The Disruptor 50 is CNBC’s annual list of breakthrough venture-backed startups developing revolutionary new technology into scalable business models to challenge big public incumbents.
Join us in San Francisco for Disruptor 50 Connect, a newly reimagined event which combines high-level networking with a community of startup founders and CEOs, venture capitalists and other special invited guests and an engaging on-stage program hosted by CNBC Media and Tech Correspondent Julia Boorstin.
Omer is a renowned computer geek turned entrepreneur who has achieved two corporate exits and is a mentor at the Israeli Cyber Center. He is now focused on leading BeeHero in its efforts to safeguard the global food supply by promoting the health of bees and other pollinators. Understanding the vital role of pollinators in the ecosystem and the food supply chain, Omer’s mission is to future-proof agriculture by providing innovative solutions that ensure sustainable and healthy practices.
BeeHero is a technology-driven company committed to transparency, collaboration, and sustainability. Its cutting-edge technology delivers real-time data-driven insights to help growers and beekeepers make informed decisions to promote bee welfare and ensure a sustainable food supply. Omer’s passion for promoting sustainable agriculture stems from his love for nature and his commitment to future generations. He was also an Israeli Champion in horse showjumping and loves surfing.
Vijay Karunamurthy is the field Chief Technology Officer at Scale AI, where he works to democratize the capabilities of Generative AI and Large Language Models, partnering with large model providers, governments, and Fortune 500 companies. Prior to Scale, Vijay was a Director of Engineering at Apple and Google, where he worked on applications of AI for personalizing human interfaces. Vijay was an early employee at YouTube (prior to the acquisition by Google), and led Search and Discovery as well as collaborations with media, entertainment, and advertising agencies. He holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a MS in Computer Science from Stanford University, and an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Kim Scott is the author of Just Work and Radical Candor and co-founder of a company that helps people put the ideas in her books into practice. Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies. She was a member of the faculty at Apple University and before that led AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google.
Bijal Shah is the Chief Experience Officer and Head of Platform at Guild, a Public Benefit Corporation partnering with America’s largest companies to deliver employer-funded education, skilling, and career mobility services to their workforces.
As CXO, Shah drives a world class member experience for the millions of eligible employees Guild serves on its Career Mobility Platform(™) — with a mission of unlocking economic opportunity for America’s workforce. She leads teams that combine human expertise with technology in innovative ways, including product, technology, analytics, coaching, and customer success functions.
Shah’s work supports Guild’s partnerships with leading employers, including Walmart, Chipotle, Discover, Hilton, Target, The Walt Disney Company, and healthcare systems such as Providence Health and UC Health. Guild has earned recognition on Fortune’s Change The World List, as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies, and with Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award.
Before Guild, Shah held executive roles at Ibotta and in corporate strategy at Visa. She works with the Board of Directors of Girls, Inc. and was named one of Denver Business Journals’ 40 Under 40 recipients. Shah graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Sloan School of Management. She lives in Denver with her husband and two children.
*Agenda subject to change
5:00pm PT
5:50pm
The companies on the 11th annual CNBC Disruptor 50 list are tackling some of society’s biggest challenges. Three leaders from this year’s list join us on stage to discuss the broader issues facing new and growing companies, from developing AI capabilities, to managing customer data, dealing with regulators, scaling and building brands, and much more.
Omer Davidi, BeeHero Founder & CEO
Vijay Karunamurthy, Scale AI Field Chief Technology Officer
Bijal Shah, Guild Chief Experience Officer & Head of Platform
Moderator: Julia Boorstin, CNBC Senior Media & Tech Correspondent
6:15pm
“Being a CEO is a horrible job,” says renowned CEO coach and author Kim Scott. “You’re the CEO because you had no other choice.” And in Silicon Valley, amid an intense war for talent, and never-ending pressure to grow and innovate, the job of a startup CEO isn’t getting any easier. Help is here, though. For our keynote conversation, we deliver some radically candid advice for founders and CEOs.
Kim Scott, Radical Candor Co-Founder
Interviewer: Julia Boorstin, CNBC Senior Media & Tech Correspondent
6:45pm
8:00pm
NYSE Group is a subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure. NYSE Group’s equity exchanges — the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE American, NYSE Arca, NYSE Chicago and NYSE National — trade more U.S. equity volume than any other exchange group. The NYSE is the premier global venue for capital raising. NYSE Arca Options and NYSE Amex Options are leading equity options exchanges. To learn more, visit nyse.com
Anna is SoFi’s Chief People Officer, responsible for the company’s total talent strategy. Her career spans large, global organizations with fast-paced growth environments, and she has a breadth of experience building teams and business. Prior to SoFi, Anna led HR for Tesla’s EMEA region. She previously spent 14 years at Stryker, where she began her career in product operations and business unit leadership before she transitioned into several HR functions. Anna holds a BA in Communications and an MBA from the University of Arizona.
Adam Davidson is Founder and CEO of Masterful Storytelling, a company that helps founders and funders engage investors, leadership teams, customers, and others through a more powerful company story.
Adam co-founded NPR’s Planet Money and was economics writer for The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker. His book, The Passion Economy, was named a best business book of the year by Amazon’s editors. Adam’s clear, compelling economic reporting has won many major awards, including a Peabody, Polk, and Columbia-DuPont. He often consults with Hollywood on films dealing with finance, including The Big Short, Dumb Money, and others. He lives in Vermont.
Emilie Gerber is the founder & CEO of Six Eastern, a tech PR agency that works exclusively with startups and VC firms, specializing in fast-moving, high-impact communications programs that put results first. Prior to starting Six Eastern, Emilie worked at Uber where she led communications for the Business Development team. Before that, she worked on Product Communications at Box.
Gayle Jennings-O'Byrne is CEO of Wocstar Capital, and co-founder of the Wocstar Fund, an early-stage venture fund that invests in the future of consumption and innovation using a female arbitrage strategy -- women of color tech entrepreneurs (“WOCstars”). Gayle (pronounced: Gay-lä) was named "10 Women Changing the Landscape of Leadership" by the New York Times, March 2021 and Top 10 Women of Influence in Venture Capital by Venture Capital Journal, July 2022. She is an instructor at Wocstar Academy and co-founder of the Ally Capital Collab, an initiative to tackle systemic underinvestment in women of color fund managers.
Gayle has over 30+ years of wall street, technology, philanthropy, training, and professional speaking experience. She is a former mergers and acquisitions banker at JPMorgan. She led the capital/planning effort for the Cinema High School, 1st public high school of its kind. She began her career at Sun Microsystems.
She is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business, the University of Michigan, and an attendee of the National University of Singapore and the City of London Polytechnic.
Gayle is President of The Nantucket Project Academy and former board member of Women.NYC, NYC Economic Development Corporation and current board member of BE.NYC (Black Entrepreneurs), NYC Department of Small Business Services. Gayle is a 2022 recipient of the U.S. Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021 Tri-Delta Woman of Achievement Award. Associate Producer of "Thoughts of a Colored Man" a Broadway play (October 2021) and investor in “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf” (April 2022) which was nominated for seven Tony Awards.
