Jury 2025

Gabriel Rinaldi

Editorial Journalist and Reporter
Süddeutsche Zeitung Dossier

Gabriel has been an editorial journalist and reporter at Süddeutsche Zeitung Dossier since July 2023. He co-authors the “Platz der Republik” briefing and reports on German politics. Previously, he was a reporter in the Berlin office of POLITICO and worked for the Washington Post, SPIEGEL and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, among others. He studied politics, sociology and economics in Berlin, London and Milan and was also trained at the ifp school of journalism in Munich. In 2021, he was voted one of the top 30 to 30 in journalism by medium magazin, and in 2022 he was awarded the Media Prize for Digital Enlightenment for an interactive story on the Metaverse.

DAVINA COCHRANE

CEO & Creative Director
Jan & Dave Studios UG

Thomas Bedenk

Freelance Advisor & Manager

Thomas is freelance advisor and manager with over 28 years of experience in digital productions. His focus areas are Strategy and Innovation (XR/AI) across industries. He is a keynote speaker and founding member of XRBB and the German Game Association. He was VP Extended Reality at Endava and Director Immersive Media at Exozet. 2008 he founded his game studio Brightside Games. He has degrees in Media Design and Human Factors. Prior, he was interactive designer and developer for 10 years.

Dinesh Punni

Founder and CEO
immersive insiders 

Dinesh is an XR educator, content creator, and CEO of Immersive Insiders with 10+ years in Spatial Computing (AR/VR).

Starting as an XR developer in 2016, he now works closely with Meta as one of their key partners for engaging the developer ecosystem, plus enterprise clients across automotive, fashion, and tech.

Dinesh organizes the XR Creator Con (XRCC) – Europe’s largest XR Hackathon – and created XRCC Online, the world’s largest XR hackathon with 3,400+ participants creating 200+ projects.

His mission: unite XR enterprises and community to build what’s next.

Dorjee Lhamo Gerhard

Senior Concept Creative & Copywriter
Jung von Matt NERD

Dorjee approaches marketing with a focus on community, relevance, and innovation. Since 2021, she has worked as a Concept Creative and Copywriter in the creative advertising industry, developing campaigns for brands like Nintendo, Paramount, Spotify, Warner Bros., and YouTube.

As an expert in culture marketing, she creates strategies and campaigns that connect brands with communities and next-gen consumers. Alongside her agency work, she is a speaker on the intersection of media and diversity, drawing on her experience as a freelance journalist and former consultant for civic education.

Her goal is to shape the media landscape in a creative and diverse way.

Prof. Dr. Patrick Rupert-Kruse

Professor of Media Theory and Immersion Research
Institute for Immersive Media, Faculty of Media
Kiel University

Jean-Philippe Tonyigah

Lead
Sparkassen Innovation Hub

Jean-Philippe (JP) has been working in the banking sector for five years, driving the development of innovative financial solutions. Since 2022, he has been exploring the potential of Extended Reality (XR), AI, and other future technologies in banking at the Sparkassen Innovation Hub.

The Sparkassen Innovation Hub serves as the central innovation lab of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, developing digital products and services for the future of banking. JP is responsible for building and expanding the innovation network, collaborating closely with national and international technology and financial partners, and unlocking new digital ecosystems for the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe.