Future of Transportation

Cynthia Behnen-Gillison is RSM’s Regulatory Compliance and Financial Crimes Solution Set Leader overseeing a practice comprised of former regulators, chief compliance officers and professionals who have worked at the big four. She is responsible for leading RSM Professionals in the delivery of Regulatory Compliance, Financial Crimes and Validation services focused on navigating regulatory change/response, compliance testing and monitoring activities, digital assets, and internal audit.

Cynthia has 23 years of Leadership, Consulting and Auditing Experience, which has been focused on the financial services sector and 20 years of experience assisting organizations in managing operational and compliance risks.

She is a banking and capital markets, regulatory compliance specialist and collaborates with client’s and her teams to design comprehensive risk assessments and regulatory compliance programs, such as compliance management system (CMS), Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering (BSA/AML/OFAC), Fair Lending, Lending Compliance, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), third party risk management, Novel Banking, IT governance, external threat management, vulnerability management and other areas.

Jim Dukhovny is the CEO of Alef Aeronautics, a sustainable electric transportation company that is designing and developing the world's first flying car. Dukhovny has received education from UC Berkeley, Santa Clara University, and Stanford University. Influenced by his father, Leonid Dukhovny, a well-known singer-songwriter, poet, scientist, and avid science fiction lover, Jim Dukhovny has created a number of organizations spanning the entertainment, software, and non-profit industries.

Among his notable achievements, Dukhovny co-founded and led startups such as Intellectual Casino, Transcoder, DjWizard Presents, was the president of the Science Fiction Society of Silicon Valley and contributed to the architecture of Windows 10, Walmart's online imaging system, and a number of Yahoo products. In 2015, Dukhovny, together with Constantine Kisly, Pavel Markin, and Oleg Petrov, founded Alef Aeronautics to develop the world's first flying car. The prototype of this car successfully debuted in 2022 and through pre-sales became the world's best-selling aircraft in 2023.

Since 2001, Mario has been living in Silicon Valley, this innovative region in California where the future is already being developed today. Here he researches technology trends and their impact on people, society, economy, and politics.

Topics he deals with and on which he has written several books, as well as given talks and conduct workshops, include autonomous and electric mobility, artificial intelligence, the digital revolution, but also the innovative and creative mindset, and foresight to look into the future and make better decisions today.

For many years, Mario was responsible at SAP as a software developer, development manager and technology strategist, was a mentor in accelerators to coach start-ups and now advise companies on how they can transfer the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit from Silicon Valley to their organizations to become more innovative and to recognize trends and tipping points early on and help shape them.

He hosts delegations from Europe in Silicon Valley and connects them with the people and companies there.

Chris represents emerging companies, venture capital investors and private equity firms in corporate and securities matters, including startup counseling, investments, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and investment fund transactions.

For entrepreneurs, he advises fast-growing, emerging companies throughout their life cycle, ranging from formation, capital raising, corporate structuring and governance through exit. For fund sponsors and other investors, he advises on financial and strategic investments and buyouts as well as portfolio company management.

Prior to rejoining Morrison Foerster, Chris was Associate General Counsel and Legal Director at a leading global investment firm, where he oversaw domestic and cross-border transactions in the technology sector, including venture, growth and private equity investments for minority and controlling positions, joint ventures, portfolio company sales and divestitures, restructurings, the formation of investment funds, high-value strategic projects and special situations. 

While at New York University School of Law, Chris was a Lederman Fellow in Law & Economics and on the Executive Board of the NYU Journal of Law & Business. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara.