John Galinski brings QGEMS a 26-year career spanning regulated operations and technology innovation within the energy, finance and defense industries.  As Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of QGEMS Energy Ltd., John applies his systems-engineering discipline and regulatory expertise to align architecture with secure, high-availability design principles.  John has held multiple C-level positions, including 13 years as a CIO at Bloomberg and 4 years as CEO of CyVolve, leading large-scale information technology operations, transformation programs, and technology innovation.  

Shawn Chandler is the Executive Vice President of Innovation & Markets. Shawn applies his 30 years of expertise contributing to QGEMS strategy, product development, industry partnerships and client relationships. Shawn is a frequent contributor to industry thought leadership and currently serves as the Vice Chair of the U.S. Dept. of Energy sponsored GridWise Architecture Council, supporting innovation and development of infrastructure, resilience and distributed energy systems in the North American power grid.  He is a member of the editorial board of the IEEE Internet of Things Magazine as an Associate Editor,and served as Chair of the Interoperability Taskforce for the IEEE 2418.5 Blockchain for Energy standard.  Past roles include serving as the founding Chair of the IEEE PES Smart Buildings, Loads and Customer Systems technical committee, and Chair of the IEEE Smart Cities consortium. 

Patrick J. Santos is General Counsel and strategic advisor at QGEMS, providing specialist intellectual-property, systems-design and regulatory guidance. He has served as a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, specializing in cryptography, cybersecurity, and distributed-application systems.

Nigel Walker is a technology architect and innovator with over three decades of experience designing and scaling advanced energy, data, and software systems. As Managing Director of QGEMS Energy Ltd, he leads the development of our AI-driven distributed energy orchestration platform. Previously, as Vice President of Software & Telematics at Ideanomics, Nigel delivered intelligent energy and charging platforms built on cloud-native and containerized architectures. 

Mark Thompson brings QGEMS a 25-year career spanning software innovation across energy, data systems, intelligent infrastructure, and finance. Mark is the Technical Director at QGEMS, where he leads the design and delivery of the company’s secure, cloud-native technology platform, advanced encryption technologies, and AI-driven forecasting for energy optimisation. Prior to QGEMS, Mark has held senior software development and architect roles including developing cybersecurity and encryption systems used by NATO and the U.S. military, and major software engineering initiatives supporting SaaS, industrial IoT, and enterprise cloud-transformation for UK’s leading financial software providers and NASDAQ-listed companies. Mark is an active thought leader and lecturer in the domain of quantum computing and cybersecurity, frequently speaking at UK universities and industry forums.

Gary Cohen is QGEMS’ Chief Communications Officer, blending his 25+ years of Wall Street and startup and executive management  experience  to serve QGEMS’ mission to modernize energy systems.  Prior roles include senior management positions in global sales & marketing, operations, and product management across financial services, fintech, and sustainability, including early-stage ventures and Fortune 500s.   At Bankers Trust, Deutsche Bank, and Citibank, he managed global client relationships and led messaging across multimillion-dollar relationships and new business initiatives.   

The Rt Hon Chris Skidmore OBE is a senior advisor and policy strategist with extensive experience in energy, climate, and innovation policy. As former UK Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, he signed the nation’s Net Zero commitment into law and later authored and led the Independent Net Zero Review, Mission Zero, defining the UK’s long-term pathway for sustainable growth and decarbonisation. Today, Chris serves as Chair of the Transition Finance Council’s Pathways, Policies, and Governance Working Group, helping to shape the frameworks that will unlock private capital for large-scale transition investment across the UK economy. He also recently announced the One Million Homes initiative in collaboration with QGEMS Energy Ltd., a national programme to save the equivalent of one million homes’ worth of electricity through AI-enabled orchestration and efficiency systems. As Advisor Director to QGEMS, Chris provides strategic counsel across policy, regulation, and transition finance, reinforcing the company’s leadership within the multi-trillion pound transition-finance economy and advancing its mission to build a secure, intelligent, and globally scalable Digital Energy Ecosystem.

Dan Kaminski is a global finance and innovation leader with more than 30 years of experience across institutional banking, technology commercialization, and impact investing. For the past 15 years, he has served as an investment advisor to Alphabet’s impact initiatives, operating at the intersection of institutional capital and high-consequence technology deployment. As Chairman of Enovat Holdings, he directs impact investments spanning mobility, material science, healthcare, and clean nuclear energy; partners include members of the Page and Rockefeller families and other sector principals. Since the late 1980s, his career has encompassed foundational work in the development of commercial cybersecurity, senior roles at Lehman Brothers and Barclays, the creation of the Global Wealth Management VIP program, and the launch of the world’s largest equity and derivatives trading platform across 72 countries. He has directed DARPA-backed technology commercialization at Lucent Technologies Bell Labs and served on the UK’s Investment and Grants Committee for New Technologies under Queen Elizabeth II.

Dr. Victor Lawrence is a distinguished engineer, academic, and technology pioneer whose career has been defined by foundational contributions to modern communications and systems engineering. He is a Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he has played a central role in advancing research, education, and industry collaboration across telecommunications, networking, and applied engineering disciplines. Widely regarded as one of the architects of the digital communications era, Dr. Lawrence spent decades at Bell Laboratories, where he led and contributed to seminal innovations in optical fiber communications, network architectures, and large-scale systems deployment. His work helped shape the technical underpinnings of today’s global digital infrastructure, bridging theoretical research with real-world implementation at unprecedented scale.  He is a National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureate, a Member of the National Academy of Engineers, a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award for HDTV Standard, and an Inductee to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. At Stevens Institute, Dr. Lawrence has been instrumental in building industry-facing research programs, mentoring generations of engineers, and translating advanced technologies into practical, market-ready solutions. He is recognized for his ability to operate at the intersection of deep technical rigor, systems thinking, and strategic execution. Dr. Victor Lawrence brings to QGEMS a rare combination of academic excellence, industrial credibility, and systems-level insight. His perspective strengthens QGEMS’ mission to build resilient, scalable, and interoperable digital infrastructure for the energy transition, applying proven principles from global communications networks to the emerging Internet of Energy.

Karlton D. Johnson (Colonel, United States Air Force-Retired) is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Space Society and Chairman of the Society’s Board of Governors. As the senior executive overseeing a variety of business operations and objectives, he shapes major strategic decisions regarding the NSS’s direction, leads the organization’s c-suite cadre, and steers the organization towards successful outcomes. In the latter capacity, he serves as the primary spokesperson for the Board of Governors, provides overall leadership to enhance board effectiveness and performance, and fosters board cooperation in support of the Society’s goals. Johnson is a senior executive leader with over 36 years of subject matter experience in strategic leadership, partnership creation, mission assurance, and the development of emerging space markets. He brings extensive corporate board experience and has advised internationally to drive large-scale program initiatives from requirements to full implementation. His distinguished career in the Air Force included senior leadership roles where he oversaw strategic operations and communications technologies essential to national security. In the private sector, Johnson is influential towards enabling the growth of space market expansion opportunities for Fortune 500 firms. Additionally, he successfully engages with Congressional leaders to garner support for various space-related legislative initiatives and advocates for commercial and civil space programs, space traffic management, planetary defense, and space economic development advancements. Johnson holds several advanced degrees and executive graduate certifications from reputable academic institutions and serves on numerous boards, including Microchip Technology Inc., AFCEA International’s Board of Directors, and Explore Mars Inc. Board of Advisors. He is the Chairman Emeritus of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Accreditation Body, Inc., the Department of Defense’s top program for digitally securing the $768 billion defense industrial base protecting 3.2 percent of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product and national security.

Hani Ramzi is a seasoned international technology business leader with 25+ years of global experience across 50+ countries. He combines Fortune 500 expertise from senior roles at Nokia, Thales, and Alcatel-Lucent with entrepreneurial leadership in scaling businesses from startup to large-scale success. As CEO Europe at Persado, an AI company backed by Goldman Sachs and Bain Capital, Hani drives AI adoption among global enterprises including JPMorgan Chase, Natwest, and Orange, generating over $1.5B in incremental revenue. He serves on boards of leading European scale-ups and advises organizations including investment bank Natixis/FDC. Hani mentors entrepreneurs at Station F and Plug and Play, and lectures at HEC Paris Business School. Based in Paris, he holds an MSc in Engineering and executive education credentials from HEC Paris and Babson College. “I am thrilled to join the Strategic Advisory Board of QGEMS, a truly disruptive company that is reshaping energy management. QGEMS is not only a game changer in its field, but also an enabler for the entire ecosystem — helping stakeholders unlock new value across the energy value chain. I look forward to supporting QGEMS in accelerating its impact and advancing a more sustainable future”