Sandrine Bardot is the founder of The Bardot Group, which specializes in compensation and benefits consulting and training, mostly throughout the GCC, Asia and Africa. Prior to her work at The Bardot Group, she held compensation and benefits positions at Microsoft, Airbus, Apple, Philips, Fiat and more, leading to Global Head of Performance and Reward at Majid Al Futtaim in Dubai and then Mubadala in Abu Dhabi. As part of her outreach to educate the HR community, Bardot authors the blog Compensation Insider.com, with over 300 articles published to date, which inspires HR leaders and practitioners on topics related to the Employee Value Proposition. A regular speaker at HR conferences, Bardot has a master’s degree in business (with specialization in HR) from ESC Amiens and a BSc in International Management from Bath Spa University

Irfan Duraiz recently established Qatar Free Zones’ HR function. He has held senior positions in rewards, compensation, benefits, performance management, HR, and people analytics at Philip Morris International, Friesland Campina Engro (Foods), QIA, Saudi Cable Company, and IFFCO (an MNC from UAE). Duraiz has worked on rewards transformation projects, led projects where pay bands were revamped from broadband to narrow and vice versa. While leading HR for Saudi Cable Company, Duraiz was responsible for international remuneration for the GCC region. Duraiz has a bachelor’s degree from London Metropolitan University. He studied management excellence at Harvard Business School and manpower planning and HR budgeting at The George Washington University.

Pat Gurren is the principal of Gurren Compensation. He has over 30 years of experience working with organizations globally to address and resolve their remuneration challenges. Earlier in his career, he served in many global roles at Intel, culminating with the position Global Head of Compensation & Benefits Operations, and at Motorola and Digital Equipment Corporation.  In 2004, Gurren established his compensation consulting practice, Gurren Compensation, where has worked with over 160 organizations to address their reward challenges. He works across all areas of rewards and has a passion for helping organizations align their Total Rewards strategies with business objectives and organizational culture. Gurren received a bachelor’s of business studies, HR management from the University of Limerick.

Alan Gibbons is Managing Director of The Reward Practice, an international consultancy with offices in London, Zurich, Luxemburg, Dublin and throughout the U.S. The firm helps organizations create effective and consistent reward strategies across North America and the European Union. With over 30 years of experience, Gibbons was previously a Senior Partner at KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Global Head of Reward and Performance Management at Accenture. Gibbons has worked with many international companies, with rewards experience in banking, retail, brewing, manufacturing, communications, and hi-tech. In the public sector, he has worked extensively in health services, law enforcement and prison services, the judiciary, and education.  

Located in the United States, Sharma is responsible for the strategy, development, implementation and evaluation of comp and ben programs globally. 

Mario Ceron is Managing Partner and CEO of Zereon Associates GmbH, a Zurich-based boutique management consultancy, and a part-time compensation counselor for KPMG. He is a trusted compensation and HR senior advisor, trainer and speaker with more than 20 years of experience in complex multi-country, multi-divisional organizations. Ceron’s earlier global experience encompassed executive and broad-based rewards, international mobility/expat management, HR services/HRIS and talent management at Indra, SRTechnics, Ball Corporation, Ecolab, Altadis-Imperial Tobacco, Mercer and Arthur Andersen. He holds two international EMBAs (ESADE-Babson College Boston and ESCP-Paris Chamber of Commerce) and a master’s degree in business/labor economics (ICADE Madrid). He has taught courses on remuneration and mobility internationally, authored a book on executive remuneration, and is a  Zurich International HR Community Forum member. Ceron received a master’s degree in business administration from Universidad Pontificia Comillas.

Hovy Hovy is the founder of Hovy Reward Solutions, a consultancy specializing in the strategic design and implementation of global rewards, regional and country-specific Total Rewards, compensation, benefits, market analysis and competitiveness. Hovy has over 20 years' experience in consulting and executive roles in global advisory firms and multinationals headquartered in the U.S., Europe and Africa. Before launching her business, Hovy was Director Comp & Ben, Asia Pacific, Cisco Systems. Her consulting experience spans several industries and continents including Principal at Ernst & Young Australia and Partner and Head of Human Capital at KPMG, South Africa. Hovy has developed global rewards training courses for WorldatWork and presented GRP® certification modules in the U.S., Asia Pacific, and Africa. She is a past member of the WorldatWork Global Advisory Board and Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute. In 2012, Hovy received the South African Reward Association’s "Legend of Reward" award for her pioneering role in building the reward profession in Southern Africa. Hovy holds a bachelor of science, honours in education, diploma in datametrics, and a certificate in labor relations management.

Enad Abu Naser is Total Rewards Manager for Toyota Motor Corporation. He brings extensive Total Rewards experience to his classes, with a particular focus on strategic reward planning, benefits, compensation, performance management and legal compliance. Previously head of compensation & benefits for the Arabian Gulf region of Nestle Waters, Naser has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Yarmouk University.

Rony Klayany is a Senior Compensation and Performance Specialist at Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation. He has  more than 17 years of experience leading strategic and operational initiatives at start-ups and established corporations. His broad background has sharpened his organizational and analytical skills and has helped him develop core competencies in strategic planning, HR management, effective communication, and training and development. Klayany has taught many courses in professional development, leadership development, performance management, customer service and management training. He applies blended instructional design techniques and methodologies to inspire and motivate. Klayany has a bachelor’s of business administration from Lebanese University.

Susana Marcos is the CEO, Managing Partner of Peoplematters. She has a vast experience in designing and implementing rewards systems and models of HR management. Prior to her work at Peoplematters, Marcos was Partner-Human Capital Practice Leader at Watson Wyatt, HR Manager at BBVA, and Change Management Senior Consultant at Accenture. An advisor to remuneration committees and executive boards, she is also an executive board member for Space Management Consulting and the Lontana Group. Marcos graduated from Universidad Complutense de Madrid.