Valeria Kogan

Valeria Kogan is a scientist turned entrepreneur who specialises in scaling artificial intelligence from promising pilots to systems that deliver real value in complex, high-stakes environments. As CEO and Founder of Fermata, an award-winning AgTech company, she applies computer vision and AI to help growers worldwide reduce crop loss and strengthen food security amid increasing climate pressure. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, and PhD bioinformatician with cross-industry experience in both agriculture and precision cancer treatment, Valeria equips leaders with practical, unfiltered insight into what it takes to build, fund, and govern AI responsibly. Her talks empower executives and teams to transform AI from unrealised potential into meaningful, sustainable impact.

Most artificial intelligence projects never make it past the pilot stage. Valeria Kogan has built her career solving exactly that problem, guiding leaders through the messy, high-stakes work of turning experimental AI into systems that deliver measurable value in the real world. As CEO and Founder of Fermata, she leads an award-winning AgTech company that applies computer vision and AI to help growers worldwide reduce crop loss and strengthen food security at a time of escalating climate pressure. Her work sits at the intersection of deep technology and urgent global need, where precision and practicality matter as much as innovation.

Valeria's expertise is rooted in rigorous scientific training and hard-won entrepreneurial experience. She holds a PhD in bioinformatics and has co-founded two deep tech companies across vastly different industries. Before Fermata, she built Smartomica, using AI to support precision cancer treatment, giving her a rare cross-sector perspective on deploying complex technology in both healthcare and agriculture. Her contributions have earned global recognition: she is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, and a recipient of the Shimon Peres Heritage Initiative award for social impact. As a sitting CEO navigating volatile markets, she understands intimately what it takes to build, fund and scale AI products while balancing innovation with governance, ethics and real-world constraints. Her involvement in initiatives such as GreenTech 2026 reflects her continued commitment to advancing sustainable technology on the ground, working directly with industry partners to refine AI tools that growers can actually use.

As a speaker, Valeria tackles the questions that keep executives and founders awake at night: why most AI projects fail, how to lead through uncertainty, and what responsible AI truly demands from those in charge. Her talks are known for their clarity, honesty and engaging storytelling, blending hard data with human experience to make complex ideas accessible and actionable. She equips audiences with practical frameworks for moving beyond hype, helping them understand not just what AI can do, but how to deploy it responsibly and effectively in their own organisations. Whether addressing technical teams or boardrooms, Valeria delivers grounded, unfiltered insight that transforms AI from unrealised potential into a force for meaningful, sustainable impact. Audiences leave with confidence, direction and a clear-eyed understanding of what it really takes to make artificial intelligence work.