Catherine Barba

Catherine Barba Speaker Biography

Our keynote speaker Catherine Barba is a serial entrepreneur and an expert in omnichannel commerce, digital retail and digital transformations. She is an energetic speaker who provides audiences with the keys they need to thrive in the digital era. Speaker Catherine Barba is a change-maker in the intersection of e-commerce, retail and digital transformation, who champions for diversity and inclusion.

Since 2015 she develops the New-York-based PEPS Lab, a Retail Innovation Lab that offers clear guidance to brands and retailers seeking to navigate what’s next. Prior to that, a serial entrepreneur and digital pioneer in Europe, Barba founded and sold several digital businesses in France. She is also the author of several books about the future of retail, including “Stores are not dead”, and a sought-after keynote speaker.

A trusted angel investor and mentor, she serves on the board of directors of innovative tech startups, and has funded successful founders who redistribute power in Fashion, Retail, Mobility and AI, including Euveka (CES 2018 Innovation Awards Honoree), Reech, Retency, Popshop, Synchronized, Cargo. She also serves on the board of multinational organizations such as Etam and Renault-Nissan, the world’s largest car maker.

Over the years, she a has actively promoted women and diversity in leadership, mostly out of strong gratitude for the opportunities her career path in the tech world has given her. She co-hosted the ‘Journee de la Femme Digitale’ in France in 2013, 2014 and 2015, co-founded the ‘Femmes en Or, Innovation Day’ in Paris in 2016 and hosts the annual ‘W.IN Forum NY’ in New York since 2016, a community of 1,000+ startup founders, corporate change makers and students aiming at disrupting stereotypes and creating lasting change for women and minorities in the workplace.

In 2015 and 2016, Barba was named one of 50 most influential figures in Europe’s digital economy and in 2014 one of 3 most influential female
figures in France. In 2012 her Alma mater ESCP Europe named her “Alumni of the Year”. In 2018, keynote speaker Catherine Barba received the Legion of Honor, the highest French order of merit, from Marlene Schiappa, French Minister of State for Gender Equality.