The adobo Festival of Ideas is once again bringing highly-acclaimed speakers from different parts of the globe who are flying straight to the Philippines specifically for the festival. This year’s roster of speakers will be touching on how different sectors connect and collaborate in previously unseen ways that could help change the way we run businesses, transform how we live our lives, and ultimately change the world.

Patrick Renucci is the founder of Median Impressions, one of the largest printing companies in Paris. Now he runs Chen Yi Agventures in Leyte together with wife Rachel, having left behind his previous life to help out farmers affected by Typhoon Yolanda.

Rachel Renucci worked as a fund manager, but after seeing the onslaught Yolanda brought to Leyte, she decided with husband Patrick to build a state-of-the-art milling facility, Chen Yi Agventures, that would help provide farmers in Leyte a better livelihood.

Tuomas Peltoniemi has been in digital marketing for about 20 years, working where technology, strategy, creative and business intersects since the late ’90s. Currently R/GA’s EVP, Managing Director for APAC, Tuomas oversees the company’s business across Asia-Pacific.

Alexander de Leon currently heads the overall product strategy and go-to-market initiatives for Instagram Asia-Pacific. Before joining the photo-sharing app, he worked for Google and YouTube, working across both technical and business development roles.

Dondi Gomez is the current Jollibee Group of Companies Chief Marketing Officer with a successful global track record in the restaurant industry. With a background in Marketing Strategy and Marketing Management, Dondi is a marketing executive with strong FMCG experience at Unilever and business consulting background at Ernst & Young.

Calvin Soh is a former CCO, now father, urban farmer, GIY stick creator, designer of One Kind House, investor, entrepreneur, consultant, occasional chef, speaker, co-creator time traveller, author of Big Red Dot and ex-advisor SIPI.

Known for his distinct, responsive design and practical construction using various sustainable and innovative technologies, as well as a lead advocate for Modern Filipino Architecture and Design, BUDJI+ROYAL Architecture+Design‘s CEO & Principal Architect, Royal Pineda is a staunch believer in the value of mixing modern and traditional elements, and fusing indigenous materials with artisanal methods.

Vic Icasas is  the President and Managing Partner of the multi-awarded sound studio Hit Productions, where he started his career almost thirty years ago as a composer and audio producer. He also serves as consultant for Beyond the Box and Digital Walker, and was formerly the Reviews Editor for gear website Technoodling. Vic is also the co-founder of Singapore-based startup Wika Media.

Anthony Thomas joined Mynt as its Chief Operating Officer in 2015, and was part of its founding leadership team. He was appointed President and CEO in 2017.  Under his care, Mynt has reached over 7 million GCash users, making GCash leading in mobile payments through its Scan-to-Pay technology.

Currently the Managing Partner of 917 Ventures — Globe’s corporate incubator arm creating businesses beyond telco services — Issa Guevarra-Cabreira is an experienced Head Of Mobile with a demonstrated history of working in the telecommunications industry.

Reina Reyes, Head of AC Analytics at Ayala Corporation and the Host of Science Says at the Knowledge Channel. Most recently honored with the Gawad Lagablab Award, which recognizes the contribution to national development of Philippine Science High School alumni.

Carlo Almendral has founded and led companies across markets with a focus on AI for social change, and is currently the Managing Director of New-York based Adaptive AI. He is also known as a pioneer in social gaming, and a staunch philanthropist who serves at  the Innovation Council for the UN’s World Food Programme and Board Trustee at For The Women Foundation.

Neil Trinidad began his career with Unilever as a management trainee, eventually making his way to become the company’s Marketing Director for its Skin Care & Skin Cleansing arm in the Philippines. His work with Unilever would last 14 years before moving on to Google Philippines as its Industry Manager. Now active in the online retail scene, Neil serves as the Country Chief Marketing Officer for Lazada Philippines.

Explore our archive of talks from years past adobo Festival of Ideas, a series of educational talks featuring the best and the brightest names from diverse multinational industries around the world. As the Word on Creativity, it has always been adobo’s goal to nurture and develop our local creative community by bringing in incredible global talent.