Speakers - WOA Conf 26

Olena Gryniuk is responsible for the development of the SME Banking Club in the CEE region. Before getting involved in the SME Banking Club activities, Olena was in charge of SME products and sales in Raiffeisen Bank and Eurobank groups.

About SME Banking Club
The SME Banking Club was established by a team of former SME bankers in 2010 as a professional network of bankers to exchange information and experiences in the segments of micro, small and medium-sized businesses. The SME Banking Club organizes regional SME banking conferences and webinars that bring together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation and promote the growth of SMEs in the region. Moreover, it provides its members with access to detailed analytical market reports and annual studies. SME Banking Club’s main activities are concentrated in Central and Eastern Europe.

Katalin Kauzli is a co-founder of Partner HUB Ltd, the developer of a white label digital invoice management solution for banks. Charlie-India is the core IT platform for the BUPA and OTP eBIZ solutions.

Diederick van Thiel is an experienced board member, data-tech investor, and writer
who is recognized as one of Europe’s fintech pioneers. All of his fintech companies
were listed in the European Fintech Fifty, and he was awarded London Fintech CEO
of the Year in 2018. Diederick is the founder and CEO of fintech scale-up
AdviceRobo and AI-boutique E-cology Innovations, and serves as a non-executive
director at the neo-bank Ikano (IKEA) in Sweden, retail analytics scale-up Ikano
Insight and private equity investor Channel Capital in London. He previously served
on the boards of ING Bank and KPN Mobile.

Diederick is driven by a sense of purpose in his work. One of his main purposes is to
support financial inclusion through his AdviceRobo’s AI-credit decision-making
platform. He also serves as the Chairman of the sustainability committee at Ikano
Bank, with a focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Additionally, he is passionate about leveraging data technologies to improve the net-
zero performance of smart buildings.

In his academic pursuits, Diederick’s researches focuses on human-centered AI by
understanding the impact of advanced technologies on the evolution of (neo)
banking. He is appointed visiting professor human-centric AI for risk & marketing
management at the Eindhoven University of Technology and at the Jheronimus
Academy for Data Science.

Tihomir Tihomirov is Head of Sales at Smart Factoring, one of Bulgaria’s leading digital factoring companies, driving business development, strategic partnerships, and commercial growth.

With close to 10 years of experience in banking and factoring, he has worked across both traditional banking and fintech, helping companies optimize cash flow and access working capital through tailored financing solutions. Combining strong commercial expertise with a consultative approach, Tihomir works closely with businesses to understand their challenges, needs and deliver practical, customer-centric solutions. His focus is on building long-term partnerships while advancing digital financing services that make access to capital faster, simpler, and more accessible for companies of all sizes.

Bogdan Năforniță has over 20 years of experience at the intersection of finance, technology, and business transformation. He began his career in financial planning and analysis before taking on management roles at global organizations including Procter & Gamble, S&T, and IBM. In 2016, driven by a vision to transform financial operations through technology, Bogdan founded Profluo and has since guided its evolution into a leading AI-powered finance automation platform.