Speakers

Erik Schimkat has been Design Strategy Lead at blocher partners since 2019 and Managing Partner of blocher partners sens since 2022. The branch of the company specialises in strategy and consulting, supporting both, internal projects at blocher partners and blocher partners clientele in co-creative processes. Erik studied interior design in Wiesbaden (Germany) and conceptual design and design research in Ohio (USA).In 2016, he joined blocher partners as interior designer and shortly became a prominent consultant for projects of global retail players such Hugo Boss, Central Group, Breuninger and many more. He transformed numerous future workspace projects and headquarter offices for prominent German companies such as AOK, BAUHAUS and visionary educational projects such as "Ecole 42". Erik contributes his expertise for the specialist areas of Design Thinking, Scrum and "Lego Serious Play" to consult across all project phases.

Entrepreneur, Manager, Author, Keynote Speaker, and Adjunct Professor at international universities and business schools, he serves as the Global CEO of Spring Studios, leading a team of over 300 professionals in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Milan. His past roles include pivotal positions at WPP, notably as Executive Director Europe at AKQA and CEO of J. Walter Thompson Italy. With a Ph.D. in Marketing and Economics, he has co-authored influential business books with international guru Philip Kotler, such as 'Retail 4.0', 'Onlife Fashion', and 'Redefining Retail'. Beyond academia, he boasts three successful exits and investments in a dozen startups and scale-ups. His TEDx talk 'How to Become a Marketing Superhero’, that aligns ancient Greek ideals with modern marketing, has struck a chord worldwide, earning over a million views. Acknowledged as a LinkedIn Top Voice, his forward-thinking leadership earned him a spot on the Thinkers50 list in 2024, celebrating the impact of his ideas on future management philosophies.

Graeme is an internationally recognized futurist, specializing in the future of work. He helps organizations understand the forces shaping the world around us, and how the Covid-disruption will change things even more in the next few years. For the past two decades Graeme has worked with some of the world’s most recognized brands, travelling to over 80 countries in total, and speaking to around 100,000 people every year. He is the author of 5 best-selling books, and on faculty at 5 top global business schools.

Gugulethu is an award winner and well-versed orator, with plenty of experience in front of cameras, behind the microphone and addressing many diverse audiences. This skill, together with her sound grasp of the Financial Markets, Economic Data and Current Affairs, makes her the perfect candidate to speak to speak to Industry Analysts or Political Leaders from all across the African Continent.

Jack is a leading retail expert. He has scouted stores across 5 continents, to share first-hand experience of what works and what doesn’t. As an in-demand retail speaker, Jack has delivered keynotes and retail tours to audiences worldwide including blue-chip brands such as Nike, Hugo Boss, BNP Paribas, EE, Ikea, Shell, Aggregate Industries, Galeries Lafayette, Freeths, Marks & Spencer, Jaguar Land Rover, Costa Coffee, Diageo, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, Nespresso, Microsoft, The National Trust, Twilio and LVMH.

Jacques started his rugby career as a physio and later moved into Strength and Conditioning and ultimately coaching, specializing in Defense. Jacques was instrumental in designing the rush defense which the Springboks still use to great effect today. His Springbok CV is impressive with back to back Rugby World Cup wins in 2019 in Japan and 2023 in France as well as a series win over the British and Irish Lions in 2020. Jacques is very meticulous and his attention to detail is renowned in world rugby circles. He leaves no stone unturned, constantly innovating and finding new ways to outsmart the opposition. His story is insightful and fascinating and will leave the audience wanting more of his knowledge.

Jeremy is a regular voice in the media, at conferences and to the investment-related world at large, responsible for commenting on current affairs, economics and investment markets.
 In his position, Jeremy has access to information from the world’s leading analysts, on everything from politics to petrol. Jeremy’s challenge is consolidating all this information. Essentially, Jeremy collects and then connects the dots, bringing it to you in a format that you will find both interesting and informative. Jeremy has been with the firm for 31 years, during which time the business grew from a small Cape Town Asset Management firm to a significant global business managing clients assets of approximately R2.8 trillion*. Jeremy also served on the board of Western Province/Stormers rugby from 2003 to 2005, a period in which their performance was particularly poor!  Although he studied accounting at the University of Cape Town and Economics at the University of Witwatersrand, Jeremy is neither an accountant nor an economist, but uses these skills to demystify what the accountants and economists are saying.

Captain of Retail, Jorg Snoeck, is an international speaker, founder of RetailDetail, and Award-winning author of the book ‘The Future of Shopping’. With the latest news, trends and expertise in retail at his fingertips, Jorg is an excellent, energetic speaker inspiring leaders and everyone interested in retail from Hong Kong, to Cape Town, to all over the world. 

Josephine Baliah has extensive experience in the digital, ecommerce and retail sectors, she is passionate about the endless possibilities data and actionable insights can offer us in doing good and creating a better tomorrow. Josephine holds a BSc in Digital Technology & Design from the Technological University of Dublin and executive development in General Management from INSEAD.

Jürgen Gaiser joined blocher partners as interior designer in 1995 and has been managing partner since 1999. As a passionate interior designer, furniture designer and master carpenter, his work focuses on sustainable and future-oriented design. In harmony with the blocher partners philosophy, he sees people as the important co-authors throughout the planning process. With his all-encompassing transdisciplinary perspective, Gaiser has been a driving force for transformation and deepening the planning processes across all disciplines at blocher partners and is co-initiator of the newly founded blocher partners branch – blocher partners sens, specialized in design strategy and consulting - always happy to provide new impetus for the co-creative process of internal and external projects. Gaiser’s career describes many facets of interior design, brand architecture and product design. His expertise is highly demanded and respected in the field of brand communication, especially in retail, hospitality, and office environments.

Boezaart qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2011. He opted to pursue a career in golf and joined the Sunshine Tour, a local professional golf circuit. In 2012, he accepted an invite from his brother, Joal in producing apparel for educational institutions but soon realised this direction did not align with their vision. Thus, the duo redefined their company’s mission: to establish a proudly South African lifestyle brand. They decided to start with leather products and operated from a small room of about 10m2 in Stellenbosch. Freedom of Movement has grown from strength to strength since founded in 2013 and now boasts a footprint of 26 stores in South Africa and a large online footprint.

Malcolm Horne is Group CEO and a shareholder of leading Pan-African commercial services company, Broll Property Group. A respected leader, negotiator and strategist, Horne has demonstrable experience in the real estate sector and a solid track record of driving growth to companies operating in developing and complex environments. An industry mentor and experienced director of companies, Malcolm has a special interest in achieving optimal balance between good corporate governance and entrepreneurial growth. Under Malcolm’s leadership Broll is recognised as an international market leader, renowned for progress, integrity and client excellence and has received multiple international awards under his direction.

Matt is an experienced consultant and transformation leader with more than 25 years of experience in retail and consumer facing industries. He has assisted a wide range of clients to accelerate their performance through new value proposition design, effective omni-channel strategy, margin expansion, optimizing operating models, and driving productivity.

Michael is a qualified Charted Accountant that has also completed all three levels of the CFA examination, but was never cut out to be an auditor. In his early career he founded and grew a number of businesses, including an agricultural retailer, a cleaning business and an audit and tax practice. Michael found his way back to the corporate world when he joined Atterbury as asset manager in 2013 and moved to Attacq in 2015. In 2020 he completed a 1-year program at Stanford Graduate School of Business studying Corporate Innovation. Currently he is the Asset and Property Management Executive at Attacq and busies himself with running smart, safe and sustainable precincts like Waterfall City and Lynnwood Bridge, and retail assets including Mall of Africa. Michael is also the Chairman of the SAPOA Proptech Committee.

Mike began his life in retail while still in school, working for Ok Bazaars where his father was a Regional and ultimately Regional Director. He went through their intensive training program and rose quickly through the ranks. He soon decided to go on his own with his brother Brian and opened two stores of their own under the Spar brand. In 1993, they started Fruit and Veg City in Cape Town. After a 10 year period, retail trends changed and the model evolved to Food Lover’s Market, which incorporates many other departments and a “theatre of shopping”. Today there are 131 stores across Southern Africa, Indian Ocean islands and Australia. In 2009, the company entered the convenience store market with Freshstop and Caltex and have close to 230 stores and won the best C Store on the planet in 2012/13.

Sharon Yourell Lawlor is a renowned retail strategist, speaker and author.  She was recognised as one of RETHINK Retail’s top global experts in 2023 and 2024, a group of the most influential and innovative thought leaders making an impact in the retail industry.  As a leading retail voice and trusted commentator around shopper strategy, and with over 25 years’ experience working within the Consumer Product Goods (CPG) industry, Sharon blends a deep understanding of consumer and shopper behaviour with an insightful view of the changing retail world.  Sharon assists clients to better understand trends shaping the global retail landscape and supports businesses to develop strategies that effectively enhance customer experience and guide today’s modern shoppers on their purchase journeys. As a sought after thought provoker about the future of retail, Sharon has co-written a retail sustainability guide to assist businesses in preparation for a more sustainable retail future and is a regular expert voice in media around the topics of retail trends, customer experience, emerging technologies and retail sustainability.  Utilising her extensive knowledge of shopper marketing, Sharon has also written a course on Retail Marketing Strategy for the global training platform LinkedIn Learning

ShiSh Shridhar, a seasoned professional with 27 years of experience at Microsoft, currently serves as the Global Lead for Retail with Microsoft for Startups. He is responsible for managing a portfolio of disruptive startups, fostering cutting-edge innovations to expedite the digital transformation of the Retail Industry. His role involves leveraging Microsoft’s vast resources, including engineering, sales, and research, to help these startups scale. With a deep-seated passion for utilizing Artificial Intelligence as a competitive asset, ShiSh has dedicated two decades to the Retail Industry. He has collaborated with top retailers and brands worldwide, guiding them on their digital transformation journeys. ShiSh’s influence in the retail sector has been recognized by Rethink Retail and the Retail Technology Influencers, both of which included him in their Top 100 lists for 2022-2024. He also contributes his expertise to the Retail Transformation Center at George Mason University as an Advisory Board member and serves as a Professional Advisor at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.

Born and raised in the east of Johannesburg, in a rural town called Tsakane, Tshepho Mohlala comes from a generation of craftsmanship and storytellers. He was raised by three strong women, his mother, Masesi Mamba - who taught him how to hustle,  his grandmother - an Apostle and masterful storyteller, whose words “Tshepo, you’re a gentleman and should always look like one” echo in his head as he gets dressed every morning. Then there is his trendy aunt, Takalani - the first person to graduate in their neighbourhood. She would visit us in Tsakane dressed head-to-toe in denim. She ignited Tshepo’s interest in fashion and love for denim and so, he opened the doors of TSHEPO in 2015.

Vusi Thembekwayo is a renowned thought leader, entrepreneur, and public speaker who has transformed businesses worldwide through his innovative approach to leadership and strategy. With a track record of driving exceptional performance, Vusi is dedicated to helping organizations harness the power of innovative thought to achieve extraordinary results.