As uncertainty continues to reign and questions remain on what a post-pandemic world will look like – one undisputed fact is that digital capabilities across the global business community will continue to play a central role.

Addressing this very issue, this Wednesday’s session of The Boardroom, airing live on WhosWho.mt’s Facebook page at 2pm, business writer and presenter Jo Caruana will be joined by Tamas Banyai, CEO of epic (formerly Vodafone Malta), Simon Naudi, CEO of Corinthia Group and Stanley Bugeja, Managing Director of DC Aviation Malta.

One may ask what the three individuals have in common, however, telecommunications companies such as epic play a vital role in the day-to-day operations of businesses across all industries, including hospitality and aviation, as providers of digital services.

Wednesday’s guests

Tamas Banyai is an accomplished telecommunications business leader with over 20 years of experience in the industry. He joined the sector in Hungary in 1999 where he held various roles in marketing and customer operations at Vodafone.

In 2009 he was promoted to Head of Consumer Marketing, followed by the position of Head of Retail in 2012. In 2014, he moved to epic (then Vodafone Malta) to head the Consumer Business Unit, where he was responsible for all strategic, brand, marketing, customer experience and customer operations segments of the business. In 2020, he was given the role of leading epic as Chief Executive Officer.

Simon Naudi is the CEO of International Hotels Investments (IHI) plc, the owner, developer and operator of Corinthia Hotels and other real estate globally. He joined Corinthia in 1997 and for many years led the company’s international hotel and real estate acquisitions and developments, before being tasked with responsibility for the brand and hotel operations too in 2014.

Mr Naudi was appointed CEO of IHI plc, the publicly traded holding company for Corinthia, in 2021. The acquisition, development and launch of the Corinthia Hotel & Residences in London counts among his more notable achievements. In recent years, he has expanded the Company’s footprint into some other major European capitals, as well as the Middle East and the USA too.

Stanley Bugeja has occupied various positions in the Maltese and European aviation industry since 1990. He left Mediterranean Aviation Co. Ltd in 2002 as Assistant Operations Manager. That same year he setup Sierra Aviation Co. Ltd. as owner and CEO of the Island’s first dedicated business aviation aircraft handling company, building an aircraft charter brokerage base out of Malta.

Between 2007 and 2008 he occupied the position of Managing Director for CharterX Wyvern Europe. At the time CharterX was the leading platform for online business jet charter trading worldwide.
He is currently Managing Director of DC Aviation (Malta) Ltd., a subsidiary of DC Aviation GmbH (a merger between ex Daimler Chrysler Aviation and Cirrus Aviation) and Group Head for Aircraft Charter Sales.

Mr Bugeja founded the Malta Business Aviation Association (MBAA) in October 2009 and has been serving as President of the MBAA ever since.

In addition, he has been serving on the Board of governors of the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) since 2010.

In 2019, Mr Bugeja together with partners Novargo and Concept Stadium, found the Malta Aviation Conference and Expo (MACE).