Meet the Speakers

Philip Sugai is the Director of the Value Research Center (VRC) and Professor of Marketing, Doshisha University Graduate School of Business. He is the author of Building Value through Marketing, a Step-by-Step Guide and multiple case studies available through Harvard Business Publishing on value creation and innovation in Japan and globally.

Will Baber is Professor in the Graduate School of Management at Kyoto University, and a Visiting Professor in the NUCB Business School, Japan. He has a professional profile which includes economic development for the State of Maryland, providing language services in the Washington, D.C. area, supporting business starters in Japan, and teaching business students in Japan and Europe. 

A distinguished professor and deep-tech expert known for pioneering Impact Measurement Dashboards, Arnaud Blandin draws on two decades of global experience—from writing space-mission code for NASA to scaling tech giants—to serve as an investor and advisor to top business schools like INSEAD and NUS.

Fatiha Boukouyen is a Lecturer-Researcher in the Department of Administrative and Commercial Management of Organizations (GACO) at IUT Nantes, Nantes Université. Her work focuses on management and organizational studies, including economic intelligence, innovation, and value creation.

Valerie Daldrup is an economist and innovation strategist specializing in technology transfer, startup ecosystems, and international research collaboration. She is a member of the MiraiSphere Initiative and brings extensive experience in innovation and ecosystem development through leadership roles in academia, applied research, industry, and public policy.

A pioneer of professional career counseling in India, Dr. Amrita Dass is the Founder-Director of the Institute for Career Studies (ICS), established in 1985. An internationally recognized educationist, she serves as an advisor to leading policy bodies and institutions to champion evidence-based career development across global educational systems.

Dr. Drew Franklin is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Associate Dean of External Engagement at the University of Auckland Business School. His research focuses on marketing relationship dynamics, particularly trust, and the role of emerging technologies in business and marketing.​​​​

Laura Girella is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where her research focuses on corporate reporting, sustainability and integrated reporting, intangible assets, and corporate governance. She has published extensively in these areas and contributes to research on the evolution of sustainability reporting and value creation.

Founder and Trustee of Veritas Tech, Weihai (Bob) He advances AI, blockchain, and IoT solutions to drive sustainable development and carbon market innovation across the Asia-Pacific region. Building on his work with emerging technologies, he focuses on translating digital assets and innovation ecosystems into practical, high-impact applications for global sustainability.

Tomas Casas-Klett is a professor and Director of the China Competence Center at the U. of St. Gallen, as well as Index Director for the Elite Quality Index (EQx). Holding degrees from Wharton, Sophia, Fudan, and St. Gallen, he frequently leads international executive programs and collaborates on global political economy initiatives.

Marco Koeder is Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Valuufy, where he helps organizations translate stakeholder-focused value creation into measurable business strategy and competitive advantage through transparent sustainability intelligence. Marco has more than 25 years of international experience in marketing, digital innovation, and growth strategy across Europe and Japan.

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Dr. Billie Lythberg is a Senior Lecturer in Management and International Business at the University of Auckland and Associate Director (Research) of Juncture: Dialogues on Inclusive Capitalism. Her interdisciplinary research brings together business, anthropology, history, and Indigenous knowledge systems to explore inclusive economies, sustainability, organizational studies, and the relationship between cultural heritage and value creation.

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Gautam Mahajan is the Founder of the Creating Value Alliance (CVA), President of the Customer Value Foundation, and Founding Editor of the Journal of Creating Value. An internationally recognized thought leader in value creation, customer value, and business strategy, he has authored several books, advised global organizations, and works to advance value creation practices among businesses, academics, and leaders worldwide.

Swee Mak is Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Innovation at RMIT University. With extensive leadership experience across the research and innovation ecosystem, he specializes in building research capability, fostering industry–university collaboration, and translating innovation into real-world impact across sectors including technology, infrastructure, energy, health, and government.

Professor Anne-Laure Mention is a Professor of Innovation and Director of the Global Business Innovation Enabling Capability Platform at RMIT University. An internationally recognized scholar in open innovation and digital transformation, she advises global organizations on innovation strategy and sustainable value creation.

Professor Yuriko Nakao is a faculty member at Kansai University whose research focuses on management accounting, corporate value creation, and sustainability-related practices in organizations. Her work examines how accounting systems and management approaches support strategic decision-making and long-term value creation.

Founder of Kyoto’s Chiseikan Dojo and an 8th-degree black belt in Nenshinryu Budo, Yoshie Sugai integrates martial arts mastery into corporate leadership development through her BizDo framework. Serving as an advisor to the Value Research Center and Valuufy, she guides global executives to cultivate resilience, embodied leadership, and ethical decision-making for sustainable stakeholder value creation.

Stephen L. Vargo is Professor Emeritus of Marketing at the University of Oklahoma and a leading scholar in marketing theory and service research. He is best known for co-developing Service-Dominant Logic, a widely influential framework that reframes value creation as a collaborative process involving firms, customers, and broader ecosystems.​​

Susan Watson is the Dean of the University of Auckland Business School and a joint professor of law and business specializing in corporate governance and the evolution of the corporate form. An internationally recognized scholar and research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute, she leads the university's Juncture initiative to reshape inclusive capitalism and institutional design.

Stefano Zambon is a Professor of Business Administration and Accounting at the University of Ferrara. His research expertise includes intellectual capital, intangible assets, integrated reporting, corporate governance, and sustainability disclosure, and he has contributed extensively to international research initiatives on corporate value creation and reporting practices.