Valerie Hawley

Executive Director- Sorbonne Center of Artificial Intelligence (SCAI)

2020 - Current

Establishing SCAI "Sorbonne Centre for Artificial Intelligence" Abu Dhabi as a leading R&D and education provider across the UAE and the wider Middle East. Full P&L responsibility

Affiliate Founding Partner

2018

True Global Ventures 4 Plus GPs invest their own money, 20%-40% of the Total Fund AUM into equity investments, across 3 Web3 verticals: Entertainment, Financial Services and Infrastructure & Data Analytics/AI. 3 unicorns: Animoca Brands, The Sandbox and Forge Global. Animoca Brands: Global market leader leveraging gamification & blockchain to develop and publish a portfolio of games Ledger: Global market leader in self-custody, cold storage hardware wallet solution. More than 6M devices sold to consumers in 200 countries, 100+ financial institutions securing 20% of the world’s crypto assets The Sandbox: Global market leader in gaming and metaverse empowering artists, creators, players to play, build, own and monetise virtual experiences on the blockchain ChromaWay: Creator of relational blockchain protocol Chromia ($CHR), powering metaverse game My Neighbor Alice ($ALICE), incubator behind Mines of Dalarnia ($DAR) Forge Global (NYSE: FRGE): Global market leader in secondary private market share transactions, with over 12B USD transaction volume in >500 companies GCEX: Regulated digital brokerage & end-to-end trading platform bringing Tier 1 liquidity for institutional clients bridging gap between traditional finance & digital assets SATO (TSXV: SATO): Bitcoin mining company based in Quebec, Canada utilising 100% renewable energy Enjinstarter: Leading Launchpad for GameFi & Metaverse Blockchain Ecosystems Coinhouse: Leading French regulated digital assets platform / European Cryptobank for individuals, companies & institutions

Member Board of Directors

2024

Board of Directors

2021

Case writer

2020

Development of a case study for the INSEAD Master Strategy Days of the Global Ex. MBA (GEMBA) programme. Focused on the market entry of a HealthTech company into the UAE market, exploring VR and Web 3.0 technology to improve care for diabetic patients. Case study on The Sandbox and how to engage luxury brands in the Metaverse .

Fast Company Middle East - AI sub-committee Impact Council member

2022

The Middle East edition of Fast Company — the world’s leading business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company and FastCompanyme.com inspire readers and users to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead conversations and create the future of business. We chronicle innovation with a laser focus on business leadership, practices, and strategy with a mission to impact and shape the Middle East region’s industry, society, and culture.

Board Director - ex Chief Data Officer

2022

HealthMov is an innovative leader in the healthtech & wellness space: HealthMov provides an unique solution to help employers address their employees’ health differently and change how health is monetised. HealthMov redefines users’ healthcare journey by using new smart technologies and integrated artificial intelligence.

Academic Advisory Board Member and Mentor - Specialised Master Entrepreneurship & Innovation

2017 - 2023

Lecturer

2016 - 2017

HEC Start Up Launchpad - jointly developed HEC Digital Major with renowned coding and graphic design schools (Ecole 42 & e-artsup) Created an eco system and a launchpad for HEC students with an entrepreneurial project.

Program Coordinator - Intrapreneurship

2016 - 2017

Program Coordinator for Innovation and Intrapreneurship for the HEC Digital Centre, a think tank where companies, academia and students exchange ideas on the various aspects of Digital Transformation. Helped large CAC 40 companies manage innovation through various intrapreneurship programs.

Senior Lecturer

2020 - 2021

Development and delivery of an online training on AI centered around Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for the Abu Dhabi Government school.

Head of Innovation

2017 - 2020

- Launched open innovation platform and intrapreneurship program. - Instrumental in designing the digitalisation strategy and the customer journey redesign. - Implemented 3 digital health applications. - Established and maintained strategic partnerships with key stakeholders and introduced Daman as a digital leader across UAE (notably with ADGM and HUB 71’s innovation eco system). - Launched several venture client POCs with local and global start ups. - Supported roll out of RPA across business functions, leading up to 90% time saving and corresponding cost reduction. - Set up an AI centre of excellence with an initial sales and marketing POC.