leads the teams responsible for the development and implementation of new investment capabilities and investment products and solutions, business development, and digital asset education.

Previously, Ms. Lo Bessette was head of Asset Management and Digital Assets Legal.

Prior to joining Fidelity in August 2019, Ms. Lo Bessette was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of OppenheimerFunds, and was also a director of OFI International, Ltd, the UK affiliate of OppenheimerFunds, and OppenheimerFunds ICAV, a family of UCITS offered globally.

Ms. Lo Bessette received her law degree from the Fordham University School of Law and received her undergraduate degree, with honors, in east Asian studies and economics from the University of Michigan.

Will Peck serves as Head of Digital Assets at WisdomTree. In this role, he oversees WisdomTree’s crypto, stablecoin and real world asset (RWA) tokenization initiatives. These initiatives include WisdomTree Prime, a direct-to-retail app, and WisdomTree Connect, a B2B and B2B2C platform. Previously, he served as Head of Strategy and Emerging Technologies for WisdomTree. Prior to WisdomTree, he worked in investment banking for Bank of America Merrill Lynch covering a range of financial services companies. He graduated cum laude from Harvard University.

Charles Michallet has been a leader in digital asset innovation at Société Générale since 2020, driving the launch of SG Forge’s stablecoins (EURCV and USDCV) and leading the firm’s first U.S. tokenized bond issuance in November 2025. He now oversees SG Forge’s U.S. expansion and continues to structure its stablecoin activities globally.

Charles began his career in 2010 within General Inspection, advising on strategic projects across the Group. In 2016, he guided the CEO’s office on blockchain opportunities before joining Global Markets as a Cross-Asset Structurer and digital asset sponsor.

He holds an engineering degree from CentraleSupélec and a Master of Science in Mathematics from the University of Paris-Saclay.

Miren Aparicio is a financial regulation and technology expert who has designed global frameworks for digital asset products across BNP Paribas, Nasdaq’s first crypto index, Citi, and major regulatory programs for Morgan Stanley (Spain).

Miren Aparicio is the Head of Digital Compliance Advisory at BNP Paribas CIB, where she has co drafted global policies on stablecoins, tokenized securities, and digital asset governance.

Before joining BNP Paribas, Miren Aparicio led major digital asset and innovation initiatives across the industry, including building the governance supporting the launch of Nasdaq’s first crypto index and conducting regulatory due diligence on digital asset exchanges, custodians, and tokenized products. At Citi, she drove blockchain innovation for digitizing negotiable instruments and advanced oversight models for digital banking and third party fintech partnerships, further deepening digital asset risk management.

Earlier, at the World Bank and Inter American Development Bank, she developed FinTech regulatory programs for central banks and securities authorities producing publications with The Digital Chamber and Thomson Reuters on fintech, smart contracts and their regulatory implications.

Ms. Aparicio holds a Master of Laws from Columbia University and The Graduate Institute in Geneva, as well as a J.D. from Deusto University and is a member of the Madrid Bar, Spain.

Rory is currently responsible for Moody’s Funds & Asset Management ratings practice in the Americas. This includes ratings on over 60 asset managers and 400 investment funds across 5 countries. He joined Moody’s Global Managed Investments Group in1998, working on analysis of investment funds. Rory regularly speaks at industry conferences on trends and developments in the asset management sector. He holds a BA in Government from Georgetown University

Thomas Sullivan is Managing Director of DTCC Digital Assets. Within this role, he is responsible for leading and facilitating the development of DTCC Digital Assets’ strategic objectives, driving critical projects and partnering with clients, regulators and market participants to advance the firm’s leadership in digital innovation.

Tom has over 20 years of experience in securities and banking, focusing on the intersection of operations and innovation. Prior to DTCC, Tom served as Managing Director at Société Générale in New York, where he was the Head of Business Development for Digital Assets and spearheaded tokenization and blockchain efforts for the firm in the Americas. Before that, Tom served in various operational roles at Société Générale, including securities settlements, collateral management, f/x and payments. Prior to Société Générale, Tom was the Head of Broker Dealer Operations at Commerzbank where he managed securities settlements, securities lending support, and asset servicing.  With the merger of Commerzbank and Dresdner Bank in 2009, Tom coordinated the integration of the operational platforms of the firms. In addition to these roles, Tom has been an active member in several industry groups, including the Digital Asset Markets subcommittee of the CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee where he worked to develop tokenization recommendations.

Tom graduated from New York University with BA in Economics and holds Series 7, 24,27, 63, and 99 registrations with FINRA.

Thomas Cowan is head of tokenization at Galaxy Digital, a crypto-focused investment bank. In that role, he leverages the firm’s deep financial expertise and tokenization tech stack to structure, design, and place onchain financial products. Before Galaxy, he worked on the strategy team at Paxos focusing on PayPal’s stablecoin, on the CBDC team at Ripple, and on the CBDC team at the Boston Federal Reserve. He holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and history from MIT and MBA & MPP degrees from Harvard University.

Simon Letort is Head of Strategic Initiatives at Digital Asset, where he is building the Canton Network.  Prior to DA, he spent 20 years at Societe Generale as Chief Digital Officer, head of Global Markets Brazil, and head of Financial Engineering Americas.

Simon holds an M.Sc. in financial mathematics from Ecole Centrale Paris.

As a member of the Cyber Risk team she is responsible for researching and publishing credit relevant cybersecurity reports in collaboration with the broader Moody’s analytical community. Although her role supports all industry groups Moody’s covers, Ms. Ritter is particularly interested in industrial control systems’ cybersecurity and has been a regular speaker on this topic at a number of ICS cyber conferences. Prior to joining the Cyber Risk Group, Ms. Ritter was a lead credit analyst in the Public Power and Infrastructure team where she covered a portfolio of US-based regulated electric and gas utilities as well as natural gas pipeline companies. Ms. Ritter completed her credit training at GE Energy Financial Services where she was an associate in the origination team covering the global power, midstream, and oil and gas space. Ms. Ritter holds a Bachelors in Economics from Union College and a Masters in Finance and Energy Policy from Columbia University.

Prior to BitSight, Stephen was President and Cofounder of Saperix (acquired by Firemon), a company spun out of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory focused on vulnerability and network topology risk analysis. At MIT he led R&D programs solving large-scale national cybersecurity problems.

Pratyush Uddagiri leads the development of cyber risk solutions and analytics that empower firms across the (re)insurance value chain to model, quantify, and manage cyber risk. His work focuses on delivering cyber catastrophe models and analytics that support underwriting, pricing, exposure management, and portfolio optimization.

With a background in engineering and specialization in information systems, Pratyush brings deep expertise across Insurtech and catastrophe modeling. He has successfully built and launched numerous technology products that address complex business challenges, drawing on his background in analytics, product management, and user experience to drive innovation and impact.

As the Senior Director of GenAI Product Strategy at Moody's Digital Insights I push the boundaries of what's possible through innovation and technological advancement. Combining customer engagement and innovation strategy, my role places me at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance customer experiences and drive operational efficiencies.

 One of my proudest achievements in my 10-year career at Moody’s is leading the launch of Moody’s Research Assistant, the first GenAI-powered tool commercially available for financial market participants, in December 2023. This product transformed how research and analysis were conducted within Moodys.com and has empowered hundreds of financial institutions improve the efficiency and quality of their analysis.

When I joined Moody's in 2014, I led a global team focused on delivering comprehensive sales and revenue reports. These experiences honed my skills in not only managing large datasets but also in understanding the intricate dynamics of financial markets and how technology can be leveraged to unveil insights hidden within complex data.

Before embarking on my journey with Moody's, I sharpened my analytical and financial forecasting skills at Standard and Poor’s, where I was deeply involved in crafting business plans and forecasts for the S&P Dow Jones Indices business.

 My academic foundation, comprising an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Seton Hall University, with specializations in Finance & International Business, has been instrumental in shaping my perspective on the interplay between technology and business. It's this blend of experience and education that fuels my passion for driving innovation within the finance sector.

Amy Nordrum is the executive editor of operations at MIT Technology Review. She coordinates the annual lists of 10 Breakthrough Technologies and Innovators Under 35 and oversees the newsroom’s copy flow processes, freelance contributions, fellowship program, and engagement team. She joined the staff as a commissioning editor in July 2020. Amy has a master’s degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting from New York University and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. 

Martin Chorzempa, Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow since 2026, has been affiliated with the Peterson Institute for International Economics since 2017. As a Fulbright Scholar in Germany and a Luce Scholar at Peking University's China Center for Economic Research, he worked on comparative financial regulation, China's financial reforms, and the rise of innovative financial technology in China. He also worked for the China Finance 40 Forum in Beijing, a leading independent think tank. In 2017, he graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government with a masters in public administration in international development.

Chorzempa's research focuses on financial technology and digital currency, as well as technology and national security issues like export controls and foreign investment screening. He is author of The Cashless Revolution: China's Reinvention of Money (PublicAffairs, October 2022), which the Financial Times named one of the best economics books of 2022. He is regularly quoted by major media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, MIT Technology Review, and Foreign Affairs.

Nitin Gaur is Head of Institutions at Nethermind, where he works with financial institutions to modernize market infrastructure through production-grade blockchain and systems engineering. He is also a Senior Advisor to DTCC Digital Asset, contributing to the evolution of post-trade, custody, and settlement frameworks for tokenized markets.

Previously, Nitin served as Managing Director at State Street and founded IBM Digital Asset Labs, IBM Blockchain Labs, and LedgerLink—an AI-powered platform bridging traditional finance and decentralized systems. He is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Master Inventor, with deep experience across digital assets, payments, and financial infrastructure.

Nikos Andrikogiannopoulos is Founder & CEO of Metrika, a SaaS platform providing real-time risk management and compliance infrastructure for digital assets and tokenized financial markets. Metrika works with financial institutions, asset managers, and market infrastructure providers to support digital asset onboarding, continuous risk monitoring, and governance aligned with institutional standards.

Nikos previously served on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Technology Advisory Committee, where he contributed to policy discussions on blockchain, DeFi, and AI-enabled compliance. He contributed to the CFTC’s DeFi report and has been a strong advocate for applying structured operational and non-financial risk frameworks to digital asset ecosystems.

He has a background in strategy consulting in the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) sectors, with domain expertise in telecom infrastructure and regulatory policy.

He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and an MBA from MIT Sloan, as well as a degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering (Honors) from the National Technical University of Athens.

Aaron L. Kaplan is founder and co-CEO of Prometheum Inc. Prior to founding Prometheum Inc., Aaron was an attorney at Gusrae Kaplan Nusbaum PLLC, where he focused on the applications of distributed ledger technology in the securities industry. Aaron has also worked at a California-based regional broker dealer where he held Series 7, 63, 55, 4, 24, 27, and 53 securities licenses. Aaron received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his law degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Since his admission to the New York State Bar Association, Aaron has developed expertise relating to virtual currencies and their regulations. Aaron currently holds a Series 7 and Series 79 license.

With roots in ethical hacking and cybersecurity, Yev leads Hacken, a global blockchain security and compliance company delivering regulatory‑grade security for enterprises, exchanges, and Web3 ecosystems. Her work combines deep technical expertise with strategic risk and compliance intelligence and is widely covered by leading industry media. She regularly speaks at major international blockchain and Web3 events on security, compliance, and resilience.

Michelle Heppler is Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Unique AI, a global Enterprise AI company redefining financial services through agentic AI. Backed by over $50 million in funding, Unique's platform is trusted by leading institutions including BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered and Pictet serving firms managing over $3 trillion in assets. A serial entrepreneur, Michelle previously co-founded Pathmate Technologies. She holds a Master's in Business Management from the University of St. Gallen and studied at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Ari Lehavi is General Manager and Head of Applied AI at Moody’s Analytics. He leads efforts to reimagine the company’s most critical internal workflows with AI, embedding intelligence into how Moody’s operates. His work focuses on building systems that continuously learn and improve, driving better decisions and outcomes across the business. Ari holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Vincent Gusdorf is an Associate Managing Director in the DeFi and Digital Assets team (DFDA), leading Moody’s blockchain technology research. Before joining the DFDA team, Vincent worked for the Innovation and Data Science team, managing several machine learning projects and defining the innovation roadmap. 

Vincent worked as a credit analyst for 16 years and covered investment grade and high-yield corporates. He also contributed to developing Moody’s cyber risk expertise in Europe. Before joining Moody’s, Vincent worked at Standard & Poor’s, Exane BNP Paribas, and Ernst and Young. 

Vincent is a CFA charter holder and holds a Master of Finance from Sciences Po Paris and a Master of Law from Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas. He is a self-trained programmer and developed his blockchain and machine learning expertise by completing multiple online data science and cloud certifications. Vincent is also a Certified ScrumMaster and a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP).

John is a Senior Vice President in Moody’s Global Project and Infrastructure Finance Team covering a diverse portfolio of project financings, public private partnerships (PPPs), and municipal infrastructure issuers in the transportation, energy and social infrastructure sectors. John chairs Moody’s Global PPP Task Force and is the sector lead for US toll roads, PPPs and generic project financings. John authors research across multiple sectors and annually leads several new rating assignments for new PPPs and project financings in the US and Canada. John was selected as one of the Bond Buyer’s 2017 Rising Stars. Before joining the Infrastructure and Project Finance Team in 2010, John spent two and a half years as a lead analyst for local governments and enterprises in the Eastern Regional Local Government Ratings Team where he was the lead for municipal issuers in Pennsylvania and New York while also covering New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida. Prior to joining Moody’s, John worked as a risk management analyst, a property and casualty insurance account manager, and a health care claims auditor. John is a founding member and was the first co-chair of Moody’s NY Multicultural Employee Resource Group and is a founding steering committee member of Moody’s NY LGBTA Employee Resource Group. John earned his BA degree in Health Care Economics and Policy from Stanford University and his MPA in Health Care Public Finance from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Fiona Ismail is the Global Head of J.P. Morgan’s Investment Grade Private Credit Group. Since joining the Group, Fiona works on originating, structuring and executing transactions across a variety of geographies and sectors but focuses extensively on project finance and cross border transactions. Prior to joining the Investment Grade Private Credit Group, Fiona worked as an analyst in J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank. Fiona received a B.S. from Cornell University in Industrial & Labor Relations.

Maksim Rakhman is an Executive Director in Global Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley, where he leads ratings advisory for Private Credit. He advises issuers on ratings strategy, credit and risk analysis, and capital structure considerations, with a focus on bespoke financing solutions. His experience spans structured joint ventures, asset level and portfolio financings, and project finance transactions.

With over 15 years of experience across public and private markets, Maksim has structured and executed large scale debt transactions for corporate, sovereign, and infrastructure related issuers across the U.S., Latin America, and EMEA. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Maksim was a credit analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, where he covered technology, media, and telecommunications issuers. He holds a BBA in Finance and Investments from Baruch College, CUNY.

Raj Joshi is a Senior Vice President on the Corporate Finance Team. He is the lead analyst responsible for a portfolio of enterprise software, hardware and technology-enabled services companies. Raj has covered a portfolio of technology and business services companies since 2010. From 2005 to 2010, he was part of the Telecommunications and Media team. Before joining Moody’s in 2005, Raj was an International Banker at Union Bank of California (now part of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group).

Raj has an MBA from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Mumbai. Raj is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the New York Society of Security Analysts, Inc.

Lucas Viegas is a Vice President for the Financial Institutions Group in Latin America. Based in São Paulo, Brazil, he is a Senior Analyst for banks and asset managers in the region, responsible leading the internal rating committee discussions for his portfolio of credits, and for generating impactful sectorial research and insights for the investor community. Lucas is also engaged on Moody’s cyber security, digital assets and cross-sectorial research groups.

Before joining Moody’s in 2021, Lucas held several positions in his 10 years at Citibank as corporate banker covering a variety of sectors as lead banker and senior credit analyst /credit committee member and product sales. He has also worked as equity research analyst covering Latin American financial institutions at Barclays Capital.

Lucas holds an MBA from IESE Business School, and a BSc in Economics from the University of São Paulo.

Arif Khan is Chief Product Officer for Kinexys @ J.P. Morgan, where he leads product strategy and execution for the firm’s next-generation digital payments and blockchain-enabled settlement platform. In this role, he is responsible for shaping Kinexys’ roadmap across programmable payments, tokenized deposits, liquidity orchestration, and institutional-grade clearing and settlement capabilities.

With over 25 years of experience in global banking and payments, Arif has held senior leadership roles at HSBC, Visa, and Accenture, driving large-scale product transformation across wholesale payments, treasury services, cross-border FX, real-time payments, and compliance platforms. His work bridges legacy financial infrastructure with emerging digital rails to deliver scalable, secure, and commercially viable innovation.

He advises senior executives and clients on product strategy, monetization models, operating design, and go-to-market approaches for institutional payments and treasury solutions, with a focus on enabling always-on, programmable, and globally interoperable financial infrastructure.

Arif holds an MBA from The George Washington University and is passionate about building platforms that modernize financial markets while maintaining the trust, resilience, and scale required by global institutions.

Jack McDonald is SVP of Stablecoins at Ripple, as well as CEO of Standard Custody & Trust Co., a New York-licensed digital asset custodian acquired by Ripple in 2024. At Ripple, Jack leads the company’s stablecoin strategy, including the development and rollout of Ripple USD (RLUSD), a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, and licensed by the New York Department of Financial Services.

Previously, Jack spent a decade as CEO of Conifer Financial Services, where he grew assets under administration from $5 billion to $125 billion, leading to a successful exit in 2016. He also spent several years on the sell-side at major investment banks, including senior roles at UBS Investment Bank as Managing Director and Head of Equity Sales, and at Schroders in institutional sales.

He holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.S.F.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. Jack lives in San Francisco.

Amy Caruso is the Head of Collateral Initiatives at ISDA where she is responsible for developing and delivering a transformational strategy for collateral and liquidity management, including facilitating innovation and compliance while driving standardization and efficiency. She oversees digital and tokenized collateral initiatives, including serving as the co-sponsor ISDA representative for the US Tokenized Money Market Fund Working Group.

Previously, she served as the Chief Commercial Officer of DTCC-Euroclear GlobalCollateral. Ms. Caruso managed the derivatives reform initiative at Barings, including preparing the company and its parent MassMutual for OTC clearing readiness, ISDA protocols and representations, SEF implementation, and regulatory reporting in multiple jurisdictions.

Ms. Caruso was a MassMutual’s Executive Development Program participant, fulfilling various marketing and sales support, product and project management, and compliance roles before transitioning to Barings.

She has held numerous industry roles, including co-chairing SIFMA’s Asset Managers Group’s (AMG) Derivatives Operations Committee, and she was a member of the SIFMA AMG Executive Steering Committee, the Investment Company Institute’s Securities Operations Advisory Committee, ISITC-SIFMA AMG’s ETD and OTC Cleared T+1 Working Group, and ISITC’s Margin and Collateral Working Group.

Ms. Caruso earned a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and Public Relations from Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida and a Masters of Business Administration with a focus on Marketing from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

Dimitrios is leading Moody’s Generative AI initiatives across regions as head of Digital & Advanced Analytics. He is also the Head of the Industry Practice Group in Moody’s Analytics, leading the Asia & Middle East Subject Matter Expert teams helping institutions in the broad areas of Enterprise-wide Risk Management, Risk Analytics, Stress Testing and ESG & Climate risk. Over the last few years, his teams have been focusing increasingly more on guiding banks and financial institutions in their sustainability journey. Particular areas of focus include the quantification of climate risk impact on credit risk, regulatory climate stress testing exercises, and incorporation of ESG & Climate Risk into an institution’s risk management framework.

During his time in Moody’s and prior to his move to Asia, Dimitrios led the efforts on designing and successfully implementing IFRS 9 modelling and software solutions for more than 50 banks in Europe and Middle East. Prior to joining Moody’s in January 2016, Dimitrios worked as Senior Technical Specialist at the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in London. During that time, he led the internal stress testing model development across the majority of risk types, with a particular focus on wholesale credit risk globally, retail credit risk in the UK and econometric models for key ALM risk metrics. Before joining the PRA, he was part of UBS Group-wide Stress Testing Team where he developed stress testing models for the held to maturity assets of the investment banking arm. Prior to his time at UBS he held various modelling positions at the former Financial Services Authority (FSA), Lloyd’s Banking Group and HBOS.

Dimitrios holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Applied Economics and Finance from the Athens University of Economics and Business. He is a certified Professional Risk Manager (PRM) since 2006 and tutored at University of Edinburgh where he has conducted extensive research on credit risk modelling and the interaction between credit risk and the real economy.

Dennis has spent over 20 years building innovative, client-centric technologies and is currently focused on managing the technology and development of the moodys.com platform, Moody’s flagship credit risk assessment offering.  Dennis is pioneering technological innovation across the platform, including Moody’s Research Assistant, the first Gen-AI powered credit analysis tool available commercially in the Financial Services space

Cristina Pieretti is a General Manager at Moody’s, where she oversees the Digital Insights Operating Unit, having responsibility for the digital delivery of Moody’s research and insights, primarily through Moodys.com. Previously she led Moody’s Commercial Real Estate Data and Analytics business, being responsible for the integration of REIS, Moody’s first acquisition of a publicly listed company. Before this, Cristina was driving efforts in Moody’s Accelerator to identify and develop new business opportunities, with a special focus in AI and machine learning. She was also responsible for evolving the company’s innovation processes. Cristina joined Moody's in 2008, and held product management roles in the structured finance and credit risk measurement businesses. Prior to joining Moody's, Cristina worked in banking, where she participated in multiple transactions in Latin America.

Cristina holds a Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, as well as an MBA. She is also a CFA charterholder.

Ryno Byleveldt is the Investment Portfolio Management Advisor at the United Nations Capital Development Fund. A South African national, he brings extensive experience in investment project execution, corporate strategy, financial audit, and portfolio management. Ryno is a Chartered Accountant (South Africa), a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter-holder, and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.

In his role, and working under the oversight of UNCDF’s Chief Financial Officer, Ryno provides oversight and support for the effective deployment of UNCDF’s investment portfolio, which includes loans, guarantees, and investment grants. He ensures systematic enforcement of processes and tools for loan and guarantee operations and supervises portfolio performance, including impact monitoring and measurement activities. Ryno’s responsibilities include establishing an efficient portfolio management system integrated with operational units, overseeing performance, ensuring accurate data recording, compiling and analyzing financial instrument data, and ensuring compliance with UNCDF’s policies and regulatory requirements.

Before joining UNCDF, Ryno held roles at PROPARCO (AFD Group) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), where he executed investment projects exceeding $500 million across Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean. He also worked at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) as a strategist, supporting strategic planning, financial forecasting, and corporate performance tracking, and at KPMG as a financial auditor for private and public institutions in South Africa.

Conan French is currently Director in the Digital Finance Department at the Institute of International Finance, a research and advocacy organization for the global financial services industry with 400 members from 60 countries. His work focuses on innovation and technology in financial services including topics such as digital assets—central bank digital currencies (CBDC), blockchain, tokenization, and ledger technologies—cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, payments innovation, and digital identity. He initially joined the IIF as Senior Technology Advisor in 2015 to expand the institute’s work on fintech innovations through research, events, and industry engagement.

Conan has focused on innovations in finance from both the private and public sector throughout his career. As a Partner at OpenRevolution and OnGo, he launched several mobile payment ventures using new technologies for mobile money, alternative credit, and loyalty. Previously, he headed an office of microfinance, regulatory reform and business development experts at USAID providing direction to a global program active in 82 countries. While there, he created public private partnerships with banks using structured facilities and credit guarantees for a 43x leverage of public funds into private sector lending to microfinance institutions. Conan’s earlier experience included work at the Department of State, US Treasury Department, and for the Governor of Massachusetts. While at USAID, he was the US Representative on the Council of Governors for the World Bank’s CGAP.

Conan earned his MBA from Georgetown University and his BA in history and economics from Dickinson College.

Fabian Astic serves on Moody’s Ratings’ Senior Leadership Team as Managing Director, Global Head of Digital Economy, and Chair of the AI Oversight Working Group. He leads the rating agency’s preparedness efforts related to the digitalization of the global economy, including Digital Finance, AI Analytics, and Cyber Credit Risk.

Fabian is a recognized expert in traditional and digital finance, often contributing to industry events and conferences. He serves on the Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Global Markets Advisory Committee, and on the board of QuantCubeTechnology, an AI-powered predictive analytics company.

Prior to his current role, Fabian led quantitative analytics and innovation for the rating agency. He joined Moody’s in 2006 and had various roles in the Credit Strategy & Standards and Structured Finance groups.

Fabian’s academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics with a focus on Mathematical Finance, and a Master’s Degree in Mathematics Applied to Economic Sciences from Université Paris Dauphine. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Science and Executive Engineering from the Ecole des Mines de Paris, where he specialized in Quantitative Finance.