23 Apr 2026
United Arab Emirates
23 Apr 2026
United Arab Emirates
The Middle East is navigating a period of significant geopolitical and economic change. For technology leaders in the UAE, the priority is not only to manage risk, but also to sustain innovation, resilience, and long-term digital progress in an increasingly complex environment.
The current crisis is introducing new variables into the global technology economy. IDC’s latest outlook indicates that IT spending in the Middle East and Africa is expected to grow by around 5% in 2026, with a downside scenario of 3–4% growth should geopolitical pressures persist. At the same time, IDC expects the near-term impact to be more toward timing and spending mix shifts than by a broad pullback in demand.
The regional picture is unlikely to be uniform. Gulf markets such as the UAE are expected to show greater near-term resilience than more import-dependent economies, giving CIOs in the Emirates a different challenge: how to maintain momentum on strategic priorities while adapting to shifting risk, regulatory, and investment conditions.
The IDC Middle East Virtual Roadshow – UAE Edition will explore how these forces are reshaping CIO priorities in the Emirates and what they mean for technology investment, AI adoption, digital sovereignty, cybersecurity, and enterprise resilience in the months ahead.

Attendees will gain insights into new priorities around resilience, data sovereignty, multi-cloud strategies, and talent transformation as CIOs navigate an increasingly AI-first, regulation-driven, and fast-growing digital economy.
Ranjit Rajan
Vice President, Research (META), IDC
The rules of the digital economy are being rewritten. As Gulf economies navigate an era of unprecedented change, the ability to harness AI while maintaining control over data and digital infrastructure has never been more critical. AI is the new currency of power — and for organizations across the region, harnessing the value whilst maintaining sovereignty and resilience is no longer optional; they are strategic imperatives.
Join ServiceNow as we examine the strategies, technologies and practices needed to build intelligent, sovereign and resilient foundations — ones that withstand disruption and drive sustainable long-term growth.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Tolga Tutel
Field CTO, Middle East & Africa, ServiceNow
Shakeel Baig
Specialized Solutions Sales Leader, Saudi Arabia, ServiceNow
This session highlights how to design cloud systems for high availability and resilience. It covers key practices like fault isolation, multi-region architecture, automated recovery, and observability. Attendees will gain practical insights into building systems that stay reliable and responsive—even during failures or peak demand.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Ahmed I Farrag
Chief Technology Officer, IBM
This session highlights how organizations can optimize costs without slowing innovation. It explores strategies such as smart cloud spending, prioritizing high-impact initiatives, automation, and efficient resource allocation.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
This session highlights how disaster recovery is evolving from reactive planning to proactive resilience. It explores strategies such as automated failover, multi-region readiness, continuous data protection, and regular testing to ensure rapid recovery.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Marc Merheb
Director Solutions Consulting, Middle East Region, OpenText
This session highlights how CIOs are reshaping technology investments to deliver greater business value. It explores shifts toward high-impact initiatives like AI, automation, and digital platforms, while optimizing legacy spend and reducing inefficiencies.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Cliff Madru
Vice President, Digital Solutions, Iron Mountain
The role of the CISO is expanding faster than ever. AI adoption is accelerating, regulatory pressure is intensifying, and boards expect clearer answers on risk, resilience, and return on security investment. At the same time, CISOs face growing personal accountability while still being expected to enable innovation rather than slow it down.
In this executive level session, let us unpack the key findings from The CISO Report 2026: From Risk to Resilience in the AI Era and explore what they mean for security leaders
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Tom Gamali
Field CTO & Strategic Advisor, MEA-TRC, Splunk
Bilal Issa
Technical Manager, Gulf, TrendAI
Join the tracks to participate in the session kickoff raffle.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Thursday, April 23 2026 11:20 am | Location:
The rules of the digital economy are being rewritten. As Gulf economies navigate an era of unprecedented change, the ability to harness AI while maintaining control over data and digital infrastructure has never been more critical. AI is the new currency of power — and for organizations across the region, harnessing the value whilst maintaining sovereignty and resilience is no longer optional; they are strategic imperatives.
Join ServiceNow as we examine the strategies, technologies and practices needed to build intelligent, sovereign and resilient foundations — ones that withstand disruption and drive sustainable long-term growth.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Thursday, April 23 2026 11:20 am | Location:
The rules of the digital economy are being rewritten. As Gulf economies navigate an era of unprecedented change, the ability to harness AI while maintaining control over data and digital infrastructure has never been more critical. AI is the new currency of power — and for organizations across the region, harnessing the value whilst maintaining sovereignty and resilience is no longer optional; they are strategic imperatives.
Join ServiceNow as we examine the strategies, technologies and practices needed to build intelligent, sovereign and resilient foundations — ones that withstand disruption and drive sustainable long-term growth.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Thursday, April 23 2026 11:35 am | Location:
This session highlights how to design cloud systems for high availability and resilience. It covers key practices like fault isolation, multi-region architecture, automated recovery, and observability. Attendees will gain practical insights into building systems that stay reliable and responsive—even during failures or peak demand.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Thursday, April 23 2026 12:05 pm | Location:
This session highlights how disaster recovery is evolving from reactive planning to proactive resilience. It explores strategies such as automated failover, multi-region readiness, continuous data protection, and regular testing to ensure rapid recovery.
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Dr. Alexey Sidorov was born with the “Passion for Data” programmed in his DNA.
Alexey started his carrier 30-years ago building volumetric model of radioactive pollution of Chernobyl nuclear disaster Zone with Russian Academy of Science and since then earned his reputation as the strategic adviser in all aspects of Data Management.
Prior joining Denodo as Chief Evangelist, Alexey built and managed enterprise-wide Data Integration platforms for industry giants like Nokia and Deutsche Bank. In the last 15 years Dr Alexey has been helping many companies across 3 continents to Digitally Transform their business with the edge-cutting Data technologies from Teradata and Informatica.
Tareq Momani, Head of Systems Engineering for the Middle East at Infoblox, is a cybersecurity and business strategy leader with nearly 20 years’ experience guiding organizations through complex transformation and building digital resilience.
| With a unique passion for technology, data and information management, Cliff Madru has built a successful career as a high performing digital solutions and services leader.
In his current role as the VP of Iron Cloud and Data Services, he runs cloud services and a team of Digital experts that help businesses develop and execute strategic initiatives which enable digital transformation and business evolution. This includes complex solutions involving digitization, information governance, content management, and data protection for digital assets. This solution design expertise requires a depth of knowledge around traditional and advanced technologies, from physical infrastructure to cloud, data indexing to advanced ML & AI, tape backup to advanced cyber protection and most everything in between. Cliff has been working with technology and information systems his entire career and has held roles as the Director of Technology for multiple start-ups. With this history and his constant engagement with customers, he understands the needs and challenges today’s businesses face around digital information management. Cliff holds degrees in Computer Systems Engineering and Information Systems Management, graduating first in his class and with highest honor.
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Thursday, April 23 2026 12:50 pm | Location:
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Faye Murray is Field Chief Data Officer (EMEA) at Dataiku and a strategic leader in data and AI, with over 15 years of experience driving transformation across organisations from start-ups to $1B+ enterprises.
She specialises in helping organisations move from AI ambition to execution, delivering measurable outcomes including seven-figure cost savings and significant ROI on AI investments. Faye is known for bridging the gap between business and technology, advising C-suite leaders on AI strategy, governance, and scaling data-driven innovation in complex, regulated environments.
A regular keynote speaker, she shares insights on AI governance, digital transformation, and ethical innovation.
Faye holds degrees in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an Executive MBA with Distinction from Warwick Business School.
Tom Gamali is a seasoned Technology Executive and cybersecurity leader with over 20 years of experience driving strategic security and technology initiatives across Europe and the Middle East. He has served as Group CISO for several leading banks and major conglomerates, and has been a member of board risk committees for financial institutions, advising on cyber risk and digital resilience.
Tom is currently Field CTO and Strategic Advisor at Splunk and has also served on the EMEA Advisory Council for (ISC)², contributing to the advancement of cybersecurity leadership and professional standards across the region.
Thursday, April 23 2026 1:05 pm | Location:
The role of the CISO is expanding faster than ever. AI adoption is accelerating, regulatory pressure is intensifying, and boards expect clearer answers on risk, resilience, and return on security investment. At the same time, CISOs face growing personal accountability while still being expected to enable innovation rather than slow it down.
In this executive level session, let us unpack the key findings from The CISO Report 2026: From Risk to Resilience in the AI Era and explore what they mean for security leaders
Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.
Rob Greenman is Principal Sales Engineer at Ping Identity, where he helps enterprises design and deliver secure, seamless digital identity experiences. Drawing on extensive professional services consulting and leadership experience across EMEA, he brings a delivery-focused, consultative approach to pre-sales, partnering with customers to translate complex identity, access management and Zero Trust requirements into practical, scalable architectures that accelerate value. Rob has extensive experience guiding organisations through modernisation initiatives, from legacy access environments to cloud-first, standards-based identity solutions. He is known for aligning technology decisions with measurable business outcomes, enabling improvements in security, customer experience and sustainable growth.
For years, digital transformation was measured by speed, scale, and efficiency. Today, resilience is emerging as a defining metric. As digital infrastructure becomes part of a nation’s critical fabric, disruptions no longer remain confined to IT — they impact economies, public services, and trust itself.