AI Insights for CFOs
Silvia holds an MSc in Computer Science from EPFL and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of York, UK. She has been a senior research fellow at the University of Trento and later at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Here, she had the chance to work on Marie Curie and ERC projects relating to natural language processing. From 2012 to 2019, she was a Senior Manager and NLP expert at ELCA Informatique Switzerland, whose AI department she helped create and expand. Silvia joined the Swiss Data Science Center in 2019 and is currently its Chief Transformation Officer, in charge of the team leading organizations to digital transformation.
Saurabh Bhargava, joined the SDSC as a Principal Data Scientist in the Industry Cell at the Zürich office in 2022. Saurabh previously worked in the retail sector and the advertising industry in Germany. He lead and built various data products for customers using state of the art machine learning methods and industrializing them thereby adding value for the customers. He completed his PhD from ETH Zürich in June 2017 specializing in machine learning applications on Audio data. He obtained his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from EPFL and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, India in 2011 and 2009 respectively. His interests and expertise are in combining state of the art data science and data engineering tools for building scalable data products.
Presentation
As AI and data science increasingly shape strategic business decisions, it's essential that CFOs not only understand the financial implications, but also gain direct exposure to the institutions driving innovation at the national level. The Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) is a National Research Infrastructure jointly founded by EPFL and ETH Zurich and part of the ETH Domain. Its mandate is to support academic labs, hospitals, the industry and public sector stakeholders, including cantonal and federal administrations, through their entire data science journey, from the collection and management of data to machine learning, AI, and industrialization.
In this workshop for larger SMEs and family-owned businesses, engaging with the SDSC offers a rare opportunity: to tap into a national hub of expertise, collaborate with top-tier scientists and engineers, and develop AI strategies grounded in both technical feasibility and business relevance. This session aims to provide finance leaders with a practical foundation in AI capabilities – while also opening the door to future collaboration with one of the country's most influential innovation drivers.
Session Objectives:
· Understanding AI: Practical Limits and Possibilities for CFOs
· Access to SDSC’s knowledge, expertise and national reach
· Peer Learning and Strategic Networking
· Exposure to High-Impact, Realistic Use Cases
· Translate Business Needs into Technical Challenges
· Identify Pilot Opportunities with Quick ROI
· Clarify InternalCapabilities vs. Partnership Strategy
Target audience:
CFOs and C-Level Executives at family-owned and other businesses
This event is being co-created by the SDSC, ETH Industry Relations and FBXperts, the CFO Forum.
ETH @ Open-i 2025
Combine your event attendance with a visit of ETH Zurich at Open-i 2025 on Thursday, 27.11.2025, in Zurich Congress Center. More information: here
Details
AI Insights for CFOs: Making Informed Decisions in a Data-Driven World
Date: Wednesday, 26.11.2025 (1 day before OpenAI / ETH Industry Day in Zurich Congress Center)
Time: 10:00 am – 17:00 pm
Location: “Swiss AI Tower“ ETH Zurich, Andreasturm, Andreasstrasse 5, 8092 Zürich-Oerlikon
Parking: There is no parking available in the event building. Participants can park in Parkhaus Nordhaus at Siewerdtstrasse 8, Zürich - a 3 minute walk towards the venue.
Seats are limited. Registration is open until 12th November, 2025.
Programme
9:30 Arrivals & Welcome Coffee
10:00 Welcome & Introductions:
· Setting the scene: Opening of CFO Roundtable and Introduction of Participants
Dr. Patricio Ohle, CFO (ret.), CEO of FBXperts, Family-business custom-made mentoring and insights
· The Swiss Data Science Center: Mandate, Areas of Expertise and Collaboration
Dr. Saurabh Bhargava, Principal Data Scientist at the SDSC
10:30
· Case Study: Production and Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing
Dr. Matthias Graeber, Head of Data Science at Bühler Group
11:00 Coffee break
11:15
· Data Science in strategic decision-making, business development & finance
Dr. Silvia Quarteroni, Head of Innovation and Chief Transformation Officer at SDSC
12:00 Lunch /Snack
13:00
· Case Study: Streamlining and accelerating processes at service companies
Dr. Pencho Yordanov, Lead Data Scientist at The Adecco Group
13:45
· Case Study: Data Science and AI affecting business of private client banking
Dr. Gabriele Susinno, Senior Client Portfolio Manager, Pictet
14:30 Coffee break
14:45 Data Science Canvas Exercise Workshop
15:45
· Participant discussion on possible collaborations with the SDSC
· Feedback and wrap-up
16:45 Apéro
Other events
ETH Industry Day 2023
Silvia holds an MSc in Computer Science from EPFL and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of York, UK. She has been a senior research fellow at the University of Trento and later at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Here, she had the chance to work on Marie Curie and ERC projects relating to natural language processing. From 2012 to 2019, she was a Senior Manager and NLP expert at ELCA Informatique Switzerland, whose AI department she helped create and expand. Silvia joined the Swiss Data Science Center in 2019 and is currently its Chief Transformation Officer, in charge of the team leading organizations to digital transformation.
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