IDC & Boomi Roundtable
Data Strategy as a Foundation for AI-Ready Organizations
In Partnership with
AI adoption in the UAE is accelerating, but for many organizations, business value is not keeping pace. More than four in five UAE organizations are already using Generative AI (GenAI), while nearly half have adopted agentic AI in some form. Yet, many AI initiatives remain siloed—confined to individual business units or specific workflows—with relatively few scaling successfully across the enterprise.
In many cases, the AI model itself is not the barrier to progress. The real challenge lies in the data that powers it. Data remains fragmented across multiple systems, inconsistently governed, and difficult to access and trust when AI agents and business users need it most.
Against this backdrop, IDC and Boomi bring together senior technology leaders from across the UAE for an exclusive roundtable focused on rethinking the data foundation required to scale AI with confidence.
The discussion will explore why AI-ready organizations are approaching data connectivity, governance, and activation as a unified strategy, rather than treating them as three separate initiatives. Leaders will examine how a stronger data foundation can help organizations move beyond isolated AI deployments and unlock greater enterprise-wide value.
The roundtable will also explore what this shift means for technology priorities, investment decisions, and AI ambitions over the next 12–24 months.
$22.5T
projected global economic impact of AI by 2029, open mainly to organizations with a ready data foundation.
Key Discussion Themes
Foundation
Rethink the base layer, because AI value depends on data architecture
Connect
Breaking down data silos across systems, application and sources
Govern
Building trust into data with access control and lineage, for both people and AI agents
Activate
Turning governed data into real-time, usable AI context
Agenda
IDC & Boomi Roundtable
Thu, Nov 5
Registration & Networking
Welcome Address
IDC Keynote: Riding the Next Wave of AI Opportunity: Scaling Agentic AI in the UAE
Moving from isolated AI deployments to organization-wide AI initiatives requires solving foundational challenges. As the UAE rapidly transitions its public and private sectors toward autonomous systems, the pressure is on to accelerate agentic AI deployments. This session explores how a robust data strategy and unified platform-led approach unlocks true enterprise value in the agentic AI era.
Melih Murat
Associate Research Director, Artificial Intelligence (META), IDC
Scaling AI Starts Here: The Data Foundation Every Leader Needs
AI ambition is high, but results depend on what sits underneath: the data. Fragmented, ungoverned data keeps most AI initiatives from scaling, not the model. Ahmed shares why leading organizations now treat the data foundation as a business priority rather than an IT project, and what it takes to build one that is connected, governed and ready to activate. He also explains how Boomi helps customers bring their applications and data together as one trusted foundation, so AI delivers measurable business impact.
Ahmed el Hamouly
Senior Sales Director – ME, Boomi
Networking Break
Context Is Everything: Connecting, Governing and Activating Data
Every enterprise now has an AI strategy. Far fewer have a data strategy strong enough to support one. Recent research shows that the large majority of generative AI pilots fail to deliver measurable return, not because the models are wrong, but because the data underneath them is fragmented, poorly governed, or missing business context. This session shows how to fix that. We’ll go through connecting applications and data sources across hybrid estates, creating trusted golden records, and governing access and lineage for both people and AI agents. We’ll also show how to activate that data as real-time context so agents can act on it with confidence.
Larbi Belbecir
Senior Solution Engineer, Boomi
Panel Discussion: Solving the bottleneck: Making connected, governed data work for AI
Agreeing that data is the foundation for AI is easy; rebuilding it under the pressure of business expectations is where the real challenge lies. This panel brings the practitioner’s view, sharing what works, what doesn’t, and what organizations would do differently. The panel will also talk through how organizations are integrating data across legacy and cloud systems, setting up governance that gives people and AI agents the access they need without losing control, and turning data into context that AI can act on in real time.
Open Discussion : Q&A
Summary & Close
Lunch & Networking
Speakers
Melih Murat
Associate Research Director, Artificial Intelligence (META)
IDC
Read bio
Melih Murat
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.
Event Sessions
One Day Event 10:05 am
IDC Keynote: Riding the Next Wave of AI Opportunity: Scaling Agentic AI in the UAE
Moving from isolated AI deployments to organization-wide AI initiatives requires solving foundational challenges. As the UAE rapidly transitions its public and private sectors toward autonomous systems, the pressure is on to accelerate agentic AI deployments. This session explores how a robust data strategy and unified platform-led approach unlocks true enterprise value in the agentic AI era.
Ahmed el Hamouly
Senior Sales Director – ME
Boomi
Read bio
Ahmed el Hamouly
Ahmed ElHamouly is the Head of the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) at Boomi, where he leads the company’s regional growth strategy and works closely with enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives.
Ahmed played a key role in establishing Boomi’s presence across the META region and expanding its footprint across multiple industries including telecommunications, logistics, retail, government, manufacturing, and financial services.
With more than two decades of experience in enterprise technology, Ahmed brings deep expertise in integration, data management, API-led architectures, and modern cloud platforms. He regularly works with CIOs and technology leaders to help organizations unlock the value of their data, modernize complex IT environments, and drive innovation through connected digital ecosystems.
Prior to joining Boomi, Ahmed held leadership roles at global technology organizations including Dell EMC, SAP, and Oracle.
Event Sessions
One Day Event 10:25 am
Scaling AI Starts Here: The Data Foundation Every Leader Needs
AI ambition is high, but results depend on what sits underneath: the data. Fragmented, ungoverned data keeps most AI initiatives from scaling, not the model. Ahmed shares why leading organizations now treat the data foundation as a business priority rather than an IT project, and what it takes to build one that is connected, governed and ready to activate. He also explains how Boomi helps customers bring their applications and data together as one trusted foundation, so AI delivers measurable business impact.
Larbi Belbecir
Senior Solution Engineer
Boomi
Read bio
Larbi Belbecir
Larbi Belbecir serves as a senior solutions engineer at Boomi, where he thrives on collaborating with leading organizations to help them break down silos and enhance operational efficiency to deliver tangible business outcomes. Previously with IBM, he has more than 12 years of experience in helping enterprise clients across multiple industries accelerate their digital transformation journey through AI-infused integration and business automation solutions.
Event Sessions
One Day Event 11:15 am
Context Is Everything: Connecting, Governing and Activating Data
Every enterprise now has an AI strategy. Far fewer have a data strategy strong enough to support one. Recent research shows that the large majority of generative AI pilots fail to deliver measurable return, not because the models are wrong, but because the data underneath them is fragmented, poorly governed, or missing business context. This session shows how to fix that. We’ll go through connecting applications and data sources across hybrid estates, creating trusted golden records, and governing access and lineage for both people and AI agents. We’ll also show how to activate that data as real-time context so agents can act on it with confidence.
In Partnership With
Boomi
Boomi is the Data Activation Company, offering an enterprise iPaaS platform for integration, automation, API management, data management, and AI agent orchestration. Trusted by over 30,000 customers globally, it is a consistent Gartner Magic Quadrant leader, helping organizations connect applications, govern data, and power AI-driven workflows.
Venue
Jumeirah Al Naseem
Meeting Room – Al Badir Ballroom
Jumeira St – Umm Suqeim Third – Umm Suqeim 3 – Dubai – United Arab Emirates