Speakers

As a technology-first leader and CEO with a proven track record as a CIO and CTO, I specialize in leveraging innovation to drive business transformation, operational excellence, and sustainable growth. With over 22 years of experience in distribution, logistics, and enterprise technology, I have consistently aligned technology strategies with business objectives to deliver measurable results and position organizations for long-term success. I lead with a player-coach mentality, balancing strategic vision with hands-on execution, and thrive as a change agent who transforms challenges into opportunities. As a culture provider, I believe true success comes from fostering innovation, accountability, and a shared commitment to excellence. Leadership Highlights Business Transformation Through Technology: Spearheaded digital transformation initiatives including e-commerce revitalization, ERP modernization, and IoT-enabled logistics, driving double-digit revenue growth and operational efficiency. Strategic Growth and Integration: Integrated 12 firms, enhancing scalability by 25 percent and contributing to 51.7 million dollars in monthly revenue while building a unified, agile enterprise. Operational Excellence: Reduced inventory discrepancies by 40 percent, optimized fleet operations for a network of more than 150 trucks, and implemented AI-powered analytics to improve forecasting and decision-making. Culture Builder: Fostered innovation and accountability, modernized HR processes to save 855 thousand dollars annually, and introduced workforce automation to enhance productivity. My CEO Focus Technology as a Growth Driver: Championing technology as a strategic enabler for business growth and competitive advantage. Player-Coach Leadership: Leading from the front, combining strategic vision with hands-on execution to inspire teams and deliver results. Change Agent for Transformation: Driving enterprise-wide change through mergers and acquisitions, digital transformation, and operational innovation. Culture Provider: Building high-performance teams and fostering collaboration, innovation, and accountability. I am passionate about leading organizations at the intersection of technology and business strategy, creating value through innovation, and building teams that deliver transformative results. My vision is to lead as a CEO, leveraging my expertise in technology, mergers and acquisitions, and leadership to drive scalable growth and position companies for success in an ever-evolving digital economy. Let’s connect to discuss technology-driven leadership, business transformation, or strategic growth opportunities.

Antoinette Mkwapatira is the Ecommerce Engineering Manager at Hanesbrands Inc., where she leads Adobe Commerce for the company’s U.S. and Canadian sites, as well as the QA and test automation teams. With more than 20 years of experience in ecommerce—spanning agencies and brands of all sizes—Antoinette brings deep technical expertise and a passion for building seamless customer experiences. She’s excited to share insights from her journey at Meet Magento and connect with others in the community.

Nicanor is the co-founder and CIO of Improntus, an esteemed agency empowering some of the world’s leading brands on Magento and Adobe Commerce for over eight years. With a background as a programmer and architect dating back to the early days of Magento 1, his journey has evolved into a passion for driving innovation and creating cutting-edge products. He’s also a professional pilot and flight instructor but, for now, AI projects have him firmly on the ground.

Liana leads AI strategy & implementation at scandiweb, where she’s responsible for turning eCommerce bottlenecks into practical use cases. At scandiweb’s AI Accelerator, she works closely with developers, analysts, and creative and commerce teams to move from idea to working solution in record time.

Stefan is Founder and CEO of TechDivision GmbH a provider for Digital Commerce , Omnichannel and agilisation. He has more than 15 years of experience in this area. Beyond he is an outspoken evangelist for open source and supports a serios number of national and international brands on their eCommerce and Omnichannel activities. Besides he is a gladly seen speaker at international conferences for digitization in commerce and company transformation in the new work environment.

Christopher Dowson is a UK-based freelance designer who has spent more than twenty-five years persuading pixels to stand up straight and behave. As My First Raygun, he works with publishers, SMEs, agencies and SaaS outfits, putting the right things on the screen and quietly escorting the wrong things to the exit. He speaks human to engineers, prefers meetings that end suspiciously early, and believes interfaces should look like they know what they’re doing. He also owns a meticulously catalogued library of several thousand typefaces from which, with the serene inevitability of gravity and a sudden need for tea, he invariably selects the same three.

A web standards and accessibility enthusiast. Connecting business and technology at various conference talks. With extensive experience working with Magento since 2008, starting as a full-stack developer and later as a business and omni-channel technology consultant and agency founder. Been recognized as a Magento Master:Maker on several occasions. Also the organizer of Meet Magento Poland and Meet Commerce series focused on unified commerce technologies. A former board member and vice chair of the Magento Association. The host of the new Shaping Commerce podcast.

Nigel Leadbitter is an experienced eCommerce expert and Account Manager at Magebit, helping merchants grow through smarter use of technology. With a background in guiding brands across multiple industries, he focuses on creating strategies that improve customer experience, boost sales, and simplify operations. In his free time, Nigel is also a passionate screenwriter, bringing creativity and storytelling into everything he does.

Adobe commerce developer. 7x certified. Father and husband. Traveler. Drummer. Runner. Working with Magento from M1 days.

Damien Retzinger — a man who has somehow mastered the dark arts of web development, Kubernetes, and Magento without summoning any actual demons… that we know of. He’s the kind of developer who can take an infrastructure problem, sprinkle in some YAML, a dash of Angular, and a pinch of GitHub Actions, and somehow make it work before your coffee gets cold. When he’s not wrangling cloud deployments or keeping eCommerce stores from imploding on Black Friday, he’s probably inventing new ways to make developers laugh and cry at the same time.

Sulaiman (Manny) Farooqi is a seasoned professional with over 22 years of extensive experience in Magento Open Source and Commerce, specializing in eCommerce, digital marketing, and information technology. His deep expertise in Magento has enabled him to implement high-performing online stores, optimize user experiences, and drive substantial growth in sales and customer engagement. Currently, he is leading the Clarience Technologies Work Truck Division as a Sr. Director of ecommerce and Digital Strategy overseeing all aspects of Digital and eCommerce. Overall, Sulaiman (Manny) Farooqi combines his extensive Magento expertise with a strategic mindset and a passion for digital marketing, making significant contributions to the field of eCommerce and establishing himself as a prominent figure in the industry.

Mathias comes from a background in advertising in the music industry. After venturing into musical instrument wholesale he moved to the advertising side of things in the late 90s. He then spent over 20 years in OpenSource, bridging the gap between development and businesses. Since 2023 he serves the Magento Community as Executive Director of the Magento Association. In his few hours off Magento he tries to master the guitar while co-raising kids in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Marsha has been a driving force in the Magento community for nine years. She has worked internationally in multiple sectors across geographic and cultural boundaries. Her motivation includes strengthening communities and relationships to maximise benefit. She has hosted and supported high profile events including Meet Magento New York and Women in eCommerce events, is an active contributor of the Magento Association and is an international speaker. You have probably met her at a number of community and industry events or had the pleasure of attending one of her talks.