Jyoti Lalchandani is a seasoned business executive with more than 25 years of experience in emerging markets across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In his role as IDC’s Group Vice President and Regional Managing Director for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), he has been instrumental in establishing IDC’s presence in the region – first, through the initial expansion of the Dubai headquarters and then by spearheading the development of IDC offices in Johannesburg, Istanbul, Riyadh, Casablanca, Lagos, Nairobi, and Cairo.
Jyoti is responsible for the planning, development, implementation, and coordination of IDC’s market intelligence and advisory services, sales, conferences and events, go-to-market services, and office development activities across the META region. As a respected authority on emerging market tech trends, he is also regularly invited to speak at major industry events throughout the region and is frequently quoted by both the national and international media.
His field of expertise includes key tech areas such as cloud, analytics, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, and he is well known for providing guidance on digital transformation strategies for the entire C-suite. He is a trusted advisor to senior executives in the supplier/enabler space across the ICT ecosystem, as well as to tech buyers from the CIO and line-of-business communities.
Starting at IDC’s CEMA (Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) headquarters in 1995 in Prague, the Czech Republic, Jyoti served as IDC’s regional consulting manager. In this role, he headed several country-based project teams that advised local and multinational IT vendors on issues relating to entry strategy, competitor analysis, ROI analysis, distribution and partner evaluation, and market segmentation. He later took on the additional responsibility of overseeing the CEMA software practice, in which he was responsible for overseeing all related research (applications, system infrastructure, and tools) and advisory work across emerging EMEA countries.
Before joining IDC, Jyoti served on the national board of international non-profit organization AIESEC, where he managed the association’s partnership agreements with leading Indian conglomerates. He graduated from Loyola College, India, where his studies focused on strategy management and business policy. He later attended a corporate-sponsored program at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts.

Frank Theisen leads IBM’s Technology Product Business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), overseeing revenue growth for all Software, Infrastructure, and Product Services in a region spanning more than 100 countries. He focuses on working closely with clients and partners to accelerate digital and technology transformation, with a strong emphasis on hybrid cloud and AI-driven innovation.

Prior to his current role, Frank served as Managing Director and Vice President for IBM Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Previously, he held a number of Leadership positions within the region and multiple global leadership positions across Research & Development and Sales, with a focus on Data & AI and IBM Technology.

With more than 25 years of international experience in the information technology industry, Frank is a seasoned executive specializing in data, analytics, AI, and hybrid cloud. He is recognized for building high-performance teams and delivering business value through large-scale digital transformation initiatives.

Saad Toma is the General Manager of IBM Middle East and Africa, where he leads the company’s growth and innovation across technology sales, consulting, technical communities, and IBM Research. He is deeply committed to advancing IBM’s success in the region by focusing on client relationships, talent development, and transformative technologies like AI and hybrid cloud.

Under Saad’s leadership, IBM has expanded its regional presence, opening new headquarters and a software lab in Saudi Arabia, initiating an AI research collaboration with MBZUAI in the UAE, including plans for two AI Centres of Excellence in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. During his tenure, IBM has led several strategic partnerships with leading cleints like Riyadh Air, e&, Saudi Data and AI Authority.

Saad is a global leader with extensive experience across the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, UK, and Europe. He holds degrees from Oxford Brookes University and the University of Southampton, along with executive education from Harvard University.

Dr. David Millan is a seasoned Digital & AI executive with extensive international experience in transforming complex organisations, driving disruptive innovation, and building high-performing teams. His career spans leadership across Digital, Data, and Artificial Intelligence—consistently delivering measurable business impact.

He currently serves as Chief Data & AI Officer at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, where he leads the organisation’s Digital & AI transformation. Previously, he was Chief Data & Analytics Officer at B2Holding in the Financial Services sector, and before that held senior Data and AI leadership roles at renowned global companies including Unilever, Vodafone, Telefónica, and Etihad Etisalat.

Dr. David is also the author of a book, holder of several patents, and author of multiple scientific publications in Artificial Intelligence. He is a frequent speaker and panellist at international conferences, and brings a wealth of academic experience as a lecturer in several universities and business schools around the world.

Eng. Meshal is a veteran in Information Security Management and Technology Transformation, serving as both the Chief AI Officer overseeing AI adoption across the Ministry of Finance, and driving digital transformation and cybersecurity initiatives across the Ministry and Federal Government. Under his leadership, the Ministry harnesses the latest emerging technologies, including robotics, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence, in line with the UAE’s Vision & Strategies.
Previously, Eng. Meshal managed Information Security and technical operations at Dubai Holding Group and its entities. He was also a member of the UAE mGovernment Committee, spearheading the UAE Federal Government’s transformation into a Smart Government.
He is recognized as a leader in government innovation, having helped establish the Federal Government’s first digital innovation center, which fosters a culture of forward-thinking solutions and creative problem-solving across government entities.
Throughout his extensive career in leading cybersecurity incident handling for the UAE government and other sectors, Eng. Meshal’s deep expertise in information security and technology has enabled him to make significant contributions in this field. His responsibilities have included heading the UAE Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT), where he led cybersecurity incident response, digital forensics initiatives, and awareness campaigns across the UAE government.
Having started his career with ETISALAT as an Internet Security Engineer, Eng. Meshal holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Engineering and a Master’s degree in Information Security from Khalifa University (KU).

Eng. Abdulla Al Khemeiri is the Chief Operations Officer of Etihad Water & Electricity, overseeing Asset Management, Projects, Operations & Maintenance, the System Control Centre, and Health, Safety, Environment and Quality. He ensures the smooth, efficient, and safe operation of EtihadWE’s assets through strategic planning, resource management, risk mitigation, and continuous improvement across all operational divisions.

With over 25 years of hands-on experience in the energy sector, Eng. Abdulla is a seasoned professional whose expertise spans power and water generation, transmission, and distribution. He has successfully led diverse areas including maintenance, operations, control, project management, engineering, and asset management.

He has also led strategy, planning, and performance management initiatives, and managed major projects such as smart grid, energy storage, and energy efficiency programmes. Prior to joining EtihadWE, he held leadership positions across government, semi-government, and private energy entities.

Eng. Abdulla’s academic and professional qualifications reflect his commitment to lifelong learning and professional growth. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He is also a Certified Professional in Project Management and a Chartered Engineer of the UK’s Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Engineer Saeed Belhoul is the Director of Digital Government Operations at The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA). He lead number of important initiatives including the Federal Network (FEDnet) and its Government Sovereign Cloud.

Engineer Saeed holds Executive MBA Degree from London Business School, and BS degree in Computer Science from Texas State University.

سعيد بالهول، مدير عمليات الحكومة الرقمية في الهيئة العامة لتنظيم قطاع الاتصالات والحكومة الرقمية

المهندس سعيد بالهول هو مدير إدارة عمليات الحكومة الرقمية في الهيئة العامة لتنظيم قطاع الاتصالات والحكومة الرقمية، وقد أشرف على تنفيذ العديد من المشاريع الهامة في الهيئة بما فيها مشروع الشبكة الإلكترونية الاتحادية (FEDnet) والسحابية الحكومية السيادية.

يحمل المهندس سعيد درجة ماجستير إدارة الأعمال التنفيذية من جامعة لندن للأعمال، وكذلك درجة بكالوريوس في علوم الكمبيوتر من جامعة “تكساس ستيت”.

Khalid Murshed is the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of e& enterprise. Prior to this, he was the Chief Technology & Information Officer (CTIO) of e& UAE. With over 26 years of experience in the MENA telecom industry, he brings a wealth of expertise in technology leadership and operational excellence.
During his tenure as Chief Technology & Information Officer of e& UAE, Khalid spearheaded several groundbreaking achievements, including the deployment of the region’s first enhance 5G Standalone network and achieving the world’s fastest 5G speeds of 30.5Gbps and aggregated 5G-Advanced speed of 62Gbps. Under his leadership, e& UAE also set benchmarks in completing trials of ultra-high-speed optical solutions and net-zero 5G Massive MIMO site deployments at COP28, aligned with the group’s commitment to innovation and sustainability.
He joined e& in 2013 as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for e& Egypt (formerly Etisalat Misr), where he played a critical role in launching the 4G network alongside various mobile networks, establishing the company as the second leading telco in Egypt. Following this, he assumed the role of e& UAE’s CTIO in January 2022. Prior to joining e&, Khalid held leadership roles at Emirates Telecommunications Company (du) as Vice President Mobile Access Network and at Mobily as Director of Network Development, where he was instrumental in overseeing the development and optimisation of mobile networks.
Drawing upon his technological expertise, strategic vision, and deep understanding of industry trends, Khalid’s leadership is set to drive innovation and transformation at e& enterprise, further strengthening the company’s position as a digital transformation leader in the region and beyond.
Khalid holds a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Khalifa University in the UAE.

Mr. Nikhil Malhotra, Chief Innovation Officer & global head of AI and emerging tech at Tech Mahindra, where he leads innovation strategy for a $6 billion global enterprise serving 1,100+ clients across 90 countries. As a World Economic Forum AI Fellow and three-time winner of India’s Most Innovative Leader Award, Nikhil drives breakthrough research at the intersection of AI, Quantum Computing, and Neuroscience through Tech Mahindra’s Makers Lab. His landmark achievement, Project Indus—India’s first indigenous LLM built from scratch for just $400,000—supports 615+ million Hindi speakers across 37 dialects. Now open-sourced and evolved into Indus 2.0 with NVIDIA, it demonstrates his ability to deliver transformational outcomes at scale. Nikhil holds a Master’s in computing from RMIT Melbourne and maintains strategic partnerships with the AI ecosystem. Nikhil is also spearheading the India AI Mission cause to develop a larger foundational large language model on the back of Indus LLM.

Roland Boulos serves as UnifyApps’ vice president of go-to-market strategy and solution consulting. In this role, he leads global solution consulting initiatives, advising enterprises on how to operationalize AI at scale and translate strategy into measurable business outcomes across industries. He is a frequent speaker at industry forums, where he shares practical insights from real-world projects on enterprise AI adoption and the structural changes required to unlock sustainable transformation.

Samir Akel is the Regional Vice President for Emerging Markets at Nintex, where he oversees operations across the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe. With over two decades of experience driving digital transformation across both public and private sectors, he has held senior leadership roles at global technology leaders including Oracle, BMC Software, and Udacity.

At Nintex, Samir leads the regional growth strategy, strengthens the partner ecosystem, and champions customer success across some of the world’s most dynamic digital economies. His expertise spans go-to-market leadership, cloud transformation, and scaling high-impact teams that deliver measurable business outcomes.

Eng. Taha M. Khalifa leads Intel’s Middle East and Africa operations, driving the region’s digital transformation through strategic technology innovation. With over two decades at Intel, he partners with governments, industry pioneers, and technology leaders to architect the future of AI-enabled computing across MEA. His vision centers on democratizing advanced technologies — from edge to cloud — that unlock economic growth and societal progress. Throughout his career spanning the U.S., EMEA, and MENA, Taha has championed breakthrough solutions in engineering, go-to-market strategy, and ecosystem development, positioning the region as an emerging hub for scalable, responsible AI innovation.

Krishna Chinta directs telecommunications and Internet of Things (IoT) research and consulting projects for IDC Middle East and Africa. He has more than 15 years of experience in telecoms and IoT markets. In his current role, Krishna is responsible for consulting projects that involve go-to-market strategies, market entry strategies, and effectively managing competition. Krishna drives IDC’s IoT spending guides for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. He also authors thought leadership documents and makes regular appearances in regional media. Krishna has been conducting research and advisory projects in the Middle East, Africa, India, and other emerging markets for 15+ years. Krishna has deep industry knowledge and hands-on research and consulting experience. He has developed good relationships with regional telecom operators. Krishna is regularly involved in consulting projects tasked with addressing strategic issues like market opportunity assessment, planning, new market entry, and ways to overcome competitive threats in emerging markets.

Jebin George joined IDC’s vertical markets group in 2009. As a research analyst, he is responsible for the verticals research and analysis practice in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, including assessment of market sizing, market trends, forecasting, and vendor strategies for the region. He contributes to consulting and advisory projects and prepares and publishes reports focused on this region.

Having worked as a research analyst with SunTec Business Solutions, a software product company in India, George possesses strong product marketing and market research experience. At SunTec, he handled primary and secondary research, quantitative and qualitative analysis, market sizing, competitor analysis, analyst relations, and worked with analytical tools. He was also involved in business writing, research interviews, collateral development, and market requirements documents (MRD) and business requirements documents (BRD).

George’s academic background includes a postgraduate degree in management from SCMS, Kochi, and a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from Madras University. In addition to his native Malayalam, he speaks English and Hindi.

Victoria Mendes is an IDC senior research analyst specializing in markets in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META). She currently heads IDC’s regional server and storage market intelligence team and conducts research into the passive components of datacenter infrastructure. In the last decade, she has built strong relationships with regional vendor communities and distribution networks in countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Victoria has worked on consumer and enterprise technology consulting projects and previously led IDC’s tablets market research in the Middle East and Africa, which included training and mentoring other analysts. Her areas of expertise include servers, storage, converged systems, cloud IT infrastructure, passive datacenter components, and networking.

Suraj Godse is a Senior Research Analyst in the IT Services, Data, and Analytics group for IDC Middle East and Africa (MEA). He is primarily responsible for Worldwide Semiannual Services Tracker inputs from the MEA region. He is the primary point of contact for the worldwide team regarding data-related requests for IT services.

Suraj introduced a global product called the Services Contract Database (SCD) in 2020 and has successfully managed it. He also manages the AI Tracker, Enterprise Intelligence Tracker, and CX Services Tracker for the MEA region. Suraj has contributed to multiple consulting projects on topics related to IT services, software, cloud, security, 5G, telecoms, and IoT. He is particularly focused on covering the latest 5G developments, not only in the region but globally, and tracking other telecom business services.

Prior to joining IDC, Suraj covered the South Asia and Middle East region for Frost & Sullivan, producing market research reports and performing consulting assignments that explored a broad range of issues in ICT services.

Suraj Godse earned an MBA in marketing from the MIT School of Management and a BE in information technology from Pune University, India.

Aditi Trivedi serves as regional sales director and head of business at SymphonyAI. She is an accomplished sales and transformation leader with extensive experience across the Middle East and Africa, partnering closely with CIOs to drive large-scale digital initiatives. Renowned for acquiring and expanding major enterprise and government accounts, she delivers measurable growth by aligning advanced technologies with strategic, executive-level priorities.

Aaron is based in Dubai and is the SVP, Advisory Services for Middle East & Africa. With 11+ years of industry experience, he has worked in a wide range of industry sectors, including Financial Services, Retail, Insurance, Government, and Telecommunications. Aaron is a GIAC Certified Defence Analyst (GCDA), and has extensive knowledge in incident response, threat hunting, vulnerability management, cyber security operations, threat intelligence, and cyber security consultancy

Murat Acinci serves as the Principal Technology Consultant for Veeam Middle East, where he helps organizations across the region build their data management, protection, and availability strategies. He is a veteran technology consultant with more than 28 years of experience in datacenter solutions design and implementation, including hybrid IT Infrastructures, cloud and edge computing, data backup, recovery, and disaster recovery solutions. Prior to joining Veeam Middle East in 2019, he spent seven years working for Veeam’s Türkiye and SEMEA teams. Before that, he led the project sales and systems integration teams at a major Turkish systems integrator, where he managed infrastructure virtualization, server and storage integration, data protection, and disaster recovery projects.

Arno van Driel serves as vice president for EMEA at ClickHouse, where he leads regional go-to-market strategy across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He works with CIOs and data leaders to modernize analytical data platforms, enabling real-time insight across observability, customer analytics, and AI-driven use cases. With a strong background in enterprise software and cloud technologies, Arno brings a pragmatic perspective on scaling data systems for performance, resilience, and cost control. He focuses on helping organizations turn fast-moving data into reliable, actionable intelligence.

Jim Dwyer serves as Sutherland’s chief transformation and innovation officer, leading enterprise-wide digital and AI transformation initiatives. He oversees advisory services and Sutherland Labs, where he drives insight-led design, innovation, and sustainable growth. With more than two decades of experience, Jim has built and scaled digital transformation practices that modernize customer and employee experiences through technology. His work focuses on translating emerging technologies into measurable business outcomes with strong governance and accountability. Drawing on deep, cross-industry expertise — with particular depth in healthcare and technology sectors — Jim helps global organizations navigate complex change, accelerate value creation, and deploy innovation responsibly at scale for leadership teams across rapidly evolving enterprise environments.

Dr. Logeeshan Velmanickam is a distinguished professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Moratuwa, widely recognized as the leading engineering institution in Sri Lanka, and serves as the AI practice lead at BCS Technology, where he leads strategic initiatives in artificial intelligence and digital innovation. Recognized with multiple academic and research awards for excellence in scholarship and innovation, Dr. Logeeshan has an extensive record of publications in leading international journals and conferences, with a strong focus on AI systems and intelligent technologies. Blending strong academic foundations with industry leadership, he is a passionate educator, accomplished researcher, and visionary technology leader who continues to inspire innovation and mentor the next generation of engineers and data scientists.

Onur Disanlı is a AI engineering manager and applied AI engineering leader with 15+ years of experience designing and scaling enterprise-grade AI, generative AI, and agentic AI systems across telecom, finance, retail, media, aviation, manufacturing, and the public sector. His expertise spans agentic AI, MLOps, large-scale data platforms on Google Cloud, responsible AI, and translating advanced AI capabilities into measurable business value.

Tuğberk Kaan Duman is an engineering manager with deep expertise in building AI and data platforms, leading engineering teams, and translating advanced AI technology into enterprise outcomes. With a strong background in fintech, telecom, and ecommerce, he focuses on architecting scalable, production-ready solutions on Google Cloud with an emphasis on MLOps, agentic AI, and Vertex AI–driven platforms.

Sachin Bhatia is Exotel’s co-founder and chief growth officer, bringing over two decades of experience in customer engagement and communication technology. As co-founder of Ameyo, he scaled the company into one of the largest CX players in emerging markets, serving 2,000+ customers across 60+ countries. Following Ameyo’s merger with Exotel and the acquisition of Cogno AI, Sachin has been driving Exotel’s vision to become a leading customer engagement platform trusted by enterprises across India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

Adam Gale is a CTO specializing in AI, cybersecurity, and data. He has over 20 years of experience in the industry. Throughout his career, he has worked with global finance organizations, the public sector, and defense.

Stephen is a digital transformation and technology leader with 30 years of experience across Middle East, Africa, India, and APAC markets. His experience includes defining and executing growth strategies, building and leading teams, managing strategic clients and stakeholders, owning P&L responsibilities, driving strategic pricing and contract negotiations, fostering strategic alliances, and driving operational and delivery excellence.

He has managed multi-million-dollar P&L portfolios and engaged with clients across industries. He has successfully partnered with clients in their digital transformation journey to cloud computing (SaaS, Private, and Hybrid Cloud), including AI, to drive higher innovation, adoption, and consumption.

At Planview, he heads the regional business operations while defining and executing the Growth Strategy and Go-To-Market plans.

He is the author of “Relaunch To Win” – A Framework to Succeed in The New Normal.

Paul Potgieter is a technology leader at the forefront of AI and industrial innovation in the Middle East. As part of the senior leadership team at NEOM’s advanced and cognitive industrial city, Paul is driving the integration of artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and sustainable industry to help shape the world’s most advanced manufacturing ecosystem as Chief Information Officer.

He also serves as board director of the South African Business Council, strengthening economic and technology collaboration between Africa and the Gulf region.

Recently recognized by MIT Sloan Management as one of the Top 50 AI Leaders in the Middle East, Paul is known for bridging the gap between boardrooms and borders, transforming ambitious ideas into scalable, real-world impact.

Khalid Shahbic is a transformative technology leader with over 15 years of cross-sector expertise spanning telecom, real estate, and sports technology. As the IT Director at Manateq, he architects the digital strategy driving Qatar’s economic diversification, overseeing a complex ecosystem of Infrastructure, Applications, Service Management, and Governance.

Khalid’s reputation for delivering value under pressure was cemented during the FIFA World Cup Qatar, where he played a pivotal role in implementing critical IT infrastructure. He successfully deployed diverse Command Centers and stadium management systems that ensured a flawless digital experience for millions of visitors.

Currently, Khalid is pioneering the practical application of Agentic AI to redefine industrial efficiency. He is leading the deployment of autonomous AI frameworks designed to review investor applications and optimize logistics operations—turning theoretical AI potential into measurable business wins. His work focuses heavily on the economics of innovation: managing implementation costs while deriving tangible operational value for Qatar’s logistics and factory sectors.

Khalid holds an MBA and a B.Sc. in IT Management from Bradford University. He is a strategist who bridges the gap between technical complexity and business ROI, making him a key voice on the future of industrial intelligence.

Dr. Haidar Almohri is the Acting Chief Data and Innovation Officer at Gulf Bank in Kuwait, with over 13 years of experience leading enterprise-scale AI, data, and digital transformation initiatives across banking and industrial sectors. He oversees innovation, data governance, engineering, and advanced analytics, driving the adoption of AI and generative AI to deliver tangible business value.

Previously, he held senior data science leadership roles at Gulf Bank and innovation leadership positions at Siemens, where he led AI-enabled digital solutions across the region. Dr. Almohri holds a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering and is a frequent speaker at regional conferences and executive workshops, with professional interests focused on applied AI, data-driven decision-making, and digital innovation.

Hans Peter Buse serves as the Vice President Digital & IT of EDGE Group. He focuses on leading the digital transformation of the group, establishing a unified data foundation, and integrating artificial intelligence into key business processes. His work is centered on leveraging technology to deliver measurable business value. Before joining EDGE Group, he was an Executive Partner for Enterprise Strategy – Technology and Data in IBM Consulting and a Director in Kearney’s Digital Transformation and Restructuring practices. His leadership experience includes serving as the Head of Group E&P IT at MOL Group, the Group IT Manager of E.ON Exploration & Production, and the Vice President of IT for E.ON Russia. He began his professional career in the Strategic IT Effectiveness practice at Accenture.

Saket Saith is a seasoned professional at the forefront of digital transformation, specializing in the convergence of strategy and execution. Currently serving as the group chief technology and data officer at RAKBANK, Saket has over 25 years of experience in leading technology and data initiatives, ensuring the delivery of innovative and customer-centric solutions. Prior to this, he held pivotal roles, including chief technology officer, at Barclays in the United Kingdom, and various leadership positions at DBS Bank in Singapore, where he played a crucial role in digital transformation, enterprise architecture, and IT strategy. He is passionate about emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data, and how they can be leveraged to create value for customers, businesses, and society at large. Saket’s career spans the globe, contributing significantly to the growth and innovation of renowned financial and technology organizations. His expertise encompasses enterprise architecture, IT business strategy, software engineering, and operating models.

Sreedhar Suragouni serves as chief operations and technology officer at Sukoon Insurance, where he is responsible for defining future-ready IT strategy, driving operational efficiency, and enhancing customer experience by implementing value-first mandates across all business lines. He is an award-winning business transformation leader with 30+ years of international experience, spanning four continents in all phases of technology and digitalization. He has an impeccable track record of successfully spearheading multiple business and digital transformations from vision to execution. A seasoned change agent who is passionate about solutioning around the digitalization of business, Sreedhar has a proven ability to align digital and technology goals with strategic objectives and improve processes while effectively managing costs and mitigating risks. He also has a clear eye for leveraging technology innovation to drive efficiency and business growth.

Mr. Almulla has an extensive experience in the field of I.T. for over 25 years. He has received Bachelor of Science from The University of Arizona in Computer Engineering in the year 1987 and completed his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from University of New England, Australia in the year 1993. Additionally, Mr. Almulla has completed the “Program for Executive Development” from International Institute for Management Development (IMD). Mr. Almulla has been working in all the areas in Information Technology department such as Application Development, Information Security, Architecture Designing and Networking, Process Control, etc. He started his career as a Programmer in 1988 in Dubai Aluminium Company Limited, and is currently Chief Technology Officer, Emirates Water and Electricity Co..

As group head of Mashreq’s Technology, Transformation, and Information Group, Mohamed Abdel Razek leads Mashreq’s technology organization and drives the bank’s transformation in terms of digital services, resilience, and superior client experience. He is accountable for the continual adoption of new and emerging technologies, ensuring customer service excellence, and enabling seamless collaboration with the bank’s external partners. As a seasoned technology professional with over 30 years of experience, Mohamed has led group and regional technology functions across several large corporations. Most recently, he served as chief technology, transformation, and operations officer for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank. He was previously associated with British American Tobacco, from 2007 to 2015, where he last held the role of global head of technology services.

Adrian Hayes is a record-breaking adventurer, speaker, corporate coach, and sustainability ambassador. A former British Army Gurkha officer and Airbus sales director, he has set two Guinness world records for polar expeditions – for reaching the Earth’s ‘3 Poles’ in the shortest period of time in history and for the Arctic’s longest unsupported snow-kiting expedition to date.

Gonçalo Borrêga serves as vice president of product for AI and AppDev at OutSystems. He leads the company’s strategy for the AI platform for your agentic future, driving the integration of cutting-edge AI AppGen and Agentic AI directly into the OutSystems platform. Gonçalo is focused on empowering IT leaders to bridge the gap between AI ambition and enterprise reality by leveraging unified and agile capabilities to rapidly build mission-critical innovation.

Amr Hafiz is a technology and business leader with over 18 years of experience in
delivering and leading software driven digital transformation initiatives. He brings a
strong blend of technical expertise and executive leadership, focused on turning
innovation into scalable business outcomes.
Expertise
• Digital transformation & software platforms
• Technology strategy & solution architecture
• Enterprise & government systems
• Innovation led delivery models
Key Highlights
• Co-founded envnt and played a central role in shaping its technology vision
and growth
• Held consulting and technical leadership roles at global and regional firms
• Led the delivery of complex, mission critical software platforms across
multiple industries
• Recognized for bridging technology innovation with real-world business
needs

Ram Chakravarti is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at BMC Software. He is responsible for BMC’s technology strategy, innovation, cross-pillar tech services, technology advocacy and corporate development. He is also as the Chief Tech Evangelist for BMC. His most recent focus has been in bringing to market, AI & GenAI solutions in Automation, Data Management and Edge Computing that add to BMC’s product portfolio.

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.

Mutaz is a high-impact leader with over 20 years of experience driving rapid international growth and digital transformation for reputable regional and national organizations. A specialist in P&L management and organizational turnarounds, he possesses a rare blend of deep technical fluency, spanning Cloud, ERP, and complex application integration, and sophisticated business acumen. Having successfully scaled ventures from startup phase to market leadership, Mutaz excels at navigating ambiguity, managing complex enterprise negotiations, and building the strategic alliances necessary to cement DStation’s position as a world-class industry leader.

Ali Elmesmeshy serves as lead solutions engineer at Dynatrace, specializing in AI-powered observability, cloud-native architectures, and digital experience optimization. He supports CIOs and technology leaders across the Middle East in accelerating their journey toward AI-native enterprises through intelligent automation and real time insights. Ali has delivered impactful sessions at IDC industry events, including presentations on next-generation observability and cloud modernization.

Sonny Tran serves as director of strategic growth at EdgeNext. He is a senior technology and commercial leader with deep expertise in content delivery, edge cloud, and digital infrastructure. At EdgeNext, he leads strategic growth initiatives across carrier-grade CDN and edge computing, helping enterprises, media platforms, and digital service providers deliver high-performance, scalable, and resilient digital experiences across Europe, the Middle East, and other high-growth markets. Sonny works closely with ISPs, hyperscalers, and enterprise customers to support the adoption and commercialization of distributed network architectures, enabling organizations to optimize performance, improve reliability, and modernize their digital infrastructure at scale. His work focuses on bridging technology strategy and commercial execution, particularly for latency-sensitive workloads in media, gaming, and high-traffic digital platforms. Prior to joining EdgeNext, Sonny held roles at IBM and Verizon, where he supported large multinational organizations with enterprise networking, cloud, and carrier-grade services, gaining first-hand experience in the operational and strategic challenges faced by global CIOs.

Nadeem Qureshi is a senior business leader focused on helping enterprises turn technology transformation into tangible business value. With deep experience engaging CXOs and executive stakeholders, he brings a market-driven perspective on how organizations can prioritize modernization, optimize investment decisions, and align cloud strategies with growth, resilience, and operational efficiency. His work centers on bridging business intent with execution, enabling leadership teams to move beyond technology adoption toward sustained competitive advantage.

Mr. Dave Horton, VP, Solution Engineering, Airia, is a software security professional with over 20 years of experience in software security. David currently leads the Solutions Engineering team at Airia Enterprise AI. Over the course of his career, David has driven significant growth at prominent organizations, including OneTrust, VMware, AirWatch, SHI International, and, most recently, Odaseva, where he was SVP of Solutions Engineering. With expertise spanning cybersecurity, data protection, AI, and cloud technologies, Dave has a proven track record of developing innovative solutions to complex challenges.

Mr. Dave Horton holds a range of sector-specific certifications, including CISSP, CIPP/E, CIPM, and FIP, reflecting his deep industry knowledge and leadership in the field.

Ahmad is part of Cloudflare Solutions Engineering team with more than 18 years of sales and technological experience with high passion for cybersecurity. He is focused on designing reliable solutions for customers to enhance their security posture while improving performance of their applications and networks. With extensive customers’ engagement around the GCC and Middle-East region across different industries and verticals, Ahmad acquired a deeper and thorough understanding of positioning cybersecurity and AI solutions, demonstrating the value proposition and elaborating the problems addressed.

Ali Sallam is a seasoned digital solutions architect and strategic technology leader with over 18 years of global experience in pre-sales, business analysis, and enterprise solution architecture. In his current role at Iron Mountain, Ali leads high-impact digital transformation programs, focusing on intelligent automation, AI-enabled information platforms, and hybrid data governance solutions. He has played a pivotal role in advocating for and architecting next-generation digital platforms that help enterprises unlock the latent value in unstructured and hybrid information landscapes. Ali has been especially influential in championing Iron Mountain’s InSight Digital Experience Platform (DXP); a scalable, SaaS-based, AI-powered solution that unifies physical and digital information while enabling enterprises to transform passive data into actionable intelligence. With deep expertise in process automation, RPA, intelligent document processing, SaaS delivery, cloud strategy (AWS-certified), and AI-driven platforms, Ali is recognized for his ability to guide executive stakeholders through the adoption of transformative technologies while ensuring solutions are secure, compliant, and future-ready.

Hyther Nizam is the president of Zoho Middle East and Africa, where he is responsible for overseeing operations and driving growth across the region. He also heads Zoho’s low-code platform (Zoho Creator), ecommerce platform (Zoho Commerce), and several other products, including Zoho Flow, Zoho Survey, and Zoho PageSense. With over 20 years at Zoho, Hyther has played a key role in building products from scratch to profitable businesses. He leads Zoho’s technology initiatives, including the development of its scripting language, Deluge.

Dr. Ahmad El Sayed serves as public sector lead for Google Cloud in the UAE, Levant, and North Africa. He helps governments harness the power of secure AI and Gemini to transform public services. Prior to joining Google, Ahmad worked for IBM, SAP, and BAE Systems as an AI technical lead where he delivered highly impactful projects globally (Europe, MEA, APAC). He is a recognized keynote speaker, a published author, and holds a Ph.D. in AI and Machine Learning, with his research published in major international conferences and books.

Shailesh Bhatia serves as a sales manager at CyberArk. He is an experienced sales leader with 18+ years in account management, business development, and channel growth. He possesses extensive expertise in privileged access management, identity management, SaaS, network security, data classification, data protection, digital rights management, and cloud access security broker. Shailesh is dedicated to delivering value and satisfaction to clients, partners, and the company.

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.