Employer of the Year Awards Judging Committee
Adam Horvath
CEO & Board Member, European Association of Employer Branding Agencies & Brandfizz Employer Branding, Budapest, Hungary
Board Member, European Association of Employer Branding Agencies President, Employer Branding Chapter of the Hungarian PR Association Chief Sparkle Offizzer, Brandfizz Employer Branding Adam is the Co-Founder and Chief Sparkle Offizzer of Brandfizz Employer Branding, a three-time HR Communication Agency of the Year based Europe. Brandfizz is a regional market-leading employer branding agency, based in Budapest, Hungary. Over two decades, Adam Horvath has led C-level programs with more than 100 large-scale international organisations on their employer branding journeys, working alongside globally recognized names such as Ernst & Young, Heineken, Sanofi, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Knorr-Bremse, ALDI, NN, Accor Group, Essilor-Luxottica, Diageo, Jaguar Land Rover, Nokia, GE, Coca-Cola, and KPMG. A seasoned jury member at globally and regionally recognised industry competitions, at the heart of his work is a simple belief: in today's talent market, it is no longer enough to be a great employer. You have to be seen as one. Known across the international employer branding community as both a speaker and organiser, he has spoken at World Employer Branding Day three times, the flagship global event for the industry. He is the author of professional articles, a frequent speaker at international conferences, and an experienced judge at both regional and global industry competitions. Adam lectures on employer branding at four universities and is currently pursuing doctoral research in the field. He holds the honorary Pro Facultate title from the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Pannonia. Adam completed the ACE program at the MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, MA, USA between 2020 and 2024, with a focus on the business applications of artificial intelligence. He is the member of MIT Alumni Association and the MIT Alumni Startup Network, a global community launched by MIT founders. Outside of his professional work, Adam is a passionate sailor, with a particular fondness for the Florida coastline. He is an active member of the American Sailing Association. He also contributes to charitable initiatives by supporting the next generation in developing confident and effective communication skills through public speaking training.
Prakash Achuthan
Senior Manager, Amazon Services LLC, Seattle, Washington, United States
Prakash is a technical leader. He led cross-functional teams of Product, Program, Engineering and Operations, to deliver strategic goals that have measurable impact for customers and the business. He has built, led, and grown high-performing teams for over 7 years and has over 17 years of experience working with technical teams across a variety of industries, including retail and internet-related products.
Bharathi Alagiri
Business Architecture, Team Lead, Accenture, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States
Bharathi is a Technology Delivery Lead at Accenture with 14 years of experience delivering large-scale transformation programs across Financial Services. He specializes in leading cross-functional global teams, driving end-to-end delivery, and building scalable technology solutions that align business strategy with execution.
Ignazio Arces
Chief of Operations, Versalis, Rome, Italy
Ignazio Arces is a senior industrial executive with over 25 years of experience in energy, refining, and chemicals. He serves as Chief of Operations at Versalis. His expertise includes operational excellence, industrial transformation, and the energy transition. He is the author of Navigating the Energy Transition, where he explores the human and leadership dimensions of industrial transformation.
Noufal Mohamed Basheer
Strategy Director, PepsiCo, Purchase, New York, United States
Noufal is a strategy and finance leader with 12+ years' experience across multiple geographies, including Asia, Europe and North America. He currently leads Away From Home channel strategy at PepsiCo. Previously, he was a Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group. He has an MBA from NYU Stern and a BS from IIT Madras.
Pascal Bellerose
General Manager Growth, Biofuels, Shell, Houston, Texas, United States
Pascal Bellerose is a senior energy executive with 25+ years of leadership across refining, strategy, and low-carbon fuels. As General Manager, Low Carbon Fuels Growth, he has led major capital projects, originated multi-billion-dollar business lines, and served on refining and renewable fuel boards. Fellow, Chartered Management Institute.
Aykut Erdem
Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, adesso Turkey, İstanbul, Türkiye
A driven Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, passionate about connecting top talent with tech companies. Aykut’s mission is to deliver exceptional candidate experiences and build robust talent pipelines. He partners with hiring managers, providing innovative solutions and market insights. He’s also enthusiastic about HR Analytics and Programming.
Hitesh Hasija
Senior Solutions Architect, HCL America Inc, Frisco, Texas, United States
Hitesh is a seasoned organizational leader and Senior Solutions Architect with unique expertise bridging advanced technology and strategic human resources. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a dual specialization in Human Resources and Information Technology, qualifying him to evaluate the intersection of workforce technology and modern employee experiences.
Karthikeyan Kasi
SAP Functional Consultant, Tata Consultancy Services Private Limited, Cedar Park, Texas, United States
Karthikeyan brings over 13 years of experience in SAP development and transformation, with a strong focus on SAP S/4HANA across On-Premise, Private Cloud, and Public Cloud environments. Currently, he works as a Clean Core and SAP BTP Subject Matter Expert, helping organizations design and implement scalable, future-ready solutions.
Ashita Khetan
Principal Software Engineer, Microsoft Corporation, Bothell, Washington, United States
Ashita Khetan is a Principal Software Engineer specializing in distributed systems, cloud platforms, AI, and enterprise software serving hundreds of millions of users worldwide. She designs scalable architectures, secure APIs, and customer experiences for modern collaboration platforms. She is passionate about technical leadership, mentoring, innovation, and advancing impactful technology.
Gina Mishriky
Head of HR, Dubizzle, Cairo, Heliopolis, Egypt
Gina is a senior Human Resources professional with over 20 years of experience across diverse HR functions and industries. Known for driving culture and transformational changes, she had played a key role in shaping high-performing organizations through strategic people initiatives. She has mentored and developed leaders.
Ravi Shanker
Senior Consultant, Verveba Telecom, Richardson, Texas, United States
A telecom professional with 24 years of global experience in 5G, LTE & GSM network design, optimization, and large-scale telecom projects across the USA, India, and MEA. Ravi led complex deployments, managed large engineering teams, and contributed to industry innovation through research, publishing several international papers & serving as international conference judge.
Pawandeep Singh
Service Success Head, HCLTech, Frisco, Texas, United States
Pawandeep Singh is a senior technology leader with 22+ years of experience in cloud strategy, data center modernization, and digital transformation. As Service Success Head at HCL America, he drives enterprise cloud adoption, service delivery excellence, and AI modernization initiatives. He is a Google certified architect, Agile professional with other technology certifications.