Andrew Lynch is the Chief Innovation Officer at IMR (www.imr.ie)

He is a member of the EFFRA Made in Europe Partnership Board, and the international Vice President of the EUREKA SMART Manufacturing Board of Directors.  Andrew is a member of the ManuFuture High Level Group (HLG) and chairs the ManuFuture ETP Working Group (State Aid Strategies- Research & Innovation). He is the founding Chair of the KDT Lighthouse 4.E Program and is also on the Academic Advisory Board of the UKs Smart Manufacturing Digital Hub (SMDH).

In Ireland, Andrew is on the Board of Directors of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence (AMTEC), as well as on the Ingenuity and ATiM Cluster Executive Steering Committees.  He is the founding chair of the Irish National Steering Committee on Collaborative Robotics, and a founding member of the National Advisory Board for the Digital Manufacturing Futures Centre (AIM) and the Board of the FutureCAST Technology Centre on Construction.

Andrew is a contributing expert on several key international policy directives for manufacturing, including the ManuFuture policy document (Vision 2030), the EFFRA Made in Europe program, ManuFuture ETP Strategic Working Group Initiatives, the ECSEL LIASE I4 Whitepaper on the Future of Manufacturing and the ECS SRA (Electronic Components & Systems, Strategic Research Agenda).

He holds an honours Degree in Biochemistry, a first class Masters in Environmental Analytical Chemistry, a PhD in Engineering, and is happily married with two adored daughters.

Cécile Huet is Head of the Unit “Excellence in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics”, part of the AI Office at the European Commission. This unit supports beneficial robotics and AI development within Europe, with a portfolio of projects up to 800M€.
Under Horizon Europe, the unit launched the Public-Private Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics, and is co-leading the Public-Private Partnership in manufacturing.
This unit is also at the heart of the AI Innovation Package in January 2024, a 4Bn€ investment, including close to 700M€ GenAI4EU initiative, aiming at developing GenAI solutions “made in Europe” for strategic industrial sectors, public sector and science.
The Science for AI pillar of RAISE (Resource for AI Science in Europe) and the Frontier AI initiative announced in the Apply AI Strategy are also central to the unit’s priorities.   
Cécile joined the unit since its creation in 2004. Previously, she worked for the industry in signal processing after a post-doc at the University of California Santa Barbara and a PhD at University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. In 2015, she has been selected as one of the “25 women in robotics you need to know about” https://robohub.org/25-women-in-robotics-you-need-to-know-about-2015/ and among the “top 100 Top 100 Women in AI Women building and shaping AI in 2026”Cécile Huet | Top 100 Women in AI 2026

DENIS REDONNET is an economist by training, and started his career as a corporate banker for a French bank in the city of London.Since 1995 he has been a career European Commission official, having held positions in the monetary, international economic affairs and internal market directorate generals of the EU Executive. He served as advisor to EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and a Deputy chief of staff to EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson. Afterwards he headed the WTO division and then the Strategy division in the Directorate General for Trade in the European Commission. Between 2015 and 2020 he acted as Director for “WTO, Legal Affairs and Trade in Goods” in the Directorate General for Trade in the European Commission. In July 2020 he was appointed Deputy Director General and Chief Trade Enforcement Officer in the Directorate General for Trade in the European Commission.

José Pérez Berdud is President of CECIMO and CEO of Fagor Automation. Born in Zumarraga (Gipuzkoa), he holds a degree in Electronic Engineering and an MBA from the University of Mondragon. He joined Fagor Automation in 1993, where he has built his entire career, becoming CEO in 2016 after holding key roles in R&D, manufacturing, logistics, and procurement. He also serves as CECIMO delegate and has been a board member of AFM since 2016. Under his leadership, Fagor Automation drives innovation with its own tech center, 36 active patents, and a strong global presence in the machine tool automation sector.

Paul Ribus is the Head of Sales and Business Strategy in FANUC Europe with the head office located in Contern (Luxembourg) coordinating the European sales business activities in cooperation with all the 23 European FANUC Subsidiaries in the European Market.

Paul Ribus joined FANUC in 2002 as Managing Director of FANUC BeNeLux with the head office located in Mechelen (Belgium) establishing a profitable, motivated, and efficient business organization for the territories Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg for the complete FANUC Product Portfolio (ROBOTS, CNC, ROBODRILL, ROBOCUT, ROBOSHOT, and IOT) and Customer Service activities (Parts, Training and Maintenance). Has some previous experience in a European Management position (2012 – 2014) as General Manager European Marketing and Sales Support.

Before joining FANUC, Ribus gained experience in the automation world in Product Development, Technical Sales Support and Product Management.

He holds a Bachelor of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering, as well a Master Business Economics for Non-Economists.

Since 1st of January 2005 Mr. Riedemann has a leading role at former Mori Seiki GmbH, now DMG MORI not only in Germany, but also globally. He started as General Manager responsible to establish the application department in Europe for Mori Seiki direct sales organization. Over the years Mr. Riedemann became president of Mori Seiki GmbH in Germany, VP of Mori Seiki Europe. He is on the board of Mori Seiki Co. Ltd as Operating Officer since April 2012.  In October 2014 he became responsible for engineering in Japan and USA for DMG MORI Co Ltd. Later, January 2017 his responsibility changed to Head of Technology Management of global application of DMG MORI sales and service organization. He has gained his over 37 years’ experience in the machine tool industry. With this knowledge, his responsibility has been promoted to Director, Executive Officer, and CTO of DMG MORI EMEA GmbH in 2022. DMG MORI EMEA GmbH, recently changed to DMG MORI EMEA Holding GmbH, is responsible as principal for all DMG MORI machines in Europe, India, and China. Mr. Riedemann is working strongly with Head Quarters in Japan, and he oversees application for mainly Japanese Products with Automation Solutions but also in direct communication with the European factories of DMG MORI.

Ulrich Adam is the Director General of Orgalim, the voice of Europe’s Technology Industries, representing the EU’s largest manufacturing sector and, with it, 770,000 innovative companies operating in the industrial branches of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and electronics, and metal technology.

As Director General, Ulrich is responsible for setting Orgalim’s strategy, acting as the senior representative of the European technology industries in Brussels and managing the operations of the association.

Ulrich joined Orgalim in March 2025, with more than 20 years of professional experience in European association management and Brussels-based public affairs. He served as Director General of spiritsEUROPE from 2018 to 2025 and Secretary General of the European Agricultural Machinery Industry Association CEMA from 2013 until 2017. Prior to that, he worked nine years for the international consultancy Hill+Knowlton Strategies.

A German national, Ulrich holds a PhD and MPhil degree in History and Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University (UK).