Resilience by Design: How Integration Enables Digital Sovereignty and Business Continuity
Resilience by Design
How Integration Enables Digital Sovereignty and Business Continuity
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Agenda
Resilience by Design: How Integration Enables Digital Sovereignty and Business Continuity
One Day Event
Welcome Address
IDC Keynote: Digital Sovereignty and Resiliency During Highly Disruptive Times
In an era of rising geopolitical volatility, digital sovereignty and resilience have become critical priorities for UAE enterprises. Organizations must ensure control over their data, infrastructure, and operations while maintaining the agility to adapt to ongoing disruptions.
This session explores how enterprises can strengthen sovereignty without limiting innovation—leveraging cloud, modern architectures, and robust governance frameworks to ensure business continuity.
Harish Dunakhe
Senior Research Director, Software & Cloud (META), IDC
Getting The Foundations Right: What do Resiliency and AI have in Common in Times of Disruption
In today’s rapidly evolving and disruption-prone environment, fragmented systems and siloed data can significantly hinder an organization’s ability to respond effectively. Integration has become a critical enabler of business continuity—ensuring seamless data flow, real-time visibility, and coordinated operations across the enterprise.
This session explores how organizations can leverage integration strategies and platforms to strengthen resilience, reduce operational risk, and maintain continuity during periods of uncertainty.
Rami Kichli
Director, Middle East & Africa (IBM Integration Solutions), IBM
IBM Integration Strategy for Resilient, Digitally Sovereign Enterprise
As enterprises navigate increasing geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory complexity, integration plays a pivotal role in enabling both resilience and digital sovereignty. IBM’s integration strategy focuses on connecting applications, data, and systems across hybrid and multicloud environments—ensuring organizations maintain control while remaining agile and scalable.
This session explores how IBM’s approach to integration helps enterprises strengthen business continuity, support compliance requirements, and unlock the full value of their digital investments. Attendees will gain practical insights into building a secure, flexible integration foundation that enables innovation while safeguarding operational resilience in highly disruptive times.
Feras Juma
Integration Technical Sales Leader, Middle East and Africa, IBM
GSD Session: Power of the Ecosystem: Driving Transformation Through Collective Automation Strength
In an increasingly complex and fast-moving environment, no single organization can innovate at scale alone. This session highlights the collective strength, global reach, and combined capabilities of our automation ecosystem, showcasing how strategic partnerships are enabling impactful, real-world outcomes.
Through anonymized case studies, we will demonstrate how organizations are leveraging integrated automation solutions to drive efficiency, resilience, and innovation. Attendees will gain insight into the power of collaboration and how tapping into a diverse partner ecosystem can accelerate transformation and deliver sustained business value.
Subrahmanyam Thuraga
Chief Architect, Gulf Software Distribution
Closing Note
Speakers
Harish Dunakhe
Senior Research Director, Software & Cloud (META)
IDC
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Harish Dunakhe
Harish Dunakhe leads IDC’s research & advisory practice for the software program in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey (META) region.
He is responsible for a team of research analysts and manages the delivery of insights in IDC’s software program and syndicated research. Harish and his team have expertise in studying technology trends to provide our clients with thought leadership and actionable insights. He is based in Dubai.
Harish has a strong understanding of leveraging technologies to solve business problems in the public sector, travel & transportation, hospitality, IT, and retail. He has significant knowledge of emerging technologies such as blockchain, RPA, artificial intelligence, and cloud. He works with clients to understand the intricacies, opportunities, and challenges involved in their technology transformation journeys.
Harish brings more than 17 years of experience working with leading system integrators and other technology companies across the Middle East, South Asia, and India. Prior to joining IDC, he held senior roles spanning technology sales strategy, program governance, and large account business planning at Global MNCs such as Wipro, DXC Technology, and Sonata Software.
Event Sessions
One Day Event 11:05 am
IDC Keynote: Digital Sovereignty and Resiliency During Highly Disruptive Times
In an era of rising geopolitical volatility, digital sovereignty and resilience have become critical priorities for UAE enterprises. Organizations must ensure control over their data, infrastructure, and operations while maintaining the agility to adapt to ongoing disruptions.
This session explores how enterprises can strengthen sovereignty without limiting innovation—leveraging cloud, modern architectures, and robust governance frameworks to ensure business continuity.
Rami Kichli
Director, Middle East & Africa (IBM Integration Solutions)
IBM
Read bio
Rami Kichli
Event Sessions
One Day Event 11:25 am
Getting The Foundations Right: What do Resiliency and AI have in Common in Times of Disruption
In today’s rapidly evolving and disruption-prone environment, fragmented systems and siloed data can significantly hinder an organization’s ability to respond effectively. Integration has become a critical enabler of business continuity—ensuring seamless data flow, real-time visibility, and coordinated operations across the enterprise.
This session explores how organizations can leverage integration strategies and platforms to strengthen resilience, reduce operational risk, and maintain continuity during periods of uncertainty.
Feras Juma
Integration Technical Sales Leader, Middle East and Africa
IBM
Read bio
Feras Juma
Event Sessions
One Day Event 11:35 am
IBM Integration Strategy for Resilient, Digitally Sovereign Enterprise
As enterprises navigate increasing geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory complexity, integration plays a pivotal role in enabling both resilience and digital sovereignty. IBM’s integration strategy focuses on connecting applications, data, and systems across hybrid and multicloud environments—ensuring organizations maintain control while remaining agile and scalable.
This session explores how IBM’s approach to integration helps enterprises strengthen business continuity, support compliance requirements, and unlock the full value of their digital investments. Attendees will gain practical insights into building a secure, flexible integration foundation that enables innovation while safeguarding operational resilience in highly disruptive times.
Subrahmanyam Thuraga
Chief Architect
Gulf Software Distribution
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Subrahmanyam Thuraga
Subrahmanyam Thuraga (Subbu) brings 25 years of IT experience, having worked with clients across 22 countries on diverse aspects of the IT business, including products, services, consulting, distribution, sales, and implementation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Engineering and an MBA in International Business, Advanced Diploma in Business Management and Senior Management Program from Indian Institute of Management.
He specializes in AI, Automation and Integration technologies, with over two decades of experience in these domains in various leadership roles in IBM India, USA, Kuwait. He has deep domain expertise spanning banking, telecom, government, aerospace, retail, and transportation sectors.
From a Value-Added Distribution (VAD) perspective, he helps GCC clients modernize their integration landscape using IBM Integration technology — enabling scalable integration of applications and data, accelerating API-led and event-driven initiatives, and improving governance, reuse, and resilience—while supporting partners in solution positioning, architecture design, and successful delivery aligned with regional enterprise and regulatory requirements.
Event Sessions
One Day Event 11:55 am
GSD Session: Power of the Ecosystem: Driving Transformation Through Collective Automation Strength
In an increasingly complex and fast-moving environment, no single organization can innovate at scale alone. This session highlights the collective strength, global reach, and combined capabilities of our automation ecosystem, showcasing how strategic partnerships are enabling impactful, real-world outcomes.
Through anonymized case studies, we will demonstrate how organizations are leveraging integrated automation solutions to drive efficiency, resilience, and innovation. Attendees will gain insight into the power of collaboration and how tapping into a diverse partner ecosystem can accelerate transformation and deliver sustained business value.
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