Sophia Couto Rocha, Founder, Skin Soul & Chief Tranformation Officer, Lusiadas Saude
An MD with long-standing experience in the field, Sofia Couto da Rocha is Founder of Skin Soul, a start-up using AI to detect skin cancer, which she successfully exited and then moved into corporate health care as Chief Transformation Officer at Lusíadas Saúde, part of the largest private health group in the world, UnitedHealth Group. A serial entrepreneur who had launched two prior start-ups in the health tech field before founding Skin Soul in 2018, she’s now developing new products within Lusiadas’ umbrella. A member of the Health Parliament Portugal IT Commission and of the Portuguese National Medical IT Commission, she also works to shape public policy and create frameworks that will allow new technologies to become standard health care practice. With degrees from MIT and Harvard Medical School, she has been awarded for her work in Biotechnology, Leadership and Digital, and was recognized at the Global Impact Challenge of Singularity University in Silicon Valley.
Milene Guermont, CEO, Maison Guermont (France)
Milene Guermont is an artist, engineer and inventor whose innovations combine engineering and art through collaborations with partners. Her work has been exhibited internationally. Her monumental sculpture, PHARES, was selected among 13,000 projects to be the only artwork of the final report on UNESCO’s International Year of Light. In 2020, she was named an Eisenhower Fellow, laureate of Vox Femina – Notable Women, and received the M&H Wagner Award for her leadership and commitment to making the world better. She is currently working with 80 companies of excellence to create a total habitable artwork combining ancestral know-how & hi-tech: MAISON GUERMONT.
Joana Rafael, COO and Co-Founder, Sensei (Portugal)
Joana Rafael is a Co-Founder at Sensei, a Lisbon-based computer vision company with a mission to make shopping seamless, pleasant, and more efficient with AI powered Autonomous Stores. Sensei, which has been named one of the 'Hottest European Startups' by WIRED magazine, launched the first autonomous store in Europe in May 2021 opened to the public in partnership with a large European retailer. With in-depth knowledge of retail operations, she is also Sensei’s Chief Operating Officer, responsible for operations, partnerships, people/HR and legal. In addition, she serves as Vice-President at the Portuguese Industry Association and as an Advisory Board member of CIONET, the largest organization of IT executives worldwide. In 2019, she was awarded the Women Entrepreneurship Award by Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics -- Center for Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship.