Aleš Pestotnik, MBA, is a Senior Technology Strategist at Microsoft for South-East Europe, responsible for the public sector in the Adriatic region. He brings more than 20 years of experience in leadership, sales, consulting and customer success management across the Adriatic region and Central and Eastern Europe. His mission is to support organisations in accelerating digital transformation and achieving sustainable growth. He began his career as an IT specialist at Hermes SoftLab, continued at Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and ArisGlobal, and rejoined Microsoft earlier this year, drawn by the opportunity to lead engagement on strategic topics with public administrations in the region on behalf of one of the global companies best prepared for the challenges of today’s business environment. Aleš is a graduate of IEDC – Bled School of Management (MBA) and holds a master’s degree in management, complemented by numerous certifications in cloud, sales and leadership from institutions including INSEAD, London Business School and FranklinCovey. His work is characterized by a focus on creating value for customers, strategic partnerships and fostering team excellence. Digital sovereignty and sovereign AI are a central focus of his current work. He works with governments across the region to help them envision and architect national platforms that meet their sovereignty requirements without limiting their innovation potential, guided by the principle that sovereignty is not isolation, but the ability to decide under your own rules.