The Drone Economy: Defence, Risk and Resilience

Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces (2018–2023). General Rajmund T. Andrzejczak is one of Poland’s most prominent military leaders of his generation, combining operational experience with strategic reflection on the transformation of the state amid growing international instability. Over more than thirty years of service, he held command and staff positions at every level of military operations, from leading armored subunits to heading the Polish Armed Forces as Chief of the General Staff from 2018 to 2023. He was responsible for preparing the military to operate in a multi-domain environment, integrating it with NATO structures, and adapting it to the shifting landscape of threats in Europe.

He commanded armored and mechanized units, including the 1st Krechowce Uhlans Tank Battalion, the 17th Wielkopolska Mechanized Brigade, and the 12th Szczecin Mechanized Division. He served in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and commanded the Polish Military Contingent in the UNDOF mission in the Middle East, gaining experience in coalition and asymmetric operations.

He is a graduate of the Armored Forces Higher Officer School in Poznań, the Defence Academy of the Czech Armed Forces, the National Defence Academy in Warsaw, and the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.

Since retiring from military service, he has been contributing to the development of Polish strategic thought, focusing on building the state’s capacity to operate under conditions of long-term rivalry and on exploring new models of strategic advantage in a changing security environment.

Tobias Billström serves as Chief Governmental Relations and Compliance at Nordic Air Defence.
With over two decades in high-level Swedish politics, he has held senior positions, including Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Migration, and Deputy Speaker of the Swedish Parliament. Between 2022-2024 he served as the Foreign Minister during Sweden’s process to join NATO. Drawing on this extensive experience, he combines deep political insight with a global perspective on societal change and security policy.
Tobias holds a master’s degree in history from both the University of Cambridge and Lund University. He is married and has two children.

Andrii Mykhailovych Biletskyi is the founder and co-owner of Fortes Aero, a Warsaw-based company possessing a technology for development of defensive unmanned systems, including the multirole PIKE 400PL fixed-wing UAV platform.

Since 2014 he has supported Ukraine’s Defence Forces, and after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 he moved into defence technology, financing the development and production of the field-proven PIKE 200 “Shchuka” drone.

Before that, he spent over two decades in international game development, holding senior positions at Ubisoft Montreal, Warner Bros. Games Montreal and Wargaming.net, leading distributed teams of up to 1,500 specialists and contributing to global franchises such as Assassin’s Creed and World of Tanks.

Drawing on both paths, he combines deep expertise in AI, systems and product design with practical lessons from the war in Ukraine.

Andrii holds a degree with honours in Computer Science from Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and completed the Executive Leadership Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Born in Ukraine with Polish family roots, he lives and works in Warsaw.

Esben Gadsbøll is leading the Defense Innovation Highway (DIH).
Defense Innovation Highway (DIH) is a platform for defense tech cooperation between Ukraine and Nordic countries, launched with support from Danish Tech Startups. DIH hosts Ukrainian delegations in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland to connect with policymakers, military, industry, and investors. DIH organises Nordic delegations to Ukraine, focusing on defense tech, including naval innovation and Al/autonomy.
Through events like DIH Naval Forge (2026, more than 300 defense leaders, military representatives, government officials, and defense technology developers from more than 20 countries) and direct introductions, DIH strengthens long-term security and builds a defense tech powerhouse to help Ukraine win and support Allies.
In 2025, HM Queen Margrethe II awarded Esben the Ebbe Munk Prize for his dedication to Ukraine and democracy.

Kate is head of Freshfields’ public procurement practice and specialises in complex contentious and non-contentious public procurement and global access to public markets.
She has significant experience of advising public and private sector clients on all elements of public procurement law and policy, including designing, implementing, participating in and challenging public tender processes with a focus on the defence sector.
Kate teaches at King’s College London, is on the Board of the Public Procurement Law Review and also serves on the Executive Committee of the UK Procurement Lawyers’ Association.

Yorck Hesselbarth is Co-Founder and CDO of Orcrist Technologies, a Berlin-based company developing sovereign data fusion and AI software for defence and security. He has more than a decade of experience in artificial intelligence, combining academic research with practical work across start-ups, large corporations and the German Armed Forces.
Previously, he served as Lead Artificial Intelligence and Senior Manager Innovation at the Bundeswehr’s Cyber Innovation Hub, where he led AI projects and helped connect military requirements with emerging technologies and entrepreneurial solutions.
His academic work explores human–technology interaction, trust and the ethical use of AI. He holds an MSc in Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
At Orcrist, his focus is on translating technological innovation into practical security capabilities and strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty. A frequent speaker on AI and defence innovation, he brings together perspectives from research, industry and military practice.

Stanislaw Kastory is a co-founder and General Partner at Expeditions, a venture capital fund backing the best founders building defence tech companies, with the mission to rebuild European security. Expeditions invests in defense tech, as well as cybersecurity, quantum computing, and AI security and safety.
Stanislaw leads investor relations and operations, as well as building the firm’s network across European deep tech, defence and security. He is also still active in the private investment firm Firlej Kastory, which invests in other VC funds, and led to the establishment of Expeditions, along with Mikolaj Firlej.
Previously, he specialised in M&A and corporate law during his Master’s degree and later joined DZP.

Witold Jurasz, journalist at Onet.pl where he publishes articles and runs a podcast covering foreign and security policy.

Author of books about Russia and V. Putin (“Demons of Russia”) and Belarus and A. Lukashenko (“The Demon Next Door”). Co-author, together with prof. H. Grala, of a book about the Kremlin power elite (“Putin’s Pack”).

Former employee of the Polish MoD’s NATO Security Investment Programme Bureau, 1st secretary at the Political Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Moscow, later chargé d’affaires of the Republic of Poland in Belarus. He has also worked as a Business Development Director in a private arms trading company and was the host of a TV talk-show at Polsat News 2, where he conducted over 700 interviews.