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Yannick Assouad is a graduate of the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon and the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago (1985).

She joined Thomson-CSF's Radars & Countermeasures business as an engineer in 1986, and later served as head of its thermal analysis department, then head of its thermal and mechanical engineering department. 

From 1998, she was technical director and then chief executive officer of SECAN (Société d'Études et de Constructions Aéronavales), the French subsidiary of Honeywell specialising in air conditioning systems for aircraft. She was appointed chairman of SECAN in 2000 and oversaw the aerospace company's recovery after the 2001 crisis.

In 2003, she joined Zodiac, initially as head of the services business of its Intertechnique subsidiary. Appointed to Zodiac Aerospace’s Executive Committee in 2007, she created the group-wide services business segment. 

In 2010, Assouad was appointed chief executive officer of Zodiac's Aircraft Systems segment, which was facing difficulties, and turned around the business through a policy of innovation, centralized purchasing and lean manufacturing. During this time, she also supervised the acquisition of the in-flight entertainment business IMS in California. In 2015, she became chief executive officer of Zodiac Cabin and was appointed to the executive board of Zodiac.

In 2016, she became chief executive officer of Latécoère.

Nick Ernest is developer of the Genetic Fuzzy Tree Artificial Intelligence methodology, PhD of aerospace engineering focusing in autonomous systems, and chief architect for Thales Avionics.

“I have employed our AI approach to a multitude of projects, including our Alpha system, an AI for Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles in high-fidelity simulations, as well as impactful applications within the C4ISR, biomedical, and autonomy domains among others,“ Ernest said. “My driving goal is to apply our novel, certifiable AI for mission/safety-critical applications.“

Pete Blackshaw is the Founder and CEO of BrandRank.AI, a Cincinnati-based startup and SaaS platform and service that helps brands measure, protect, and grow trust through the power of AI-driven search and discovery.

Blackshaw recently served as CEO of Cintrifuse, a startup catalyst, incubator, and venture fund backed by corporations such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Kroger Co. and considered a national role model.  At Cintrifuse, he and his team supported hundreds of startups.

Previously, Blackshaw was the global head of digital at Nestlé, Switzerland, the world's largest food company. He also served as CMO at NM Incite, a Nielsen and McKinsey joint venture, and started his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble, where he co-founded the first “Interactive Marketing“ team and later launched PlanetFeedback.com, a VC backed consumer feedback platform that was acquired by Nielsen.

Blackshaw is the author of “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000.“ He holds an MBA from Harvard and a bachelor’s from UC Santa Cruz.