IDC and IBM Roundtable

10 Jun 2026 Jumeirah Mina Al Salam

IDC and IBM Roundtable

Turn AI from Threat to Advantage

The Rise of Autonomous Security

10 Jun 2026 Jumeirah Mina Al Salam

Hosted By

Regional tensions have reinforced a reality many organizations are now confronting: disruption is no longer an exception—it is the operating environment. Alongside these events, enterprises in the UAE and the wider region have experienced cyber incidents that directly tested operational resilience, recovery readiness, and leadership decision making.

This closed-door‑ executive forum, hosted by IBM in collaboration with IDC, brings together C-suite‑ leaders and senior security executives to explore cyber resilience as a strategic business capability, not just a technical function. The discussion will focus on how organizations can maintain business continuity and trust amid escalating regional risks, increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, and rapid adoption of AI across core business operations.

A central theme of the session will be resilience by design- Designing AI systems that are secure, governable, and resilient from inception. Understanding how AI is being weaponized by adversaries to increase scale, speed, and impact. Leveraging AI to strengthen cyber defense, accelerate recovery, and improve decision‑making under pressure.

Drawing on IBM global insight, regional threat observations, and IDC market intelligence, the forum will provide leaders with practical perspectives on embedding resilience into security, AI, and operating models—to ensure organizations can withstand disruption, recover faster, and continue to innovate safely.

The 2 hour session will conclude with an executive dinner, enabling peer ‑level discussions in a confidential and collaborative setting.

Agenda

One Day Event

6:00 pm

Registration and Networking

6:30 pm

Welcome Address

6:35 pm

The Agentic AI Threat Reality

6:55 pm

The Path to Secure AI and Autonomous Security

7:15 pm

Autonomous Security in Action

7:55 pm

Networking Break

8:10 pm

Executive Roundtable: From Strategy to Action & Closing

8:40 pm

Dinner & Networking

Partner

Hosted By

Learn More

Venue

Jumeirah Mina Al Salaam

Majlis Al Mina Ballroom

Madinat Jumeirah
Dubai

Show On Map

Be Part of it!

IDC, Wipro & Google Cloud Roundtable

19 May 2026 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

IDC, Wipro & Google Cloud Roundtable

The Resilient Enterprise

19 May 2026 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Hosted By

Agentic AI, Cloud, and Continuity at Scale

The Middle East is navigating an inflection point. Geopolitical uncertainty is no longer a background risk. It is actively reshaping how UAE enterprises think about technology investment, operational continuity, and long-term growth. At the same time, enterprises must continue to embrace AI with speed, confidence, and resilience. Agentic AI is already moving rapidly from concept to execution. According to IDC, 45% of organizations already deploy it, and a further 32% are actively exploring its potential. Yet most deployments remain isolated and workflow-specific, reflecting a broader tension between the urgency to innovate and the imperative to stay in control.

Cloud is emerging as the connective tissue enabling organizations to pursue AI ambitions while maintaining the operational continuity their businesses demand. But unlocking that potential requires navigating the constantly evolving landscape.

This exclusive CIO roundtable, hosted by Wipro, Google Cloud, and IDC, convenes a select group of UAE technology leaders for a candid, peer-level dialogue on what it truly takes to build a resilient, AI-native enterprise. Not in theory, but in practice, and at scale.

Discussion Areas

Geopolitics as a technology catalyst and how regional disruption is reshaping investment priorities

From AI experimentation to scale and the path to enterprise-wide agentic AI

Cloud as continuity infrastructure to deliver on AI initiatives without compromising resilience

Navigating the barriers to AI at scale including data, security, skills, or legacy systems

Agenda

One Day Event

9:30 am

Registration & Networking

10:00 am

Welcome Note

Mohamed Mousa

Country Head and Regional Head, Middle East, Wipro

Ahmed Afrose

Head of Customer Engineering UAE, Levant and North Africa Dubai, UAE, Google Cloud

10:05 am

IDC Keynote

Join us for a critical discussion on navigating today’s geopolitical disruptions impacting Emirati businesses. Join this session to learn about how companies are adapting to an ever changing geopolitical situation to manage their risk, maintain business continuity, and continue to innovate in delivering their services to their customers throughout the region.

Shahin Hashim

Associate Research Director (META), IDC

10:25 am

Wipro Keynote

Sidharth Mishra

VP, Managing Partner (APMEA), Wipro

10:55 am

Ensuring Scalable, Secure Agentic AI In An Era of Disruption

Google Cloud’s approach to resilience is founded on its global, architecturally robust network, focusing on minimizing failure impact and duration. That resiliancy provides the foundation for secure, scalable artificial intelligence that customers across the world are using to agentify their businesses. Join this session to hear from Google Cloud experts on how we can help businesses achieve their strategic priorities in an ever more complex world.

Ahmed Afrose

Head of Customer Engineering UAE, Levant and North Africa Dubai, UAE, Google Cloud

11:25 am

Networking Tea / Coffee Break

11:40 am

Panel Discussion

12:10 pm

Closing Remarks

Ayush Mittal

Head of Sales for Data, Analytics and AI services, Middle East, Wipro

Sidharth Mishra

VP, Managing Partner (APMEA), Wipro

12:20 pm

Lunch & Networking

Speakers

Shahin Hashim

Associate Research Director (META)

IDC

Read bio

Sidharth Mishra

VP, Managing Partner (APMEA)

Wipro

Read bio

Mohamed Mousa

Country Head and Regional Head, Middle East

Wipro

Read bio

Ayush Mittal

Head of Sales for Data, Analytics and AI services, Middle East

Wipro

Read bio

Ahmed Afrose

Head of Customer Engineering UAE, Levant and North Africa Dubai, UAE

Google Cloud

Read bio

Ahmed Afrose

Google Cloud

Head of Customer Engineering UAE, Levant and North Africa Dubai, UAE

A highly accomplished individual with 24 years of impactful technology, integration, leadership and professional services delivery in the UAE. Ahmed brings a wealth of experience from leading organizations such as Siemens, Fujitsu-Siemens and Cisco Systems. At Google Cloud, he is focused on leading a team of experienced customer engineers delivering tangible business outcomes through cloud transformations for customers across UAE, Levant and North Africa.
During his tenure at Cisco, he held roles including Enterprise Architect and Solutions Architect, leading end-to-end transformations. Notably, he co-authored two editions of a Data Centre Design certification guide and received the Cisco-Press Author Badge. Ahmed has a strong track record of leading cross-functional teams, providing technology architectural guidance, and delivering pre-sales and professional services.
His leadership also extends to training and mentoring high-performing teams. With a Bachelors from Manchester Metropolitan University, MBA from Imperial College Business School and a PG Diploma in Digital Business from MIT Sloan and Columbia Business School, Ahmed combines strong technical acumen with strategic business insight. He is a strategic and influential technology leader capable of driving significant organizational advancement.

Event Sessions

One Day Event 10:00 am

Welcome Note

One Day Event 10:55 am

Ensuring Scalable, Secure Agentic AI In An Era of Disruption

Akshay Dalal

Head of Regional Risk and Compliance, UAE

Google Cloud

Read bio

Zeid Chamma

Enterprise Account Manager UAE

Google Cloud

Read bio

Venue

One&Only One Za'abeel, Dubai

Zenith Meeting Room

Za’abeel Street, Za’abeel 1

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Show On Map

Hosted By

Learn More

Be Part of it!

Knowledge Hub- Tarek Kuzbari_Picus

Partner Spotlight

Tarek Kuzbari ,

Vice President EMEA

Picus Security

The Patch Gap Is Now an AI Problem

Anthropic’s Project Glasswing confirmed what many security leaders already suspected: AI can find software vulnerabilities faster than any human team can fix them. Mythos discovered thousands of zero-days across every major operating system and browser, some undetected for decades.

The discovery is not the problem. What comes after is.

Fewer than 1% of the vulnerabilities Mythos found were patched at the time of disclosure. The average enterprise remediates just 15% of its vulnerabilities in a given month. Meanwhile, the median time from disclosure to exploitation has collapsed from over two years to single-digit hours. AI does not just accelerate the attacker. It widens the gap between what defenders know and what they can act on.

Visibility without operational speed is just a more detailed inventory of your exposure.

The response cannot be absorbing more findings into an already overwhelmed process. It requires a shift in how validation and remediation work together. Defenders need the ability to ingest a new threat signal, determine whether their controls would actually stop it in their specific environment, and close the gap before an adversary gets there first.

That means moving from periodic testing to real-time, signal-driven validation. It means closing the loop between finding and fixing without manual handoffs. And it means demanding proof of effectiveness from every layer of the stack, not assuming tools work because they were deployed.

The organizations that respond to Glasswing with operational speed, not just vulnerability awareness, are the ones that will stay ahead.

From AI Pilots to AI Factories

9 Jun 2026 United Arab Emirates

From AI Pilots to AI Factories

Delivering ROI Across Infrastructure, Data, and Governance

IDC Middle East Virtual Roadshow

9 Jun 2026 United Arab Emirates

Key Themes

Prioritize AI Deployments with Measurable ROI

Revalidate Cloud and Infrastructure Resilience

Strengthen Cyber Readiness

Reassess Data Governance, Sovereignty, and Compliance

Modernize Data Platforms for AI Readiness

Diversify Technology Supply Chains

Agenda

One Day Event

11:00 am

Welcome Address

11:05 am

IDC Keynote- Infrastructure for the Agentic Era: From AI Pilots to AI Factories

AI is raising the bar for enterprise infrastructure. IDC keynote session will explore the evolution from traditional datacentres to purpose-built AI factories, examining how compute, cloud, and facilities must adapt to meet the scale, performance, and economics of the agentic enterprise.

Matt Eastwood

SVP, World Wide Research, IDC

11:20 am

Architecting for Data Sovereignty: Hybrid, Multi-Cloud, and Edge Strategies

As data sovereignty becomes a critical business requirement, organizations must rethink how and where data is managed. This session explores how hybrid, multi-cloud, and edge strategies can help you balance compliance, performance, and flexibility—so your architecture supports both control and growth.

11:30 am

Operationalizing AI: Bridging the Gap Between Data, Models & Business Impact

Turning AI into real business impact requires more than models—it demands alignment across data, processes, and outcomes. This session explores how to operationalize AI effectively, bridging the gap between experimentation and measurable value.

11:40 am

Optimizing Cloud for AI: Cost, Performance, and Scalability Considerations

AI workloads are pushing cloud strategies to evolve. This session unpacks how to optimize for cost, performance, and scalability—ensuring your cloud foundation can support AI growth without compromising efficiency.

11:50 am

Securing the AI Enterprise: Managing Risk in an Intelligent Threat Landscape

As AI expands the threat surface, security must evolve with it. This session examines how to manage risk in an intelligent threat landscape, helping you safeguard data, models, and systems while maintaining trust and resilience.

12:00 pm

From Data to Value: How Enterprises are driving Business Impact in AI Era

In the AI era, data only matters when it drives outcomes. This session highlights how enterprises are turning data into tangible business value—connecting insight to action and impact.

12:10 pm

Driving Agility and Continuity Through Low-Code Adoption

Speed and adaptability are now essential for resilience. This session explores how low-code adoption enables greater agility and continuity, empowering teams to innovate faster and respond to change with confidence.

12:20 pm

Gold Tracks (Parallel Sessions)

Track A

12:20 pm – 12:35 pm

Making Data Sovereignty Work in a More Uncertain Environment

12:35 pm – 12:50 pm

Building Trusted Data Foundations for Resilience

12:50 pm – 1:05 pm

Zero Trust: Redefining the Modern Security Perimeter

Track B

12:20 pm – 12:35 pm

Building Cloud Resilience for the AI-Driven Enterprise

12:35 pm – 12:50 pm

Resilient AI Infrastructure: Building for Performance, Cost, and Continuity

12:50 pm – 1:05 pm

Upskilling the workforce for the agentic era

1:05 pm

Summary & Takeaways, IDC

1:15 pm

Close of Event

Speakers

Matt Eastwood

SVP, World Wide Research

IDC

Read Bio

Harish Dunakhe

Senior Research Director, Software & Cloud (META)

IDC

Read Bio

Shilpi Handa

Associate Research Director (META)

IDC

Read Bio

Matt Eastwood

IDC

SVP, World Wide Research

Matt Eastwood is Senior Vice President of IDC’s enterprise infrastructure, cloud, telecom, security, developers, channels and enabling technology research groups. Mr. Eastwood and his team research people, process and technology trends affecting the enterprise technology marketplace worldwide. Mr. Eastwood first joined IDC in 2000 as part of the server team and his responsibilities have evolved and expanded during his tenure. In his current role, he leads a team of more than 100 analysts providing insights and analysis to IT suppliers, buyers, investors, and distributors through more than 75 syndicated research programs. Mr. Eastwood also leads IDC’s BuyerView primary research programs which are focused on defining emerging trends in cloud, developers, service providers, edge, AI and security.

Mr. Eastwood joined IDC in 2000. He provides in-depth market analysis, research, and consulting on all aspects of the enterprise infrastructure marketplace to IT professionals, investors, resellers and technology suppliers. During his tenure at IDC, Mr. Eastwood has led IDC primary research focused on emerging trends in enterprise systems and data centers. This primary research allows IDC to make continuous assessments regarding how customers are deploying and using enterprise infrastructure power digital transformation. Recent topics covered in Mr. Eastwood’s research include: Software Defined Infrastructure, Integrated infrastructure, Convergence, Disaggregated Infrastructure, Virtualization & Automation, Cloud Computing, High Availability, Platform Migration and Datacenter Workloads. Mr. Eastwood also serves as IDC’s lead analyst covering Dell and VMware.

Prior to joining IDC, Mr. Eastwood worked for twelve years as a senior project manager and environmental consultant at CDM Smith in Boston. Mr. Eastwood was responsible for managing the planning and design of large environmental infrastructure projects including wastewater collection and treatment facilities. In addition, Mr. Eastwood served as Operations Manager of the firm’s New England practice.

Mr. Eastwood received a bachelor’s degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston and earned his MS in Engineering Project Management from WPI in Worcester, MA. He is a Registered Professional Engineer (PE) in Massachusetts.

Partners

View All Partners

Be Part of it!

AI Sovereignty and Resiliency

What CIOs Must Prioritize Now

Proceedings Become A Partner

Overview

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.

Join Us

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.

Key Imperatives

Resilience First

Ensuring enterprise operations remain uninterrupted through stronger infrastructure, disaster recovery, and business continuity strategies.

Digital Sovereignty

Strengthening control over data, infrastructure, and digital ecosystems to support strategic autonomy in the Middle East.

AI Acceleration

Sustaining AI innovation and scaling intelligent capabilities even as organizations navigate crisis.

Cloud Continuity

Designing resilient cloud architectures that support multi-region availability, operational stability, and sovereign requirements.

Cyber Protection

Safeguarding digital infrastructure, data, and enterprise operations against evolving cyber threats and disruptions.

Smart Investment

Balancing cost pressures while prioritizing strategic technology investments that drive long-term innovation and resilience.

Agenda

One Day Event

11:00 am

Welcome Address

11:05 am

IDC Keynote: The CIO Agenda Reset: What’s Changing for Technology Leaders in the GCC

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

11:20 am

Anchored in Intelligence: AI, Data Sovereignty & Resilience in Shifting Economies

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

11:35 am

Architecting for Resilience and AI Independence in a Volatile World

In an era where geopolitical shifts and economic volatility are the new constants, CIOs are being asked to do the impossible: innovate at lightning speed while guaranteeing absolute operational resilience. This session explores how a “Sovereign-First” approach—powered by open hybrid cloud and automated AI—allows Middle Eastern enterprises to reclaim control over their data, their costs, and their future. Join Red Hat as we share real-world blueprints from regional leaders like Emirates NBD on how to build a technology foundation that doesn’t just survive disruption but thrives on it.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Anirban Mukherjee

Director of Solutions Architecture, Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Red Hat

11:50 am

Digital Sovereignty: From Policy Imperative to Technology Strategy

As geopolitical tensions, regulatory pressures, and data security concerns intensify, digital sovereignty has moved beyond policy debates into the heart of technology strategy. This session explores how organizations are translating sovereignty requirements into concrete architectural and operational decisions—from cloud and data residency to vendor selection and cyber resilience. Attendees will gain insight into balancing control with innovation, and how to design future-ready digital ecosystems that meet both regulatory demands and business objectives in an increasingly fragmented global landscape.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Ahmed I Farrag

Chief Technology Officer, IBM

12:05 pm

Secure information Management for AI, by OpenText

Control your enterprise information to drive trusted, scalable results with AI.

In an AI-first world, success depends on secure, connected, high-quality, and well-governed data. OpenText helps organizations unlock AI’s full potential by unifying data sets across systems such as ERPs, CRMs, supply chains, content management and more, ensuring accuracy with zero hallucination and making sure AI is used in context, all of this in a compliant and secure ways. From ingestion and curation to search, summarization, and protection, we deliver secure information management that fuels smarter automation and scales to make your enterprise ready for the evolving demands of AI.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Marc Merheb

Director Solutions Consulting, Middle East Region, OpenText

12:20 pm

Securing AI at the Edge: Innovate with AI While Keeping Your Data Safe and online

Unlock AI innovation without compromising data privacy or system uptime. Cloudflare’s Connectivity Cloud solves the modern CIO’s challenge by bringing computing and security directly to the edge.

Here is how Cloudflare empowers your secure AI transformation:

Fast AI: Run AI models directly on Cloudflare’s nearest servers for lightning-fast answers.

Advanced AI Security: Protect applications from hidden risks like prompt injections and shadow AI. Cloudflare acts as a protective firewall for your LLMs and applies Zero Trust protocols to secure AI agents.

Unified Control & Resilience: Manage AI APIs, control costs, and oversee data localization from a single dashboard. You can rely on a massive global network built to absorb cyberattacks and ensure continuous uptime.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Bader Shaath

Senior Solutions Engineer, Cloudflare

12:35 pm

Building Resilient Workloads on the Cloud

Google Cloud’s approach to resilience is founded on its global, architecturally robust network, spanning 43 regions and 130 zones, and its deep Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) expertise, focusing on minimizing failure impact and duration. Utilizing this platform (“Resilience ON the Cloud”) involves a shared responsibility model, requiring customers to deploy critical applications using multi-zone and multi-region architectures to ensure rapid, automated failovers and high availability. The deck reviews enterprise Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies categorized by risk protection and RTO/RPO, including Backup & Restore, Pilot Light, Warm Standby, and Multi-Site Active/Active. Finally, the presentation emphasizes Google Cloud’s built-in Security, Privacy, and Compliance, detailing global certifications, a zero-trust model (BeyondProd/BeyondCorp), and specific customer controls over data through features like default encryption, Data Residency, and Access Transparency.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Akshay Dalal

Head of Regional Risk and Compliance, UAE, Google Cloud

Ahmed Afrose

Head of Customer Engineering UAE, Levant and North Africa Dubai, UAE, Google Cloud

12:50 pm

Governance, Protection and Resiliency in the era of AI

This session highlights the challenges of managing a rapidly expanding global datasphere, expected to reach 175 zettabytes by 2025. With most data unstructured and recently created, organizations face growing complexity, data sprawl, and security risks, even as AI unlocks valuable insights.

He introduces two frameworks. The 5-Step Value Pyramid helps organizations move from data storage to value creation: identifying useful data, migrating from legacy systems, optimizing storage, automating workflows, and leveraging AI for insights. The 3-2-1-0 Resiliency Standard strengthens data protection by ensuring multiple copies across different media, including one air-gapped, with zero recovery errors.

The presentation concludes by emphasizing Iron Mountain’s integrated approach to physical and digital data management, combining sustainable data centers and advanced restoration capabilities to support AI readiness while ensuring strong governance and long-term data protection.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Cliff Madru

Vice President, Digital Solutions, Iron Mountain

1:05 pm

From Risk to Resilience in the AI Era

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

1:20 pm

Beyond Digital Ghosts: Defending the New AI Attack Surface

As organizations embrace Agentic AI enterprise applications, the attack surface is shifting from traditional system access to complex identity replication and new vulnerabilities are introduced. In this session, we will explore the evolving AI security landscape and how proactive AI innovations, like Trend Cybertron, are transforming defense. Attendees will discover a comprehensive blueprint for securing the entire AI lifecycle. We will discuss safely managing the secure end-user AI journey, and enforcing real-time guardrails for AI applications Finally, we will unpack how to fortify underlying AI factory infrastructure using TrendAI AI security stack.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift voucher worth AED 500 sponsored by TrendAI.

Bilal Issa

Technical Manager, Gulf, TrendAI

1:35 pm

Gold Tracks (Parallel Sessions)

Join the tracks to participate in the session kickoff raffle.

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Track A: Future-Ready Security for a Resilient Digital Enterprise

1:35 pm – 1:45 pm

Cyber Resiliency Journey Maps

Hazem AbuShaban
Senior Systems Engineer & Cyber SME – UAE, Commvault

1:45 pm – 1:55 pm

Preemptive Security in an AI World

Tareq Momani
Head of Systems Engineering, Middle East, Infoblox

1:55 pm – 2:05 pm

Securing the AI Future: Identity to Protect Sovereign Data

Rob Greenman
Principal Sales Engineer, Ping Identity

Track B: Data, Trust, and Sovereignty in the Age of AI

1:35 pm – 1:45 pm

The Sovereign Intelligence: Fueling Regional Innovation via Logical Data Management

Dr. Alexey Sidorov
Chief Data Evangelist and Data Management Director, Denodo

1:45 pm – 1:55 pm

Trusted & Sovereign AI in Action — From Insight to Responsible Execution

Faye Murray
Field Chief Data Officer (EMEA), Dataiku

2:05 pm

Summary & Takeaways, IDC

2:15 pm

Close of Event

Speakers

Shakeel Baig

Specialized Solutions Sales Leader, Saudi Arabia

ServiceNow

Read Bio

Tolga Tutel

Field CTO, Middle East & Africa

ServiceNow

Read Bio

Ahmed I Farrag

Chief Technology Officer

IBM

Read Bio

Bader Shaath

Senior Solutions Engineer

Cloudflare

Read Bio

Anirban Mukherjee

Director of Solutions Architecture, Middle East & North Africa (MENA)

Red Hat

Read Bio

Marc Merheb

Director Solutions Consulting, Middle East Region

OpenText

Read Bio

Hazem AbuShaban

Senior Systems Engineer & Cyber SME – UAE

Commvault

Read Bio

Dr. Alexey Sidorov

Chief Data Evangelist and Data Management Director

Denodo

Read Bio

Tareq Momani

Head of Systems Engineering, Middle East

Infoblox

Read Bio

Cliff Madru

Vice President, Digital Solutions

Iron Mountain

Read Bio

Faye Murray

Field Chief Data Officer (EMEA)

Dataiku

Read Bio

Tom Gamali

Field CTO & Strategic Advisor, MEA-TRC

Splunk

Read Bio

Rob Greenman

Principal Sales Engineer

Ping Identity

Read Bio

Ahmed Afrose

Head of Customer Engineering UAE, Levant and North Africa Dubai, UAE

Google Cloud

Read Bio

Bilal Issa

Technical Manager, Gulf

TrendAI

Read Bio

Akshay Dalal

Head of Regional Risk and Compliance, UAE

Google Cloud

Read Bio

Shakeel Baig

ServiceNow

Specialized Solutions Sales Leader, Saudi Arabia

Shakeel leads specialized solution sales for Technology Workflows at ServiceNow. Helping our Saudi clients & partners to continually drive business agility through autonomus technologies across the enterprise value stream by aligning Strategic Portfolio to Delivery Roadmaps, employing Self-healing Operations and assuring Asset Lifecycle Optimization & Compliance – enabled by Agentic capabilities for maximum value and throughput.

As a highly accomplished Business Transformation Leader and Strategist with over 25 year’s experience in the Software industry, Shakeel has worked in multi-national orgs including Splunk, BMC, Siemens, Sita and Olivetti in an array of industries – cross-borders – in both business and technical senior roles.

Event Sessions

One Day Event 11:20 am

Anchored in Intelligence: AI, Data Sovereignty & Resilience in Shifting Economies

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Tolga Tutel

ServiceNow

Field CTO, Middle East & Africa

Tolga serves as Field CTO for ServiceNow across the Middle East and Africa, partnering directly with C-level leaders to translate AI and platform strategy into measurable business outcomes, elevating strategic thinking and driving innovation at the enterprise level. With over a decade at ServiceNow, he brings a rare combination of depth and breadth across some of the world’s largest organizations.

Before this role, Tolga led ServiceNow’s Enterprise Architecture function across EMEA, shaping platform strategy at scale and building a practice that influenced how hundreds of enterprises approach digital transformation.

What sets Tolga apart is a perspective forged on both sides of the table: prior to joining ServiceNow, he worked as the lead architect on the customer side, leading global-scale ServiceNow implementations firsthand, bringing both the rigor of architecture and the pragmatism of someone who has lived these challenges personally.

Event Sessions

One Day Event 11:20 am

Anchored in Intelligence: AI, Data Sovereignty & Resilience in Shifting Economies

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Cliff Madru

Iron Mountain

Vice President, Digital Solutions

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.

Event Sessions

One Day Event 12:50 pm

Governance, Protection and Resiliency in the era of AI

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Tom Gamali

Splunk

Field CTO & Strategic Advisor, MEA-TRC

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.

Event Sessions

One Day Event 1:05 pm

From Risk to Resilience in the AI Era

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Ahmed Afrose

Google Cloud

Head of Customer Engineering UAE, Levant and North Africa Dubai, UAE

Event Sessions

One Day Event 12:35 pm

Building Resilient Workloads on the Cloud

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Bilal Issa

TrendAI

Technical Manager, Gulf

Bilal Issa is currently technical manager for TrendAI in Gulf , with more than 15 years, Bilal has accumulated technical in-depth experience in cyber security, cloud, infrastructure and applications.

Event Sessions

One Day Event 1:20 pm

Beyond Digital Ghosts: Defending the New AI Attack Surface

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift voucher worth AED 500 sponsored by TrendAI.

Akshay Dalal

Google Cloud

Head of Regional Risk and Compliance, UAE

Akshay Dalal is a risk and compliance leader with a proven track record of enabling global
organizations to scale securely across diverse and dynamic markets. With extensive experience
spanning multiple industries and geographies, he specializes in building and operationalizing
solutions that navigate complex regulatory environments. His work is instrumental in protecting
revenue and enabling strategic growth for a multi-billion dollar book of business.
As the Head of Risk and Compliance for Google across the region, Akshay operates at the
intersection of regulation, strategy, and innovation. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring safe
operations, fostering responsible growth, and building trusted engagement in some of the
world’s most rapidly evolving markets.
Akshay holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Engineering from the
University of Delhi. He has also pursued his CFA up to Level II. A passionate community leader,
Akshay was the first MBA student to be elected President of St. Catherine’s College MCR at
Oxford. He currently also serves as the Head of the UK and EMEA chapter of the Old Sanawarian
Society.

Event Sessions

One Day Event 12:35 pm

Building Resilient Workloads on the Cloud

Ask Questions and stand a chance to win exciting e-gift vouchers.

Knowledge Hub

Rethinking Digital Sovereignty in a Disrupted World

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.

Hande Akdede Erbay

| IBM MEA

Head of Data & AI

Building Operational Resilience With Open Source

The conversation around digital transformation in the UAE is shifting. Organizations want to adopt artificial intelligence while retaining control over their data and infrastructure.

Anirban Mukherjee

| Red Hat

Director of Solutions Architecture (MENA)

Mapping Cyber Resilience in an Era of Disruption

Disruption has become harder to contain. Hybrid cloud has expanded the enterprise footprint. AI is embedded into core operations. Identity now sits at the centre of access.