Sean Bittick has 18 years of military experience in the US Air Force and is an Innovation and Technology Adoption (formerly C-UAS and Capability Development) officer at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. He contributes to the management of the Defense Against Terrorism Program of Work (DAT POW) and serves as Secretary for the Joint Capability Group C-UAS, liaising with internal and external C-UAS stakeholders.

Thomas Braml has been Professor of Structural Concrete Engineering at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich since 2018. His research focuses on digital twins for bridges, automation in construction, and issues related to structural protection. In addition to his academic work, he is also active in practice in the field of structural engineering for buildings and civil engineering structures.

Aleksander Buczkowski advises governments, public institutions, and private sector clients on drone and counter-drone technologies — from strategy and testing to real-world deployment. His work spans commercial, dual-use, and security applications of unmanned systems, including defence and civilian security agencies, with a focus on lessons learned from drone use in current geopolitical conflicts.

Konrad Górski works with commercial, public, and government clients across the globe on drone strategy, market analysis, regulatory frameworks, and technology deployment. His experience includes helping critical entities understand the current drone threat landscape and identify relevant countermeasures for infrastructure protection.

Since 2017, Thomas Gruber has been active in the field of industrial 3D printing. At his company, Trivion 3D Druck & Engineering GmbH, highly complex titanium and polymer components are produced, including for the defence industry. This tool-free manufacturing technology supports innovation, particularly in drone development and large-scale production.

Thomas Haber has been Director Programs & Product at Quantum Systems GmbH since 2025. Prior to that, he worked at BWI GmbH from 2018 to 2023, most recently as Head of Customer Solution Unit Land & Air, and from 2013 to 2018 at Cancom SE, most recently as Manager Partner Management & Solution Design. At „DroneVation“, he will speak on the orchestration of unmanned systems in multi-domain operations.

Recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 most influential CEOs in the Middle East, Bob Harward brings decades of senior leadership experience spanning both military service and the defense industry. A retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral and former SEAL, he served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. His final military assignment was as Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). He was later asked by President Trump to serve as National Security Advisor.

Lieutenant General Bruno Hofbauer has held several senior leadership positions within the Federal Ministry of Defence. He headed the General Staff Division, became Director of the Directorate for Fundamental Planning in 2017, and was appointed Chief of Planning of the Austrian Armed Forces in 2021. Since 2023, he has served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

Jozef Hrabina is a geopolitical risk consultant and the founder of GeopoLytics, a consultancy firm dedicated to navigating the intricate dynamics of global and regional politics. With experience in academia and consultancy across Kyiv, Moscow, Canada and the European Union, Jozef brings extensive expertise from the post-Soviet space, strategic security studies, and geoeconomics. Since 2022, Jozef has had multiple opportunities to survey the entire Ukrainian frontline.

Josef Kranawetvogl is a graduate of the 17th General Staff/Admiral Staff Course of the German Armed Forces. Most recently, he served at the Federal Ministry of Defence with responsibility for space security and oversaw civil-military cooperation between the Bundeswehr Space Command and the German Space Agency at DLR. Since 2024, he has been serving as Senior Vice President at Stark.

Stephan Kraschansky is a former officer and counter-drone specialist with the Austrian Armed Forces. After leaving the military, he became Managing Director and owner of the Austrian branch of Aaronia, an internationally active specialist in drone detection systems. Today, he is regarded as one of Europe’s leading experts in counter-UAS technologies.

Yuliya Maltseva is a Co-Founder of Women in Defense Tech, where she fosters partnerships and knowledge exchange and innovation of the defense tech ecosystem. She engages governments, Armed Forces, the industry and adjacent players in Germany and Ukraine in customized frameworks aimed at strengthening industrial collaboration across borders. Yuliya has a background in political science and is a part of a German defense scale-up.

Bernhard Müller is a partner at PwC Legal Austria, specializing in „Defence & Security“ and public commercial law. As a reserve officer, he has more than 30 years of practical experience in the field of defence. From 2023 to 2025, he served as Chairman of the Procurement Review Commission at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence, which oversees key acquisition projects under the „Aufbauplan 2032+“.

Mark Pfeiffer is Head of Business Development for Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic at Shield AI. The US-based defence and aerospace company is considered one of the most innovative providers of AI-enabled defence technologies, developing autonomous aircraft and effectors, AI-based „combat pilots“, and software solutions for military operations.

Major General Gerfried Promberger serves as Commander of the Austrian Air Force and Air Chief of the Austrian Armed Forces. He is a graduate of the 16th General Staff Course, completed the US Air War College with distinction, and was inducted into the „International Honor Roll“ by the former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General David W. Allvin.

Colonel Markus Reisner is a historian and legal scholar and serves as Head of the Institute for Basic Officer Training at the Theresian Military Academy. His academic work focuses, among other topics, on the employment of drones in modern warfare.

Andreas Rupprecht is a long-standing analyst and internationally recognized expert on Chinese military aviation, as well as the author of numerous books published by Harpia Publishing. His areas of expertise include the analysis and assessment of the latest developments, the different variants of current aircraft types and their numerical distribution within operational units, as well as the compilation of orders of battle (ORBATs).

As Partner Manager Special Security Solutions, Christoph Süß is responsible for expanding strategic partnerships and driving business development in Eastern and Southern Europe, with a particular focus on Austria and Switzerland. Prior to this role, Süß served in the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) from 2011 to 2024 as a logistics officer, holding various leadership and management positions.

Klaudia Tanner has served as Austria’s Federal Minister of Defence since 7 January 2020. Her tenure has been marked by an unprecedented modernization phase of the Austrian Armed Forces. Under the framework of the so-called „Development Plan 2032+“, Austria’s military is being rebuilt to restore full defence capabilities – including the expansion of drone and counter-drone capacities.

Lieutenant General Harald Vodosek serves as the National Armaments Director of the Austrian Armed Forces and heads Directorate 5 – Armaments. In this role, he oversees the strategic planning and execution of major procurement programmes, including the comprehensive introduction of unmanned systems and counter-unmanned capabilities across Austria’s armed forces.