Bala Vaidyanathan is vice president and lead for Data & AI at FedEx. Under his leadership, FedEx has leveraged their extensive data ecosystem to enhance shipping efficiency and improve logistics and supply chain operations. Their data-driven solutions deliver value for both internal teams and external customers.
As a recipient of the FedEx Five Star Award, and with almost 20 years of industry experience, Bala brings deep expertise, curiosity, and a first-principles mindset to every challenge. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in operations research from the University of Florida. His technical research contributions have been published in multiple journals, and he served for several years as an associate editor for the international publication Networks.
Explore how companies can uncover hidden risks deeper in the supply chain, beyond direct suppliers, to strengthen resilience and prevent disruption.
Explore how innovative insurance and financing mechanisms work together to reduce climate risk and unlock capital for climate-resilient and regenerative agriculture.
Carl is a senior member of the investment team at Climate Asset Management, a joint venture between HSBC Asset Management and Pollination with the ambition to create the world’s leading asset management company in natural capital. He is responsible for strategy, pipeline, deal management and transaction execution for the Natural Capital Strategy which invests in a diversified portfolio of regenerative agriculture, sustainable forestry and environmental assets across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. He is a member of the firm’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) working group and a director of the Strategy’s European local operating companies, farming over 3,000 ha of perennial crops across Spain and Portugal.
Edgar Aguilar co-leads UNDP Insurance and Risk Finance Facility’s work on resilient food systems as Value Chain Resilience Specialist based in Rome, Italy. Within his role, Edgar advice governments and insurers on how to combine agricultural insurance into solutions with other financing instruments such as debt and guarantees to serve millions of smallholder farmers,
Previously, Edgar worked for the International Labour Organization (ILO) at its Regional Office for Africa in Côte d’Ivoire for 10 years, where he facilitated public and private partnerships to increase access to finance to agricultural value chains. Supporting the ILO Impact Insurance Facility, Edgar has worked closely with the insurance industry, financial institutions, and value chain players developing risk management solutions for smallholder farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America in key value chains such as cocoa, coffee, tea, and cotton. Edgar holds a master’s degree in Rural Development for Southern Countries and an engineer diploma in Agriculture. He speaks Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Italian.
