Agenda
NEW DATES ANNOUNCED: 17 – 18 Nov 2026
Tue, Nov 17
Registration & Networking
Event Opening
IDC Welcome Address
Jyoti Lalchandani
Head of WW Events & MD – META, Central Asia, India, IDC
Opening Address: MCIT
IDC Keynote: Scaling AI for the Agentic Future: Closing the Enterprise Gaps
As Saudi Arabia accelerates its Vision 2030 digital transformation agenda, agentic AI is emerging as the defining force reshaping how enterprises operate and compete. With global IT spending at its strongest growth since 1996 and enterprise AI spend projected to reach $1 trillion by 2029, the infrastructure is ready — but execution remains the critical gap.
This keynote will draw on the latest IDC research to help CIOs navigate the agentic shift: from deploying and managing agents at scale, to agentifying core business processes, to building the cross-functional leadership needed to turn AI ambition into measurable outcomes. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for leading their organizations into the agentic future.
Matthew Eastwood
Senior Vice President, Enterprise Infrastructure, Cloud, Telecom, Security, Developers, Channels and Enabling Technology, IDC
End User Panel: Leading the Global AI Stage: Saudi Arabia’s Vision for AI Excellence
Saudi Arabia has set out an ambitious target: to become a global AI powerhouse. Backed by a national investment of $100 billion tied to Vision 2030, the Kingdom has built its own Arabic-language model, developed sovereign data infrastructure, and structured global technology partnerships on its own terms. Saudi has already been ranked one of the world leaders in government AI strategy, and its AI talent base has grown faster than almost any other market globally. This panel brings together the Kingdom’s national policy leadership and its leading CIOs to discuss what makes this model work in practice and what the rest of the world can take from the way Saudi Arabia is building its own path to AI leadership.
Moderator
Matthew Eastwood
Senior Vice President, Enterprise Infrastructure, Cloud, Telecom, Security, Developers, Channels and Enabling Technology, IDC
Ahmad Abu Hameedeh
Director of Digital Enterprise Architecture, Confidential
Fahad Alsuwailih
Senior Director, Digital Transformation, Leading Government Entity
Dr. Eyad Buhulaiga
Chief Data & Digital Strategy Officer, Saudi Energy
Dr. Akram Nour
Chief of Digital Transformation, Misk Foundation
Lead at Speed, with Confidence
Adam Harris
Vice President, Digital Product Management-IT, IDC
Presentation by Cisco
Tarik Al-Turki
SE Director KSA, Cisco
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Presentation by Salam
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Governing AI at Scale: From Experimentation to Enterprise Control
Most organizations have already invested in AI. Very few have control over it.
As AI adoption accelerates, the challenge is no longer experimentation; it is governance, cost accountability, and the ability to scale AI across the enterprise with confidence. At the core of this challenge lies a critical foundation many organizations underestimate: data readiness. Without unified, reliable, and accessible data, AI initiatives remain fragmented, limiting both impact and scalability.
This executive session explores how leading organizations are moving beyond isolated pilots by strengthening their data foundations and introducing a structured, AI-Native operating model one that enables them to govern, measure, and truly own their AI strategy at scale.
Amr Abou Reslan
Regional Director, UnifyApps
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Last Mile Decides Your Mileage
This session explores how enterprises can bridge the “last mile” of AI—the critical gap between experimentation and real business impact. It highlights how stronger data foundations, governance, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and operating models can help organizations move beyond isolated AI pilots and build scalable, secure AI capabilities that drive growth, efficiency, resilience, and trust.
Ali El Kontar
Cloud Practice Leader, NTT DATA
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Delivering Predictable Outcomes in a Probabilistic Era
AI has changed the speed of business. It has also raised the stakes for trust, control, and execution. This session will provide a glimpse into how trusted innovation and decades of proven experience can ensure resilience & control in the AI era, for systems, workflows, and environments that cannot fail in an enterprise.
Ram Chakravarti
Chief Technology Officer, BMC Software
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Scaling Enterprise AI with Trust & Confidence: Modernizing Core Foundations for the Agentic Era
Enterprise AI has moved beyond experimentation; the real challenge now is scaling it securely, reliably, and cost-effectively across the organization. This session, led by Cloud4C leadership, explores the critical foundations that determine AI and agentic readiness—modern infrastructure, trusted data, AI-driven pre-emptive and proactive cyber defense, and robust operational governance. It will offer practical insights to help technology leaders identify gaps, strengthen enterprise resilience, and move AI from promising pilots to sustainable production at scale.
Rakesh Reddy
Regional Director (MEA), Cloud4C
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Next Generation Enterprise Networks (Network as a Service)
Hatem Elkady
Chief Executive Officer (MEA), Nile
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Presentation by UiPath
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Advisory Council Felicitation
Tea / Coffee & Networking Break
Engage, Explore, and Network—Where Technology Meets Unforgettable Moments!
Technology Focus Group Session – Cluster A (Parallel Tracks)
12:35 pm Start of Session Raffle
Arrive on Time, Walk Away a Winner —20 Cabin Bags Up for Grabs!
Track A1: Rebuilding Enterprise Defense: Cyber Resilience, Identity & Trust
12:37PM – 12:40PM
IDC Overview
Eric Samuel
Associate Research Director, IDC
12:40PM – 12:50PM
From Data Protection to Data Resilience: A Strategic Approach
Marwan AlHuthail
Senior Enterprise Sales Manager, Veeam Software
12:49PM – 12:50PM
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12:50PM – 1:00PM
Why Your MFA Is Failing Both Your Customers and Your Fraud Team
Waleed Marji
Regional Sales Manager, Thales
12:54PM – 12:55PM
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1:00PM – 1:10PM
Presentation by TFG Partner
1:09PM – 1:10PM
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Track A2: Securing & Structuring Data for the Agentic Era
12:37PM – 12:50PM
IDC Overview
Jebin George
Senior Research Manager, Cloud and Datacenter Services, IDC
12:40PM – 12:50PM
Surviving the Agentic Wild West: Move Fast Without Breaking Things
Islam Saber
Senior Solutions Engineer, Netskope
12:49PM – 12:50PM
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12:50PM – 1:00PM
Presentation by Rubrik
12:59PM – 1:00PM
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1:00PM – 1:10PM
Presentation by TFG Partner
1:09PM – 1:10PM
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Track A3: Foundations for Enterprise AI: Data, Agents & Governance
12:37PM – 12:40PM
IDC Overview
Priyanjali Sarkar
Senior Sales Manager (ME), IDC
12:40PM – 12:50PM
Data Sovereignty in the AI Era: Securing Enterprise Data and Maintaining Control
Faris Suleiman
Presales Manager – KSA, Egypt, Levant, FileOrbis
12:49PM – 12:50PM
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12:50PM – 1:00PM
Agentic AI: The Why, The How, The Foundation
Ibrahim Omar
Solutions Advisor, Omnix
Alexandru Savin
Senior Enterprise Sales Executive, Druid AI
12:59PM – 1:00PM
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1:00PM – 1:10PM
Presentation by TFG Partner
1:09PM – 1:10PM
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Technology Focus Group Session – Cluster B (Parallel Tracks)
12:35 pm Start of Session Raffle
Arrive on Time, Walk Away a Winner — 20 Cabin Bags Up for Grabs!
Track B1: Engineering the AI-Native Software Lifecycle: Build, Test, Scale
12:37PM – 12:40PM
IDC Overview
Chetan Kumar
Senior Manager, Sales, IDC
12:40PM – 12:50PM
Presentation by Mendix + Rapiddata
12:49PM – 12:50PM
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12:50PM – 1:00PM
From Experimentation to Impact: Why Engineering Must Become AI Native
Ehsan Shariff
Managing Director, Nagarro
12:59PM – 1:00PM
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1:00PM – 1:10PM
Presentation by TFG Partner
1:09PM – 1:10PM
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Track B2: Data & Intelligence Platforms for the AI-Ready Enterprise
12:37PM – 12:40PM
IDC Overview
Tehseen Qazi
Sales Manager, IDC
12:40PM – 12:50PM
Bridging the Strategy-to-Execution Gap: How AI-Powered Portfolio Intelligence Accelerates Vision 2030 Outcomes
Stephen Fernandes
Chief Growth Officer & Head of Middle East, Planview
12:49PM – 12:50PM
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12:50PM – 1:00PM
Presentation by Incorta
Ahmed Tarek
Director, Sales Engineering, EMEA, Incorta
12:59PM – 1:00PM
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1:00PM – 1:10PM
Presentation by TFG Partner
1:04PM – 1:05PM
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Track B3: Resilient, Autonomous IT Operations for the AI Era
12:37PM – 12:40PM
IDC Overview
Shilpi Handa
Associate Research Director (META), IDC
12:40PM – 12:50PM
Cyber Resilience in the AI Era
Pierre Nassif
Senior Sales Engineer, Commvault
12:49PM – 12:50PM
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12:50PM – 1:00PM
Managed to Autonomous: Rethinking IT Operations for the AI Era
Hatem Ibrahim
Director – IT & Digital Sales, Saudi Xerox
12:59PM – 1:00PM
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1:00PM – 1:10PM
Presentation by TFG Partner
1:09PM – 1:10PM
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Refresh & Reorganize
For The CIO- By The CIO Tracks
Parallel Tracks
1:20PM – 2:00PM
Agentic AI in Action: Industry Use Cases and Early Wins
Filip Nekvinda
Chief AI & Digitalization Visionary, Petro Rabigh
Bader Aljundi
Director, Digital Transformation and Innovation, Emaar, The Economic City
Sameer Joshi
Director Digitalization, NADEC Foods
Fawaz Kilfaden
Information & Operations Technology Director, Saudi Air Navigation Services (SANS)
Dr. Muhammad Ehsan Khan
Vice President – AI & Data, Go Telecom Group
1:20PM – 2:00PM
The CIO Talent Agenda: How CIOs, CHROs, and Business Leaders Are Shaping the Future Workforce
Moderator
Eng. Manal Al-Bawardi
Chief Information Officer, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM)
Dr. Tamara Sunbul
Group Chief Information Officer, Fakeeh Care Group
Eng. Rami Mohammed Zain Yousif
Director, Artificial Intelligence & Internet of Things Department Digital Transformation & Smart Cities Agency, Jazan Region Municipality
Ibraheem Sheerah
Group Chief Transformation Officer, Saudia Airlines
Felicitation of Session Speakers
Summary & Takeaways
Lunch & Networking
Wed, Nov 18
Registration & Networking
Early Birds Win Big: First 100 Delegates Win a Dancing Robot!
IDC Welcome Address
Presentation by MCIT
Presentation by Dstation
Mutaz Salem
Chief Executive Officer, Dstation
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Presentation by Nournet
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Beyond the Pilot: Agentic Systems Built for the Saudi Enterprise
As Vision 2030 nears completion, Saudi organizations must turn AI investment into results, yet most remain in pilots. Inference costs are climbing, shadow AI is spreading across thousands of self-serve tools, and few enterprises show measurable returns. This is the Enterprise Gap: the distance between what AI tools deliver and what a regulated enterprise needs to run agents safely at scale. OutSystems shares how a unified Agentic Systems Platform helps CIOs govern their AI portfolio, engineer and orchestrate agents grounded in enterprise context, and deploy on sovereign infrastructure.
Khaled Moawad
Senior Account Executive, OutSystems
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Presentation by Red Hat | Intel
Ahmad El Natsheh
Principal Solution Architect, Red Hat
Kareem Sherif
Director AI & Datacenter, Intel
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Presentation by HPE
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Summit Tracks (Parallel Sessions)
Summit Track A : Rebuilding the Enterprise Core for the Agentic Era
11:05AM – 11:10AM
IDC Overview
Tom Seal
Senior Research Director, Enterprise Software Sourcing Strategies, IDC
11:10AM – 11:25AM
Revolutionizing Customer Experience: Integrating Digital Business Strategies in SaaS (Software as a Service) Solutions
Saran Babu Paramasivam
Regional Director (MEA), Zoho
11:24AM – 11:25AM
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11:25AM – 11:40AM
Foundational AI: Building Resilient and Scalable Infrastructure for Intelligent Applications
Ahmed Soliman
Solution Architect, SUSE
11:39AM – 11:40AM
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11:40AM – 11:55AM
Data Strategy Starts with the Foundation: Why Al-Ready Organizations Are Rethinking How they Connect,Govern, and Activate Data
Larbi Belbecir
Senior Solutions Engineer, Boomi
11:54AM – 11:55AM
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11:55AM – 12:10PM
Presentation by Summit Partner
12:09PM – 12:10PM
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Summit Track B : Securing and Governing AI: Data, Trust & Compliance
11:05AM – 11:10AM
IDC Overview
Shilpi Handa
Associate Research Director (META), IDC
11:10AM – 11:25AM
Building Resilient Security for the AI Era
Saddam Alsad
Senior Sales Manager, Saudi Arabia, Cloudflare
11:24AM – 11:25AM
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11:25AM – 11:40AM
The Agentic Platform for Zero Disruption
Charbel Khneisser
Senior Vice President, Global Solutions Engineering, Riverbed Technology
11:39AM – 11:40AM
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11:40AM – 11:55AM
Saudi Compliance on AI Security: Waiting for the Rules You Already Have
Georgy Ovanesyan
Chief Executive Officer, Axidian
11:54AM – 11:55AM
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11:55AM – 12:10PM
Presentation by Summit Partner
12:09PM – 12:10PM
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Summit Track C : AI in Production: Operations, Resilience & Business Value
11:05AM – 11:10AM
IDC Overview
Eric Samuel
Associate Research Director, IDC
11:10AM – 11:25AM
Everyone Is Building AI. Who’s Going to Operate It?
Tom Gamali
Field CTO & Strategic Advisor, MEA-TRC, Splunk
11:24AM – 11:25AM
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11:25AM – 11:40AM
From AI Adoption to AI Value Realization: Turning AI Investment into Business Value and Performance Improvement
Tarek Khattab
Solutions & Services Country Manager, Saudi Business Machines (SBM)
11:39AM – 11:40AM
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11:40AM – 11:55AM
Secured & Governed Agentic AI for Enterprises.
Ankit Chandna
AI Director (Saudi Arabia), Oracle
11:54AM – 11:55AM
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11:55AM – 12:10PM
The New Resilience Stack: Observability, Autonomy, and Sovereignty for the AI-First Enterprise
Jon Griffiths
Field CTO, Dynatrace
12:09PM – 12:10PM
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Tea / Coffee & Networking Break
Engage, Explore, and Network—Where Technology Meets Unforgettable Moments!
Technology Focus Group Session – Cluster A (Parallel Tracks)
12:25 pm IDC Overview
Track A1: Rebuilding Enterprise Defense: Cyber Resilience, Identity & Trust
12:25PM – 12:30PM
Start of Session Raffle: Arrive on Time, Walk Away a Winner —AI Glasses Up for Grabs!
12:30PM – 12:45PM
AI, Automation, and the Future of Enterprise Operations A CIO Blueprint for Scalable Growth
Nandini Sapru
Vice President (ME), emt
Track A2: Securing & Structuring Data for the Agentic Era
12:25PM – 12:30PM
Start of Session Raffle: Arrive on Time, Walk Away a Winner —AI Glasses Up for Grabs!
12:30PM – 12:45PM
From AI Risk to Business Value
Iliass Melgou
META Solution Engineering Team Lead, AvePoint
Track A3: Foundations for Enterprise AI: Data, Agents & Governance
12:25PM – 12:30PM
Start of Session Raffle: Arrive on Time, Walk Away a Winner —AI Glasses Up for Grabs!
12:30PM – 12:45PM
Presentation by Crowdstrike
Roland Daccache
Director, Sales Engineering, CrowdStrike
Technology Focus Group Session – Cluster B (Parallel Tracks)
12:25 pm IDC Overview
Track B1: Engineering the AI-Native Software Lifecycle: Build, Test, Scale
12:25PM – 12:30PM
Start of Session Raffle: Arrive on Time, Walk Away a Winner —AI Glasses Up for Grabs!
12:30PM – 12:45PM
Presentation by TFG Partner
Track B2: Data & Intelligence Platforms for the AI-Ready Enterprise
12:25PM – 12:30PM
Start of Session Raffle: Arrive on Time, Walk Away a Winner —AI Glasses Up for Grabs!
12:30PM – 12:45PM
Presentation by TFG Partner
Track B3: Resilient, Autonomous IT Operations for the AI Era
12:25PM – 12:30PM
Start of Session Raffle: Arrive on Time, Walk Away a Winner —AI Glasses Up for Grabs!
12:30PM – 12:45PM
The Agentic Paradox: Why Agentic AI Demands More Human Skill?
Mohamed Assem
Solutions Engineering Director, Global Knowledge
Refresh & Reorganize
Partner Felicitation
Voices of AI Innovations Acknowledgement
IDC introduces the AI Visionaries Acknowledgement, a prestigious platform recognizing organizations across the Kingdom that are setting benchmarks in strategic, impactful, and measurable AI adoption. Nominate your organization to be recognized among the region’s leading AI innovators.