The speaker lineup of #quantumsummit23 is online!

Dr Marianne Janik has been CEO of Microsoft Germany since March 2021. She reports to Ralph Haupter, Corporate Vice President Microsoft EMEA. 

Marianne Janik has been responsible for the management of Microsoft Switzerland as Country General Manager since July 2015. Prior to that, she was responsible for the areas of public administration, education and healthcare in the management of Microsoft Germany for around four years. She was able to achieve continuous growth in this central business area for Microsoft and successfully accompany her customers in their innovation and transformation process. 

Born in France and with a doctorate in law, she has many years of sales and management experience in various companies and industries. Marianne Janik started her professional career at Daimler Benz AG in the Public Affairs department. Subsequently, she took over the contract department at an EADS subsidiary and then the sales department for public authorities, the German Armed Forces and industrial customers. 

Marianne Janik is strongly committed to the digital transformation, especially in the areas of innovation, security and education and training. 

Among other things, she is a member of the executive committee of the German digital association Bitkom and a member of the board of directors of AmCham Germany.

Robert Axmann studied aerospace engineering in Munich and Cranfield (United Kingdom) and holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering. He also holds a degree in business administration. Robert Axmann has worked for the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for 19 years. He has been head of the DLR Quantum Computing Initiative since 2021.

Since 27 January 2022 - Commissioner of BMWK for the Digital Economy and Startups 

As of 5 January 2022 - Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy 

Since 2017 - Member of the German Bundestag 

2013 -2017 - Head of Office for the Minister and policy officer for fundamental policy issues in science policy at the Ministry for Science, Stuttgart 

2008 – 2013 - Academic working for various women’s networks and mentoring programmes, and at the Centre for Democracy at Zurich University 

2008 - Part of the constituency staff at the office of Theresia Bauer, Member of the State Parliament 

2003 - Member of ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS 

2002 - 2008 - Student of political sciences, economics and mathematics (Heidelberg) 

2008 - 2013 - Doctoral thesis on ‘The limits of direct democracy’ at Bern University and the University of California

Prof. Dr. Tommaso Calarco has pioneered the application of quantum optimal control methods to quantum computation and to many-body quantum systems. Currently the Director of the Institute for Quantum Control of the Peter Grünberg Institute at Forschungszentrum Jülich and Professor of Quantum Information at the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the University of Cologne, Tommaso received his PhD at the University of Ferrara and started to work as a postdoc in the group of P. Zoller at the University of Innsbruck. He was appointed as a Senior Researcher at the BEC Centre in Trento in 2004 and as a Professor for Physics at the University of Ulm in 2007, where he then became Director of the Institute for Complex Quantum Systems and of the Centre for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology. He has authored in 2016 the Quantum Manifesto, which initiated the European Commission’s Quantum Flagship initiative, and is currently the Chairman of one of the Flagship’s Governing Bodies: The Quantum Community Network (QCN). In 2020, together with the QCN, he has launched an initiative towards the creation of a consortium of European quantum industries, which has been legally established in 2021 under the name of European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC).

Heike Riel is IBM Fellow, Head of Science & Technology and Head of IBM Research Quantum Europe & Africa. She leads the research agenda and operations of the Science & Technology Division with the goal of achieving scientific and technological breakthroughs in quantum computing and technologies, artificial intelligence physics, nanoscience and nanotechnology, and exploring new directions in computing.