The Most Experiential
Tech Festival in the Middle East

Dr Muller-Stuler is the Chief Data Scientist for IBM MEA leading the Centre of Excellence for Data Science. She is responsible for the transformation of Data Science in IBM MEA and globally using data and analytics as she implemented AI in the enterprise sustainably and at scale. She has successfully built a team that focuses on building long-term partnerships and guiding top clients including governments on their path to data driven or AI powered organizations. As an expert in her field, Dr Eva’s drive to constantly innovate and add value to the community through her professional career has helped large organizations grow and prosper towards building smart solutions. Her innovations are truly making significant changes. She is a leader in her field with 13 years of innovation, leaving her mark on Customer Behavior, Decision Science, Predictive Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence. Her solutions focus on Customer Growth, Acquisition, Retention, Demand Forecasting, Merchandising Optimization, Assortment Ranging & Optimization, Location Evaluation, as well as Risk and Fraud detection engines. She has deep insights and a global exposure across multiple industries such as: Retail, FMCG, Healthcare, Energy, and Financial sector. This exposure has allowed her to promptly realize that most enterprises wants to leverage AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science. Hence, she demonstrates IBM’s philosophy and methodology for successfully executing and operationalizing data science in the enterprise. Previously, she was the Chief Data Scientist at KPMG in Decision Science, where she led the development of new ground-breaking approaches to facilitate strategic data driven real-time decisions engines. Additionally, Dr. Eva is a mathematician with a passion for her subject and has been an international conference speaker influencing and disrupting industries with innovative Data Science ideas and machine vision. She is a trusted advisor to governments on changes through AI and machine learning. On the other hand, she is an investor, consultant and mentor for start-up companies. Dr Eva holds a Doctorate from Philipps-University Marburg, and a Master of Science degree in Mathematics from the Technical University of Munich, where she became an expert in gaining insights from unstructured data and mathematical optimization. On a scholarship of the Japanese Government, she spent a research year in number theory at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. She is the author and co-author of numerous papers and publications as well as a member of various mathematical societies including Women in Machine Learning. Currently she is a guest lecturer at RIT Dubai for Data science. Through her technical abilities, Dr Eva takes a vision and makes it reality for the betterment of society. She sharply foresees the threads of opportunities that wind through an enterprise, brings them together into a lucid whole, guides business conversations, and initiates new business prospects. She is an inspirational leader who shares an experience that triggers a need of action. Respected as a plausible voice in strategic decision making, Dr Eva earns a seat at the table wherever she performs.

Nadine Hajj

Necip Ozyucel

Aya Sadder is the Incubator manager of Intelak, the first Aviation, Travel & Tourism Incubator in the region; it is a partnership between The Emirates Group, GE and Dubai Tourism. In this role, she delivers the Incubator’s strategy of supporting the UAE’s ambitious plans for the future, and to ensure that the country sets the highest global standards for services, systems, and experiences in aviation. She is also a consultant to the Emirates Airlines Dubai Future Accelerator Program and a team member of the Aviation X Lab, the world’s first aviation x lab She is developing Intelak into a hub that will seek to develop teams, comprised of early-stage entrepreneurs or students, to become part of the conversation in travel and aviation.

Marketing & Communications expert with 13 years of international experience. Strong academic background in business administration, international marketing & media management. Developed and directed domestic and international marketing communication and media strategies with focus on brand rejuvenation and digital transformation. Specialized in the design and distribution of digital content across all owned, earned and paid digital media and social media channels. As member of the Mercedes-Benz Overseas Marketing Board, experienced in designing and executing the customer journey and digital transformation strategy within a global context.

A communications specialist with over 12 years of experience. Starting off in the media industry with experience in multiple markets, I am currently leading the Marketing and Product department of the newly formed Aston Martin MENAT team.

Has over two decades of refined media and communications experience working with prominent international news channels, and participating in global events and forums that support the local business segment in the Middle East. From the World Government Summit, to the Women in Leadership Forum, Maya has moderated and participated as an MC for high-level events attended by Senior Members of Government and C-Suite Executives from global companies. Maya is a Senior News Presenter and Chief Editor at Dubai TV and has worked at other reputable media channels including Al Arabiya TV. She has carried out extensive media training for several high-profile spokespeople in various industries and has educated students in Media and Journalism at the American University of Dubai. Maya invests her time in mentoring and empowering women and has participated in several high level events focusing on youth, women and entrepreneurship. She has recently launched her podcast Rakwet Ahweh, to tell inspirational stories from Arab women who have made it in their domains.

Co-Founder and CTO of Cloudera since it was formed in Oct 2008. Before that he was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Accel Partners for about 3-months. Prior to joining Accel he served as Vice President of Product Intelligence Engineering at Yahoo! and ran one of the very first organizations to use Hadoop for data analysis and business intelligence. Amr joined Yahoo after they acquired his first startup, VivaSmart, in July of 2000. Amr holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Cairo University, Egypt, and a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Studied business administration and innovation management. He has a background in banking and worked for several industry leaders in sports and automotive. He joined Volkswagen´s business development in 2011 and helped to establish an internal innovation agency to guide the company through digital transformation. He is passionated about design methods, trendscouting and startup ideas.

Director in PwC’s People and Organization team. He is a seasoned professional with 16 years of cross-industry and operational experience helping companies deliver complex business transformations. He has been based in Abu Dhabi for the past 5 years, and currently leads PwC’s Middle East’s Change Management and Communications group which specializes on leading and supporting large transformational projects. James works closely with Senior Executives to support transformations that enable delivery of the organization strategy and vision including enhancements in organization design, operating model, human capital execution, talent management, organization development, corporate culture and technology. Supported by his extensive program and change management capability and with a focus on the ‘people’ impacts of change, he has a proven track record of delivering measurable and sustained benefits, improved operational performance, increased employee engagement and capability, and regulatory compliance. His work has spanned Power and Utilities, Government and Financial Services, and his clients have been from across Europe and the Middle East, including recent work in Oman. James is extensively involved in PwC Middle East’s work looking at the, ‘Future of Work’, notably how organizations and people can adopt an integrated approach to prepare for this, and the changes it will require. James grew up in South East Asia, and has an MBA from Warwick Business School, and BSc from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.

Holds a MS in Industrial Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Paris. He started his career in strategy consulting, where he advised leading Retail and CPG players in Europe and the US. Joined Uber in its early days in 2013 in Paris, participating in building what’s today one of the largest markets for the company. In 2015, he moved to create the Strategy & Planning team for Western Europe before leading if for the entire EMEA region. Moved to the UAE in December 2016 to lead the Uber Eats business locally, and currently covers the GCC region, based out of Dubai.

Director of Innovations at Village Capital, where he leads experimental engagements with corporations, foundations, and governments. Before joining Village Capital, he spent a decade as the managing editor and head of analysis for the Africa practice at Oxford Business Group, an emerging markets research firm. In that role, he worked with governments and corporates across North and Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to that, he lived in the Middle East, analyzing investment attractiveness in Kuwait, Jordan and Tunisia, and worked as a legislative aide in the US. Rob also serves as an advisor to Asoko Insight, an Africa-focused corporate data start-up. He holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and a CEP from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Bordeaux, France. He received his BA from UC Berkeley.

A Dubai-based portfolio manager, financial markets commentator and a sustainability advocate. She is a Board member and Advisor to Skoot Mobility, a sharing eco-friendly micro-mobility service that aims to provide an easy and smart transportation method to address the first and last mile landscape across the MENA region.

He is a quantum physicist turned disruption specialist who believes that the world would be a better place if we used scientific thinking to solve complex business innovation challenges. Petar is Managing Partner of Ebtikaar, a disruption advisory and think-tank working tirelessly to shape public policies and practices around innovation. Ebtikaar combines human-centred design, strategic foresight and the scientific method, working with governments and organisations to change systems, transform cultures and create disruption from within. With a vision to peer deeply into the future and develop antifragile, portfolio-based innovation strategies, Ebtikaar’s Future Mobility practice was commissioned by Dubai Police to co-imagine, design and execute Dubai Police’s 2029 vision for mobility strategy. Petar is the Futurist-in-Residence of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, bringing ‘faster than air, cheaper than ground’ passenger and freight transportation to the UAE and the Pacific region.

General Manager for Uber in Middle East & North Africa. He is part of the team that launched Uber in Egypt in 2014 and grew it to become a Top 10 market for the company globally. Prior to Uber, Tino worked for McKinsey & Company as a consultant and has an MBA from Insead and MSc in Economics from UCL.

At Volkswagen, he headed the Sales & Marketing area for various vehicle projects worldwide and later the Sales & Marketing department at the Transparent Factory in Dresden. With the strategic realignment of the Group as a mobility provider, he built up the New Mobility & Innovations division and established Volkswagen’s Future Mobility Incubator.

Starting his career in management roles for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Land Rover as well as for Volvo in South Africa and Russia, Deesch acquired many years of multi-market and brand experience within the global automotive sector. His first role in the Middle East came in 2005 with Porsche as Managing Director of the Middle East and Africa subsidiary, where he oversaw the extensive development of the regional operation. His career at Porsche AG included achievements as MD for Porsche China and as the Regional Head of Overseas and Emerging Markets with Porsche AG in Germany. As Group Managing Director, operating from the AVME regional office in Dubai, Deesch is responsible for driving the growth across 11 countries in the GCC and Levant for the Audi and Volkswagen brands. South-African born Deesch is married with two children.

A data and AI enthusiast by heart. She has spent her whole career helping various customers in the region getting actionable insights from their data and currently is helping them in their AI journeys.

A Saudi National, is an entrepreneur, investor and a startup enthusiast. He is the Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of an education technology company Coded Minds and invests and ventures through his investment vehicle F3 Ventures. Omar is a careered finance professional in a previous life. His two previous ventures were Green Sands Equity out of San Francisco and previously CapInvest (latterly CI Holdings) which was a joint initiative with the asset management arm of United Overseas Bank Singapore. He was on the Funds Board of Saudi Fransi Capital for a several years. His corporate life was split between Algebra Capital, Deutsche Bank & NCB Capital out of Saudi Arabia.

Khalifa is on a mission to transform cities towards a zero-emission future. He’s a co-founder, COO and Chairman of the Board of Hoop. Hoop is a micro mobility company focusing on fixing the last-mile problem by bringing shared electric scooters to Dubai and other major cities in the Middle East and Nordics. Khalifa is a close follower of the mobility industry and a true believer of a viable point-to-point mass transportation system. Khalifa is based from Finland and has recently moved to Dubai.

Kester discovered Bitcoin during his final PhD year, while finalizing his thesis in the area of computational quantum chemistry. Soon after, a relocation from Australia to South Korea allowed him to experience the tremendous difference in how crypto was perceived by the two countries, also placing him closer to the Asian crypto hub, where he witnessed crypto investors flocked from China to South Korea (due to China’s ban on crypto activities), and the rise of the “Kimchi” premium. While working as full time postdoc at a university, Kester spent his free time writing articles for a JFSA-licensed crypto exchange, while keeping close attention to the blockchain industry. The rabbit hole goes only deeper from there, frustrated by the lack of developments in the crypto-payment sector, Kester joined Pundi X to make crypto payments as easy as buying water.

A UAE-born Pakistani-Canadian who has experience working in consulting, business development, and marketing in the UK and MENA region. Prior to getting bitten by the start-up bug, Hassan was a Senior Consultant at EY and worked directly with senior leadership on pursuit strategies. His interests in customer experience and technology led him to join Twistar as Head of Growth & Partnerships following the completion of his MSc from Imperial College London.

A global thought leader and CXO in the field of Smart Cities, Telecom, Media, Information analytics and an Urban Design enthusiast. He is the Founder and CEO of Gaia Smart Cities. He was the President of Reliance Jio, VP at IBM and CIO of Reliance and a Partner of KPMG in his previous stints over 25 years. His global experience has provided depth and breadth of roles to manage people, processes, finances, projects, technology, relationships, & governance. He is a Visiting Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University (USA). He was the Program Director of Swachh Bharat Mission PMU and an currently serves as an ICT Expert in many Smart Cities across the country. He is a technical advisor for BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council). He is also associated with the Atal Innovation Mission as a Mentor of Change. Sumit is a graduate of IIT Kanpur followed by MS and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University. He has also graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is the author of a bestselling career management book, ‘Rules of the Game’ published by Bloomsbury India. He is regular speaker on the TEDx platform and represented by ‘The Outstanding Speakers Bureau’.

Samar founded Jugnoo in 2014 with the vision to transform the Indian auto-rickshaw sector. Jugnoo is the leading on-demand hyperlocal transport and logistics player of India. Samar is a serial entrepreneur and a physicist by education. He has previously worked as a researcher at IBM and CERN. He is one of the industry’s foremost speakers. Samar also founded Click-Labs, a profitable SaaS technology solution provider of Business suit called ‘JungleWorks’. He is an avid traveler and amateur photographer who likes to document the everyday world. Samar’s personal website calls him ‘Someone somewhere in a garage’ which clearly portrays his love and penchant for building new things.

Pioneer in Healthtech, X Reality and Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare Futurist, an avid researcher determined to use future tech solutions for societal well-being. Her ongoing research with NGOs seeking to counter malnutrition and neonatal diseases in 3rd world countries, assisting them to develop awareness through immersive technologies and artificial intelligence. Having a background in Surgery, and Simulation training, Dr. Sana Farid has contributions with RCSI, Stanford, and Oxford University. Awarded as leading women worldwide in ARVR, she have had distinguished recognitions from Harvard Business Review and Forbes Middle East.

The current Chief Business Development Officer of Kuwait Life Sciences Company (KLSC) where he is part of a team that manages over 100 million dollars in assets under management including local, regional and international investments on behalf of the Kuwait Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of Kuwait. Dr. Razouki is a regional thought leader within the Middle East life sciences industry and has championed the building of strong pillars of the local life sciences ecosystem including the region’s premiere pharmaceutical licensing and distribution platform; NewBridge – a 50 mn USD revenue company operating across all 22 MENA countries including Iraq, Iran and Turkey as well as South Africa, Clinart – the region’s top Clinical Research Organization (CRO) and host of the first ever Phase II Clinical Trial in the history of Kuwait at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, eCore – the region’s top active pharmaceutical ingredients licensor and distributor, the Life Sciences Academy – the region’s first ever training and development company focused on the healthcare and life sciences industry as well as Innomedics – one of Kuwait’s top medical device distribution companies that pioneered the distribution of personalized digital health products in the region. At KLSC, Dr. Razouki and his team have invested and co-invested with some of the world’s top life science venture capital funds including, New Leaf Venture Partners in New York, Wellington Partners in Munich and Kearny Venture Partners and Presidio Partners both of which are based in San Francisco. Notable investment direct and indirect investment include: CRISPR Therapeutics – a leading personalized genomic medicine company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts (NASDAQ: CRSP), iRhythm Technologies, based in San Francisco, which closed 56% above its listed stock price on the first day of its IPO (NASDAQ: IRTC), Quanta Fluid Solutions – one of the world’s first home hemodialysis manufacturers, Median Technologies – a leading global provider of medical imaging solutions, especially in the field of oncology based in France (EPA: ALMDT) and SuperSonic Imagine – a leading global provider of medical ultrasound solutions also based in France (EPA: SSI) Dr. Razouki is also a former advisor to the central Kuwaiti government where he worked with senior government leaders during the administration of HE the Prime Minister, Sheikh Naser Al Mohammad Al Sabah and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Sheikh Ahmed Al Fahad Al Sabah on both Healthcare, Education and Entrepreneurial reforms as part of Kuwait’s 100 billion dollar Development Plan. Dr. Razouki continues to work closely with the Council of Minister’s of Kuwait and is currently advising the government on the development of the Sabah Al Ahmad National Genome Center together with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, a National Pharmaceutical Quality Control Laboratory, and the 1 bn USD Jaber Hospital project, a 1,168 facility which will be the largest single healthcare structure in the Middle East.

A technology industry thought leader, researcher and CxO advisor. During his 18+ years of experience in the ICT industry (over 10 of them with IDC), he has extensive experience advising technology firms, national ICT development agencies, regulators, and telecommunication providers. Currently, as the head of IDC’s research practice in this region, Ranjit is responsible for driving the growth of IDC’s research products and services business, and shaping IDC’s thought leadership. Ranjit leads a team of over 40 market analysts based in IDC offices across the region and spearhead IDC’s thought leadership by directing and shaping IDC’s industry-leading research trackers, guides, reports and subscription products, and supporting consulting projects on the entire spectrum of information and communication technologies. Ranjit has been involved in advising telecommunication providers and technology firms on growth & transformation strategies, market entry, competitive positioning, portfolio strategy and marketing & communication strategies. In addition, he has also been an advisor to governments, regulators and national ICT development agencies on topics such as knowledge economies and innovation ecosystems, developing local ICT industries, skills development strategies, foreign direct investment, technology-led innovation, research & development and entrepreneurship. From a technology standpoint, his areas of expertise include Cloud, Mobility, Big Data Analytics, Managed Services, Datacenter Services, Social Business, Internet of Things, AI/Cognitive Systems, Cyber Security, and paradigms such as Digital Transformation and Smart City developments. Ranjit frequently speaks at industry forums and conferences, and is often quoted in the media, providing opinion and analysis on technology trends and strategies in global and emerging markets. Prior to joining IDC in 2008, Ranjit spent over nine years in the IT industry, in roles spanning product management, marketing, channel and business development, and resource management at prominent global IT companies such as Epicor, 3i Infotech and NIIT Technologies. Ranjit has a management degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Kolkata, India and a bachelor of technology degree from Cochin University of Science and Technology, India.

The co-founder of MaaS Global and Whim app, the world’s first mobility as a service solution. Kaj has a background in digital business from past 17 years, having worked in advertising, service creation and consultancies. Kaj has a Master’s in BA and international business.

The ambitious founder of Wandering the Future. Cécile is a little obsessed with the Future and she aspires to be the voice of the ever-changing needs of the intercultural consumer by being a creative innovator supporting brands, meeting these future demands. Her speciality is not to inspire people regarding the future, but to make them understand the underlying needs and the value shifts that drive change and hand them the tools to translate these findings into actions.

Co-founder and Chief of Business Development of First Medicine, she leverages her expertise in international business development to form strong relationships with partners overseas. She has worked with New Generation Power and Seaspire Advisors, building relationships for global projects in the healthcare, agriculture, and renewable energy sectors. `

At IBM, work is more than a job – it’s a calling: To build. To design. To code. To consult. To think along with clients and sell. To make markets. To invent. To collaborate. Not just to do something better, but to attempt things you’ve never thought possible. To lead in this new era of technology and solve some of the world’s most challenging problems. My mission is to creatively articulate technology, streamline processes and build effective teams to attract, select and hire talented and diverse candidates for IBM in the Middle-East and Africa. Reporting to IBM Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition, I’m accountable for the overall MEA TA strategy, budget and execution in 70 countries, operating across 5 time-zones.

Joined Nokia in 2015 and is currently Head of Global Smart City Solution in the Global Digital Economy Practice. In his role, he leads the Smart City E2E Solution based on existing and emerging technologies such as IoT, 5G, AI, and Blockchain. Dr. Zuhdi has worked globally for telecom vendors and operators. He led functions such as Technology Strategy, Network & Digital Transformation, Smart City Solutions, and global R&D while working for Etisalat, Tellabs, and Ericsson. Dr. Zuhdi has a Ph.D., MSEE, MBA, and over 20 American patents, and he is an adjunct professor in entrepreneurship and innovation management.

Began his automotive career with W Motors as the Head of Business Development in 2014. The team always had a vision to create a new electric vehicle brand in China and founded ICONIQ Motors in early 2016. Karim then became the Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of ICONIQ. The company aims to be the first passenger-focused electric vehicle to offer industry leading comfort, entertainment and productive technologies. ICONIQ’s strategic partnership with Microsoft will enable a truly unique in-vehicle digital user experience.

Consultant on Digital Business Strategy for Watson Internet of Things at IBM Middle East, Africa and Turkey where she explores how artificial intelligence is making ‘things’ smarter. She is passionate about how IoT and AI is progressing citizen convenience and as a marketing leader, tries to investigate its impact on communications. Asma was previously the Territory Marketing Leader for the Enterprise and MidMarket portfolio at IBM Middle East. Before joining IBM, Asma was engaged in B2C and B2B communications as Director, Account Management and Business Development, at Corporate & Marketing Communications, CMC (an affiliate of Ketchum) one of the largest PR firms in Pakistan where she focused on public policy and corporate communications. During her tenure, CM expanded into digital communications services and successfully executed campaigns for blue chip companies including P&G, Nestle and Microsoft. Asma is a Fulbright Scholar and received her Master’s in Strategic Public Relations from the University of Southern California, USA. She has another Master’s in Business Administration from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA). Asma sits on the board of the CMO Council Middle East and the College of Media and Mass Communications at the American University in the Emirates. She is also a Co-Founder of Afterwork Dubai, a community initiative that provides a platform to UAE expats to network. She is also a public speaker on topics including Marketing & Communication trends, IoT and gender equality.

An Associate Professor of Robotics and Computer Science at Sorbonne University – France since 2004. He received his Ph.D. in 2003 in Robotics and Computer Science from Paul Sabatier University. His main current research interests are in the fields of human-centered robotics. He has been the principal investigator/partner of several European projects. In 2014, Anis Sahbani founded Enova ROBOTICS, the first company in Africa that manufactures its own-brand robots. Enova Robotics won several international awards such as: two gold medals from the World Intellectual Property Organization, gold medal of the International Invention Fair in Middle East, and the gold medal of the International Exhibition of Inventions at Geneva. Anis Sahbani is also the winner of the Best Young Leader award. Enova Robotics has raised $1.6-million Tunis-based investment firm Capsa Capital.