Guillaume Thfoin is a Chief AI Officer and Head of the Dubai AI Campus (DIFC Innovation Hub), focused on accelerating AI adoption across the region through a practical, enterprise-grade approach: strategy, operating model, talent uplift, applied delivery, and governance.
In his role, he develops programs that connect corporates with startups, runs executive AI education, launches applied AI labs to industrialize GenAI/agentic use cases, and advances responsible AI and compliance practices in collaboration with regulators and industry partners.
Over the past 15+ years, Guillaume has led multiple large-scale data and AI transformations across energy management, retail, and software—building high-performing teams and translating analytics and AI into measurable outcomes (growth, efficiency, speed).
He is also an AI faculty leader and co-director of ESCP Business School’s MSc in Data & AI, advising senior leaders on adoption, governance, and value creation.
Recognized as a Top 40 Under 40 Global Data Leader (2024).
Ravi Raman is a seasoned media industry professional with over two decades of experience in content strategy, media, and leadership. He has launched Middle East editions of some of the world’s most iconic media brands, including Fast Company, MIT Sloan Management Review, Wired, and Bloomberg Businessweek.
Currently, he is the Publisher of MIT Sloan Management Review Middle East & India and Fast Company Middle East, two of the world’s most influential media platforms. Under his leadership, the brands have developed a distinctive editorial focus on innovation, technology, leadership, design, and the future of business.
Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com) is a global leader in full-stack artificial intelligence services, offering state-of-the-art intelligent capabilities and a worldwide AI cloud computing network, providing developer-friendly AI services across the globe.
Naima Al Falasi is an AI strategy and transformation expert whose work focuses on AI governance, organizational transformation, and institutional decision-making. With more than two decades of experience across international banking, fintech, sovereign investment, and large-scale transformation initiatives, she helps organizations translate emerging technologies into strategic and operational impact.
A member of the World Economic Forum AI Governance Alliance and a Certified AI Governance Professional, Naima is also pursuing doctoral research on how AI is reshaping governance, leadership, and decision-making within regulated institutions.
Latifa AlShehhi is Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and Director of the Investment Data Department at Invest UAE, Ministry of Investment, where she leads AI, data, and digital transformation initiatives to strengthen the UAE’s position as a globally competitive, data-driven investment destination. Her work focuses on AI governance, advanced analytics, and responsible AI adoption across the public sector.
With leadership experience spanning the Ministry of Investment, the Roads and Transport Authority, and the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, Latifa has driven data-led transformation initiatives supporting smart cities, digital government, and evidence-based policymaking. A recognized advocate for responsible AI, she is a certified data ethics professional, a leader with Women in AI UAE, and an active contributor to international AI and data governance initiatives.
Sia is a next-generation, global management consulting group. Founded in 1999, we were born digital. Today our strategy and management capabilities are augmented by data science, enhanced by creativity and driven by responsibility. We’re optimists for change and we help clients initiate, navigate and benefit from transformation. We believe optimism is a force multiplier, helping clients to mitigate downside and maximize opportunity. With expertise across a broad range of sectors and services, our 3,000 consultants serve clients worldwide from 48 locations in 19 countries. Our expertise delivers results. Our optimism transforms outcomes.
In the UAE, we operate from our Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices, collaborating with key government entities to define strategies, guide complex technology transformation initiatives, and implement robust innovation programs.
Everpure allows organizations to take control of their data with an industry-leading, ever-evolving storage and data management platform. We help companies unleash the power of their data by ensuring it is secure, accessible, intelligent, and ready to perform in the AI era. By replacing rigid infrastructure with a platform that operates like a living system, Everpure makes data management effortless.
Dataiku is the Platform for AI Success. The company enables enterprises to achieve measurable AI performance at scale by unifying people, orchestration, and governance in one platform. Dataiku brings business experts and AI specialists into a single environment, embedding business context into analytics, models, and AI agents. As a result, business teams can self-serve and innovate with their domain expertise, while AI experts build, deploy, and optimize enterprise AI faster — closing the gap between pilots and production. The platform connects data, AI services, and enterprise applications across analytics, machine learning, and AI agents, allowing organizations to orchestrate AI across any cloud or infrastructure without vendor lock-in. With built-in governance across the AI lifecycle, Dataiku helps organizations monitor performance, cost, and risk while ensuring systems remain transparent, compliant, and auditable. Together, this enables companies to embed business expertise into AI, operate across multi-vendor environments, and run AI as a true enterprise performance engine. Dataiku is trusted by 1 in 4 of the world’s top companies, and is backed by investors, including Wellington Management, Battery, CapitalG, ICONIQ, and FirstMark.
As a hybrid cloud computing leader, Nutanix transforms the way organizations do business. We provide a unified platform for running all your applications and AI and managing your data uniformly across datacenters, public and managed clouds, hybrid environments, and at the edge. With the Nutanix software platform, you can simplify operations for both traditional and modern applications, apply intelligent AI-driven automation, and deliver enterprise resiliency and security, freeing you to focus on organizational goals. Trusted by over 29,000 customers worldwide, Nutanix empowers you to transform digitally and run hybrid cloud environments consistently, easily, and cost-effectively. Learn more at www.nutanix.com or follow us on social media.
Khalid is a technology and management consulting leader with more than 20 years of experience in AI strategy, digital transformation, and enterprise technology programs across government, energy, transport, and retail. He specializes in helping organizations design, implement, and scale AI initiatives that deliver measurable business outcomes.
His expertise spans AI governance, AI product strategy, program management, and change management, with a focus on translating emerging technologies into practical, enterprise-scale transformation. Based in the UAE, Khalid is a frequent speaker on AI adoption and the future of intelligent organizations across the region.
Rizwan Tufail is Group Chief Data Officer at PureHealth, where he leads the organization’s data and analytics strategy, helping leverage data and AI to advance its vision for the future of healthcare and longevity. He oversees the development of data-driven capabilities that support innovation, operational excellence, and better patient outcomes across the group.
With more than 30 years of international leadership experience spanning North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Rizwan has held senior technology and data leadership roles across global organizations. His career includes leading Microsoft’s work across Africa for a decade and founding, scaling, and successfully exiting a Silicon Valley startup.
Kamal Shah is Chief Technology Officer at GMG, where he leads the company’s global technology strategy, digital transformation, and innovation agenda. He is driving the adoption of AI, cloud, data and analytics, and enterprise platforms to modernize GMG’s technology landscape and support its continued expansion across the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia.
With more than 25 years of experience, Kamal has led large-scale technology transformation initiatives across retail, media, consulting, and technology services. His expertise spans enterprise AI, cloud transformation, cybersecurity, digital platforms, and technology operations, with a focus on using emerging technologies to accelerate business growth, operational excellence, and customer experience.
Dr. Jassim Al Awadhi is Executive Director – Enterprise Platforms at Emirates NBD, where he leads the strategy and modernization of enterprise platforms, driving AI adoption and digital transformation across the organization. With more than 20 years of experience spanning banking, telecommunications, and government collaboration, he specializes in building AI-enabled, resilient, and scalable enterprise ecosystems.
A recognized advocate for responsible AI, Dr. Al Awadhi focuses on embedding governance, ethics, and human oversight into enterprise AI implementation. He holds a PhD in AI Strategy and Implementation, and his work supports the UAE’s vision of becoming a global leader in AI and digital innovation.
Khaled Ammar is the SVP of Data Science & AI at FAB and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo. He has led the delivery of production-scale AI systems across multiple organizations in North America. His work combines algorithmic research and systems engineering, spanning dynamic graph processing, ML data platforms, and enterprise world models. Khaled earned his PhD from the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo.
With more than 15 years of clinical and operational leadership experience, Celin is Chief Operating Officer at Aster Hospitals UAE, where she oversees hospital operations, financial performance, and strategic growth across the network. Drawing on a clinical background in nursing, she leads initiatives to improve operational efficiency, optimize resource allocation, enhance patient outcomes, and support the expansion of healthcare services. Her work focuses on combining clinical excellence with operational discipline to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care at scale.
Rahul Matiwadekar is Chief Agentic Officer at InsuranceMarket.ae (AFIA Insurance Brokerage Services LLC), where he leads the strategy, development, and deployment of agentic AI across the organization. Working within a highly regulated industry, he focuses on building production-ready autonomous systems that combine governance, auditability, and measurable business outcomes. With more than 18 years of experience across financial services, telecommunications, and insurance in the GCC, Rahul brings deep expertise in translating emerging AI capabilities into enterprise-scale implementation.
Nur is a decision intelligence leader with more than a decade of experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data. He specializes in helping organizations harness AI to improve decision-making and accelerate enterprise transformation, having delivered AI-driven solutions for S&P 500 companies and government organizations across EMEA, the Americas, and APAC.
Harang Ju is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, where his research explores human–AI collaboration, AI agents, and decentralized digital ecosystems. His work examines how AI agents influence team dynamics, productivity, and organizational performance, with a focus on designing more effective human–AI collaboration in enterprise settings.
Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Sloan Initiative on the Digital Economy, where he conducted research on emerging digital technologies and their impact on business and society. His broader research also investigates blockchain decentralization, digital asset economics, and the evolution of decentralized platforms.
Sumit has extensive leadership experience across digital commerce, marketplaces, and customer ecosystems, having led large-scale digital transformation initiatives spanning global platform businesses and luxury retail. His work focuses on building technology-enabled operating models that strengthen business resilience, enhance customer experience, and drive sustainable growth.
Krish is Group Chief Transformation Officer at Apparel Group, where he leads the organization’s transformation agenda, driving enterprise AI adoption, digital innovation, and next-generation operating models to enable long-term growth and competitiveness. His work focuses on building AI-native capabilities, intelligent platforms, and connected digital ecosystems that enhance agility, customer experience, and business performance.
Kaustubh Wagle is a Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group in the Middle East. He is a core member of the Telcoms, Media and Technology practice, and leads the Tech Capital sector. With over a decade of consulting experience, he advises TMT and PE/VC clients on strategy, operations and investments topics across Telco, AI, cybersecurity, e-commerce, IoT, FinTech and other digital plays. Kaustubh has been pivotal in establishing major tech initiatives, including MENA’s largest tech fund and multiple high-profile joint ventures, and has been supporting growth agendas for multiple Telco and Tech players.
Rahul Lakhanpal, currently the VP, Product Marketing, Darwinbox, backed by 16+ years of shaping global SaaS strategy at Workday, BrowserStack, SAP, and more. With a career spanning product management to global go-to-market leadership, Rahul Lakhanpal transforms market needs into intuitive, high-impact technology solutions. A storyteller at the intersection of business and technology, Rahul Lakhanpal brings 16+ years of experience turning product vision into customer success worldwide.
Sana Agents turns your company’s knowledge and systems into a secure, orchestrated AI workforce—built to deliver outcomes from day one. Sana Agents connect to your content, apps, and data to understand context, take action, and drive results across every team—sales, operations, legal, R&D, finance, HR, marketing, support, and more. Automate multi-step workflows that adapt to real events and keep humans in the loop where judgment matters. Draft board-ready reviews, build decks and docs, and generate charts from live data—current, cited, and easy to share. Ask in plain English and get instant, actionable data analysis—no code, no waiting. With open APIs and deep integrations, Sana fits into the tools your people already use, while governance, permissions, and audit trails give you control. Beyond software, our experts guide adoption so change sticks and impact compounds. Meet us in Dubai to see agentic AI in action at the MIT SMR Middle East AI Research Forum.
Nizar Hneini is a Senior Partner who leads the Digital and Services Practice in the Middle East region and manages Roland Berger’s Qatar Office. He joined the company in 2024 and has extensive experience in the consulting industry with previous leadership roles in Europe, The US, The Middle East and Africa. Nizar advises clients since over two decades on strategy development and execution, business and digital transformations, corporate venturing, policy and regulation, setting up and overseeing the execution of major technology and IT programs with industry focus spanning telecommunications, technology, public sector, and energy.
ManageEngine is a division of Zoho Corporation and a leading provider of IT management solutions for organizations across the world. With a powerful, flexible, and AI-powered digital enterprise management platform, we help businesses get their work done from anywhere and everywhere—better, safer, and faster. To learn more, visit www.manageengine.com.
Faisal Hamady is a Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group, where he leads the global Digital Economy topic and Innovation for Economic Development. Based in the Middle East, he advises governments and leading organizations on technology-driven economic transformations, with a focus on digital economy, deep tech, AI, and space. His recent work includes shaping national strategies, ecosystem development funds, and innovation districts. Before BCG, Faisal worked at Intel in the US and cofounded a digital retail startup.
Coursera is the global online learning platform that offers anyone, anywhere access to online courses and degrees from world-class universities and companies. Coursera partners with more than 350 leading universities and companies to bring flexible, affordable, job-relevant online learning to individuals and organizations worldwide. We offer a range of learning opportunities—from hands-on projects and courses to job-ready certificates and degree programs.
Equip citizens and government employees with in-demand skills Drive sustainable economic growth and build a competitive workforce with online learning from leading universities and companies.
Paul Potgieter is shaping how digital systems and intelligent infrastructure accelerate NEOM’s ambition to build a cognitive, adaptive city. His focus is on embedding scalable digital platforms that power new economic models and drive differentiated value in an era of AI-native urban development.
Awad Ahmed Ali El-Sidiq is driving the transformation of energy infrastructure through AI-powered analytics at ADNOC Distribution. With over 15 years of experience across enterprise data systems and large-scale AI implementations, he has pioneered advanced machine learning use cases in the oil and gas sector that deliver tangible business outcomes. His work enables data to operate as an intelligent asset—powering faster, more adaptive decision-making across the organization. Recognized globally for his leadership in enterprise AI and database architecture, he continues to push the boundaries of what AI can achieve in one of the world’s most vital industries.
Srimanth is a senior technology leader and currently serves as the Director of Engineering for Data & Analytics at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).
With a distinguished career across leading financial institutions including HSBC, JP Morgan, and Lloyds Banking Group, he brings deep expertise in data strategy, large-scale cloud transformation, and building high-performing engineering organisations.
Srimanth is known for driving innovation in complex, regulated environments and is passionate about creating inclusive, future-ready data platforms that deliver real business impact.
Jithin George designs and builds agentic AI systems that operate with autonomy, context awareness, and real-time decision-making capabilities.
His work focuses on creating AI agents that can reason, act, and adapt across complex environments—bridging the gap between intent and execution in enterprise and developer workflows.
Tim Kraska is an Associate Professor at MIT CSAIL and founding co-director of the Data System and AI Lab (DSAIL). His research explores how machine learning can transform the foundations of data systems—improving performance, adaptability, and user interaction.
From rethinking core components with learned models to building intelligent interfaces for data science, his work enables more autonomous, accessible, and trustworthy AI systems at scale.
Dylan Hadfield-Menell is a leading researcher in AI alignment and directs the Algorithmic Alignment Group at MIT CSAIL. His work focuses on ensuring that agentic AI systems behave in ways that reflect human goals, values, and oversight, particularly in multi-agent and human-AI contexts.
As a Schmidt Sciences AI2050 Fellow, he is advancing methods to support the safe, beneficial, and trustworthy deployment of AI in the real world.
Geoffrey Alphonso is the CEO of Alef Education and a transformational leader in the EdTech sector.
With over 20 years of global experience across North America, Australia, and the Middle East, he has led Alef’s growth into an AI-powered education platform reaching hundreds of thousands of students across multiple countries.
Geoffrey is passionate about using emerging technologies to shape the future of learning and sits on advisory boards focused on expanding digital access in underserved communities. He holds an MBA from London Business School.
Dr. Dirk Jungnickel leads Enterprise Data & Analytics at Emirates Group, overseeing the organization’s AI, data science, and business intelligence capabilities.
With a background in theoretical physics and over two decades in senior roles across industries, he brings a systems-level perspective to the design and governance of enterprise AI.
His work focuses on scaling data-driven decision-making while ensuring alignment, transparency, and operational impact.
Munther A. Dahleh is the William A. Coolidge Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and the founding director of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS).
His research explores decision-making under uncertainty, networked systems, and the economics of data, drawing on fields from control theory to distributed learning.
He leads cross-disciplinary efforts at MIT to understand how data and algorithms shape complex systems, from financial and power networks to social and neural systems.
Dr. Fatma Tarlaci is an engineering leader with a decade of expertise in AI. Formerly, she served as CTO and VP of Engineering at startups, where she led the development and deployment of robust AI solutions and led high-impact engineering teams.
As a technical advisor, she helps startups navigate AI adoption and productization, while also training the next generation of AI engineers and data scientists as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Computer Science at UT Austin.
She recently stepped into the role of Chief AI Officer at SOAR AI, where she combines strategic leadership with hands-on development and helps guide the technical direction of their AI initiatives.
Anirudh Narayan focuses on accelerating the adoption of agentic AI by bridging technical innovation with real-world application.
With a background in growth strategy and data-driven product development, he works at the intersection of AI deployment and business transformation, enabling organizations to unlock new forms of scale and autonomy through intelligent agents.
Marek Kowalkiewicz is Professor and Chair in Digital Economy at QUT Business School and a leading voice on the intersection of AI, business, and society.
Recognized by Thinkers360 as one of the Top 100 Global AI Thought Leaders, he is the author of The Economy of Algorithms: AI and the Rise of the Digital Minions, winner of the 2024 Australian Business Book Award in Technology.
Marek previously led innovation teams in Silicon Valley, established SAP’s Machine Learning Lab in Singapore, and held research appointments at Microsoft Research Asia.
His current work focuses on how algorithmic systems shape decision-making, redefine value creation, and challenge traditional notions of agency in business leadership.
Munjal Shah is the co-founder and CEO of Hippocratic AI, a company building the first safety-focused large language model for healthcare.
A serial entrepreneur with a track record in AI and machine learning, he has founded and led multiple startups at the intersection of technology and healthcare, with previous ventures acquired by Google and Alibaba.
