The UAE has invested billions to become a global AI hub. The competitive edge now belongs to leaders who can govern it, scale it, and measure its value. The AI Leadership Summit 2027 brings together business and technology leaders together to build that capability.
The UAE leads the region in AI ambition and infrastructure. But 43% of UAE organisations still don’t see themselves as adequately prepared to leverage AI. The AI Leadership Summit is built for the senior executives who are closing that gap.
What you will take away:
Board-Led AI Strategies
Defining enterprise direction, investment priorities and competitive advantage in the AI era.
Innovation vs Productivity
Balancing new revenue creation with substantial revenue-per-employee gains.
Organizational Transformation in the AI Era
Transforming organizational models for human + AI collaboration.
The Autonomous Enterprise
Moving from AI-assisted processes to autonomous, agent-driven enterprise operations
Enterprise Architecture for the AI Era
Evolving the tech stack with a guiding business architecture.
AI-Enabled Operating Models
Redesigning workflows, decision-making and execution for the AI era.
Trust at Enterprise Scale
Building scalable governance, oversight and transparency into enterprise AI systems.
Measuring AI ROI at Enterprise Scale
Reshaping how productivity is measured across every Line of Business.
By 2028 AI spending across the Middle East and Africa will reach $25.6 billion, growing at 35% CAGR
Source: IDC’s Worldwide AI and Generative AI Spending Guide – Forecast 2026, March (V1 2026)
Associate Research Director, Artificial Intelligence (META)
IDC
Read bio
In his role as associate research director for IT services and software across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), Melih drives IDC’s regional research and consulting engagements in the areas of IT services, Cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and intelligent automation.
He first joined IDC in 2012 as a senior research analyst located out of IDC’s Istanbul office, with various responsibilities for the firm’s IT services, cloud computing, software, and telecom domains — both in Turkey and across the wider META region. Between 2016 and 2021, Melih headed the international marketing and investor relations practice at P.I. Works, a global automation and AI software vendor that serves telecom operators.
Now back at IDC, Melih is leveraging his vast experience in the IT services, cloud, software, and telecommunications domains to advise clients on go-to-market strategies, technology marketing and promotion activities, and market trends analysis. He is also driving a wide variety of research and consulting projects across the META region.
Melih has also previously served as enterprise channel and marketing manager at Nortel Turkey and as business development and strategy manager at Netaş, one of the leading systems integrators in Turkey and a former Nortel subsidiary. He possesses a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and received his MBA from Esslingen University of Applied Sciences in Germany. He has worked as a business development specialist at HP and wrote his MBA thesis for the company, covering European retail channel trends and winning strategies for channel businesses.
Associate Research Director (META)
IDC
Read bio
Associate Research Director (META)
IDC
Read bio
Set the UAE AI Strategy
Build an enterprise AI thesis that aligns with UAE AI Strategy 2031 and D33economic ambitions, not just global frameworks.
Govern with Discipline
Navigate CBUAE, DFSA, and UAE data protection regulation while protecting the speed advantage UAE enterprises depend on.
Quantify the Value
Move beyond pilot metrics. Connect AI investment to revenue-per-employee gains in the UAE’s leading sectors: finance, government, and energy.
Lead the Change
Build AI talent pipelines, Emiratization-compatible operating models, and the multinational workforce culture to sustain growth.
IDC’s foundational analysis of UAE AI investment trends, organizational readiness, and governance models shaping enterprise AI., and what it takes to turn fragmented pilots into operational impact in the agentic economy.
How organizations across META are moving from AI experimentation to scaled adoption, and the investment priorities shaping the region. Source: IDC, February 2025
The CIO is now the chief orchestrator of the intelligent enterprise. The ten IDC predictions defining the agentic, quantum-aware and edge-intelligent enterprise.
