Conferences Speakers

COO/CIO

Dr. Taleb is the COO/CIO for Dar AlTamleek, the leading home finance company in Saudi Arabia.  He was hired in 2007 to help establish the company.  His background includes the automation of multi-billion dollar home finance operations and he is responsible for creating the company’s origination and servicing platforms

• Partnered with senior-level executives to establish the premier home finance company with eleven branches located throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Created online pricing engine which gave pre-approval to customers in a matter of seconds and initiated paperless system for processing and closing transactions
• Created underwriting guidelines, process flow, contracts, and contract origination system and played integral role in creating paperless loan system
•  Developed relationships with large real estate developers in the Middle East to assist customers in purchasing new homes. Responsible for information technology, operations, facilities, and servicing.

SVP IT

Abdulla is currently responsible for managing Telecom and ICT Solutions for the business and government sectors in the UAE and across the region. He has been with Etisalat since 1989, starting as an Engineer in the Data Services Department through to being the Chief Engineer, Internet of the Data Services Department. He later became a Senior Manager/Business Development of Internet Business Unit until being appointed as Assistant General Manager/eCompany at the beginning of 2006.  He also was responsible for the Management and administration of (.ae), (ccTLD), till 2008.  Abdulla has an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Florida, USA. He also serves as the Chairman of Smartworld, an ICT Joint Venture between Etisalat and Dubai World Central.

VP & CIO

Adriana (Andi) Karaboutis was appointed Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer for Dell in November 2011. In this role, she is responsible for managing an efficient and innovative global IT enterprise focused on technology breakthroughs for the company and its customers. She has been with Dell Since March, 2010.

Prior to her appointment as Global CIO, Ms. Karaboutis was vice president of IT supporting Dell’s product groups, manufacturing, procurement and supply chain operations. In this role, she led critical transformations of Dell’s manufacturing and supply chain IT operations, reducing complexity and providing customers choices they truly value.

Previous to Dell, Ms. Karaboutis spent over 20 years in the auto industry in various leadership positions within IT and business operations globally.  Most recently, she was General Motors’ Global Manufacturing and Labor Information Officer responsible for all vehicle assembly, power train, and stamping plant systems, as well as manufacturing engineering systems.

Ms. Karaboutis received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science in 1986 from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where she was a Merit Scholar. She subsequently pursued graduate Electronic Computer Control Systems studies at Wayne State and received an Academic Excellence Award jointly from Wayne State University and Ford Motor Company. She has completed the accelerated Fuqua School of Business, Marketing Strategy Program at Duke University. She also received The Certificate of Advanced Greek Language Studies from the academy in Athens, Greece and is fluent in the Greek language.

In 2012, Ms. Karaboutis was named one of the “Top 10 Women in Technology” by Little Pink Book and one of the 100 Women Leaders in STEM by STEMconnector. She served as president of the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT) from 2008-2010.  Additionally, she has been on the board of the Manufacturing Executive Leadership Forum since 2009.

Acting CIO

Ahmad is the IT Director (June 2009) and Acting Chief Information Officer (March 2012) leading Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. SKMC is a Joint Commission accredited 586-bed Acute Care Hospital, 14 Outpatient Specialty Clinics, and a Blood Bank facility. Additionally, the Medical City includes 125-bed Behavioral Science Pavilion, 88-bed Rehabilitation Center, 6 Ambulatory Clinics, 2 Dental Clinics, and 2 Urgent Care Centers.

Ahmad was assigned the role of overhauling the whole technology landscape for SKMC which was critical for the roll out of the EMR, he also worked with various managers in putting the proper framework for IT Service Management, Policies, Processes and Project Management.

Prior to working at SKMC, Ahmad worked in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), Dubai, UAE as the Senior Infrastructure Manager, where he was assigned various technical responsibilities for a number of Green Field projects like a new teaching Hospital, Medical Graduate School, Hotel, and other clinical facilities. He also was part of a core team for the implementation of an EHR across DHCC.

Before moving to the UAE, Ahmad was a consultant at El Paso Corporation (a fortune 500 energy company) in Houston, Texas. He was responsible for various infrastructure projects for the enterprise, which included Gas transportation, Marketing, Exploration and Production, Refining and retail.

Ahmad is a graduate of Western Kentucky University where he earned a Masters of Computer Science and also a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Jordan. He has over 20 years of technology experience in both Healthcare and Oil & Gas Information Technology.

Head of IT Pleanning & Enterprise Architecture

Ahmed Al Madani has been heading the IT Planning & Enterprise Architecture function at Dubai Customs for last three years and transformed the organization by implementing the practice of Enterprise Architecture. He owns the Enterprise Connected View, which is considered the only source of truth about Dubai Customs. Before heading the IT Planning & Enterprise Architecture Ahmed was the IT Director of Value Added Tax (VAT) initiative at Dubai Customs. Ahmed also has worked in the telecommunication and power sectors in the field of IT management. He is also leading the Service Improvement Government Network on behalf of Dubai Customs to improve service delivery standards in Dubai.

Industry Head - Gulf

Alfonso de Gaetano works at Google as Industry Head for the Gulf Region. In his role, he is in charge of Sales activities and supporting business development activities for Google Gulf across all sectors (E-Commerce, Telecom, Media, Technology, FMCG, Financial Services, Government) excluding Travel.

Before Google, Alfonso was a Principal at Booz & Company in Dubai. He spent more than 7 years in Management Consulting and he was part of the Telecom practice of Booz & Company, specialized in Corporate Finance, Investment Strategy, Business Development, Strategic Alliances and Partnerships

He lead one of the largest Synergy Program of a large Telecom conglomerate and was responsible of several successful Due Diligence and Acquisitions of Telecom operators in Asia, Middle East and Africa

Alfonso also spent almost 2 years as Vice President of the SWF Dubai Group, mainly focusing on M&A and post acquisition activities for Financial Service companies. He holds a Materials engineering degree from Federico II University in Napoli, and a MBA from Stoa’ Business School in Napoli

Head of ICT Practice MENA

Andy heads the Information and Communications Technology Practice in the Middle-East and North Africa region for Frost and Sullivan. He joined Frost and Sullivan’s ICT team in 2012 and is responsible for all the regional research and consulting activities of the practice.

With over 20 years experience in the Telecom and IT Industries, Andy has run and setup teams with a wide-variety of functions in European and Global roles as well as within the MENA region.

Broadly encompassing Marketing planning and strategy in the Technology area, these roles have included the following functions; Market and Technology analysis, Business Planning, Market and Product forecasting, Target/Partner selection, Customer Experience Strategy, Performance Management, KPI Development, Customer Behaviour analysis, setting up Research & Planning teams and Strategy Development.

Most recently he was responsible for the Commercial planning of an LTE roll-out within the GCC. Prior to joining Frost and Sullivan, Andy worked for Nawras (QTel Group’s Operator in Oman), Nokia MEA, Vodafone’s Group and UK organisations and Microsoft UK. He has also spent time with IDC and Gartner as an analyst for the PC markets in Europe.

Head of Marketing & Product Development

Bobby Kakar is the Head of Marketing and Product Development at the Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB), Riyadh, and is responsible for developing the Bank’s Islamic Banking product offering and leading its foray into digital media. At SAIB he was instrumental in launchings its new social media integrated website (www.saib.com.sa) and maintaining its very active presence across Facebook and Twitter.  Bobby is a seasoned marketing and consumer banking professional with over 15 years experience in Consumer Banking spread across the Middle East and South Asia. He has led numerous product and brand launches in the Middle East and India, including the regions’ first online savings proposition, eSaver from HSBC. He has extensive experience in development of E channels especially with respect to digital marketing, social media, internet banking strategy, E propositions development, customer online journey design and transaction migration to automated channels. Bobby is also a member of the MENA advisory board of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) council, an affinity group of Chief Marketers worldwide.

MD- EU & MEA

Daniele Catteddu is the Managing Director, EMEA in Cloud Security Alliance, where he is responsible for the definition and execution of the company strategy in EU, Middle East and Africa. He also leads CSA participation in FP7 projects, coordinates European CSA Chapters research projects and manage the relations with European public institutions. In past the worked at ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency), as Expert in Risk Management, in the area of the Emerging and Future Risks, and in particular, having a leading role in developing EU cloud security research. Daniele is the author of the study: “Security and Resilience in Governmental Clouds” as well as co-author of the reports: “Cloud Computing: Benefits, risks and recommendations for information security” and “Cloud Computing: Information Assurance Framework”. He is member of various national and international security expert groups on cloud computing security and privacy. Daniele is an ISACA Certified Information Security Manager and Certified Information Systems Auditor

GM - Middle East

Dave Brooke serves as General Manager for Dell's Commercial business in the Middle East. Dave joined Dell in 2006, and has resposibility for Dell's Commercial business across the GCC and Levant countries, reporting to Michael Collins, General Manager for Dell Energing Countries - Commercial in Europe, MIddle East and Africa (EMEA).

Prior to joining Dell, Dave worked for IBM for seven years where he held a variety of positions including Marketing and Sales Manager for IBM's PC business in South Africa and worked in various IT and Business roles.

Dave was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and has a degree in Commerce and Specialist Diploma in Marketing Management. Dave is married and has two children.

CIO

Dr. Abdulqader A. Habiballah is the Chief Information Officer of Riyadh Military Hospital System and is responsible for managing technology infrastructure and applications for the largest and the most diversified healthcare facility in the Middle East. Dr. Habiballah has contributed remarkably to keep Riyadh Military Hospital System abreast of IT developments and emerging technologies by way of implementing appropriate, innovative and cost effective solutions to achieve competitive excellence in the complex field of Healthcare IT and Medical Technologies. He offers a unique blend of executive acumen, team-building skills, and has been recognized with delivering strong ROI and operational improvements. He actively participates in steering strategies, master planning, project evangelization and management in different fields of information technology, supported by solid background in project management and engineering to drive organizational performance to world-class levels.

Director of IT

Dr. Jassim Haji is the Director of Information Technology Division for Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Dr. Haji has been instrumental in implementing some key innovations at Gulf Air’s IT systems and processes in recent times, most notably, the introduction of advanced technology for Gulf Air World Wide Contact Centre and Cloud Computing that have helped further improve customer interface services as well as cost efficiency to the company. He started his career with Sprint Telecommunications in London before joining Gulf Air in 1985 as a network engineer and moved to Sabre – an airline IT solutions company – to whom Gulf Air outsourced its IT services. He then moved to EDS, another American IT solutions company with global presence, when Gulf Air moved its outsourcing services and grew within the ranks to become the Executive Director of EDS. When Gulf Air brought back its IT services, Jassim also moved back to Gulf Air and became the Head of Information Technology Infrastructure in 2008.

Dean- IT & Distance Learning Deanship

Dr. Mohammed Saeed Al- Kahtani is the Dean and Founder of the IT and Distance Learning Deanship at Salman bin Abdulaziz University, as well as being an Assistant Professor at the College of Computer Science and Engineering. He has a proven record of working with networking, programming and education at the highest level. He has a particular interest in the investigation of computer communication networks, mobile communication and the internet, playing his role in the evolution of this next stage of technological advancement. Dr. Al-Kahtani has a proven enthusiasm and aptitude for IT and education, having been involved in numerous workshops, graduate courses and skills development programs. He is highly conversant in the use of multiple programming and mark up languages, operating systems and virtual learning environments.

Former Group VP of IT

Ed Gabrys is an Information Technology professional with over 20 years experience in executive global IT management, strategy, governance, and information security practices. His has worked extensively in the financial services, energy, and technology sectors and has held positions with Goldman Sachs, Symantec, and most recently as Group Vice President for the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, TAQA.

General Manager - ICT Business

With experiences covering diverse areas of Journalism, Strategy, Investment, Business Development, Technology Planning & Development, Marketing and Sales, Fayzah carries with her 12 solid years of professional experience.  She is known with her proficiency in strategy, technology and market. Prior to Telekom Malaysia, she had a successful stint as a Foreign Correspondent in Knight-Ridder Financial News Wire (an American Media Group) and subsequently continued her writings for other well-known international News Agencies and newspapers. Her articles were carried by various local and regional publications. In telecommunications, she was one of the “new breed” recruited for Innovation and Creativity in business and strategy.

She spent 6 solid years in building TM’s market in the Middle East & Africa, in which her credentials includes the accomplishment of TM’s maiden development project in the Middle East i.e the development of Bahrain World Trade Center infrastructure and then later, TM’s maiden consultancy project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ie Madinah Knowledge Economic City. She is also responsible in attracting Middle Eastern telecoms to hub in Malaysia, aggregating almost a total of more than 50 Gigabytes from the region, with Telecom Egypt as her strongest customer and reference.

In her current capacity, she became one of the proponent strategic developers for TM’s venture in ICT. In a short span of 2 years, she was instrumental in the development of Managed Telepresence as the anchor of Collaboration & Communications strategy, Cloud Computing and the propagation of Technical expertise offered as a service, branded as ITServicedesk-as-a-service & Green Datacenter services. Her strongest focus now is driving further her credential as one of the foremost expert in the Cloud Computing business in the TM Group of companies, with her deep involvement and dedication to the development, implementation and adoption of Cloud in the financial, media and logistics industries. After a successful launch of TM’s Public Cloud, she is now in the midst of developing TM’s venture in the Private Cloud, propagating a Virtual Private Cloud Strategy as the most optimum way for large industries to move to the Cloud.

VP- IT Production Services

Fayyaz Alam has the executive responsibility for management of IT Infrastructure and Operations for Emirates Group. This includes the data centers, operations center, global networks and end user devices. Fayyaz and his team are responsible for provision of a cost effective, fit for purpose, scalable, stable and secure IT infrastructure which caters to the current and future needs of the Emirates Group.
Prior to this role Fayyaz managed the IT strategy and business solution development for Engineering, Flight Operations, Service Delivery and Network Operations. In previous roles with Emirates Group, Fayyaz headed IT for Commercial, Planning and Revenue Accounting functions. The Emirates Group is a vast organization with manifold business interests in the aviation, travel, tourism and leisure industries. Employing more than 55,000 people across its 50 business units and associated firms, it is one of the biggest employers in the gulf region and offers specialist services spanning almost every aspect of the market.

CTO

Hazem Awni Jarrar is the Chief Technology Officer at The King Faisal Foundation where he has built a responsive technology structure that consistently delivers results by aligning technology initiatives with strategic business goals; with substantial improvement to service delivery, standardization, and business/systems performance. Hazem’s work has been instrumental in providing The King Faisal Foundation with leading applications, database, and management reporting capabilities critical to the success of business activities and performance. In addition, he has effectively raised ICT’s visibility within the Foundation by bridging technology decisions and issues to the forefront of crucial executive discussions. He is also known for crafting requisite strategic vision to achieve business goals, offering a unique blend of executive acumen, global team-building, and ICT solution development credited with strong ROI and operational improvement.

Executive VP & Head of Enterprise Technology

Ian Cook is VP CIO & Head of Operations for Oman Insurance; the leading insurance company in the GCC. Ian is an experienced business executive who has worked for much of his career outside of his native UK. He has spent 9 years as CIO for the Asia Pacific Region & Senior Vice President of Chubb Insurance Group of companies, a Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s 15 largest property and Casualty Insurers. Prior to his fourteen years with Chubb he had worked in a variety of other sectors including investment banking, government, and FMCG in the UK.  He ran his own consultancy firm in London from 1987 to 1993. Ian has extensive international business experience spanning 3 decades. He is passionate about the need for innovation and the methods by which organizations can leverage the creative process both internally and externally as they design Enterprises that will compete successfully in the future.

Director Information Technology

Jacob Kuriyan is the Director of Information Technology at the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research. 

Established in 2007 by a decree from President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to complement Abu Dhabi’s 2030 vision, the University aims at building a knowledge-based economy that effectively contributes to the development of the UAE. 

Jacob Kuriyan worked in Etisalat University College since 1995 and moved to Khalifa University when the College was merged with the University.  As the director, he leads a team of IT Professionals in building and maintaining the Infrastructure and Services to meet the growing needs of the University.

Prior to his move to the UAE Jacob served as an officer in the Indian Air Force. During his tenure in the Indian Air Force he was involved in the design and development of the Automatic Data Handling system which automates the Air Defence Radar Data Processing and Weapons Selection.

Jacob holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. A keen Information Security professional, he holds CISSP, CISA and CEH certifications.

Technical Director EMEA

Jan Ursi, Technical Director EMEA, is responsible for Presales, Systems Engineering and Professional Services for Infoblox in EMEA.

Jan is a well-spoken thought leader in the area of Network Change Management and Network Automation (involving DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management).
Throughout his career, Jan has contributed to the growth of new technologies in emerging markets and evangelizing the need for Network Automation Management.

Before joining Infoblox, Jan was responsible for Systems Engineering at NetScreen Technologies in the BeNeLux. When NetScreen was aquired by Juniper, Jan stayed on to run Presales and Systems Engineering for Juniper in Northern Europe. Jan started his career at Alcatel as Presales Engineer and Solutions Marketing Manager for the broadband access (ADSL) and data backbone technologies (ATM/IP/MPLS).

Jan holds a master’s degree in Business Commerce (MBA, Marseille), a PhD in Commercial Science (Uni Brussels) and a technical degree in Industrial Sciences.

VP Engineered Systems ECEMEA (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa)

Mr. Michaca studied at the Engineering School of Lucerne where he got an Electronics Engineering Diploma, followed by a Business Administration degree obtained at the Graduate school of Business Administration in Zurich, completed by a Post Graduate degree at the Lausanne IMD International Institute for Management Development

He joined Oracle Corporation in 1991 where he held several Sales positions raging from Global Account manager, Sales Director and Managing Director and Vice President in various parts of the organization.

He is currently the Vice President in charge of Engineered Systems for ECEMEA Eastern Europe, CIS, Middle East and Africa. Mr. Michaca born in Lebanon in 1962, is a Swiss citizen. His native language is French and he is fluent in English German, Spanish, Italian and Arabic. He is also on the advisory board of several technology start-ups helping them developing their expansion and Go to Market Strategies.

CIO

Johnathon Chapman is Chief Information Officer for Georgetown University in Qatar. He is also active with Internet2, the US national research and education network, chairing the Internet2 Emerging NRENs Middle East Special Interest Group. Mr. Chapman’s career spans more than 20 years in the field of information technology as an administrator, consultant, teacher, and technologist. For the past 12 years he has lived in the GCC working in higher education, government, and private industry. In 2008 Johnathon installed the first HD telepresence video conference unit in an education institution in the Middle East. More recently he commissioned the new Georgetown University in Qatar building with its 15 million dollars’ worth of audio visual and network infrastructure. Mr. Chapman has degrees in computer science and business administration. He has special interest in global education networks and the management of service organizations in culturally diverse environments.

Country Manager- MENA

Jonathan Labin leads the Facebook MENA office and heads up Global Marketing Solutions for the Middle East & North Africa.
Prior to Facebook, Jonathan was VP, Head of Ad Sales, Emerging Markets at MTV Networks and responsible for maximizing advertising revenues across all brands and platforms in the region. During his tenure at MTVN, he also held the positions of interim General Manager for MTVN MENA and Strategy & Business Development Director for MTVN International and played a key role in strengthening MTVN’s position across multiple lines of business and regions.

Jonathan holds a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia Business School in New York and bachelor degrees in International Business from Universidad Pontificia Commillas in Madrid and the European School of Business in Reutlingen.

CIO

Joseph Nettikaden is the Chief Information Officer at ESOL where he is responsible for setting the technology vision and strategy. He oversees the integration of technology into the ESOL schools curriculum with a strong focus on the administrative and operational aspect. He continues to look for new innovative technologies to enhance the learning and teaching activity at all ESOL schools and standardization of operational processes at ESOL schools. Prior to joining ESOL, he was Vice President for Information for a market research company focusing on qualitative research. He was instrumental in providing a common technology services platform and integrated services model for standardizing technology operations at Fieldwork Inc. He loves spending time researching new technologies and understanding the application and long-term implication of these technologies with people.

VP Research

Leif-Olof Wallin is a research vice president in Gartner Research, where he advises enterprise clients on all aspects of networking infrastructure and services. He is the global key initiative lead for Mobile Enterprise Strategy within Gartner and also the agenda manager of the associated research agenda. His research has a special focus on enterprise mobility, where he pays special attention to mobile application infrastructure, mobile security, remote access, mobile device management and enterprise sourcing of mobile applications.

Mr. Wallin has 31 years of experience in the IT industry, including extensive international experience. He is a frequent speaker at events on wireless technologies and mobile infrastructure, including their impact on commercial best practices and telecom service providers. Mr. Wallin joined Gartner in April 2005 with the acquisition of Meta Group, where he led the mobile infrastructure research on a global basis. Prior to joining Meta Group in April 2001, Mr. Wallin was vice president of European operations at Surgency (formerly Benchmarking Partners), where he led a research practice on the mobile Internet and helped build European presence. Previously, he was chief technology officer for Industri-Matematik International, a recognized leading supplier of supply chain execution solutions.

VP & CIO

Luis Perfetti is the Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Oasis Hospital, Al Ain, since 2005, the first non-profit and private hospital in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, to have JCIA accreditation. Luis has over 17 years of experience in IT strategic planning and management at successful organizations.  He is a representative of private hospitals at the Data Standards Panel from the Health Authority Abu Dhabi, which regulated healthcare data standards and communications for the emirate. Oasis Hospital was the leader in electronic claims being the first hospital to implement them.  Luis is presently working on the migration of the Oasis Hospital to its brand new building with many of the latest technology advances, with an extended converged network.

Digital Oilfield Senior Advisor

Matthew Kirkman is a Digital Oilfield Senior Advisor at ADMA Opco, bringing with him 38 years of oil and gas industry experience to the role where he leads the implementation of Digital Oilfield solutions for both ADMA OPCO’s New Fields and upgrades to Brownfield infrastructure. Prior to joining ADMA Opco, Matthew was BP’s Technology Manager for Angola and Azerbaijan with responsibility for technology strategy and implementation across all disciplines.  Matthew has also held drilling and completions management roles with BP, and prior to joining BP he has had 27 years of global experience with a major service company, in management and technical roles in both I.T., drilling and subsurface. Matthew has authored papers on topics ranging from XML standards for drilling data, drillstring vibration management and LWD technology. At ADMA OPCO the Digital Oilfield scope covers all the aspects which touch on production management, including upgrades to the Wide Area Network Offshore, implementation of Historians for real time data, automation of well testing and well management, collaboration technology upgrades to strengthen links between offshore / onshore and contractors, as well as improvements to well surveillance and production management applications.

Director, Field Systems Engineering EMEA

Mats Ericsson joined F5 Networks in 2003 and has headed up F5’s Field Systems Engineering function in Europe, Middle East and Africa since 2009.   Mats primary responsibility is to lead F5’s pre-sales team within EMEA, focusing on enabling customers and partners to understand and take full advantage of F5’s technology, products, and solutions.

Mats joined F5 as a sales manager focused on F5's Nordic telecom customers, where he increased sales by over 350%. Before this, Mats ran his own consulting firm, and also spent seven years at 3Com in a variety of roles, the last one being European pre-sales manager for a team of 200 presales engineers.

CIO

Mahmood has over 17 years of experience in IT business technology and operations. He is currently the Chief Information Officer at Qatar First Investment Bank “QFIB”. As a founding member, he has been at the forefront of developing and implementing cutting edge financial technology solutions to support the bank’s growing business needs including the adoption of cloud technologies for Core Banking, ERP and IT infrastructure  for which the bank was awarded the prestigious BFSI Development of the Year award in 2011. He  was also named as one of the Top 50 CIO’s for 2012 by CPI.

Mahmood spearheaded the bank to achieve the revered ISO 27001, with the adoption of COBIT and ITIL standards. He also advises QFIB investee companies and subsidiaries on IT Strategies and Operations.
Mahmood’s prior experience includes designing and building complex IT solutions for leading financial institutions within the GCC, including the Bahrain based securities and investment bank, SICO and Arab Insurance Group. Management consulting and Budget management are also at the core of his competencies.
Mahmood holds an Executive MBA from University Of Hull, and BSC. from University of Greenwich. He is a Chartered IT Professional and a member of the British Computer Society.

ICT Service Development Expert

Mohammad is currently working as an ICT service development expert in the area of Cloud Services.

Mohammad spent majority of his 20 years career life in developing and architecting software in different areas, mainly in telecom area. He managed the first cloud computing project for STC - a leading telecom operator in the region. Before joining STC he worked in an international vendors like Lucent technologies II in the area of data network planning and engineering. 

His areas focus is currently on development of IT services that serves the regional market using managed services and cloud services to be provided by telecom operators.

CTO, Ministry of Finance Saudi Arabia

Mohammed Alsuhebani  is an IT consultant and has been an expert advisor  in many Government ICT projects such as , computer software , web and Internet applications , as well as advising governments and companies on IT strategy. He is a course designer and lecturer  for vocational and postgraduate university courses on several topics including discrete  mathematics, software engineering, network design and security . Alsuhebani   has 22 years experience in the ICT industry in US and Saudi Arabia . He is an nationally recognized leader of the ICT profession and an acknowledged expert on large scale systems for government sector . His expertise is based on a solid early technical training in programming and database design for large government administrative and financial systems. His later work was on ICT policy for the highest levels of executive government and in formulating national policy on the use of the Technology (YESSER). Alsuhebani  has experience in reviews of software development and deployments at the Ministry of Finance, including  the Cross system product (CSP)-EFS  and the Cost analysis development Project . As a chief  of the national committee  of budgeting and costing for Government of Saudi Arabia , he has reviewed  most sensitive areas of government activities . Alsuhebani  consulting experience includes assessing e-commerce agencies , reviewing new project proposals and advising IT departments  on web strategies. Asluhebani is an acknowledged expert on accessible web system design, having lectured at well recognized universities like King Saud university KSU , Imam university IU, London university (AOU) on various topics  (e-commerce ,web design, database design , and networking  at universities and advised on the web strategy). His skills cover the range of current technologies, practical experience of what might works and an independent viewpoint to provide advice.

Alsuhebani  has decades of experience in assessing software technology for revitalizing the way business works. In addition he is a key member  in the profession, having been distinguished  member  of the Saudi  Computer Society, Alsuhebani  is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member the Association for Computing Machinery for few years . Alsuhebani combines technical and managerial  experience with the ability to addresses  the right technology , being an author, broadcaster and educator.

Bank Nizwa

With more than 23 years of IT experience in IT of which more than 12 years as a CIO in Financial Services   (Conventional and Islamic, 10 years in Islamic Finance). Mohamed Roushdy had been working for major financial services, conglomerate and software services companies in the region. He had the distinction of leading the technology team and being the first member of the executive management in establishing one of the most prominent financial services organizations in UAE in a record time, as well he led the IT team on the first ever conversion of conventional Bank into Islamic Bank (National Bank of Shrajah into Sharjah Islamic Bank back in 2001). Mohamed worked for Major Financial services organizations such as Commercial International Bank – Egypt ,  Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait , Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) , Al Hilal Bank , Sharjah Islamic Bank,   as well  worked as an Advisor with Booz and Co.  in establishing the first Islamic Bank in Libya ( Libya Qatari Bank).

Currently Mohamed hold the position of Deputy General Manager - Cheif Information Officer for Bank Nizwa , the first Islamic Bank in the Sulltante of Oman. Mohamed has a strong expertise in IT strategy , Governance , Applications Services, Networking, Information Secutity and Infrastructure management. He has been a speaker for many conferences in GCC and Europe and holds a MBA from Manchester Business School. Mohamed has been rated amongst the top 50 CIOs in the Middle East 2012 by CNME magazine and had been nominated as one of the technology leaders in Middle East by FT Summit in many years.  He is a member of the CIO Arabia group and British Computer Society.

VP Technology

A recognised IT executive with over 15 years experience in leading edge IT and change implementation in the Middle East in areas of IT Strategy, Smart City IT, ERP, DSS, IT Outsourcing & transforming IT into a Profit Centre. Acclaimed as an agent of change with a track-record of successfully implementing complex IT and change projects to a reference site standard meeting challenging deadlines on time and in budget. Twice Awarded as one of the Top 10 IT Managers of the Middle East and featured in numerous published articles in IT and Project Management in the region's IT publications. Currently architecting a Smart City IT infrastructure for the regions new Knowledge Based Industries hub. 

CIO

Mohammed Younes has been serving in the capacity of CIO at the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) for the past five years.  His professional experience in Information Technology extends to over 21 years.  Mr. Younes is responsible for the strategic and tactical planning, development, evaluation and coordination of information technology systems for the more than 260 schools and 300,000 users in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi public school system. Mr. Younes has led the implementation of several emirate-wide strategic initiatives in both the infrastructure and enterprise applications domains.

Mr. Younes has more than 20 years of experience in the ICT field including holding several key positions in both corporate and academic institutions in the UAE and USA. He holds a Master of Science in Information Systems and Bachelor of Business Administration.

Regional Director-IT

Nigel Hattersley is the Middle East Regional Director of IT at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Nigel has over

20+ years of experience in the hospitality industry holding positions in Australia, UK, Ireland & Belgium before moving to Dubai in 2006.  He is currently responsible for IT in 50 operating hotels and 20+ opening projects in the region.

Former Head Digital Development

Rajen Lakhani has over 12 years of business development, product marketing and product management experience with consumer digital services around the world.  The last 3 years was spent in the middle east as Head of Digital Development at the du telecom Media Lab where he was defining, launching and marketing an Arabic social network as well as various PC based 3D multi-player games.  Previously, Rajen has worked at AOL and British Telecom, where he managed and launched a number of Value Added Services including BT Digital Vault – an online automatic back up service for which he successfully secured over 800,000 registrations in a limited time period. Currently he is advising multiple start ups looking to launch in the region. Rajen obtained his BSc. Economics degree from the London School of Economics and has completed an international MBA from the Fox School of Business, Temple University, Philadelphia during which he spent time working in Paris, Tokyo and across the USA.

Rajen has built up a deep understanding of consumer behaviour and developing consumer propositions. Whilst at BT, Rajen was heavily involved with managing the newly created Value Added Services team and especially the customer messaging elements, integrating it within the overall BT consumer-messaging matrix.

Director - MENA Customer Advisory Leader

Ross is the Ernst & Young Customer Advisory Leader for the Middle East and North Africa. Ross has experience across a wide range of private sector industries and has also worked with numerous government agencies to develop their customer agenda. He spent his early career working within primarily within the telecoms, technology and convergent media industries. Over the last decade has been partnering with clients to shape their customer & market strategies as well as embedding marketing, sales and customer service operational change across traditional and digital channels. Ross has led numerous customer transformations through the full project lifecycle with leading FTSE 100, Fortune 500 clients and MENA region clients. Ross also looks after Ernst & Young's global methodology for Customer Economics. He led the project which won the Management Consulting Association ‘Best Business Strategy 2008’ and was listed in the UK ‘Who’s Who of Young Business Leaders 2009'.

Executive Partner

Stephane Niango is an executive partner in Gartner Executive Programs. Based in Dubai (U.A.E.), he primarily assists CIOs and other business and IT leaders across the Gulf region in shaping, brokering and implementing their strategic IT plans and programs. Mr. Niango has 19+ years of experience in organization optimization and IT planning. He specializes in management topics including strategy, enterprise architecture, portfolio and programs, and governance; and he has extensive experience in large-scale (i.e., at the national level) technology implementation programs.

Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Niango was managing director of consulting for Logica Middle East, where he established a consulting division that specialized in IT transformation, strategic planning, enterprise architecture and governance improvement. He led the execution of numerous strategic engagements in the region, for governments as well as commercial organizations. Before Logica, Mr. Niango held various consulting and technology leadership positions in Europe and the Middle East focusing on organization optimization and technology programs. He has advised clients across verticals including government, telecom, finance, retail, media, manufacturing, defense, transportation and logistics. His experience in international and global operations has taken him from Europe (U.K., France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg) to the Middle East (U.A.E., Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia) to Africa (Egypt and Ivory Coast).

Education Background: Mr. Niango holds an M.B.A. degree from the University of Liverpool and is working toward a Ph.D. in research on capabilities and architecture at the University of South Australia in Singapore.

Head of IT

Tareq Alemadi is the head of Information Technology at the office of Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Private Office.  Also he is a Vice general manager for the Alemadi Group. Tareq is responsible for building and maintaining highly available, scalable, and centralized IT infrastructure. Prior to his current position, Mr. Alemadi worked for over a decade at Qatar Telecom in various positions including the role of portal project manager for the company’s electronic portal. He has extensive experience and understanding of various aspects of business process, project management, software development, portals, and cloud computing.

Director of Digital Strategy & Head of Distribution Marketing

Terry Kane, is Head of Digital Strategy for the Dubai-based international luxury hotel company, Jumeirah Group. In his role, Terry is responsible for digital and distribution strategy that delivers the brand promise of STAY DIFFERENT, sales and communications through direct channels.

Terry has more than 13 years in strategy and marketing experience in large national and international organisations. Prior to joining Jumeirah, Terry held positions with the New Forest National Park and STA Travel; and he has been a lecturer with the Leisure Management & Tourism Programme at Bournemouth University.

During this time, Terry developed an expertise in Digital and Distribution disciplines including Brand & Strategic Marketing Development, Global Channel Operations and Technical Development to ensure that organizations maximise the equity potential from a multitude of diverse and often fragmented channels.

Born and raised in Ireland, Terry holds an Executive MBA from London Business School BA in International Tourism and Hospitality from Bournemouth University, a Higher National Diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management from the University of Ulster. A speaker at several recognized international events and conferences, Terry has also conducted research with Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management (where he is a regular guest lecturer) and The World Economic Forum on technology development and the impact on decision making for travel in emerging economies. Terry is an active executive board member with Travolution and HSMAI and regularly contributes to recognized thought leaders blogs.

IT Director

Thameem Rizvon is IT Director of Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group LLC (KOJ) – a pioneering Middle East based retailer which has around 600 stores, in 6 countries and growing at a steady pace.  As global head of IT, Thameem spearheads all Strategic IT investments and has been in the forefront of technology and business alignment. After heading the first Oracle Retail go live in Middle East, he is now busy laying ground for the next phase of their large portfolio of projects.

His career spans more than 15 years in India, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Over the years, he has empowered business to use technology as a tool for growth and his experience ranges from Education, Consulting, Trading, Retail etc.

Thameem is Founder and ex-President of Oracle User Group in Middle East. He is also the Founder and Secretary General of CIO Arabia – a forum for IT Executives in Middle East. He regularly speaks in various events and has spoken at the World Retail Conference in Spain, MECOM Abu Dhabi, GITEX Dubai and Oracle events. He firmly believes that “Technology is an Enabler to business”

President & CEO

Todd Thibodeaux is the president and chief executive officer of the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the leading trade association representing the business interests of the global information technology (IT) industry. He is responsible for leading strategy, development and growth efforts for the association.

Before joining CompTIA in July 2008, Thibodeaux spent more than 17 years with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), where he served in a wide range of roles culminating as its senior vice president of industry relations.Thibodeaux is a life-long IT and tech enthusiast dating back to his very early years. The son of an electrical and mechanical engineer, Thibodeaux's love of technology continues to this day and he has infused CompTIA with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the industry the organization represents. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (Bachelor of Science, economics, 1988) and George Mason University (Master’s degree in economics, 1997).

AVP - Oil & Gas Vertical

Tony Milan heads Wipro’s Oil & Gas vertical for the Middle East and South Caucasus. His primary areas of focus are in developing and leveraging key partnerships and relationships to drive revenue growth and expansion into the Middle East market and geographies as well as building and strengthening Wipro’s commitments and capabilities in serving regional and domestic Oil & Gas clients.

Tony will leverage the 1400+ Wipro resources already deployed in the Middle East, the 4000+ Wipro O&G domain consultants deployed globally as well as the 100 thousand+ technical resources based in India to bring innovative and proven solutions to the region. Mr. Milan joined Wipro through its acquisition of the SAIC Oil & Gas unit in 2011 where he spent 8+ years and has throughout his 25+ years career lived and worked in the United States, Asia, Europe and now the Middle East. Prior to joining Wipro, Tony spent 7+ years with McKinsey & Company serving institutional clients.

CEO

Yousef Tuqan Tuqan is the CEO of Flip Media, one of the regions’s most experienced and respected digital marketing experts, with a diverse agency career in the UAE that spans over 16 years. Throughout this time Yousef has led the digital strategy and delivery of some of the Middle East’s most iconic brands, including twofour54, Dubai Shopping Festival and Majid Al-Futtaim Malls. Yousef is the most outspoken and visible evangelist for the role of digital marketing in the region. He is a regular university guest lecturer & keynote speaker, and is a frequent contributor to regional and international publications on digital marketing in the Middle East As CEO of Flip Media – the region’s largest digital agency - Yousef has been at the forefront of the region’s most successful online initiatives, leading a global team of 120 staff across four offices worldwide. Yousef is an avid marathon runner, a member of MENSA and the international branding think-tank, Medinge, as well as a Board Member of the International Advertising Association's UAE Chapter. He is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the charity Gulf For Good.