CIO Xchange UAE
The CIO's New Mandate
Empowering People, Driving Value, Leading with Resilience
In a world of relentless technological disruption, agility defines success. For CIOs, the challenge lies in cutting through the AI noise to identify what truly transforms their organizations. The UAE edition of CIO Xchange, taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on June 25, brings together visionary leaders who are mastering this shift – by driving the AI Pivot to Scale.
IDC Research show that over 51% of organizations worldwide are currently in the “AI Pivot” stage of maturity, working to scale AI initiatives responsibly. In UAE, the AI landscape is advancing progressively, backed by visionary government investments and a high level of digital maturity across enterprises. CIOs in the country are emerging as the architects of AI-driven transformation – enabling business units to scale AI, ensuring measurable ROI, and collaborating with CHROs to build an AI-ready workforce.
With 58% of UAE organizations still deploying AI in silos, CIOs will play a critical role in driving cohesive, enterprise-wide adoption that strengthens readiness and deliver greater strategic impact. This indeed is their opportunity to step forward as orchestrators of transformation.
UAE CIO Xchange 2026 will explore key strategic imperatives around leadership, culture, collaboration and much more to help CIOs direct adaptable tech agendas. Through interactive sessions and peer-driven discussions, Xchange will uncover how leaders are enabling high-impact use cases while embracing governance, trust, and responsibility in AI adoption. Join us at Xchange 2026 where we build a community rather than just a network. Because in an AI-driven world, the real differentiator is not technology itself, but the mindset that powers it.

Jyoti Lalchandani
Jyoti Lalchandani is a seasoned business executive with more than 25 years of experience in emerging markets across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In his role as IDC’s Group Vice President and Regional Managing Director for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), he has been instrumental in establishing IDC’s presence in the region – first, through the initial expansion of the Dubai headquarters and then by spearheading the development of IDC offices in Johannesburg, Istanbul, Riyadh, Casablanca, Lagos, Nairobi, and Cairo.
Jyoti is responsible for the planning, development, implementation, and coordination of IDC’s market intelligence and advisory services, sales, conferences and events, go-to-market services, and office development activities across the META region. As a respected authority on emerging market tech trends, he is also regularly invited to speak at major industry events throughout the region and is frequently quoted by both the national and international media.
His field of expertise includes key tech areas such as cloud, analytics, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, and he is well known for providing guidance on digital transformation strategies for the entire C-suite. He is a trusted advisor to senior executives in the supplier/enabler space across the ICT ecosystem, as well as to tech buyers from the CIO and line-of-business communities.
Starting at IDC’s CEMA (Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) headquarters in 1995 in Prague, the Czech Republic, Jyoti served as IDC’s regional consulting manager. In this role, he headed several country-based project teams that advised local and multinational IT vendors on issues relating to entry strategy, competitor analysis, ROI analysis, distribution and partner evaluation, and market segmentation. He later took on the additional responsibility of overseeing the CEMA software practice, in which he was responsible for overseeing all related research (applications, system infrastructure, and tools) and advisory work across emerging EMEA countries.
Before joining IDC, Jyoti served on the national board of international non-profit organization AIESEC, where he managed the association’s partnership agreements with leading Indian conglomerates. He graduated from Loyola College, India, where his studies focused on strategy management and business policy. He later attended a corporate-sponsored program at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts.
Event Sessions
Day 2 9:30 am
IDC Welcome Address
Day 1 7:30 pm
IDC Welcome Address
Harish Dunakhe
Harish Dunakhe leads IDC’s research & advisory practice for the software program in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey (META) region.
He is responsible for a team of research analysts and manages the delivery of insights in IDC’s software program and syndicated research. Harish and his team have expertise in studying technology trends to provide our clients with thought leadership and actionable insights. He is based in Dubai.
Harish has a strong understanding of leveraging technologies to solve business problems in the public sector, travel & transportation, hospitality, IT, and retail. He has significant knowledge of emerging technologies such as blockchain, RPA, artificial intelligence, and cloud. He works with clients to understand the intricacies, opportunities, and challenges involved in their technology transformation journeys.
Harish brings more than 17 years of experience working with leading system integrators and other technology companies across the Middle East, South Asia, and India. Prior to joining IDC, he held senior roles spanning technology sales strategy, program governance, and large account business planning at Global MNCs such as Wipro, DXC Technology, and Sonata Software.
Event Sessions
Day 2 10:40 am
CIO Masterclass Workshop: Designing the Global Enterprise of 2028
As UAE enterprises expand globally and accelerate AI adoption, CIOs are being asked to balance innovation with resilience, sovereignty, and trust at an unprecedented scale. This interactive strategy workshop will place participants in the role of leadership teams across industries such as banking, manufacturing, healthcare, digital platforms, and infrastructure. Working in groups, participants will design their organization’s 2028 operating model by allocating investments across AI transformation, digital platforms, cyber resilience, workforce evolution, ecosystem governance, and regulatory readiness. Along the way, they will confront real-world trade-offs driven by emerging risks, global compliance pressures, and the growing complexity of AI-enabled enterprises. The session is designed to spark board-level thinking, peer exchange, and practical insight into how leading CIOs can architect growth, trust, and resilience simultaneously in the next phase of digital transformation.
Day 2 9:35 am
IDC Keynote: The Evolving Role of the CIO: From IT Leader to Business Strategist
As organizations navigate rapid digital transformation, the role of the CIO is undergoing a fundamental shift. No longer confined to overseeing IT operations, today’s CIO is a strategic business leader driving innovation, growth, and competitive advantage.
This session will explore how CIOs are expanding their influence beyond technology, aligning digital initiatives with core business objectives, and leveraging emerging technologies such as AI, cloud, and data analytics to deliver measurable value. Attendees will gain insights into how modern CIOs collaborate across the C-suite, shape customer experiences, and lead organizational change.
Shahin Hashim
Shilpi Handa
Jebin George
Jebin George joined IDC’s vertical markets group in 2009. As a research analyst, he is responsible for the verticals research and analysis practice in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, including assessment of market sizing, market trends, forecasting, and vendor strategies for the region. He contributes to consulting and advisory projects and prepares and publishes reports focused on this region.
Having worked as a research analyst with SunTec Business Solutions, a software product company in India, George possesses strong product marketing and market research experience. At SunTec, he handled primary and secondary research, quantitative and qualitative analysis, market sizing, competitor analysis, analyst relations, and worked with analytical tools. He was also involved in business writing, research interviews, collateral development, and market requirements documents (MRD) and business requirements documents (BRD).
George’s academic background includes a postgraduate degree in management from SCMS, Kochi, and a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from Madras University. In addition to his native Malayalam, he speaks English and Hindi.
Eric Samuel
Manish Ranjan
Knowledge Hub
Getting Your Data AI Ready
It has become a common refrain – getting data governance right is key to a successful AI strategy! This conventional wisdom is very true, but it is not a new problem. For as long as I have been involved in IT, both as an analyst and as a CIO, companies have struggled with wrangling the various data sets across the applications running at the organization.
Bob Parker
| IDC
SVP, Software and Services Research
Learn More
Vision to Reality: How Governments are Empowering the Middle East’s AI Future
IDC predicts that AI will have a cumulative global economic impact of $19.9 trillion by 2030, driving 3.5% of global GDP growth. Governments will play a strategic dual role – both shaping policies for secure, impactful, and responsible adoption of AI across industries, and acting as major buyers of AI to transform public programs and services, enhancing operational efficiency and achieving mission outcomes.
Massimiliano Claps
| IDC
Research Director
Learn MoreVenue
Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, The Palm
Royal Ballroom
East Crescent, The Palm Jumeirah
Dubai, United Arab Emirates