Executive Director UAE Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Office

Saqr Binghalib is a renowned entrepreneur and technology industry leader. With a strong background in the field, Saqr has made significant contributions to various sectors throughout his career.

Previously, Binghalib held the position of Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at VBG, a prominent control regulator manufacturer catering to the oil and gas industry. His expertise and leadership were instrumental in the company’s success.

In addition to his accomplishments at VBG, Binghalib also served as the CEO of Marshall Intech, where he spearheaded the development of cutting-edge communication networks and ventured into satellite technology. Under his guidance, Marshall Intech achieved notable milestones and played a crucial role in advancing technological solutions.

Currently, Saqr Binghalib holds the role of Executive Director at the UAE Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Office. In this role, he is enhancing the implementation of the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence and the UAE Digital Economy Strategy, with the objective of:

• Positioning the UAE as a global leader in artificial intelligence by the year 2031
• Doubling the contribution of the digital economy to UAE’s GDP to 19.4% within 10 years

Chief Customer & Channels Officer

Diego Camberos is the Chief Customer & Channels Officer at the Company, where he leads the strategic design and management of the Company’s sales and service channels. He is responsible for delivering integrated, customer-focused experiences across all touchpoints, including direct and indirect sales, telesales, digital platforms, and contact centres, ensuring alignment with the Company’s commercial objectives and customer engagement goals.

With over two decades of international experience in telecommunications and consumer services, Diego has a proven track record in driving business growth, operational turnaround, and customer-centric innovation. Prior to joining the Company, he held several senior leadership roles within the Tigo-Millicom Group, serving as Chief Executive Officer in both Senegal and Rwanda. He has also held management positions with global consumer brands such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and Trilogy International Partners (VIVA).

Before joining the Company, Diego was with Vodafone Qatar, where he joined as Consumer Business Director in 2017 and was later promoted to Chief Operating Officer overseeing all commercial, digital, financial services and customer activities for consumer and enterprise. During his tenure, he played a key role in shaping customer strategy and enhancing digital and retail operations.

Diego holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Los Andes in Colombia and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Studies from the University of South Carolina, USA. He also completed an executive specialisation in Digital Transformation and Innovation at INSEAD, France.

Mr. Camberos has an undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Universidad de Los Andes.

Vice President – Account Cloud Engineering, Database Platform & Cloud Infrastructure (META)

CTO EMEA - Dell Technologies

I believe that Technology and People working in harmony can solve some of the world’s biggest and most complex and critical problems.

As the CTO for Dell Technologies EMEA, my focus is on our Forward-Thinking Strategy and how we align and develop innovation and execution to address complex organisational, industry and societal challenges and opportunities. This involves time, deeply immersed in New and Emerging Technology and it’s application to the consideration of the most complex and critical problems of our time, and how we can collectively solve them.

With over 23 years’ experience specialising in Distributed Architecture including Artificial Intelligence, Modern Analytics, High Performance Computing and Cloud | Cloud-native technologies, I lead the Emerging Technologies vision for Dell Technologies EMEA.

Throughout my career I have also notably contributed significantly to Public Cloud build outs including Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services as well as some of the most significant AI systems, HPC and Supercomputing Clusters in the EMEA Theatre. I am also a recognized leader within the New & Emerging Tech community and am a regular keynote speaker and contributor of articles on the subjects of AI/Modern Analytics, Edge Architecture, HPC, Distributed Architecture and Cloud and Cloud Native Technology and Applications As part of my role, I lead the Artificial Intelligence Global workstream and workstream strategy for the Office of the CTO “Ambassadors program”, as well as the “Quantum Computing” and EMEA workstreams, while also siting on the Steering Group of the program.

I am also currently part of the extended Leadership team for the EMEA region at Dell Technologies During his home time, Marc enjoys Arts, reading, and hill walking with his Dogs. Marc is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and lives with his wife and two girls in Wicklow, Ireland.

“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible” – Richard Feynman

Host

Director - MIT Sloan Management Review Middle East.

Head of Technical Solutions Consulting at Palo Alto

CTO of Hexaware

UAE Sales Director

Head of Technology and Business Development (Emirates & Africa)

CEO CyberKnight

Director – E-government Operations at TDRA

Managing Director, MEA-T Service Provider, Cisco Systems

As Managing Director of the Service Providers at Cisco Systems, Zayan leads strategy and commercial operations across the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. With over 24 years of experience in the ICT industry, he brings extensive expertise in driving growth, leading cross-functional teams, and delivering innovative solutions to complex market challenges. Zayan is a result-driven leader, known for his ability to inspire and develop talents, as well as his commitment to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and conscious culture.

In his current role, Zayan is responsible for executing Cisco’s vision, driving market share growth, delivering solid financial performance, and strengthening trusted partnerships across the region. He plays a pivotal role in accelerating digital transformation journeys for both markets and governments, while enhancing go-to-market strategies.

Since joining Cisco in 2007, Zayan has held several key managerial and leadership positions. Prior to that, he assumed multiple roles in driving the CRM business for Siebel and Oracle for the financial services sector in the Gulf region.

Zayan holds a Bachelor of Computer and Communication Engineering degree from the American University of Beirut, an MBA from the University of Liverpool, and holds executive leadership diplomas from INSEAD.

He is based in Dubai, UAE, is married and has three boys. He enjoys reading books on innovation and architecture.

Field CTO, Oracle

CEO, DESC

CEO, du

Entrepreneur & Investor

UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence

Managing Director - Accenture

Vice President of Engineering and AI/ML at Outshift by Cisco.

Outshift by Cisco is the incubation engine delivering what’s next and new for Cisco: emerging technologies that target adjacent markets and personas to build meaningful businesses and achieve innovative results. Outshift mission is to turn ideas into action, breaking new ground in Agentic AI, Quantum, next-gen infrastructure, and more.

Guillaume leads an international team spanning software development, AI/ML, architecture, and platform engineering across Outshift’s product portfolio. These initiatives are developed in close collaboration with startups, industry leaders, and design partners. He is deeply engaged in open-source innovation—most recently, Outshift donated agntcy.org to the Linux Foundation—and actively partners with universities through Cisco Research.

He began his career at Canal+ in 1996, designing multiple generations of digital TV and media platforms. In 2003, he joined NDS Ltd. to lead its New Initiatives team, continuing in leadership roles through Cisco’s acquisition of NDS in 2012.

Guillaume holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from École Centrale de Lille, France, and is based in Paris, where he co-founded Cisco’s Paris Innovation & Research Lab in 2015.

CTO for Cloud - EMEA, Akamai

John Bradshaw is Field CTO for Cloud in EMEA at Akamai, where he helps enterprises ship faster and spend smarter by pairing open-source building blocks with Akamai’s edge and distributed cloud. Before Akamai he was Head of Cloud at WPP, building global services and guiding the company’s first generative-AI programmes. John has held senior roles across hyperscalers, managed service providers and startups, giving him a rare 360° view of buyer, builder and operator. On stage he’s known for plain-English, analogy-rich talks and pragmatic patterns for reducing lock-in—think NATS, Postgres operators and CNCF tooling. He regularly speaks on cloud cost control, multi-cloud and sovereignty, and AI/streaming workloads.

Managing Director

Ahmad Alkhallafi is the Managing Director of Hewlett Packard Enterprise for UAE and Africa and has held senior positions at the Emirates Post Group and was part of the team that launched Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company “du”. Ahmad holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Khalifa University in Communication Engineering and is an alumni of the prestigious Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Program for Leadership Development.

Vice President - Technology Cloud Engineering (MEA), Oracle

Ahmed is the Vice President & Head of Technology Solutions Engineering team for Oracle, META. In his previous role, he was leading the Cloud Computing team for Eastern & Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. An Oracle veteran with more than 20 years with the company, Ahmed has successfully led various teams including MEA solution specialist team, Managed Technology solutions team for telecom sector and regional consulting teams. Ahmed’s current focus is primarily to help Oracle customers to define and adopt cloud transformation strategy focused on operation optimization and innovation.

Speaker Designation

Chief ICT Officer, du

Jasim Al Awadi, Chief ICT Officer is a remarkable leader, who has been in the technology field for over 23 years and has worked for du for more than 17 years. In his journey at du, he has been an integral part of functions like technology and commercial where he was heading the government segment. Jasim Al Awadi is now leading du’s ICT department to accelerate the digital transformation agenda for the company for government entities, large / medium enterprises, start-ups and individualsrepresenting du Tech sub-brand. To enable a seamless digital economy, where digital trust, digital infrastructure and digital innovation are the key driving pillars and lie in the heart of everything.

Jasim Al Awadi has a strong commercial acumen and leadership qualities where he has contributed in generating billions of dirham worth business projects that drive critical digital growth initiatives and has been in the forefront of the development of the right cutting-edge 5G and ICT solutions enabling the vision of the Ruler of UAE to create a future ready country. His passion to lead and work closely with the ICT team to drive the vision of becoming a more purpose-driven, performance-focused and customer-centric organisation with a secure and agile ecosystem and a huge portfolio of digital solutions is outstanding.

To name a few projects he has played a key role in include, hyperscale cloud and sovereign AI services powered by AI GPU as a service for government & public sector entities in UAE, launched the first NVIDIA supercluster in GCC that will leverage cutting-edge liquid cooling technology to enhance AI processing efficiency, sustainability, and performance in Dubai which marks a significant advancement in the Data Centre and AI technology landscape of the region. Unique Industry 4.0 Technology robotics automation deployed, first of its kind agritech platform, 5G Drones with Digital Dewa, Digital Twin for RTA, Fednet UAE Smart Government, Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), the launch of 5G in the UAE, the development of the first-ever full-insight customer portal, the leadership of the virtual CPE [customer premises equipment], and the cloud.

Jasim has won several recognitions and awards, some of them include, “Government Leader of the Year” from Edge Middle East, “Security Leader of the Year” from ITP Media. “Innovation in cooling 2024” at Dubai Cloud & Data Centre Convention & Awards 2024 from W.Media. “ICT Champion Award 2024” from the Integrator. “The Best Cloud Provider” and “The Best Government digital transformation initiative in 2023, at Telecom Review Summit. “The Best Middle East 5G Innovation” and “The Best Asian CSR Initiative” at Telecom Review Regional Excellence Awards 2022. As well as “Smart Data Excellence Awards -Telecom” at Smart Data Summit Awards 2022.

Prior to joining du in 2007, he worked for telecom industry in UAE and for Canar in Sudan. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics Engineering from Etisalat University of UAE and a post-graduate digital transformation leadership program at Henley Business School in London.

Head of Data Centre

Majid AlNaqbi, joined du in 2006 and has 19+ years’ experience within du, where he has played an integral part in various roles he has been performing. He has a vast rich experience in multiple areas that include Technology, Commercial and Customer & Channels team. He has excelled in functions like Transport Network, Fixed Access Network, Network Infrastructure, Datamena & broadcast, managed services, technology operations and in his last role he was heading Customer Operations in the Customer & Channels team.

Currently, Majid is the Head of Data Centre Business at du in the ICT department under the new sub-brand du Tech. He has the commercial acumen and technology knowledge with a customer experience mindset to drive the Data Centre Business for du Tech at such an exciting time where he in 2024 has been able to achieve major milestones and successfully explore new horizons to achieve the ambitions to grow the business by signing a one of its kind deal in partnership to launch the first NVIDIA supercluster in the GCC. The supercluster in Dubai will leverage cutting- edge liquid cooling technology to enhance AI processing efficiency, sustainability, and performance. The project marks a significant advancement in the Data Centre and AI technology landscape of the region.

Under his leadership, he has recently won an awards for the Data Centre Business in less than one year’s time for, “Innovation in cooling 2024” at Dubai Cloud & Data Centre Convention & Awards 2024 from W.Media. Presently in his role, he is heading multiple data centre locations that are mostly fully consumed taking the Data Centre Business to the next-level.

Majid has a Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Engineering and Masters degree in Engineering systems management from American University of Sharjah.

Director, Systems Engineering - Telcos and MSSPs – Middle East

Charbel Sarkis is an Information Technology veteran with over 25 years of experience in the area of Cybersecurity. Mr. Sarkis Focuses on regions with emerging needs, helping organizations achieve a better gasp on their Security, Governance and Compliance objectives.

Mr. Sarkis is currently the Director of Systems Engineering for Telcos and MSSPs in Fortinet, covering the Middle East.

CTO for Data and AI Solutions at Dell Technologies, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East Turkey and Africa (CEEMETA) region.

Khalaf believes in Data, Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI being key disruptive technologies in driving the digital transformation of businesses and is very passionate about helping organizations utilize data in their digitization journey. He has over 27 years of experience in the field of telecommunications, networking, public safety, AI, Internet of Things and smart cities solutions.

CEO, du

In his role as CEO at Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), Fahad Al Hassawi is responsible for the organisation’s vision, strategy and long-term success. He is committed to driving innovation, accelerating digital transformation, and creating a fearless and industry-leading telecommunications organisation.

His key responsibilities include achieving revenue targets, enabling greater customer engagement, and increasing du’s market share by creating seamless customer journeys that are focused on the end-to-end customer experience end-to-end. Under his leadership, du has streamlined how business units interact with optimised service delivery, operations, finance, and central service hubs. This has maximised efficient, increased customer satisfaction and set du on a path to long-term and sustained growth.

Fahad Al Hassawi is also responsible for overseeing telecom operations of du and Virgin brands’ digital lifestyle and innovation divisions, overseeing infrastructure development, technology and network investment, and continued 5G rollout.

In his previous role as Deputy Chief Executive Officer at du, Fahad Al Hassawi assumed responsibility for a broad scope of operations across various business units, including enterprise, consumer, brand & communication, planning & strategy, government relations, and customer experience. He also held positions as the company’s Chief Human Resources & Shared Services Officer and Executive Vice President – Human Resources. He held several Human Resources positions at Emirates Airline prior to his roles at du.

Fahad holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami and he completed a Global Business Consortium Programme at the London Business School in 2005.

Senior Vice President – Database Platform & Cloud Infrastructure - Middle East, Turkey and Africa. Oracle

Miguel Vega is the Senior Vice President - Database Platforms, Cloud Infrastructure, and Alliances & Channels for the META region (Middle East, Turkey, and Africa—excluding Saudi Arabia) at Oracle.

In this role, Miguel is responsible for leading the growth and adoption of Oracle’s cloud infrastructure and database platforms.

Miguel works closely with Oracle customers and partners across the region to help them achieve strategic business objectives with latest Oracle Cloud solutions.

Previously, Miguel served as Vice President - Technology Software, Alliances & Channels across Middle East and Africa (MEA) & EMEA Growth Markets where he led the strategic expansion of Oracle’s software business.

Miguel has also performed the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Oracle’s Technology business in the MEA region. In this role, Miguel focused on aligning Oracle’s Cloud, Systems, and Software portfolios to maximise customer value and support cloud adoption through expert guidance and implementation strategies.

Before joining Oracle, Miguel held various leadership roles at IBM, including Vice President - Technology, Middle East and Africa, and Vice President – Systems for the same geography.

Throughout his career, Miguel has led major transformation programs across cloud, infrastructure, data, and artificial intelligence.

Miguel has worked with diverse organisations across the Middle East, Africa, the United States, and Latin America, helping businesses innovate and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.

Miguel is a diversity and inclusion advocate, with a particular focus on promoting women in the technology industry. Miguel has led several initiatives focused on skills development, collaboration, and fostering innovation. Mentoring and guiding the next generation of technologists remains one of the most fulfilling aspects of Miguel’s career.

Miguel holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Universidad Simón Bolívar in Venezuela and a Postgraduate Degree in Business Management from IPADE in Mexico City.

Managing Director, Middle East & North Africa

Kamel Tawil joined Equinix in September 2020 as Managing Director MENA (Middle East and North Africa). In this role he is responsible for developing our growth strategy in the MENA markets, working closely with our customers and partners to deliver world class digital infrastructure solutions and building a network dense ecosystem.

Prior to joining Equinix, Kamel spent 18 years at Oracle in various leadership roles across ECEMEA (East Central Europe, Middle East and Africa) including his most recent role of Vice president for Business Applications where he led major digital transformation projects for some of Oracle’s largest customers. Prior to Oracle, Kamel held leadership roles with EMC and NCR in the Middle East.

Kamel is a native of Lebanon and currently residing in Dubai. He graduated from the Lebanese American University with a degree in Business Management and Computer Science. He also attended leadership courses at University of Michigan Ross Business School and at IESE university in Barcelona.