Speakers at our Annual Conference

Verena Fink is an expert on leadership in the age of artificial intelligence, an entrepreneur, and an author. Through numerous publications and lectures, she is one of the leading voices in the emerging networked AI economy. Her consulting and supervisory board roles include established companies in industry, energy, mobility, retail, finance, and healthcare. Her focus is on how people and technology can collaborate productively, responsibly, and with an eye toward the future - and how leadership must be reimagined in this dynamic landscape.

For more than 20 years, Martin Hörmann has worked primarily as an insolvency administrator and trustee. In addition to the legal and business challenges posed by a corporate crisis, he has a particular interest in addressing the so‑called “soft factors” in such situations. This especially concerns emotional competence in insolvency proceedings. For the commemorative volume celebrating the 70th birthday of Prof. Dr. Christoph Paulus, he had the honor of contributing an article entitled “The Inner Attitude of the Insolvency Administrator - Marcus Aurelius as a Role Model?”

Lisa Kraft-Scheiderer is the managing director of PHI Technik für Fenster und Türen GmbH, a medium-sized family-owned business specializing in plastics and metal processing. She is leading the company’s transformation in the areas of restructuring, cultural change, digitalization, and AI-driven future strategies. She also founded the startup Urban Greenery, which was awarded the German Sustainability Prize in 2025. In her work and as a speaker, she combines practical business experience with topics such as leadership, organizational psychology, change management, and transformation in family-run small and medium-sized enterprises.

Reiner Kurzhals is a Professor of Data Science and Machine Learning at Münster University of Applied Sciences and an entrepreneur in the field of big data analytics. With many years of experience in top management consulting and industry, he combines academic expertise with the practical implementation of data-driven business models. As the founder of several successful data science companies - most recently Datasphere Analytics and regulaid - he drives the development of innovative AI and analytics solutions. His work focuses on applying modern machine learning methods to generate economic value and enable data-driven decision-making in organizations.

Johannes Pracher heads Startrampe, the start-up hub of Sparkasse Oberösterreich. For over 10 years, he has been supporting and advising founders on their path to self-employment. Prior to that, he worked at Johannes Kepler University and in the political arena. He passes on his knowledge and experience as a lecturer at several universities of applied sciences. He is the host of #glaubandich, a business podcast that was named Austria's best corporate and business podcast by Hitradio Ö3 in 2025 and received the Podcast Award.

Lars Richter is a partner at RÖDL and Head of Business Recovery Services. He specializes in complex restructuring situations both outside and within insolvency proceedings. He has over 20 years of experience advising medium-sized and international companies through challenging phases. His focus is on developing and implementing holistic turnaround concepts. He has also served as Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) on various projects. Lars combines financial, operational, and strategic perspectives to deliver results-oriented solutions. Prior to joining RÖDL, he worked for firms including Alvarez & Marsal, Deloitte, and Dr. Wieselhuber & Partner. With a degree in Business Information Systems and an MBA, he is known for his analytical depth, clear decision-making processes, and unwavering commitment to implementation.

Eva Ringelspacher specializes in restructuring and financing, with a focus on debt advisory. She advises companies on financial restructuring and supports them in stakeholder communication. Before joining W&P, she worked as a lawyer, spent twenty years as a director in the restructuring division of a major bank, and gained seven years of experience in restructuring consulting. Since 2018, she has served on the extended board of TMA Germany, and in 2024 she was appointed Vice President of TMA Global International Relations as well as a member of the Executive Board of TMA Global.

Stefanie Schauer founded OFFISY in 2014 with the goal of significantly reducing the administrative burden in the medical services sector, thereby giving doctors and therapists more time to focus on what really matters. Over the past few years, what began as a practical solution has evolved into one of the leading software platforms for private practice physicians and healthcare service providers in Austria. Today, more than 5,000 people use OFFISY. The smart software helps simplify processes, streamline procedures, and manage medical practices more efficiently from a business perspective.

Frank Schäffler and his team advise companies in crisis, with a focus on corporate groups and publicly traded corporations. Together with each company’s financial and business advisors, he designs and implements restructuring strategies aimed at making the most effective use of the legal tools available to restructuring professionals. Companies and stakeholders value his candid communication and commercial acumen. Frank, who studied in Konstanz and Manchester, is recognized as a leading StaRUG specialist with an extensive track record of successfully completed proceedings. One of the first to do so, he introduced restructuring proceedings into advisory practice. A father of four, he has published numerous professional articles and is frequently recommended in industry media.

Gabriele Schiemer has been working in the restructuring sector for 28 years in various credit institutions in Austria and is currently the Head of Risk Management at Sparkasse Niederösterreich Mitte-West AG. She is a co-author of the "Principles for Restructuring in Austria." Gabi is an expert in the Austrian and German banking scene, and in our panel, we will ask her for her current assessment of credit institutions, particularly in the automotive and mechanical engineering sectors.

Every year, Markus Exler invites people to a cross-border dialogue with interesting people. When he is not lecturing at the institute in Kufstein or abroad as a visiting professor, he is a management consultant, holds advisory board positions in medium-sized companies and does not view the restructuring of companies as a flaw or a consequence of a crisis, but rather as part of normal corporate development. Markus is often booked as a speaker at conferences and corporate events. He believes that thinking about restructuring should be a constant task for every manager. He is at home in Nuremberg and Kufstein.