Role of Blockchain in Digital Financial Infrastructure

Vlad is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor and visionary in the tech industry. He began his professional career in the late 90s as a senior manager at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). In 2017, Vlad launched Blockgeeks a blockchain education and media platform and became a member of the Advisory Board of the Ethereum Foundation. He continued his association with Ethereum in 2018 by establishing the Ethereum Competence Center. In 2018, Vlad co-founded the investment fund BR Capital, which focuses on blockchain-based startups in decentralized finance. Since 2021, Vlad has been an angel investor and advisor to numerous startups pioneering AI and blockchain technologies.

His trajectory from Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) to investor and visionary in tech industry included him declining a partnership offer in Andersen Consulting to launch his first software company, which Microsoft later acquired. Subsequent to his tenure at Microsoft, he assumed the role of CEO and President of European PLC Columbus IT. Where under his leadership company tripled its capitalization and the firm emerged as the premier international system integrator for Microsoft business solutions and was named Microsoft Global Partner of the Year. Later Vlad served as the Managing Director of SAP CIS. There, he led a team of 500 and managed an annual P&L exceeding $300 million. His primary objective was to foster the growth and transformation of SAP’s CIS operations by introducing new SAP solutions and broadening its footprint across 11 CIS regions. In 2011, Vlad, in collaboration with several partners, founded YotaDevices, the creators of the world's first dual-screen smartphone, YotaPhone. The YotaPhone garnered accolades as the 'most innovative and disruptive product' from esteemed platforms like CES Las Vegas, Mobile World Congress Barcelona, and Cannes Lion d’Or, among others