An international, cross-industry career that has moved from corporate management to extensive research, advisory and capability development services to public, private and third sector organisations. Tim has lived and worked in the UK, France (3 years) and United States (20 years), building an impressive research and entrepreneurial record, with demonstrated commitment to delivering social benefit.

As Founder and President, World Commerce & Contracting (formerly International Association for Contract & Commercial Management), Tim has built a 72,000 member worldwide non-profit association which increasingly influences commercial policies and contracting practices in major corporations and governments. In September 2019, he was presented with the Financial Times ‘Market Shaper of the Year’ Award.

Tim was until recently Professor and Chair, International Commercial & Contract Management, University of Leeds, School of Law, where he taught and led development of inter-disciplinary commercial programs.

Prior to founding World Commerce & Contracting, Tim was on the Chairman’s staff at IBM Corporation and led the development of worldwide commercial processes and skills. His early career included management roles in banking, automotive and aerospace industries, where he led negotiations up to $1.5 billion in value. He has served in advisory roles for government departments in various countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan.

Adrian Furner has 30+ years' experience in the design, implementation, and delivery of commercial transactions using a wide portfolio of models from the simple traditional models though to new and novel business models. He has worked in a variety of sectors including defence and security, aviation, technology, infrastructure, banking and financial services, creative industries, public sector, and natural resources.

As an experienced practitioner Adrian is focused on 'Commercial Excellence', supporting organizations in developing and leveraging their 'commercial acumen' to gain better business outcomes. This includes: raising their commercial awareness; designing and implementing innovation models; and deploying relational contracting to enhance business performance.

Adrian held a number of VP/Director level commercial, procurement, and operations roles within FTSE30 organisations, giving him significant cross-border international experience ranging from complex capital intensive projects, thought to lower complexity operational opportunities. This includes: multi-billion £, long term Private Finance Initiative (PFI) bids; joint venture creation and management; outsourced training management; portfolio management; asset financing; civil aircraft sale, leasing and broking; M&As; technology innovation investment; and fully financed naval ship reactivations.

Adrian is a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), and an Honorary Fellow of World Commerce & Contracting (formerly IACCM), where he is a former member elected Board Director. He has a BEng in Production Engineering and Management from the University of Nottingham, and has also completed the London Business School Corporate Finance Programme along with executive education programmes at both Wharton Business School and Oxford Saïd Business School. Adrian has contributed to a number of books on commercial and contract management and co-authored the Professional Services Leadership Handbook (www.koganpage.com/pslh).

Craig is the lead partner for Legal Operate and has been working in contracting, contract management and tech enablement for over 20 years. Craig’s team focuses on legal managed services, providing solutions that are focused on delivering better business outcomes, lowering the cost of contracting and increasing speed and efficiency, while recognising that contracts are at the heart of an organisation.

Craig has unique expertise in creating contracting Centers of Excellence hubs and deploying contract enablement technologies, having assisted with the selection, implementation and management of dozens of platforms for many clients globally.

Prior to joining Deloitte Legal, Craig was first a practicing lawyer in New York with a focus on outsourcing and IT transactional law. He has previously held roles as head lawyer for Capgemini’s BPO practice, building global capabilities for legal, commercial and customer support; and Elevate where he built the organisation’s contract consulting capabilities. Craig is on the Board of Directors for World Commerce & Contracting and regularly speaks on industry innovations in contract and commercial management.

As Global CEO of one of the world’s fastest growing non-profits, Sally’s mission is to inspire and support the World Commerce & Contracting (WorldCC) team and global community to collectively drive recognition and excellence in Commercial and Contract Management.

She is an experienced and accomplished commercial and contracts management professional, holding senior commercial positions at a range of corporate and multi-national organizations. Her focus is on the creation of positive and successful business relationships, constantly striving to ensure that businesses realize their true potential and value.

In 2019 Sally was invited to become Chair of the Board for the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) and in 2021 she was appointed Professor in Practice in Strategy and Innovation at the University of Durham Business School.

For over two decades, Matt Patel has a passion for modernizing contract lifecycle management through process optimization and innovative AI technologies. Matt aims to solve complex business challenges with the ideal combination of modern technology and process, to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction. As COO and co-founder at Malbek, Matt is focused on delivering global enterprises with a CLM solution with essential integrations combined with trusted AI, to bring contracts into the digital age.

Deborah-Anne Strydom is originally from South Africa and has been working in telecommunications in various roles for over 18 years. She currently lives in China, having taken on a global role as a Senior Expert in Contract and Commercial Management for Huawei Technologies.

Her unconventional route to her current role has meant that she has worked in five distinctly different industries, although always with a focus on contracts and the pivotal role they play within an organisation. Over the years her role has evolved from a manager of contracts, and by proxy risk, to a senior global expert in Contract and Commercial Management. Today, she supports a staff complement of over 300 people in all countries and regions where the company operates through training, enablement, advice and her seemingly endless knowledge and curiosity for all things related to contracts and risk.

Her time off is spent lounging with her three cats, coffee, and a good book.

As Chief Procurement Officer at Proxima, Simon is accountable for driving product and product service innovation, market and media relations. His job means that he works with and advises executives procurement teams and vendors on all thing’s procurement now and next. He is a two-time failed tech entrepreneur, master shape shifter in PowerPoint and regular commentator in the media. As a father of two young girls when not working he spends his time moonlighting as a taxi driver, dinosaur or being ridden around his house like a horse.  

My career has been shaped by bold ambition, determination, and a commitment to transformative leadership. For over a decade, I have worked in the commercial field, navigating
complex legal landscapes and high-stakes environments. At just 27, I became Head of Legal, Europe, for a $25 billion U.S. corporation. By 29, I stepped into a similar role at a Fortune 500 company, where I built a reputation for resolving complex commercial disputes.

After being recognised for my contributions to business by Baroness Sharmishta Chakrabarti, I was recruited by the UK Government to lead Brexit Assurance efforts, establish its first pan-government disputes practice, and lead and optimise multi-billion-pound commercial portfolios across central government on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

In addition to my professional pursuits, I am a mother of three children, which has deepened my ability to balance competing demands and approach challenges with resilience and perspective. Whether navigating business or the challenges of motherhood, the principles of empathy, patience, and tenacity apply across all spheres of life.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with governments, multinationals, military organisations, and venture-backed startups. Colleagues often describe me as a very calm authority, with very outside-the-box thinking. My contributions have been featured in The Times and Forbes, and I was named one of the top five women in business by Management Today and Accenture.

Today, as CEO of Resolutiion, a global technology company, I am redefining how organizations manage conflicts and disputes, creating solutions that foster resilience, trust, and strengthen relationships. As both a leader and a mother, I’m passionate about building adaptable, resilient organisations that are ready to face the complexities of tomorrow with confidence.

I am honoured to have served as an official UN Women Delegate for a fourth consecutive year, advocating for global gender equality.
 

BRIAN W TANG is founding executive director of Law, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Lab, the award-winning interdisciplinary and experiential programme at University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Law (LITE Lab@HKU). His current wide-ranging research areas cover AI governance, emerging capital markets for tokenized securities and carbon markets, sustainable financing and the role and impact of technology on the future delivery of legal services and education.

Brian is a member of the Microsoft-SMU Asian Dialogue on AI Governance and was a member of the IEEE Standards Association’s Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems Policy Committee. Brian has authored or co-authored chapters in Artificial Intelligence in Finance (Edward Elgar, 2023), The AI Book (Wiley, 2020), The Regtech Book (Wiley, 2017), The Fintech Book (Wiley, 2016) and Reconceptualizing Global Finance and its Regulation (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Brian is part of the small vanguard of educators incorporating generative AI into his teaching and has applied his pedagogy to upskilling in-house lawyers, and also leads a climate contracting initiative involving leading law firms and legal departments in collaboration with The Chancery Lane Project.

Brian previously spent nearly 20 years at global investment bank Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, and at law firms Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and California and Mallesons in Perth, Australia.

Brian is co-chair of the Asia Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (ALITA), APAC Regional board member of Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL), and board member of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong.

I am a relentless optimist. I am passionate about building legal and operational infrastructure for the new economy.

I am on a mission to unburden creative minds. That mission involves the creation of a digital infrastructure required for scalable, automated, repeatable, and responsible data-access, supporting the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

All paths have led me to this point. Throughout my career, the roles I held involved shaping new legal systems, forming new departments or creating a new function.

I have a unique background and experience having held various senior in-house roles including General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Policy and Legal adviser within a Financial Services Regulator, and I was Partner at international Law Firm, Clyde & Co LLP. My career fuses the complex and interconnected worlds of regulation and technology having advised the private and public sectors on FinTech, Blockchain, ICOs, cryptocurrencies, Smart initiatives, artificial intelligence, and innovation. I have an insider’s understanding of regulation. I understand the challenges and I know what needs to be done.

As Honorary Research Professor at UCL, I coordinate UCL’s RegTech collaborations and projects together with my colleague, Philip Treleaven.

Natalia Crnomarkovic is an award-winning digital transformation executive leader with over 20 years of experience in strategic innovation, digital transformation, contract intelligence, legal informatics, and as a senior lawyer specializing in IP and technology transactions. Natalia leads the Future Law Portfolio at the Australasian Society for Computers and Law, a multidisciplinary, intergenerational think tank aiming to co-design the future of technology, law, and society. In this role, Natalia collaborates with C-suite executives, regulators, academics, lawyers, GRC, and technology professionals to develop thought leadership with global reach on topics such as the responsible use of GenAI in the Law, Rules as Code, Regulatory Digital Twins, and next-generation contracting (also known as Smart Legal Contracts). In previous roles, Natalia led the Ernst & Young APAC Law Innovation Hub and Oceania Law Technology team and as Distinguished Fellow with the Centre for Legal Innovation provided thought leadership on Digital Contracting for NetZero.

Michael Gormley Jr. has been with the CobbleStone Software team since January of 2018. Michael progressed through his career at CobbleStone becoming a Senior Account Manager and then CobbleStone Sales Manager. During Michael’s time with CobbleStone, he has assisted many clients in the evaluation and onboarding process to present the numerous benefits of CobbleStone’s CLM software, provided advanced support with client contract administration requirements, assisted with a frictionless implementation process, and supported post execution activities to ensure a positive client ROI.

Natasha is one of the world’s pre-eminent Live Contract experts. She is recognized in Chambers as a global fintech expert with technical product design experience and deep legal understanding as a co-author of the seminal 2022 Oxford text on SLCs and is also a contributing author to the upcoming 2025 text, “Private Law: Digital Assets and Infrastructure.”
Founder of Chambers ranked national tech law firm Stirling & Rose and former Global Head of Digital Law at a major international law firm, Natasha advises Legal Commissions on SLCs, DAOs, and digital assets in the UK and Australia and has been awarded the Financial Times Most Innovative Lawyer, Thought Leader of the Year, Finalist Partner of the Year, and Innovator of the Year.  
 

With almost 30 years in International Sales and Marketing, Issy’s professional pedigree speaks for itself. As WorldCC’s Director of Strategic Alliances, Americas, Issy is devoted to learning as much as she can about an organization’s mission, its strategy, and its people. Issy guides and advises with enthusiastic imagination and an energy few can match. She is trusted and respected, and will always go the extra mile to ensure that clients are reassured of the value of the partnership she will craft between them and WorldCC.