6 highly anticipated talks at Web Summit 2022

Web Summit’s most anticipated talks this year include marketing trends from Lego’s Julia Goldin, F1 insights with Toto Wolff, and a glimpse into the future of smart homes with Amazon Alexa’s Rohit Prasad.

Have you downloaded the Web Summit mobile app and started to plan your schedule yet? To get you inspired, here are some of the talks attendees are looking forward to at Web Summit 2022.

Marketing in 2023

Day: Thursday, November 3

Time: 11.50am – 12.10pm

What will marketing look like in 2023? What will be the biggest trends? Who better to ask than Sir Martin Sorrell – a seasoned expert in this space – and Julia Goldin, the global chief product and marketing officer for one of the world’s best known and loved brands, Lego.

Sir Martin Sorrell is the founder and CEO of S4 Capital, a global advertising, marketing services and digital production company. The ad veteran has been in the industry for more than 40 years – from the era of Mad Men to the digital age.

Having started a career at Saatchi & Saatchi, Sir Martin eventually became the company’s CEO. In 2000, Sir Martin went on to found WPP, which became the world’s largest advertising and marketing services company. Sir Martin left WPP in 2018 to start S4 Capital.

As global chief product and marketing officer for Lego, Julia Goldin is responsible for the overall product and marketing strategy for the company. With more than 20 years of experience in the toy and consumer product industry, the UC Berkeley alum has held positions at Mattel, Hasbro and Spin Master.

Giving F1 a tech edge

Day: Thursday, November 3

Time: 11.30am – 11.50am

This F1 talk has zoomed into the rankings of most-anticipated talks at Web Summit 2022 for a reason. Toto Wolff, team principal and CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 Team, will be taking to the stage.

Toto will be in conversation with Oliver Steil, chairman and CEO of remote desktop software firm TeamViewer, in a session moderated by F1 TV commentator Rosanna Tennant.

The millionaire Austrian is best known as a former racing driver who competed in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) and Porsche Supercup, winning the latter in 2005.

In 2012, the racing veteran bought a minority stake in the Williams F1 team, and became the team’s executive director in 2013. Toto remained with Williams until joining Mercedes-AMG in January 2014. The seasoned racer has been team principal of the Silver Arrows ever since.

Revolut’s got a plan

Day: Wednesday, November 2

Time: 4.30pm – 4.50pm

Since its launch in 2015, Revolut has quickly become one of the most successful fintech startups in Europe. Valued at more than US$33 billion, its app has been downloaded more than 15 million times.

Revolut has achieved success by offering a unique product that combines the best features of a traditional bank account with the convenience of a digital wallet, allowing users to hold, exchange and transfer multiple currencies, as well as to make free or instant international money transfers.

But what is next for this fintech juggernaut? And will it continue to grow with a global recession looming? Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky will share thoughts with us in this Centre Stage talk.

Ideas worth spreading: TED’s message to Web Summit

Day: Wednesday, November 2

Time: 12.35pm – 1pm

TED talks are iconic. They range from behavioural psychology (Brene Brown’s ‘The power of vulnerability’) to whimsical self help (Dan Harris’s ‘The benefits of not being a jerk to yourself’), and cover everything possible in between.

If you’re not familiar with TED, the format is short, powerful talks on a variety of topics, typically given by experts in their fields. The talks are meant to be thought-provoking and inspirational, and they are often recorded and made available online for free.

TED is such a well known brand, that it has been granted meme status across social media: “Thank you for coming to my TED talk.”

To get an understanding of the kinds of talks that are selected and why, come and enjoy TED curator Chris Anderson sharing, well, ideas worth sharing.

Alexa’s next AI trick: Disappearing

Day: Wednesday, November 2

Time: 10am – 10.20am

The concept of ambient intelligence refers to technology that is seamlessly integrated into our everyday lives and responds to our needs and preferences. An example would be a ‘smart home’ or ‘smart city’, where buildings and infrastructure are equipped with sensors and connected to a network that can collect and process data.

This data is then used to make our lives easier, for example by automatically adjusting the temperature or lighting in our homes, or by providing real-time information about traffic conditions.

Many homes already have an aspect of this in the form of Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa, which can control everything from lighting and heating to your kettle or television. In this session, Amazon’s senior VP and head scientist for Alexa, Rohit Prasad, will be talking about the future of Alexa and ambient intelligence. This is definitely one for the gadgets fans.

Q&A with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

Day: Wednesday, November 2

Time: 11am – 11.30am

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is arguably the biggest personality in the crypto world, and this hotly anticipated Q&A comes at a time when the cryptocurrency market is recovering from a tumultuous year.

CZ is the co-founder and CEO of Binance, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges. In 2005, CZ founded Fusion Systems, a high-frequency trading software development company. Then, in 2017, CZ saw the potential of blockchain tech and co-founded Binance with fellow entrepreneur Yi He.

Binance quickly became one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, with more than 20 million users (in 2022), according to EarthWeb.

Is crypto still worth betting on? In a period of uncertainty and instability for the global economy, could it present a more attractive investment option than fiat currencies? We can’t wait to find out what CZ’s thinking.

There are many more talks taking place across 25-plus tracks at Web Summit 2022. Check them out.

Main image of Web Summit Centre Stage: Sam Barnes/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)