IDC Qatar CIO Summit 2025

IDC Qatar CIO Summit 2025

Proceedings
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Architecting an AI-Fueled Business

Qatar is rapidly transforming into a tech-driven economy under its National Vision 2030 and national AI strategy, emphasizing innovation and economic diversification. The government is heavily investing in digital infrastructure, cloud computing, AI, big data, IoT, sustainability, and cybersecurity to advance Smart City projects and enhance public services.

 

With 69% of organizations prioritizing AI investments (IDC META Survey), Qatar is positioning itself as a leading regional tech hub. Business and technology leaders are focusing on strategies for the efficient, secure, and scalable deployment of AI, including GenAI, to boost agility and innovation while managing risks.

 

The 2025 edition of the IDC Qatar CIO Summit will feature a stellar line up of C-suite executives, influential analysts, industry thought leaders, international speakers, and market-leading solution providers. Together, they will discuss AI’s role as the leading technology enabler of business strategy and the endless potential it provides enterprises across the region. This premier gathering of ICT experts will examine the industry’s hottest topics, trends, and challenges, providing essential guidance on adapting to an unpredictable business landscape, implementing new business models, and scaling massively in the AI-powered digital economy.

Qatar CIO Summit 2024 Highlights

Key Theme

AI Everywhere

Artificial intelligence is moving from concept to core, transforming industries, powering smart cities, and elevating Qatar’s digital economy toward a more intelligent, efficient future.

Digital Business Strategies

Redefining growth through innovation, agility, and data, digital business strategies are driving Qatar’s transformation toward a smarter, more connected economy.

Digital Economy Trends

Shaped by innovation and intelligence, the digital economy is powering Qatar’s next wave of growth and global competitiveness.

Data Platforms for the Intelligent Enterprise

Empowered by intelligent data platforms, enterprises are unlocking real-time insights, enhancing agility, and accelerating Qatar’s journey toward a data-driven economy.

Data-driven Customer Experience (CX) Transformation

Powered by data and intelligence, customer experience is transforming into a catalyst for loyalty, innovation, and digital excellence across Qatar’s enterprises.

Future of Work

As technology reshapes how we work, Qatar’s enterprises are building agile, intelligent, and people-centered environments that drive innovation and growth.

Digital Trust and Security

As digital ecosystems expand, building trust through robust security and governance is vital to sustaining Qatar’s innovation-driven economy.

Industry 4.0

Smart, connected, and data-driven, Industry 4.0 is powering the next leap in Qatar’s digital transformation.

Sustainability

Empowered by technology and innovation, sustainability is shaping Qatar’s journey toward a smarter, greener, and more resilient digital economy.

Future of Digital Infrastructure

Qatar’s digital future depends on agile, intelligent infrastructure that drives innovation, strengthens resilience, and supports a rapidly evolving economy.

Software Innovation and Modern App Dev

Through modern app development, Qatar’s enterprises are accelerating innovation, enhancing user experiences, and shaping a future built on agility and intelligence.

Expert Perspectives

Keynote
9:25 am

IDC Opening Keynote: CIO Strategies for Thriving in the Agentic AI Era

As AI unleashes a wave of investment and innovation worldwide, Qatar is making significant moves to position itself as a global AI hub. Across industries, CIOs are building strategies for an AI-fueled business future. Generative AI, and now Agentic AI technologies, are already accelerating digital business transformation, and promise to have significant impact on digital innovation, customer experience and operational efficiencies. As they prepare their organizations for the Agentic AI era, CIOs need to develop critical capabilities around use case prioritization, AI governance, skills development, infrastructure for AI, and data-readiness. This session will provide Qatar CIOs with a playbook to help focus their efforts, address challenges, and unlock value from AI investments.

 

Ranjit Rajan | IDC

Vice President, Research (META)

Read Bio
Ranjit Rajan

Delegate Journey

Meet our partners

Knowledge Hub

Analyst Spotlight

From eGovernment to Invisible Government

AI and GenAI are transforming government operations across the Middle East and beyond. To harness their full potential amid geopolitical shifts, digital sovereignty issues, and rising citizen expectations, leaders must go beyond technology adoption—revisiting governance, risk management, and culture to build competencies that drive sustainable innovation and transformation.

Massimiliano Claps
Research Director
IDC
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Analyst Spotlight

Enabling Security Outcomes with Artificial Intelligence

GenAI isn’t coming, it’s already here, reshaping what’s possible. Amid the hype and past disruptions like COVID-19, we often overlook how cybersecurity has matured. Once a niche concern, it now sits in the C-suite. Cyberattacks pose not only technical threats but also strategic business risks—today, cyber risk equals business risk.

Frank Dickson
IDC
Group Vice President, Security & Trust
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Partner Spotlight

From Digital Native to AI Native: The Next Five Years

We’ve seen this movie before. In the 1990s, enterprises either rebuilt for the web or bolted on a browser layer and hoped for the best. The winners rewrote. The same pattern is unfolding now — with AI. Only this time, the change will be faster, deeper, and more unforgiving.

Haitham Elkhatib
UnifyApps
Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer
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Partner Spotlight

The Race to Embrace AI: Building the Intelligent Enterprise in the Middle East

Across the Middle East, artificial intelligence has moved from concept to competitive necessity. From energy and finance to public services and manufacturing, organizations are racing to embed intelligence into their operations — and governments are leading the charge with national AI strategies that align with ambitious transformation visions like Qatar National Vision 2030 and Saudi Vision 2030.

Geritt Otto
OpenText
Lead Solution Consultant
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Partner Spotlight

The GenAI Shift: Redefining How Enterprises Think, Work, and Grow

The next wave of transformation is not digital — it’s intelligent. Generative AI (GenAI) is rewriting how organizations create value, drive innovation, and sustain growth. What once seemed like a disruptive experiment is now the foundation of a new business model — one built on adaptive intelligence and continuous reinvention.

Serhat Gezgin
NTT DATA Business Solutions
Managing Director Qatar & Lebanon
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Venue

Grand Hyatt Doha Hotel & Villas

Experience the elegance of the Grand Hyatt Doha — a landmark of luxury and innovation, perfectly suited to host the IDC Qatar CIO Summit 2025.

Ballroom Name: Al Silia Ballroom