Previous Judges

Director
Social Media Solutions

Anas Almarie is the Director of Social Media Solutions & Training specialising in government and corporates at UAE-based Social Station - an official LinkedIn partner. As an executive and founding member of the Arab Social & Digital Media Council since 2016, he also Co-hosts the weekly live show #HRMEChat in affiliation with SHRM - MEA.

Additionlly Almarie was awarded by Dubai Internet City in 2015 for the best app award in the smart city app hackathon. He is also the founder of MENA Social Media Awards, Almarie currently judge’s and acts as chair across 6 regional & international awards: International Business Excellence Awards, Gulf Customer Experience Awards, Gulf Real Estate Awards, Gulf Digital Expereince Awards, Gulf Employee Experience Awards, and Gulf Sustainability & CSR Awards.

Currently Almarie is a TV guest, author and keynote speaker across Asia, Middle East and Africa, and an adjunt faculty at SP Jain Global Managment School and a former lecturer at the University of Sharjah – Engineering School. He is also an active member at Social Media Club and Toastmasters International.

More info: www.AnasAlmarie.com, Portfolio: https://goo.gl/T2Tzhy

Managing Director
Al Ruwad Real Estate

Ismail Al Hammadi is an expert real estate professional. He is founder and Managing Director of Al Ruwad Real Estate and Biznet Consulting. Before starting his journey as an entrepreneur, he served as Executive director (Business Development) in TECOM, Sales Director in TECOM investments, Manager Government Relations in Dubai Industrial City and Senior Coordinator in Department of Economic Development Dubai.

His versatile experience enables him to provide appropriate consultancy to real estate investors and streamlined solutions for startups. The entrepreneur and resourcefulness in Mr. Hammadi helps organization to create profitable changes through unconventional and futuristic thinking using nimble and advance technology cutting down unwanted time constraints and road blocks. His venture and synergy till date have complimented hundreds of campaigns, non-profits, legal boards and brands.

Director Corporate Services
Biznet Consulting

Kashif is a dynamic, results-driven leader with years of progressive experience leveraging management consulting skills with legal acumen to drive business growth, protect assets and, assure legal compliance. He is currently working as Director Corporate Services with Biznet Consulting advising Entrepreneurs, Corporates and Business Owners on Company Formation and Business Setups in UAE.

His is also an active Council Member of GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group) and successfully incorporated many local and MNC’s in UAE. His expertise and knowledge includes; structuring of legal entities and help foreign companies to setup branches and investment companies in UAE.

CEO & Co-Founder
Hitz General Trading

Amer has over 20 years of diverse work experience across multi-national and regional companies. Amer has held leading positions at Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bayt.com, Altibbi.com and others in the MENA Markets. One of Amer’s many passions is mentoring and advising start-ups and entrepreneurs in the region. He sits on the advisory board of multiple new ventures and dedicates much of his spare time and energy in assisting these local and regional start-ups to grow.

CEO
GSD®

CEO Graham Shapiro is a designer with over 20 years experience. He has won national and international design awards, including 3 IBX Awards. He invented the interloopmailer® and Reggie®. Graham founded his digital agency GSD® over 20 years ago and more recently Reggie Enterprises Ltd. He is a member of The Chartered Society of Designers, The Chartered Institute of Marketing and an Ambassador of Innovation for The University of Cambridge

Head of Operations
Colour Tree Productions

Zeeshan is a Diversified Marketing Professional with 7+ years of experience. He has worked with Public & Private Sectors in Middle East & South Asia. He has extensive experience of raising and working with start-up companies and new SBUs. He is currently working as Head of Operations at Colour Tree Productions, Dubai.

Zeeshan is also a PhD (Marketing) Scholar and an active member of American Marketing Association (AMA).

His core areas of interest include Strategic Marketing Planning, Brand Management, Operational Excellence, Event Management & Entrepreneurship.

Communications and Engagement Consultant
Making Change Work

Charral is a marketing and communications consultant with 20 years’ experience focusing on marketing-driven business growth interventions. With agency experience and diverse industry roles, working with both start-ups and international brands, Charral brings an innovative approach to helping businesses create their brand, digital footprint and social presence. Charral is a Training Facilitator and Change Management Consultant and uses these skills to help her clients grow and embrace change.

Charral was recognised for her work in 2015 as one of the ‘Most Influential CMOs’ at The Asian Leadership Awards in Dubai.

CFO and Regional Director of Shared Services
ManpowerGroup Middle East

Rima, graduate of Harvard Business School, is a commercially driven business leader with more than 17 years’ experience in multinational blue-chip companies across Europe, Caribbean and last 10 years in Middle East.

Having worked for organizations with different levels of financial prowess and cross-cultural operations, Rima can easily lead and integrate high performing teams.

As Senior Leadership Team Member of ManpowerGroup Middle East, Rima helps set and drive its strategic executive framework. In addition, as Regional CFO, she drives the business and its financial strategies; as Regional Director of Shared Services she drives HR, Legal, Marketing & IT strategies; and as Regional Leader of Right Management, she drives ManpowerGroup's Career and Talent Management brand.

Managing Partner
Karschies, Ceron & Alred Consultants

Marc Karschies is considered one of the leading experts on Customer Experience (CX), Customer Service (CS), Service Quality (SQ), and LEAN Management in the MENA region. Marc’s international cross-industry advisory includes Corporate and Service Strategy, Customer Experience Management, PMO Setup, and integrated KPI & Measurement Systems.On top of his international consultancy work, he is a frequent conference and corporate event speaker, award judge, university teacher, and expert trainer.Marc holds a wide range of professional certifications including CXPA “Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP)”, ASQ “Certified Quality Manager (CMQ/OE)” and “Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB)”, and is McKinsey LEAN, PMI and Prince2 Project Management certified.

Founder & Executive Creative Director
INTEGR8 Agency

Ayman has spent his career on both sides of the industry as a Creative & Digital strategist as well as a Marketing Director. He has worked across Dubai, Chicago, and Washington D.C accumulating a portfolio that includes Sony, Philips, Infiniti, Nissan, Huawei, Caterpillar, and the Majid Al Futtaim Malls. As a keen researcher, Ayman has published several articles in industry publications, presented his research at international conferences, and mentored numerous Palestinian start-ups. In 2017, he launched INTEGR8, a data-driven, creatively-charged advertising agency.

Head of Finance : Business Process Transformation
Reyami (RTS Group)

Akhi is a flamboyant finance leader with progressive years of experience in Multinational blue chip companies across Middle East & India. His broad expertise in diverse sectors such as Oil & gas, Consumer goods, information technology, steel construction etc. enables him to optimize business efficiency through process transformation and automation initiatives.

Graduated from Harvard Business School (PLD), he is also a professional member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Management Accountants (US).

With various accolades for exemplary performances, Akhi frames and drive the financial strategy by restructuring and executing cost optimization programs. He is also a co-founder of Kites Educational institutions, India.

Strategy, Transformation & Change

Zuleka is a Strategy, Transformation and Change expert with over ten years of experience in developing and executing strategies to support sustainable business growth. Her focus has been on transforming operations in keeping with the changing economic and technological climate; creating efficiencies, managing risk, safeguarding values and supporting growth.

She is currently working for North 25 Project Management, a joint subsidiary of Dubai Holdings and Meraas Holdings. In her role as Project Strategy & Operations Manager at Meraas Holdings, Zuleka’s focus was on driving business transformation within Project Delivery. During this period, she designed and implemented change solutions across development, operations and shared services.

Prior to this, Zuleka has worked in-house and as a consultant for local and international developers and entities including Emaar, Nakheel, Majid Al Futtaim, the Malaysia Government and Capital Markets Authority (KSA). She has advised executives on business and governance strategies and has implemented business excellence and change initiatives across multidisciplinary teams.

Zuleka is a chartered member of the Change Management Institute (UK), is an MBA graduate with distinction from the University of Manchester and holds a BSc (Hons) in Economic and Mathematics.

Business Director
Jacobsons

Bala is a Certified Customer Experience Specialist who leads Marketing, CRM and CX Practices as Business Director at Jacobsons. He is a Customer Strategist with over 20 years’ experience in helping brands to focus on monetising customer intelligence for business growth in the region. Bala is an accredited practitioner of SCHEMA® Customer centricity framework, and a Fellow of IDM, UK committed to the highest levels of professional and personal excellence. He Judges at the Gulf CX Awards and is excited to see the positive trend in adoption of Customer centric practices by brands in the region.

Managing Director
WebMisc.

Ahmad is technology enthusiast thats been consulting and building solutions for over 14 years. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of HeyDoc!, a global and award winning telemedicine platform and the Managing Director of WebMisc. a Digital Marketing Agency based out of Dubai.

Human Resources Director
Deloitte

Badia is an HR Director at Deloitte & Touche ME — one of the world’s largest professional services organizations. Badia is a Human Resource Executive with more than 20 years of experience leading HR for global organizations. She has extensive experience developing people strategies that support business goals and building the HR function into a value-added, true business partner. Prior to joining Deloitte, Badia has been working with several large Multinationals from Financial Service to Manufacturing Organizations, as the HR department head in the Middle East and Africa regions.

Managing Director
NOCC

Serial Entrepreneur and Tech-Geek at heart with more than 16 years of professional experience. Founder and Managing Director of NOCC, a systems integrator and network security solutions company; Co-founder and Partner in WebMisc., a Digital Marketing Agency; Co-Founder of HeyDoc! a global and award winning healthcare revolution as the Middle East's first telemedicine platform that connects patients with Doctors via in-app advisory.

Business Systems & Transformation Manager
Al-Ghurair Properties

Nabeel is a highly accomplished, results-driven senior IT Management professional with more than 15 years of progressive experience in leading interconnected Information Management disciplines to deliver value-based information technology programs for a number of different nature of business industries.

Besides having a strong and proven background in re-engineering business processes and rolling off complex Enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management projects , Nabeel has demonstrated ability to streamline IT operations, drive growth and increase efficiency for several start-ups and global multi billion dollar organizations across the globe.

He is currently working as Business Systems and Transformation Manager for Al-Ghurair Properties and Al-Ghurair Energy, where his main focus is to design and drive key strategic initiatives related to digital transformation and introduce innovative technology solutions that could bring value to the organization.

Prior to this, he has worked with Smith and Nephew - a global healthcare industry related manufacturing organization in the capacity of global IT Project Manager , to lead a complex global ERP project focused on harmonization of business processes among different countries across the globe .

An energetic and outgoing business leader with experience of managing and developing multicultural and cross border teams.

Director, Customer Care Division
Department of Transport - Abu Dhabi

Mr. Mohammed Al Hammadi, Director of Customer Care Division, Integrated Transport Center, Abu Dhabi.

Mohammed is leading a Customer Care team to enhance the customer experience across all customers touch points. Mohammed is responsible for Service Management, Customer Experience, Service Quality Framework, and Social Media Strategy amongt other responsibilities. Mohammed is steering the Integrated Transport Center to be a truly customer centric organization where customer is at heart of everything we do. Mohammed successfully enhanced the overall performance of the organization across all sectors applying international certified Quality Management standards.

Group Managing Director
The Corporate Group

Ayman is the Co-Founder and Group Managing Director of The Corporate Group. He is in charge of subsidiaries responsible for delivering one-stop-shop of professional services related to business setup solutions and enabling both FDIs and foreign companies to do business in UAE and the region.

He has attracted businesses across all sizes and industries such as but not limited to education, healthcare, technology, energy, professional services. Some of these businesses are listed in global stock market while others are start-ups offering disruptive technologies/ideas.

Furthermore, his experience includes advising companies for corporate structuring and merge & acquisition transactions along, developing operational framework that delivers unique customer engagement with clients and stakeholders along with association with both private and government sectors.

Past work experience:

• Worked in Government Resource Planning project (currently known as Dubai Smart Government) for Oracle implementation across local government departments of Dubai Government (2002-2006)
• Co-Founder and COO of Zeroday IT Solution L.L.C., an information and cyber security consulting company based in Dubai (since 2007)
• Corporate Business Services L.L.C., a professional services company specialized in company formation solutions and business consultancy based in Dubai (since 2007)

Personal achievements:

• Awarded for outstanding performance and achievements made in GRP project (currently known as Dubai Smart Government)
• Working closely with Injaz UAE as judge/mentor for entrepreneurship programs. Injaz UAE is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JAW), one of the world's largest non-profit business education organizations
• Participating as judge for various award programs of International Awards UAE
• Active speaker in number of local and global seminars and conferences sharing knowledge and experience around entrepreneurship and legal/operational framework of doing business in UAE
• Active member of Institute of Directors, Hawkama at DIFC

Ayman is fluent in English and Arabic. He earned his BA in Business Administration and Information Systems at University of Colorado (USA) and pursing for his Master of Project Management in British University in Dubai.

CEO
Oman Data Park

I presently hold the position of the Chief Executive Officer at Oman Data Park (ODP), the first Managed & Cloud Service Provider in Oman, as part of the executive management and founding team member to establish ODP.

Prior to joining with ODP, I worked with the Government of Oman for over 20 years on strategic National IT initiatives and projects in the area of Information Security. I hold a Master’s Degree in Computer Software Engineering from the University of York.

I am an organized, detail-oriented and conscientious self-starter with experience in the development, implementation and management of complex projects within time and budgetary constraints, as well in other areas, such as; strategic planning, human resource management, contract negotiation, contract management, sales and marketing.

Able to strategize and prioritize effectively to accomplish multiple tasks under pressure. I also possess an aptitude to be a highly skilled listener and communicator, as well the ability to assess clients’ needs and convey necessary information with clarity and enthusiasm

Partner
GRS

Andrea is Partner of GRS Research and Strategy. He holds a bachelor degree in International Trade and master degree in International Economics, both from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Andrea has shaped his skills and knowledge through several educational and professional experiences in different countries, such as the United States of America, Australia, and Spain. He primarily focuses on Customer Satisfaction, Business Intelligence, Customer Experience, and Project Management.

He lives in the UAE since 2016, where he heads GRS's business for the MEA Region.He is married and happy father of a beautiful little girl

GLOBAL HEAD OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
ADIB

Faran Niaz is Senior Vice President, Global Head of Customer Experience at ADIB. A change Management Expert & highly experienced Customer Service expert with over 25 years of Global experience in Banking/Financial Services including successful establishment and running of Alternate Channels, Call Centers, Customer Service units and Quality setups for Citibank, Mashreqbank and ADIB.

Faran has led ADIB in winning ‘Best Bank in Customer Experience in UAE’ for an unprecedented seven consecutive years. An unparalleled achievement in Banking Industry. Faran is also a talented Award winning Photographer with his work exhibited in Italy, Thailand & UAE.

Chairman
African Agribusiness Knowledge and Innovation Leadership Initiative (AKILI)

Issa Baluch is a 40-year logistics veteran, author, and philanthropist. He serves as Chairman of African Agribusiness Knowledge and Innovation Leadership Initiative (AKILI), a non-profit research and training initiative based in Cambridge, Massachusetts designed to inspire and empower African agribusiness professionals to apply global best practices in agribusiness, conservation, and economic development, into workable, achievable steps toward social, environmental and economic sustainability. Baluch is a Member of the Dean’s Council , Senior Fellow and Associate of Science, Technology, and Globalization at Harvard Kennedy School.

Co-Founder & CEO
Kanari

Subhi is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kanari, a customer experience management technology company based in Dubai. He has a degree in computer science and an MBA from IESE Business School.

HR & Corporate Development Advisor
Tanmyah Consultancies and Training

HR Professional with over 15 years of experience with a proven track in many sectors in UAE. Extensive experience in working in Human Resources and demonstrated strong leadership, ownership and responsibility in achieving objectives. He has Developed, managed and supervised the Emiratisation, also have developed policies and directed and coordinated human resources activities, such as Recruitment, HR Business Partner, Training and Development. He believes in keeping employee engagement and motivating them to always keep the best practices to the organization.

Director
Bush & Noble

John is a well-respected figure within the luxury yacht industry, and Director of the UAE’s leading yacht brokerage, Bush & Noble. With his extensive knowledge of the Middle East market and over 25 years’ experience in Business Development, John is a highly regarded consultant, regularly asked to give advice on 360 marketing strategies, management practice, and revenue generation for some of the key players in the GCC.

Before devoting his fulltime work to Bush & Noble, John worked closely with a portfolio of International Yacht brands, including Edmiston, Burgess, and Sunseeker; orchestrating the sale of world famous Yachts.

Founder & Chairman
Mallorca Properties

As Chairman of Mallorca properties, Mr Fakhreddin Mohammed reflects the executive capabilities, innovation, and pristine success that defines Dubai.

As a thought leader, he is credited for being a pioneer in high volume, niche property deals. For over a decade, he has brought his unique vision to play by engaging stakeholders and converting staggering challenges to mega real estate deals!

Besides guiding his board on strategic matters ensuring profitability, his work always finds ways of trickling down to benefit end users and making a difference in people's lives!!

CEO
Green Touches

Adrienne is the CEO of Green Touches, a professional consulting & service provider of sustainable Facility Management (FM) in the Middle East. With nearly 20 years of experience in the region, Adrienne has worked as a senior consultant for leadership trainings with many governmental bodies, such as DEWA, SEWA, Ministry of Higher Education, ADM and Ministry of Labour, KSA.

Combining a genuine passion for the environment, promoting a sustainable life and working with integrity, her company Green Touches has brought an entirely new concept to the FM industry in the Middle East, stimulating the industry towards achieving sustainability. CSR is high on Green Touches' list and a "must" for every company. Green Touches is a participating member of the United Nations Global Compact UAE network. Adrienne is also an active member of several committees and working groups on sustainability and business. Finally, she is also a recipient of the Sheikh Hamdan Award for Excellence in 2014.

Executive Director 
Green Touches 

Mohamed Elmahdy is an expert lawyer specialized in Environmental Law Affairs with progressive experience in assisting individuals and businesses as well as Local Governments in complying with Environmental Laws.

Supports organizations, companies and developers in different sectors by preparation of agreements, policy developments, and strategic planning that ensures sustainable practices while assisting them in merging sustainable principles and social responsibility of the company in its core work through performance indicators and programs for performance measurement of the company. This includes drafting charter documents for sustainability principles according to Global standards that reflect the organization’s identity and vision while helping costumers seek a competitive advantage through innovative green products that reduce environmental impact.

With work experience that surpasses 13 years, in different industrial sectors in the Middle East, currently Executive Director at Green Touches Strongly contributes by utilizing his abilities for fulfilling the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets, from the core of the 2030 agenda in accordance with the United Nations Agenda.

Focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions, good health and well-being, clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, innovative technology, partnerships for the goals, social impact and raising public awareness, building peace and co-existence for sustainable living.

Group Head of Investments and Corporate Solutions
Emirates National Oil Company

Aakash Nijhawan is Group Head of the Investments & Corporate Solutions Department at Emirates National Oil Company (“ENOC”). He is responsible for ENOC’s M&A, Divestment, Investment and Venture activities including developing general investment strategy and transaction sourcing, execution and integration. He is a member of the American Business Council (Dubai), which is an international affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

Aakash joined ENOC in 2014 after a 16 year career in Investment Banking. In his previous banking roles, he focused on complex cross border Mergers & Acquisitions covering the broader Energy sector with stints in North America and the Middle East. To date, he has executed over $40bn of M&A and financing activity in over 18 countries with transaction types ranging from simple sub $100mm private sell sides to complex multi-billion dollar public tender offers. He has also published three debt management advisory papers.

Aakash graduated with an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York and with a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. At Columbia Business School, Aakash was the Head Teaching Assistant for Corporate Finance.

Business Coach & Founder
World Change Makers

Consuela is a Business Coach & Advisor, Diversity Activist, Speaker, and Founder of World Change Makers.

As part of her World Change Makers movement, she founded the World Change Makers Business Academy, an empowering business start-up program helping movers & shakers turn their passions into viable, profitable businesses.

She has an MBA from Hult International Business School and has worked as a Business Consultant for Fortune 500 companies most of her life.

As a diversity activist, Consuela believes in accepting everyone’s differences and dropping society’s standards for what is “normal”.

www.consueladezso.com

Managing Director
The Partnerships Consulting

Tanvir has established a track record earning trust and delivering value. He is Managing Director of The Partnerships Consulting where he advises on successful Banking, Payments, Property and Real Estate strategies.

He is a Harvard alumni, based in Dubai for over 30 years. One of the most respected professionals in FinTech and PropTech, he is seen as a thoughtful advisor on scaling commercial opportunities. Tanvir's leadership has been recognized with the Banker Middle East, Cards International and Freddie awards.

Director
Emirates Business Management International Consultants

Indu Singhal is an Engineer & a Business Management Post Graduate, and is also a certified 6 Sigma Black Belt. She has been heading Visual Ace Business Solutions & EBM since their inception, for over 20 years. She has over 25 years of experience in various areas of business including Leadership, Human Capital, Business Strategy Formation, Process Re-engineering, Knowledge Management, and Value Chain Enhancement.

She is a self-employed Business Excellence Consultant and has worked closely with the Business Excellence Department under the Department of Economic Develop, Government of Dubai for well over a decade. She has guided various organisations, of all sizes, from several industries, in their process of Continuous Improvement. Indu has facilitated Balanced Scorecard Development & Implementation, Performance Management Systems Setup, PESTLE Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Ishikawa Diagram Studies, Cost-Benefit Analysis, development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), etc. for many organizations in the UAE.

As an Innovator, she has conceptualized and designed, and is managing the EBM Benchmarking Program that facilitates transparent sharing of Business KPIs of various businesses from a cross section of industries across the UAE, exchange of business best practices through facilitation of B2B Benchmarking Visits and Club Sessions.

She has also conceptualized and designed, and is managing the first ever Health Awards across the UAE (2016) - a program that facilitates the recognition of the contribution of Organizations and Individuals in the Healthcare Industry across the UAE. This has also been endorsed by the Government of Dubai, UAE.

Co-Founder & Director
Healthigo

Anirudh Gupta has over 20 years’ hands-on experience in strategic partnerships, product development, and business & financial management.

Having worked extensively with multi-nationals, cross-cultural teams, partners and clients across APAC, MENA and North America, Anirudh has initiated several innovative concepts and followed through to grow them into sustainable and profitable businesses. He has been honored with citations and awards at companies he has been associated with.

As an entrepreneur, his passion lies in blending technologies to solve real world problems. Focusing on Customer Engagement and Customer Experience, his technology platforms spread across the retail and healthcare domains.

Director- Middle East
The University of Manchester Middle East Centre

Randa Bessiso has spent much of her career working on building profitable regional businesses. She has more than 24 years’ experience in business education and is the founding director of The University of Manchester Middle East Centre. Randa has been recognised among the 100 Most Powerful Arab Businesswomen by Forbes ME, for the last 4 years (2014-2017). Randa was instrumental in establishing the regional centre of the University. Randa is also Chair of the UAE-UK Business Council’s Higher Education Group.

CEO
Falcon Eye Drones

Rabih Bou Rashid is the CEO of Falcon Eye Drones, the largest commercial drone company in the Middle East and the first company of its kind in the region to provide drone services to big industries like the construction and utility Companies, Real Estate and Infrastructure. Rabih Bou Rashid is an active public speaker and has been featured in many media outlets including live news, print, and blogs sharing his opinion on drone technology and development. Drones play a large role in every aspect of the real estate industry, from its conception to development and Marketing to facility management.

Head of Service Excellence
RAKBANK

Having over 17 years of experience across various functions within the Banking and Technology industry, having a background in strategy, sales, product development, process enhancements and service excellence - my skills include utilizing data from diverse channels, both internally and externally, to build and assist in improvement of organizational decision making capabilities, resulting in improved customer experience and an relevant impact in increased profitability or enhanced performance.

Associate Professor
Rochester Institute of Technology

Dr Slim Saidi is prominent figure in the world of Quality, Innovation, Strategy and Awards; He carries an extensive experience in Industry and Consulting having occupied multiple senior positions in organizations such as CN Rail ZAIN, Tunisia Telecom and was Partner of major consultancies (Arthur D. Little and KPMG)

Dr Saidi was involved with over 20 awards as assessor, Judge, Coach and mentor. He is Associate Professor with RIT in Dubai and was previously MQM Director at the UOWD; he also launched and directed the Master of Quality and B/E in ADSM.

Founder and Partner
Quantz Consulting

Dr Rita Younes holds a Doctorate degree in Business Administration from the Paris School of Business. She is Co-founder and partner of Quantz Consulting, a marketing research and consulting company. Prior to Quantz, she was a senior marketing research analyst at Leger & Leger International and has more than 20 years of experience in the field of education, FMCG and service industries covering marketing strategy, brand and marketing management, market research and business development. She enjoys a proven track of record in growing bottom-line figures; combining innovative strategy with hands-on management of operations.

On the academic side, she has gained valuable experience as chair of the school of Business in the Canadian University of Dubai and later as Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning in similar industries. She has an extensive experience in the educational sector and has championed many programs’ accreditation providing leadership, vision and direction for activities related to institutional planning, research, institutional effectiveness and quality control.

Dr. Rita Younes is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) and an EFQM assessor.

Director HR- Eastern Gulf & Director L & D-GCC
LafargeHolcim

Naila Al Moosawi represents the new breed of female Emirati Board-ready women.A credible Exco member and commercially focused decision maker championing differentiation through commercial transformation.

She naturally drives performance to transform organizations and develop strong high-potential teams across the region.Recognized speaker and panel judge member across MEA.As the Director of Human Resources - GCC she is responsible for organization and human capital development, offering over 15 years of progressive experience.

Naila is the Diversity and Inclusion Champion leading D & I ambitious plans in GCC. She holds MSc in Psychology from Middle Sex University UK and CIPD Associate; and a Directorship Program Graduate from Hawkamah- Institute of Directors

General Manager
HTJM Real Estate Consultancy

Leith Hoffensetz is an expert real estate lawyer with over 25 years experience in real estate development and operations. Leith has worked for multi-national corporations in Australia and UAE and has significant knowledge on all areas of real estate development from initial planning, feasibility and design, through to handover, operations and long term sustainability. Leith is best known for her practical and common sense approach solving all your real estate issues. As General Manager of HTJM Real Estate Consultancy, and as partner with Sheikh Hasher Bin Thani Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Leith is at the forefront of the real estate industry in the UAE.

Head of Smart City & Smart Government Practice & General Manager
NXN (Formerly neXgen Group)

Yousef is the Head of Smart City & Smart Government Practice & the UAE General Manager at NXN, the region’s leading Smart City and Digital Transformation consulting and digital services firm.

In his role as the Head of Smart City & Smart Government Practice, Yousef oversees some of the world’s most ambitious Smart City, Smart District and Smart Government transformation engagements in the world, and manages executive client relationships.

Yousef has twenty-five years of experience and assumed senior leadership roles at leading multinational and local companies operating in the EMEA region.

He spent 9 years at Cisco Systems Inc. and his last role was the Director of Operations covering the EMEA region with a mandate of transforming the sales business model from a customer-led model to a $3 billion partner-led one, and introducing a higher level of innovation within the eco-system of channel partners

Prior to joining Cisco, Yousef served as the head of marketing for Microsoft Inc. and was responsible for Microsoft’s overall brand positioning, CSR, and corporate communications & affairs in the Middle East region.

Yousef worked within the public sector as well, and was part of the founding team behind Dubai e-Government with a mission to help achieve H.H. Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid’s vision of having 70% of all Dubai government’s transactions done online within 3 years back in 2001.

Yousef holds a Global Executive MBA from INSEAD (GEMBA 14) and a BA, Business Administration from University of Jordan.

Senior Director
Orange Business Services Middle East

Pablo Olivera Brizzio is a Senior Director, Technology Generalist  and Disruptive Innovator with  25 years of international experience in highly complex emerging technology environments. He holds degrees in Engineering Management and Electronics Engineering Technology from UK and US, besides several certifications in RFID. He has lead engineering and innovation departments, multidisciplinary teams and pioneer innovation initiatives in top technology organization such as IBM, GE, Sabre Holdings and Etihad Airways

In the Air Transport Industry (ATI) , Pablo has made significant contributions in diverse key areas ranging from the identification of more accurate fog prediction models to mitigate flight delay costs all the way to Cargo pallet building optimization techniques and smart electric vehicles, gaining the recognition of IATA (International Air Transport Association) in 2017 for one of his innovations (Smart Electric Cool Dolly) which was co-patented, co-developed, and built by Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. In addition, he is the author of several US and international patents, including the world’s first electric auto lacing shoes.

At present, Pablo is a Business Development Director at Orange Business Services, working in novel IoT use cases for Airlines and Airports along Orange Applications for Business and its partner SITA, pushing the boundaries of technology to deliver a flawless and pleasurable user journey.

Finally, as per his own personal quote, which reveals more aspects about his attitude and personality:
“If it hasn’t been done before or they say it’s impossible…then, I’m interested”.

Senior Consultant
KCA Consultants

Manjula is a Senior HR & QMS Consultant with over 25 years of extensive experience in HR and Quality Management Systems(QMS) and proven track record across multiple industries including Consumer Electronics & Home Appliances, Construction Power Tools and Garment Manufacturing. She is a freelance consultant specializing in HR Systems, Corporate Policies & Procedures, Training, and QMS evaluations and improvements. Manjula is an experienced Senior Assessor for Dubai Human Development Award, Dubai Quality Award, Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award and UAE Innovation Award.

Management Consultant
Masterkey Computers LLC

Iqbal has hands-on business operating experience and the ability to improve business performance, reduce costs, validate, assess and solve business problems. He has helped organizations move to new levels by crafting new strategies, solving persistent problems, discovering efficiencies, facilitating partnership relationships that transform the organization and result in greater impact.

Provides a turn-key solution which includes Corporate structure, Strategic and Tactical plan, Policies and Procedures; Training and Implementation; Accounting and Marketing procedures; Customer Service, Space Optimization, Risk Management, Employee Training, Government compliance etc.

Iqbal has turned around wrist-watch manufacturing/distribution company and a few real estate companies in Dubai.

Business Development Director
Synapse Medical Services

Thom is an experienced International Business Development Director. Thom heads the Middle Eastern operation for Synapse Medical Services with focus on new routes to market for the disruptive & innovative healthcare solutions that the company offer. He leads the Business Development team in Sydney, Dubai and Chennai.

Thom has a wealth of knowledge within Business Development, having built a corporate proposition in the UK from scratch for a leading healthcare agency. Thom brings with him a variety of experience from both a sales and operational standpoint, in the legal and healthcare sectors.

Founder, Chairman and CEO
The Neutral Group Including Neutral Fuels

After 15 years of success in the IT industry, including being recognised as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, Karl turned his attention to the cleantech industry in 2006. He started The Neutral Group to reduce energy and carbon for multinational companies and governments. In 2010 The Neutral Group began work on a sustainability strategy for the McDonald’s supply chain. Karl moved with his family to the UAE where he founded the highly successful Neutral Fuels to formalise The Neutral Group’s biofuel business.

In 2011 Neutral Fuels pioneered commercial biofuel production in the Middle East when it commissioned the UAE’s first licensed biorefinery in Dubai. Then, it was the Middle East’s first commercial producer and seller of biodiesel converted from used cooking oil; now it is the GCC’s largest and most successful. In 2017, after two years of research, Neutral Fuels became the first company to successfully use waste dairy products as a feedstock for creating commercial biofuel. Research and development in other feedstocks is ongoing.

Karl has pioneered and led best practice in the sector, helping Dubai towards its ‘Zero Waste 2030’ goals and turning it into a regional Biofuels Knowledge Centre. As the regional expert on biofuels and their adoption in the Middle East, he and the company have won many awards in recognition of pioneering energy and carbon savings in the region. Neutral Fuels customers include Dubai Municipality and the McDonald's logistics fleet, which has travelled 10 million kilometres on biodiesel to date.

A multi-talented polymath, Karl has an enviable ability to make highly technical concepts easy to understand and to translate them into products for the business and consumer markets. He is equally at home in the boardroom, in hi-tech and marketing circles, in front of broadcasters such as CNN and the BBC, and amongst a loyal staff. Karl holds an MBA from Henley Management College, a B.Eng. (Hons) Industrial Engineering from the University of Hertfordshire, and is the first Adjunct Lecturer at the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi

Full Professor, Programme Area Director for Public Governance & Sustainable Development

Prof. Jürgen Simon, with for 40 years of academic experience, is a Guest scholar at the Law University Hanoi in Vietnam, Head of the Institute of Law at the University of Lüneburg, Chair of the European Technology Platform for Nanomedicine and former Head of the innovation and cooperation department at Siemens Healthcare. He has also held positions at CERN and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. His research focuses on themes relating to Law and Biotechnology, Environmental Law, Economics and New Information Technologies. He is the author of many books and articles in these areas.

Professional Activities

• Tenured Full Professor of Civil Law, Economic Law and Environmental Law at Leuphana University in Lower-Saxony, Economic Faculty 
• Member of CELLS/Medical University Hannover and worked at the University of London. Director of the Institute of Law at the University of Lüneburg since 1989
• Head of the Research Centre of Biotechnology and Law
• Head of the European Academy of Environment and Economy in Lünebur
• Head of the “Further Education in Environment, Management and Law” at the University of Lüneburg
• Co-organisator of the further education course (M.A.) “Bio-conflict Management (with Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Knoepffler, Head of the Ethics Institute Jena)
• Director of the Academy Finance, Insurance & Law in Hamburg
• Director of the Bioethics Law e.V.
• Assistant Professor at the Universities of Freiburg (Roman and Civil Law) and Munich (Economic History, 1973-1979)
• Assistant Professor at the University of Hannover (1980-1988)
• Founder and Director of the Institute of Law and the Faculty of Environmental Science at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg
• Research Fellowship at the New University of Lisbon/Portugal (2009-2010) and the University of London/United Kingdom (2011-2013)
• Member of the Institute of the Medical University Hannover “Center of Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences” since 2009
• Member of the “Global Applied Ethics Network”, an international network of professional experts in applied ethics from a variety of disciplines (as Prof. Julian Savalescu/Oxford, Xiao Wen/Zhejiang, Takeshi Nakazawa/Tokyo, Tom Beauchamp/Georgetown and Stephan Sonnenberg/Harvard) since 2009

Associate Professor, Department of Applied Statistics & Economics

Dr. Declan McCrohan, an Australian national, has over a decade of experience working in the field of Academia throughout Asia and the Middle East.  His academic experience and unparalleled leadership skills have enabled him to develop and deliver a number of unique undergraduate and postgraduate courses at a number of universities including Alfaisal University in the KSA, Zayed University  and Heriot Watt University in the UAE and Victoria University in Australia. Dr. McCrohan’s research interests cover a wide range of areas including financial modelling of Middle Eastern stock markets, entrepreneurship drivers in the Middle East and the development of international education offshore programmes, with particular focus on Australian Tertiary Institutions’ expansion into Asia and the MENA Region. Dr. McCrohan was also the team leader of the 2009 UAE GEM Study into Entrepreneurship in the UAE.

Professional Background

• Austock Group, Melbourne, Australia
• Australian Trade Commission, Sydney, Australia

Head of Programmes
Dubai Carbon

Mr. Bosse, Head of Programmes at Dubai Carbon, manages the company’s business in the fields of energy, sustainability, green economy, and climate change. He has more than 10 years of international working experience as project/program manager and team leader in various areas of energy, environment, sustainability, green economy, and climate change. His primary focus areas are renewable/conventional energies, biomass and waste to energy, energy efficiency, and the demand side of energy.

Senior Technical Manager
Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence

Dr. Pablo Izquierdo has an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) on Environmental Technologies from the University of Surrey in UK. He also holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree on Applied Energy from Cranfield University in the UK. Pablo also has an Industrial Engineering degree from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain.

Currently Dr. Pablo is the Senior Technical Manager in Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE) where he provides technical support, management and expertise on sustainability. His particulars areas of expertise are energy and waste management in buildings, Green House Gases (GHG) accounting, energy auditing and management and LEED certifications.

Director- GCC Region
MCS Solutions

Sam Thomas Sam is a leader in the fields of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Technology and Higher Education Sam Thomas is the Director of GCC operations for MCS solutions- a Global leader in CAFM and Integrated Workplace solutions software. Sam is an Adjunct Faculty at the Burns School for real estate and construction management at the University of Denver Sam has been a successful Real Estate Entrepreneur. He is an approved trainer for FIABCI International. Sam currently has Real Estate development projects in India and in the United States Sam has served in Senior Executive positions in IT, Aviation and Retail sectors and has been a founder of several successful startup companies and currently serves in a senior role with The Corporate Group (TCG) of Companies in Dubai. Sam is an Adjunct Professor at the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship, at the University of Colorado Denver Campus, where he teaches Social innovation & Entrepreneurship and he is an Adjunct faculty at the Daniels college of Business at University of Denver teaches Global perspectives in Real Estate. Sam is an internationally recognized trainer on Leadership, Ethics & Innovation

Digital Marketing Director
Rassyat Digital Marketing Consultancy

Nour El Deen Reda, PhD is the Digital Marketing Director of Rassyat Digital Marketing Consultancy A highly experienced Multi-Channel Marketing and Digital Communications consultant who has demonstrated the ability to lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in a variety of highly competitive industries, cutting-edge markets, and fast-paced environments.

Strong technical and business qualifications with an impressive track record of more than 10 years of hands-on experience in digital communication solutions, team leading, project management, effective marketing planning based on ROI model and online solutions.

Managing Director
Adebs management consultants

Probir Mukherjee is a Senior Management Professional with over 32 years of Experience in the Consumer electronics and IT industry . Previous executive positions held are Senior General Manager -Philips , Executive Vice President Jumbo and Managing Director Al futtaim Electronics and currently is the Managing Director of Adebs Management consultants which specializes in Business Transformation Advisory with a client base in GGC , Egypt and India . Probir is a science graduate with a Masters in Business Administration.

CEO
Leap Technologies FZC

Moiz Rajkotwala is the CEO and Co Founder of Leap Technologies.

Creating brands is his passion. Using an eclectic mix of strong business acumen, persuasive marketing strategies and extensive experience in production as well as sourcing, he has crafted and launched successful brands and products such as Thrumm and Pearl’s Play & Learn in the region and internationally.

Thrumm is an USA based brand that creates unique technology accessory licenced products, often partnering with companies like Disney, Warner Bros. to create unique merchandise for retail & promotions. It has footprints across key retail in Middle East, India, Turkey, and is rapidly growing internationally.

His latest venture is Pearl’s Play & Learn, a unique and innovative system based on Classic Games to make language learning fun & effortless for the entire family. Launched in Nuremberg Toy Fair, Germany this year, Pearl’s is fast penetrating markets as diverse as China, Japan, USA and Russia with varied language solutions. In GCC it has been launched in Key Retail with French and Arabic learning solutions.

A technophile, human rights advocate, a feminist and an ardent networker, he believes in ‘a world without boundaries’ and ‘equal opportunities for all’. Using technological solutions to wow, excite, educate and entertain is his way of giving back to the world.

UAS Co-Owner/Founder and Executive President
UAS International Trip Support

Mohammed Husary is a results-driven leader, entrepreneur, and corporate strategist with over 20 years’ experience in aviation. He is Co-Owner/Founder and Executive President of UAS International Trip Support, a leading global trip support solutions provider. His dynamic leadership has helped the organization create innovative new products and services and has been a pivotal factor in its strong global expansion.

Mr. Husary sponsors a wide range of philanthropic social initiatives. He’s also a member of several official international associations and organizations. In 2018, he was selected as a member and lecturer in the Arab Professionals Forum of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation.

Co-founder
healthigo

Over 10 years of experience, in the Services, Manufacturing and Consulting industries, holding key positions in business planning, advisory, strategic account management, financial planning & management.

Passionate about entrepreneurship, while understanding that innovation, perseverance, revenue focused business modeling, partnerships, & technology application in solving real world problems are key values of any entrepreneurial endeavors.

General Manager
Ajhinkkya Fze

Mandarr is an EFQM Certified Assessor with over Three decades of experience in Sales & Marketing, Relationship Management and Business Excellence. Mandarr began his career in India in 1996 as a Territory Manager for CMS Computers Limited, a reputed IT System Integrator. He has been in UAE for the past 13 years and has worked with Market leaders like Venture Infotek and BPC Banking Technologies in the BFSI sector and for the past 8 years has been providing Marketing & Business Excellence Consulting Services through Ajhinkkya FZE. Currently he heads Ajhinkkya FZE, UAE as General Manager and is also a Executive Committee Member of the Continual Improvement Sub- Group of Dubai Quality Group.

Mandarr has assessed various organizations & individuals through his association with Various Award offices in the region. Mandarr is a experienced Team Leader and a Senior Assessor for various awards such as DQA & DHDA from Dubai Economic Department, shjSEEN from Sharjah Chamber of Commerce, Taqdeer Award, UAE Innovation Award, Emiratisation Award from Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award from Abudhabi Chamber of Commerce, Annual Health Awards from GMC , Dubai Health Care City and SEHA - Abudhabi.

Head of Marketing
Noor Takaful

A dynamic marketing professional with over 18 years of experience in the Financial and Advertising Sectors of GCC. He is currently Head of Marketing at Noor Takaful, UAE.Previously, he has worked as Head of Marketing (Zurich Insurance, UAE), Sr. Marketing Manager (Zurich Insurance, UAE), Marketing Manager (Al Rajhi Bank, KSA) and Marketing & PR Manager (Mainline, KSA).

He holds an Honors degree in Business Information Systems and E-Commerce from London Guildhall University.

Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Squareyards

Kanika Gupta Shori is the Founder & COO of Square Yards. Square Yards is a tech-enabled O2O transaction and aggregator platform for Global real estate. In less than 4 years since inception, Square Yards has already become India's largest real estate aggregator, with 2000 employees and presence across 10+ countries and 30+ cities.

A Wharton graduate, Kanika has garnered significant media attention and has won several accolades including “Young Achiever,” “Woman Icon” etc.

CFO/COO
ServeU LLC

Sohail is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (ICAEW,UK) and Associate Member Corporate Treasurer (ACT,UK) with 25 years’ post qualification experience spent mostly in strategic and decision making roles across various Industries such as Telco, Real Estate, Facilities Management, Manufacturing and Professional Consultancy and Audit Practices.

Currently working as CFO/COO for ServeU Facilities Management, a 5000 + leading Service Provider in the Industry. In addition to this role, Mr Ausaf is also the CFO for FitOut LLC a leading Joinery and Fitout Operations.

Manager - Quality
Dubai Multi Commodities Centre

Vipin is a seasoned Operational Excellence and Change Management Leader.

With his versatile experience in Customer Service Operations, Program Management and Operational Excellence, he has shaped and executed several successful strategic initiatives across locations in Middle East, South East Asia, South America and UK delivering sustainable hard benefits exceeding US$ 30 Million.

As a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, he has 1000+ hours experience in mentoring process improvement projects and facilitating green belt and black belt trainings.

He currently manages the Quality Function for DMCC Free Zone.

Marketing and Business Development Director
AVID Intellectual Property

Rasha has over 20 years of experience in marketing and business development across multiple industries such as Engineering, IT, and publishing within the Middle East and North America. several industries and geographies. Experienced marketing consultant with a history of successful development of strategic marketing plans, tactical campaigns to reach objectives (B2B and B2C), market research, marketing and competitive analysis and contract negotiations. Rasha has a Bachelor’s of Arts in Anthropology from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.

Director of Training
www.FocusSocialAcademy.com

Anas Almarie is an Executive and Founding Member of Arab Social & Digital Media Council, Co-Host of the weekly show #HRMEChat in affiliation with (SHRM) Society for Human Resources Management – MEA, Award Winning Entrepreneur by Dubai Internet City 2015, Founder of MENA Social Media Awards, TV guest speaker, Keynote speaker and a featured speaker at various conferences and trade shows across Middle East and Africa, Former Lecturer at University of Sharjah – Engineering School, active member at Social Media Club, Chair Judge at International Business Excellence Awards, Gulf Customers Experience Awards, he’s currently the Director of Training & Consultancy at Focus Social Academy in Dubai Media City. www.AnasAlmarie.com

CEO & Co-Founder
Hitz General Trading

Amer has over 20 years of diverse work experience across multi-national and regional companies. Amer has held leading positions at Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bayt.com, Altibbi.com and others in the MENA Markets. One of Amer’s many passions is mentoring and advising start-ups and entrepreneurs in the region. He sits on the advisory board of multiple new ventures and dedicates much of his spare time and energy in assisting these local and regional start-ups to grow.

Managing Director
Corporate Business Services

Ayman Al Awadhi is an Emirati entrepreneur with a vision to bring best of products and services to UAE and the region by extending his experience and know-how to attract international firms of all sizes to enable them doing business in UAE and the region.

He has been appointed as Managing Director and Co-founder of Corporate Business Services (CBS) as a leading Emirati professional service provider for end-to-end business setup and company formation solutions in the UAE and recently has introduced corporate restructuring with a group company named The Corporate Group (TCG) owning fully 3 subsidiaries delivering focused-services named: CBS (founding subsidiary), Corporate Business Hub (CBH) and Corporate Business Enterprises (CBE). The group and subsidiaries have been ranked within top Dubai SME 100, awarded for Superbrands of UAE 2015 and have been recognized as strategic partner for Dubai FDI, a government agency of Department of Economic Development of Dubai (DED Dubai).

Director Corporate Services
Biznet Consulting

Kashif is a dynamic, results-driven leader with years of progressive experience leveraging management consulting skills with legal acumen to drive business growth, protect assets and, assure legal compliance. He is currently working as Director Corporate Services with Biznet Consulting advising Entrepreneurs, Corporates and Business Owners on Company Formation and Business Setups in UAE.

His is also an active Council Member of GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group) and successfully incorporated many local and MNC’s in UAE. His expertise and knowledge includes; structuring of legal entities and help foreign companies to setup branches and investment companies in UAE.

Managing Director
Al Ruwad Real Estate

Ismail Al Hammadi is an expert real estate professional. He is founder and Managing Director of Al Ruwad Real Estate and Biznet Consulting. Before starting his journey as an entrepreneur, he served as Executive director (Business Development) in TECOM, Sales Director in TECOM investments, Manager Government Relations in Dubai Industrial City and Senior Coordinator in Department of Economic Development Dubai.

His versatile experience enables him to provide appropriate consultancy to real estate investors and streamlined solutions for startups. The entrepreneur and resourcefulness in Mr. Hammadi helps organization to create profitable changes through unconventional and futuristic thinking using nimble and advance technology cutting down unwanted time constraints and road blocks. His venture and synergy till date have complimented hundreds of campaigns, non-profits, legal boards and brands.

CEO
GSD®

CEO Graham Shapiro is a designer with over 20 years experience. He has won national and international design awards, including 3 IBX Awards. He invented the interloopmailer® and Reggie®. Graham founded his digital agency GSD® over 20 years ago and more recently Reggie Enterprises Ltd. He is a member of The Chartered Society of Designers, The Chartered Institute of Marketing and an Ambassador of Innovation for The University of Cambridge.

Manager, Business Planning & Performance Management Department
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)

Saeed K. Al Zaabi serves as a Business Planning and Performance Management Department Manager at ADNOC Gas Management Directorate. His main role is to lead the formulation of the Gas sector business plans, performance management and reporting. With 16 years of experience, He served many roles within the oil and gas industry in the fields of Operations, Strategy, Human Resources and Sustainability. Saeed is also a certified Sustainability and EFQM practitioner. He has excellence assessment experience such as DQA. Saeed Holds an MBA from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland and also a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Refining from Colorado School of Mines in the USA.

Founding Partner/Design Director
EDGE

Ivar is the driving force behind the phenomenal growth and success of EDGE, architectural firm in Dubai. Prior to forming EDGE, for over 20 years he has been a Partner and Design Leader at top international architectural firms. His knowledge of process optimization and ability to leverage current design technology allows clients to enjoy high-quality services tailored to their specific needs. During his career, Ivar, had worked on some of the most prestigious projects e.g. Yankees Stadium in New York City or Cleveland Browns Stadium in Ohio and delivered over 50 mega projects with estimated total value of 3 Billion Dollars. Ivar is a Keynote speaker at many GCC and International Conferences and Former Visiting Critic at American University of Sharjah.
www.edgedesign.ae

Associate Professor of Management
Abu Dhabi School of Management

Dr. Slim Saïdi is a international management, coaching and strategy expert., He has held senior executive positions in Major organizations and Consulting firms in UAE, KSA, Tunisia, Mali, Cameroon such as ZAIN , Tunisie Telecom and KPMG, Arthur D. Little and (Arthur) Andersen . Throughout his career, has been involved in designing and managing strategic projects and has even developed for a major consultancy an organizational diagnostic and improvement methodology.

Dr Slim recently completed an assignment with a UAE government Agency which involved both design and deployment of an excellence strategy and coaching both civil servants (manager and director levels) and teams through a prestigious international award. He has amongst other lead the marketing team of ZAIN for an exceptional launch in Saudi Arabia achieving a landmark 2 million subscribers in the first 4 months of its operation. He carries an extensive experience in Africa and the Middle East. He has had multiple assignments in Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Yemen and other African and Middle Eastern countries.

Vice President (Risk), Middle East & Africa
Deutsche Bank AG

Ramesh is a seasoned risk professional in the banking industry with a vast experience covering Middle East, Africa, Europe & India. During his career, he has been part of many landmark transactions in the MEA region, and has developed models on stress testing and sector-wise rating. He is known in the industry for his commanding risk assessments and for having led teams on specialised projects. Ramesh is a MBA, a CFA charterholder and an Associate Company Secretary by qualification, and has presented on varied topics across geographies in MEA & Europe. He also teaches management subjects for MBA and EdExcel courses.

Organisational Excellence Expert
Sheikh Saqr Program for Government Excellence

Carrying 18 years of experience in banking, higher education, and consultancy and training, Yasser is currently providing consultancy services to RAK government in achieving excellence in light of 4th generation excellence model. Yasser is a certified EFQM assessor, IiP Advisor, and MTA certified trainer. He holds an MBA from Bradford University and currently pursuing his DBA in Innovation management. Yasser is an editor-in-chief at an Arabic magazine and is a contributing author in different magazines both Arabic and English. Besides his full time job, Yasser is conducting numerous training and consultancy activities with public and private sectors within GCC and always provides insightful reports to radically improve organisations’ and individual’s performance.

VP IT & Operations
Wirecard

Philippe is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience acquired in the banking and financial services industry on a global scale. He has been responsible for creating organizational efficiencies, improving the cost base and profits of businesses and executing long-term strategies to support the overall organizational agenda in the current business environment. He currently works as VP IT & Operations for Wirecard in Dubai. Philippe has lead a previous organization to win DQA and SKEA the same year. Philippe is a Senior Assessor for the Dubai Quality award, has been leading quality departments for over 15 years and possesses an MBA and a Master Black Belt.

Excellence Adviser
Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority

Mr. Murtada Al Zaylaie the excellence adviser at Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, started his career life as a researcher statistician and economist, and has gained extensive experience in the preparation of feasibility studies, economic studies and surveys, assessing opinion and customer satisfaction, and SME’s studies, pursuing his work in a number of prestigious Government Organizations in strategic, tactical & operational planning and design and implementation of quality management systems, SOP systems managing & planning. He had been working also as head of the Division of Economic Studies and Director of Organization Excellence Office of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). He is also associated with a number of private sectors in the field of economic consulting, quality and organizational development. He is a certified Senior Auditor for Quality Management System (ISO 9001), a Judge in internal and external local Awards, also he has been participating & managing to develop Sharjah Economic Excellence Award and number of specialized Committees in Sharjah and UAE. He co-launches a number of excellence initiatives such as the excellence ambassadors in SCCI. He has been a speaker many of the seminars and conferences. He is the winner of Sharjah Government Distinguished Employee Award in 2008.

Digital Marketing Director
ESD FZC

Christian Farioli is a digital marketing pioneer who has formerly worked with ORACLE in Italy, Spain and Ireland and as Sales and Marketing Director with AL HABTOOR, Dubai. He now owns several businesses and specialises in digital marketing consulting, business development and training. Christian’s areas of expertise include: digital marketing strategy, SEM/PPC, digital display advertising, mobile marketing, search engine optimization and web analytics. Christian is an Italian national who has worked on numerous online projects with major banks, event companies and digital marketing agencies. His passion for digital marketing goes back to 2003 when he pioneered the introduction of PPC in Oracle. Christian is a serial entrepreneur and wears numerous hats including: Digital Marketing Director/Trainer, Entrepreneur and Book Author. His experience comes from six years in Consulting, ten years in Sales & Marketing, six years in Management, five years in Training. He has been working for and awarded by MICROSOFT, ORACLE, AL HABTOOR, major banks, event companies and digital marketing agencies. He has been launching events, concerts, companies, services and products, and has so far trained more than 3000 marketing managers in the GCC region.

Director – Brand & Marketing Communications
LACASA

A digital native, Ayman’s experience spans social media, digital development, and integrated strategic planning. He has worked across the UK, Jordan, Palestine, UAE, and the United States bringing creative digital strategy to life with clients such as Sony, Philips, and Caterpillar. Ayman believes in the importance of creative planning and integration within campaigns, a topic he has highlighted in his published work & his conference participation.

Quality & EHS Manager
Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development

Ahmad is a Certified QMS Lead Auditor, EHS Auditor, QM-Customer Satisfaction Auditor, EFQM Sr. Assessor, and Service Quality Champion. With almost fifteen years of experience specialized in Quality Management (QM), Excellence Awards (EA), Environment, Health & Safety Management (EHS), Customer Centric initiatives, Customer Journey Mapping, Contact Centers and Service Quality. His role requires special development of Service Quality strategy in alignment to the organizational vision, customers’ expectations, and organizational perceptions.

Ahmad is experienced in Business Development, Business Process Management & Improvement, Mystery Shopping, Project Management, Market Research, Surveys, Documentation Management, Training, Organizational Structuring, Corporate Governance, Service Quality and Contact Center Development.

Head of Branch
Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development

• Ahmad is UAE National who is holding a law bachelor degree from UAE University and he is currently working in Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (Abu Dhabi Government) as Head of Branch
• Versatile, enterprising, dynamic professional with more than 14 years of rich experience with leading organizations in the UAE in the field of Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Development.
• Skilled in developing, implementing, reviewing and updating processes, systems, policies, procedures, controls and plans for smooth and flawless operations.
• Capable of developing and executing strategies, budgets and action plans to deliver all predefined organizational objectives.
• Experienced in providing all technical, managerial, commercial, financial and procedural consultancy support to SME entrepreneurs in starting-up and growing businesses providing varied goods & services.
• Deft in building & sustaining productive relations with all stakeholders and leading, mentoring & motivating professional teams eliciting superior performances.
• Proactive, achievement driven professional with strong work ethic, integrity and excellent communication, coordination, problem solving, decision-making, planning and execution skills.

Chief Commercial Officer
Sky Telecom Group

Utpal Nath is a senior executive with proven leadership in creating, managing and growing innovative hi-tech businesses from zero to $500M+ in revenues in the region. Utpal possess a strong track record of accomplishment in leading turnaround and growth strategies, Entrepreneurship, strategist, visionary, mentor, advisor for many business in the MENA region. His technology and digital business experience covers industry verticals such as Telecom, Managed ICT Services, BPO, SaaS & Cloud, Digital Payments, e-Commerce, Banking, Internet, Energy and aviation.

As a senior executive with 20+ years of high-tech, customer-facing expertise with a proven track record of driving rapid growth and strategically business engagements. Deep experience running enterprise mission critical functions across large businesses including sales, business development, customer experience, advertising, marketing, and product development. Throughout his career, Utpal has been focused on developing and designing comprehensive solutions that transform customer business operations and dramatically expand their capabilities. Executive responsibilities include all functions related to running business units, including P&L, sales strategy, managed services functions, go-to-market strategies, organizational design, solution formulation, and oversight of a large and talented professional sales team.

Because of his years of experience steering institutions towards growth, innovation and success, Utpal is often invited to provide his expertise in multiple forums on Entrepreneurship, start-ups, digital transformation and the region’s changing digital landscape and currencies. A prominent speaker, when he’s not traveling or creating imaginary worlds with his daughters, Utpal’s idea of time-off is playing coach, angel investor and mentor to local startups in the UAE. Utpal relies on high motivation, detail-orientation and an upbeat, positive mindset & persistent belief in self-worth and revenue delivery capabilities.

Business Process improvement Manager
Juma Al Majid Group

Dr.Souraj Salah is currently a full time Improvement Manager at Juma Al Majid, in the contracting, services and manufacturing sectors. He earned his PhD from the University of New Brunswick in Canada. He has published more than 14 papers in various international journals and has over 17 years of experience as a professional industrial engineer. He is also certified as a Lean Leader, Six Sigma Master Black Belt in Canada, and as ISO9001, OHSAS18001 & ISO 14001 Lead Auditor.

CEO
Tanmyah Consultancies and Training

HR Professional with over 15 years of experience with a proven track in many sectors in UAE. Extensive experience in working in Human Resources and demonstrated strong leadership, ownership and responsibility in achieving objectives. He has Developed, managed and supervised the Emiratisation, also have developed policies and directed and coordinated human resources activities, such as Recruitment, HR Business Partner, Training and Development. He believes in keeping employee engagement and motivating them to always keep the best practices to the organization.

Business Director
Jacobsons Direct Marketing Services LLC

Bala leads CRM and Customer Experience engagements for his clients in Automotive, Healthcare and Technology space. He is a Customer Strategist with over 15 years’ experience in helping brands to focus on customer-centric business management practices in the Middle East. Bala is an accredited practitioner of SCHEMA® Customer centricity framework, a Fellow of IDM, UK and a Certified Customer Experience manager committed to the highest levels of professional and personal excellence. He is excited to be at the intersection of big data and customer loyalty science.

Partner, Executive Director
Jacobsons Direct Marketing Services LLC

Akram’s 37 years career has matured and multifaceted his Stakeholder Management practice for Revenue Growth, in areas of Database & BI Decision Systems for CRM / CXM, Product & Audience Market Research and Go-to-Market Strategy, Enterprise Creation & Management, Omnichannel Brand Communications & Activation Management, Commercial Real Estate Management, Excellence Awards and Executive Education. From a work-base in Dubai Akram’s businesses’ footprint covers MENA and Europe markets.

Stakeholder Management Leader – 25 years of Stakeholder Management for CRM / CXM Business Intelligence Consulting /Building, Operations Management & Monetization into Revenue Growth and Performance Excellence. Akram has served clients in multiple sectors including Government Agencies, Global Consumer and Industrial Product corporations, Communications Agencies, Automotive Groups, Industrial & Contracting Groups, Real Estate, Hospitality & Travel, Events & Shows, Agro-Engineering & Food Chain Management.

• Research Consultant – MENA Markets 12 years Market Research Service Development & Project Management Business Entrepreneur and Developer
• Europe educated – Fluent Spanish, French, Arabic and English
• Graduated in Agro-Engineering and post graduated in Food Supply Chain Management

Co-Founder
Elemental Software

Jennifer designs and delivers innovative, strategic projects which improve social and economic outcomes for citizens across the UK and Ireland, and more recently, the United Arab Emirates. Jennifer has co-developed Elemental, social prescribing software which puts the patient at the centre of a new model of community care. She has also designed the Young Innovator Programme delivered in schools in Dubai with a focus on Health Innovation. Last year, Jennifer and Elemental were recognised as one of the top 5 winners of Ro’ya, the Female Entrepreneur Programme delivered in partnership by Dubai Business Women Council in 2015 and Mastercard.

Lead – Learning & Performance
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

Frank is a multiple award winning, multi-qualified HR professional, a Certified Co-active Coach and recently nominated as 2017 Top 100 Training & Development Leaders by CHRO Asia. With over two decades of proven experience in financial services industry in various roles in HR and business verticals, Frank is a trusted advisor to C-suite executives to design and implement cutting-edge award-winning HR solutions. A regular speaker and panellist on a number of global, international and regional HR conferences.

Founder, MD
The Lighthouse Cohort

Aishwarya founded THE LIGHTHOUSE COHORT, a CSR consultancy to connect corporate resources for social good. This initiative develops win-win CSR solutions for corporates and non-profits. She has been recognized as one of the country’s inspiration for Year of Giving 2017, “Architect for Humanity”, “Dubai HEROES 2015”, “Non-Resident Indian Game changer in Community”, and “Splash Heart of Gold 2015” Her contribution across “niche causes” including social human development, peace building, renewable energy and sustainable livelihoods make her a pioneer in bringing voice and taking action for a sustainable future.

Independent consultant
Quattromani, Social Management for Finance & Industry

Ms. Frugte is an expert in sustainability and social risk management. She provides strategic, management and operational advice to the finance and industry sectors in emerging markets. Her work covers topics such as sustainability strategies, corporate social responsibility, labour & working conditions, local content development, and stakeholder engagement. She currently lives and works in the Middle East, but previously worked in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. With over 25 working years, she offers broad professional experience and a balanced view of social, environmental and development issues.

Customer Experience Specialist
Customer Experience Consultancy Ltd

Ian Golding is a Certified Customer Experience Professional. A highly influential freelance CX consultant, Ian advises leading companies on CX strategy, measurement, improvement and employee advocacy techniques and solutions. Ian has worked across multiple industries including retail, financial services, logistics, telecoms and pharmaceuticals and has deployed CX tools and methodologies all over the world. An internationally renowned speaker and blogger on the subject of CX, Ian was the first to become a CCXP Authorised Resource & Training Provider.

Senior Manager Training & Development
Omantel

With over 18 years’ experience in the banking industry and Telecom industry in senior HR roles, Saif has become a trusted professional to senior business leaders in Oman in the employee engagement and training aspects. Currently, Saif is the Senior Manager Training & Development of Omantel. Supporting over 2500 employees across Oman, he is committed towards implementing best people practices that advance skills and leverage business strategy. Previously, Saif was the Senior Manager Employee Engagement of Omantel ; one of the GCC’s biggest telecom operators. He established the Employee Engagement structure and function at Omantel, which was recognized and rewarded in different international conferences. Saif is a member of several international reputed associations like; MELA, Prosci, OSHRM, SHRM and CIPD. He has also successfully represented as speaker in various conferences in the region

Managing Partner
Harbor Real Estate

An engineer by training, Sameh Elwadiya has been actively involved in the UAE real estate industry since 2001, and is considered one of the chief pioneers that successfully steered Dubai real estate to the heights of the earlier stages of the local property boom. As a property management and real estate industry expert, Sameh has managed and sold real estate worth billions of dirhams for corporate and individual clients. He has also served as a consultant for various real estate investment groups and high net worth individuals seriously invested in Dubai real estate. In the course of his long real estate career, Sameh has also acted as mentor and advisor to a number of prominent real estate professionals still engaged in the industry today.

Director
MVP Tech

Jurgen E. Herre has 30 years of experience in investment banking, real estate investment and development, property management, and asset management. Mr. Herre has been appointed Director for MVP Tech and his role includes building and rolling out global security projects and driving strategic direction with strong focus on sales and development goals to create a customer centric approach to business growth.

Head of Management Information System (MIS)
Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, Government of Sharjah

Ayaz Tariq is an I.T Expert having strong techno- functional expertise and 10+ years of experience in web programming, business application architecture and business process automation of large organizations of UAE. Ayaz has automated majority of operations for UAE’s Second Largest Industrial Free Trade Zone “Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah” and is currently managing the team of IT Experts of HFZA. He was instrumental in developing the core MIS business application of Hamriyah Free Zone from scratch and he is also actively involved in IT Development, Team Building and Sales Operations Automation of Sharjah Airport International Free Zone. He has experience of managing an online review based community product named Yadig and has successfully completed many project related to IT infrastructure, IT security and surveillance.”

Chief Financial Officer
Hamriyah Free Zone Authority

Ramesh, CFO of Hamriyah Free Zone Authority. Shajrah has been associated with the Free Zone for the last two decades. He has played a pivotal role in transforming a desert of yester years into a bustling business hub of today. Ramesh, M.com and MBA qualified, bring in 26 years of leadership experience fro U.A.E, India and Bahrain. He is also a recipient of many recognitions and awards, including Sharjah Government’s Best Employee Awards & MENA CFO of the Year – Public Sector Awards organized by the CFO Strategies Forum, Dubai.

Head of Trade and Marketing – UAE, Oman, Qatar and Iran
Maersk Kanoo (UAE) LLC

Kapil Mehta joined the Maersk group in 1998 in India and has over 18 years of experience in the industry. Some of his earlier experiences include country sales, regional trade and country management. Over the years, Kapil has held multiple management positions across Asia, Indian Subcontinent and Middle East. Most recently, Kapil was the Country Manager for Maersk Line in Oman. He took over as the Head of Trade and Marketing for Maersk Line UAE, Oman, Qatar and Iran in 2010. His hobbies include travelling, cooking & playing badminton when time permits.

Chief Executive Officer
Noor Takaful

A business and finance professional with proven success that includes over 15 years of leadership experience in strategy and insurance in addition to over 15 years in investment banking across Asia and Europe. Previously CEO, MetLife (Hong Kong), CEO, ING Life (Thailand) and Head of Asia Pacific Insurance Strategy at the ING Group headquarters (Amsterdam). A graduate of engineering, Rajesh also holds a master’s degree in business from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India.

Director of Training
www.FocusSocialAcademy.com

Anas Almarie is an Executive and Founding Member of Arab Social & Digital Media Council, Co-Host of the weekly show #HRMEChat in affiliation with (SHRM) Society for Human Resources Management – MEA, Award Winning Entrepreneur by Dubai Internet City 2015, Founder of MENA Social Media Awards, TV guest speaker, Keynote speaker and a featured speaker at various conferences and trade shows across Middle East and Africa, Former Lecturer at University of Sharjah – Engineering School, active member at Social Media Club, Chair Judge at International Business Excellence Awards, Gulf Customers Experience Awards, he’s currently the Director of Training & Consultancy at Focus Social Academy in Dubai Media City. www.AnasAlmarie.com

Partner
GRS Research & Strategies

Andrea is currently Partner of GRS Research and Strategy. He holds a bachelor degree in International Trade and master degree in International Economics, both from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Andrea has shaped his skills and knowledge through several educational and working experiences in different countries, such as the United States of America, Australia, and Spain. He primarily focuses on Project Management, Customer Satisfaction, and Business Intelligence

Managing Director
Corporate Business Services

Ayman Al Awadhi is an Emirati entrepreneur with a vision to bring best of products and services to UAE and the region by extending his experience and know-how to attract international firms of all sizes to enable them doing business in UAE and the region.

He has been appointed as Managing Director and Co-founder of Corporate Business Services (CBS) as a leading Emirati professional service provider for end-to-end business setup and company formation solutions in the UAE and recently has introduced corporate restructuring with a group company named The Corporate Group (TCG) owning fully 3 subsidiaries delivering focused-services named: CBS (founding subsidiary), Corporate Business Hub (CBH) and Corporate Business Enterprises (CBE). The group and subsidiaries have been ranked within top Dubai SME 100, awarded for Superbrands of UAE 2015 and have been recognized as strategic partner for Dubai FDI, a government agency of Department of Economic Development of Dubai (DED Dubai).

Human Resource Director
Deloitte & Touche ME

Badia is an HR Director at Deloitte & Touche ME — one of the world’s largest professional services organizations.

Badia is a Human Resource Executive with more than 20 years of experience leading HR for global organizations. She has extensive experience developing people strategies that support business goals and building the HR function into a value-added, true business partner.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Badia has been working with several large Multionationals from Financial Service to Manufacturing Organizations, as the HR department head in the Middle East and Africa regions.

Executive Director
SHRM

Prior to becoming Executive Director for SHRM MEA Dubai, Brad Boyson spent 15 years holding senior HR roles in globally diverse organizations including Mitsubishi Corporation (Tokyo), Royal Caribbean International (Miami) and most recently, Hamptons/Emaar (Dubai). A globalist by nature, Mr. Boyson has practiced embedded HR on every inhabited continent and has first-hand HR experience in almost every major industrial sector. He holds three business degrees, six active professional HR certifications, is a published author (Global HR Economics), frequent international keynote speaker and board member on UAE government & UAE university HR advisory committees.

Quality & Excellence Director Printing & Distribution Sector
Dubai Media Incorporated

Mrs. Carol Jamil is Certified QMS –Information Security-Health & Safety – EMS Lead Auditor and EFQM Assessor, IIP Specialist, holding Master’s degree in Quality Management from Wollongong University with a proven track record of 16 years of professional work experience. This includes working for reputed government and private establishments in United Arab Emirates. Work experience includes Quality Control and Assurance, Media, Health, Excellence, Training, Strategic Planning, and Auditing. In 2011 was rewarded in DGEP for Creative category. Founder of Quality Unlimited Initiative and active member in EFQM and ASQ. Juror at several national quality and excellence awards such as: Ras Al Khaimah Government Quality Award, Dubai Media Excellence Award (Head of Assessment Panel), RAK FTZ Business Excellence Award.

President
SteelSeries Mobile - SteelSeries ApS

Mr. Olson leads the global mobile business for SteelSeries, the world’s leader in gaming accessories. Mr. Olson led efforts to develop the SteelSeries Stratus XL, which was recently chosen by Facebook/Oculus to be the controller companion to Gear VR, the world’s best selling VR goggles. Mr. Olson also led the efforts to develop and launch the Nimbus Wireless Controller for Apple TV. The Nimbus was announced in September 2015 alongside the new Apple TV and is currently featured on the Apple TV demo table at Apple retail stores around the world. Collectively, SteelSeries leads the world in mobile accessories. Prior to SteelSeries, Mr. Olson was a pioneer and global leader in Apple iOS gaming accessories.

Business Development Manager Europe-Africa
LiveAdmins

David CORREIA is the Business Development Manager for LiveAdmins, a Chicago based, globally managed multilingual Live Chat Company. David represents the French-Portuguese speakers for LiveAdmins working towards expanding the company’s business concerns. With over a decade of experience, the company has become one of the market leaders in live chat helping businesses significantly increase their online conversion rates, adding to their revenue streams.

David has solid sales experience in the IT services industry multiple international jurisdictions (Microsoft, Green systems). He has over 8 years of sales experience and has worked across multiple industry sectors including cross-functional projects for business development within Europe, MENA, and Africa.

Head of Business Consulting
Sofrecom

Dr Saidi has a wealth of operational and consulting experience in international strategy and the ICT sector, having advised executives across the world on strategy, quality and business improvement.

Prior to joining Sofrecom, he held a number of Senior Executive positions in the ICT sector across the Middle East and Africa and was a Partner with the global management and strategy consultants, KPMG and Arthur D. Little. He was also involved in the development and rollout of value added services for a Major North American Railroad. Dr Saidi’s expertise covers: strategy articulation and implementation; commercial, customer experience; operational efficiency; cost optimization; supply chain strategy and operation; General board and executive advice; excellence programs and quality management.

Dr Saidi obtained a PhD from the Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal, Canada. He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (DSA) from HEC Business School, Montreal, and a degree in Industrial Engineering from ENIT, Tunisia. He is also involved in Academia with the University of Wollongong in Dubai and is teaching courses of Strategy, Business Excellence, Operations Management and other Management subjects.

Dr Saidi is senior member of the American Society for Quality and a certified EFQM Assessor and has been involved in the Dubai Quality Award and other prestigious awards as an assessor and business advisor.

Benchmarking Program Manager
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority

Enas is a Benchmarking and Project Management professional , with more than 15 years’ experience. Spent 9 years with France Telecom, managing different network access optimization projects and programs enjoying its challenging globally diverse environment.

Joined DEWA in 2014, to be part of its dedicated team, aiming towards meeting 2021 Strategic Objectives through Corporate Benchmarking Program & different development initiatives. Enas holds PMP Certificate since 2011, PRINCE2 Professional certification and Certified Benchmarking Professional since 2015.

Head of Middle East PMO
Fujitsu

With a wealth of 20+ years of diversified expertise across a variety of business industries, Firas Al Atiyat’s role at Fujitsu Middle East is focused on spearheading the delivery arm of Fujitsu’s BAS unit (Business & Application Services), through effective project portfolio leadership and governance in an environment of best practices for an enterprise PMO that provides direct project management services for complex, multi-technology/platform projects, to a wide spectrum of industries and sectors in the Middle East region.

Japan’s largest IT services provider and No. 5 in the world, Fujitsu is a global information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services, using its rich experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. 159,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries (source: Gartner, 2014 vendor revenue base, “Market Share: IT Services, 2014” 31 March 2015).

Author and Coach
Delighting Customers Is

Gangadhar Krishna Is a freelance writer, analyst, coach and author. He recently published his illustrative business book titled ‘Delighting Customers Is’. It is a collection of well researched one-liners that delve into the philosophy of customer service using 202 thought provoking illustrations. It is all about the nuances of delighting customers. He owns copyrights for his theory on Service Excellence from the UAE Ministry of Economy, Abu Dhabi. The theory is also covered under the Indian Copyright Law. This is a theory that can be applied to any industry.

He has presented his theory to various banks and private institutions. He was also invited as a guest speaker to address banking experiences from a customer perspective. He has conducted development programs in service excellence, outbound sales and has the distinction of conducting 3 back to back training courses in the Indian language Hindi for blue collared staff. He launched his personal portal www.delightingcustomers.com with the sole objective of helping develop businesses with the philosophy of “Sales heaps but Service reaps”. He has to his credit over 90 articles on customer service released to ‘Gulf News’, ‘Khaleej Times’, ‘Weekend Magazine’ and Dubai Quality Group’s ‘Business Quality Review’.

He is also an assessor with Dubai Quality Awards and a passionate toastmaster. His 30 years career spans challenging experiences while serving customers in a multitude of industries such as travel, airlines, retail banking, courier services and credit management, spread over different countries as India, Australia and United Arab Emirates.

Associate Partner - Brand
Vecta Strategy

Gary is a subject matter expert cross industry for all brand and communications related projects and is based in the United Arab Emirates. He is an experienced strategist, with vast experience in the US and Europe, and more recently in the Middle East. He has developed complex brand strategies, value propositions, brand identities, communications campaigns and CSR initiatives for global brands, small-medium businesses and start-ups in the US, UK & UAE.

Gary focuses his brand building expertise on helping organisations to find their purpose and then build brand value from the inside out – creating consistency and brand equity across the organisation. He has also founded, built and managed a number of his own brands, so combines his entrepreneurial expertise with his management consultancy experience to good effect.

Director Strategic Relations
LiveAdmins

Hamza Nasir is the Director of Strategic Relations for LiveAdmins, a Chicago based, globally managed multilingual Live Chat Company. Hamza represents the MENA region for LiveAdmins working towards expanding the company’s business concerns. With over a decade of experience, the company has become one of the market leaders in live chat helping businesses significantly increase their online conversion rates, adding to their revenue streams.

Hamza also manages strategy for CustomerService.ae, a premier digital magazine focusing on customer service for the GCC region. Owned by LiveAdmins, the vision of CustomerService.ae is to provide a gateway to knowledge, information, news and the latest events related to customer service in the GCC. The magazine brings in-depth articles, research reports and featured interviews of industry experts for its readers.

CIO, Principal Agile Coach & Director of Education
AAA Institute

Dr. Hasnain Rizvi has lead teams that have performed project management maturity assessment work and managed mission critical programs for Global 2000 clients. He has a track record of assisting clients through troubled projects. He is an advisor to various start-ups in California. Hasnain is the lead author of PMI-AGC’s ‘PMP® in 28 Days’ study guide.

Hasnain is an adjunct faculty with several universities. An acclaimed public speaker, coach and trainer, Hasnain’s research interests are agile and risk management methodologies.

HR Head
Network International LLC

A certified consultant and management professional, with 25 years of exceptional experience in driving business growth through strategic planning and extensive business development and consultation. I worked and held key managerial positions in leading Saudi and international companies before establishing my own advisory firm “SNA Energy”. SNA Energy is providing business strategy, technical and economic consulting services in oil & gas, chemical and energy for local businesses and key government entities in Saudi Arabia and GCC countries.

Chief People Officer
Tanfeeth

Hessa is a member of the Executive Committee as a Chief People Officer for Tanfeeth; the GCC’s first-ever Shared Services organization and fully owned subsidiary of Emirates NBD. Hessa has established and drives the HR function for Tanfeeth and demonstrates capability in leveraging human capital and expertise in Emirati development. This includes Emiratization strategic planning and resource planning, as well as recruitment strategy, succession planning and rightsizing. With over 15 years’ experience in the banking industry in senior HR roles, she is positioned as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders in the UAE across all critical aspects of HR.

General Manager
dovetail

A Certified Marshall Goldsmith Executive Coach, Ian Platt is a seasoned business growth specialist helping organizations rapidly improve results whilst coaching individuals to realize their true potential. In the past 20 years, Ian has consulted, mentored, trained and coached over 15,000 business leaders, sales vice presidents, managers and salespeople in more than 20 countries for substantially improved performance. Following a successful sales career in the telecommunications industry from rookie salesperson to vice president, Ian founded a water and air treatment company that had operations in the U.K., Netherlands, France and Italy. After selling this business, he joined Mercuri International, the world’s largest sales development consultancy, where he worked internationally as a senior management consultant for five years. This role involved working with large, blue-chip organizations such as Shell Oil, Oracle and Philips Medical Systems at country CEO level developing and implementing business growth solutions largely focused on guiding sales strategy and developing the sales division for increased sales and profitability. He specializes in developing practical, usable strategies and tactics to improve business results quickly.

For 3 years he worked with the Anthony Robbins team in association with Chet Holmes to work as a coach and consultant. Anthony Robbins is often referenced as the world’s number one success coach. Chet Holmes is regarded as one of the top business coaches in the world. The weekly mentoring and association with these two ‘giants’ provided Ian with a priceless education into what it takes for any individual to achieve business and personal success. He brings these invaluable insights to all individual, business coaching and consulting assignments. Ian is an avid student of human potential, having studied with Dr. Richard Bandler, Dr. Tad James and Dr. Paul McKenna. He is a licensed master practitioner of neurolinguistic programming by The Society of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and certified trainer of neuro linguistics from the American Board of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and an instructor of hypnotherapy, certified and approved by the American Board of Hypnotherapy.

As part of consulting projects, Ian enjoys running training workshops and facilitating events. He is well-known for his innovative accelerated learning techniques, involving all participants in an active and fun way. He excels in taking academic ideas and transforming them into practical examples and explaining complex ideas in a straightforward way so all participants understand. Ian’s consulting clients include ENOC, Philips Medical, HP, Shell Oil, Mercedes, Electrolux, Oracle and HSBC.

Director
Emirates Business Management International Consultants

Indu is an Engineer & a Business Management Post Graduate, and a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. She heads the EBM group of companies since 1993, and has been involved in Quality, Leadership, and Strategy. Indu is a Team Leader for Dubai Quality Award (DQA) and has been directly responsible for updating the DHDA Model. She has also been Team Leader for Sharjah Economic Excellence Award (SEEA). Indu is proficient in developing Corporate Strategy and driving it through Balanced Scorecard.

Head of Global Public Relations
G2A.com

Jacqueline is a popular international award winning keynote speaker and experienced judge. A multi-sector/discipline specialist in Strategic International Public Relations, she is the IPRA UK Chapter Chairman and an IPRA Golden World Awards Judge for over 10 years. In 2016, she was invited to judge the Global Alliance COMM PRIX Awards. She judges: UK Financial Services Experience, Awards International IBX and Customer Experience Awards. A Distinguished Toastmaster and International Public Speaking Contest Judge, she guides, inspires and motivates in equal measure.

Managing Director
PA Consulting Group Middle East and North Africa

Jason Harborow is a dynamic change leader who delivers results through world-class quality and standards for one of the region’s leading consulting, technology and innovation firms.

Driving business development across new geographies and industries, he controls regional operations in key sectors such as government, healthcare, travel, transport and logistics, education, energy and utilities.

Prior to joining PA, Jason worked in leadership roles for sports, cultural, entertainment, tourism, educational and government organisations in the UK and the UAE.

Chairman
Sharjah Tatweer Forum

Mr. AlBloushi has vast experience in the telecommunication industry having worked for Etisalat, the UAE’s leading telecommunications operator for more than 15 years as head of the call center and GSM services and a consultant for Etisalat with external customers. Mr. AlBloushi’s banking career with Sharjah Islamic Bank began as the Head of E-Channels and has evolved to his current position as Head of Retail Banking and a Board Member of Sharjah Islamic Financial Services. In addition, he acts as a social entrepreneur through Sharjah Tatweer Forum, a non-profit Think Tank whose Honorary Chairman is His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. STF works on empowering youth, developing and promoting entrepreneurship, supporting viable projects for Sharjah and fostering community outreach initiatives.

In addition, Mr. AlBloushi is also a Board Member of Sharjah Youth Centers in an effort to revamp the organization to address today’s youth development needs and the skills required to cultivate the next generation of leaders. Mr. AlBloushi is also himself an entrepreneur having started a management and recruitment consultancy in the Emirate of Sharjah. Mr. AlBloushi has over 20 years of experience in leadership and management, excellence strategies, coaching, customer service and call center development and as a quality assessor and evaluator. He is also a practiced public speaker on “Emiratization” and issues related to Emiratis in the workplace.

Co-Founder
Elemental Software

Jennifer designs and delivers innovative, strategic projects which improve social and economic outcomes for citizens across the UK and Ireland, and more recently, the United Arab Emirates. Jennifer has co-developed Elemental, social prescribing software which puts the patient at the centre of a new model of community care. She has also designed the Young Innovator Programme delivered in schools in Dubai with a focus on Health Innovation. Last year, Jennifer and Elemental were recognised as one of the top 5 winners of Ro’ya, the Female Entrepreneur Programme delivered in partnership by Dubai Business Women Council in 2015 and Mastercard.

Jonathon arrived in the U.A.E. in January 1992 and was previously employed as a senior management Consultant with one of the world’s largest management consulting organizations. He is an experienced trainer and coach who is able to offer comprehensive training and development programs to a wide variety of industries including retail, hospitality, banking, I.T, construction, energy and FMCG. With a strong interest in personal development and accelerated learning, Jonathon is a master practitioner and certified trainer of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). His training programs are recognized both by the Association of NLP (ANLP UK) and the American Board of NLP (ABNLP).

Jonathon is also certified as a trainer and associate of the prestigious ‘6 Seconds’ Emotional Intelligence Network, one of the world’s leading E.I. training and research organizations. He is also accredited by Daniel Goleman to administer and coach his emotional competency inventory (E.C.I.). Jonathon is a certified coach and member of the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder coaching team within the U.A.E. Jonathon’s principal areas of expertise include management and leadership development, innovative sales and service solutions and the improvement of communication skills. Jonathon has delivered training and development programs and conducted coaching assignments in over 20 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Sub-Continent, Africa and Asia.

Brand + Ideation, Subject Matter Expert
Vecta Strategy

Jos Dirkx is an award-winning media professional and has grown numerous brands through creative ideation. She is well-versed in the digital space and excels at storytelling. She draws inspiration from travel to 93 countries, while having lived in 12 and speaking six languages. She has written, designed and led over 3,000 employee and brand workshops across the Middle East Africa region, with a focus on change management during peak company transformation.

Jos has guest lectured for Stanford University, has given speeches at the UN events on volunteer + team management, and has delivered two TEDx talks. She sits on the Global Giving Leadership Council board and the Women Deliver FIFA 2015 Advisory Board. She has founded an award-winning NGO and mobile health app.

Owner and operator
Vie Derma Clinic

Julie Cvijic is the owner and operator of Vie Derma Clinic, a successful skin clinic in the heart of Vancouver’s most prestigious locations, Coal Harbor. Julie has been involved in the wellness industry for most of her professional life. She is European trained, educated in a renowned Austrian aesthetic college and then continued education and practice in both Europe and Canada. Her international exposure combined with an instinctive flair allowed her to enjoy over thirty years experience in the wellness industry, including management and operations and the ongoing development of skin treatments and products.

She worked for over ten years with one of the largest global cosmetic companies, the renowned cosmetics line Clinique and Estee Lauder, where she received a prestigious award for achieving the highest sales globally. She was the owner of Elle Derma Clinic within the Hilton Hotel, where she achieved the highest Canadian sales of the year by an individual person for the skin care line G.M. Collin and Yonka. Through her clinic she offers innovative and effective treatments, and unsurpassed therapy from an extensive product range. She develops her own skin care line from formulation with effective ingredients to her own exclusive application regime. Her skin care line is currently in development stage and is expected to launch by Spring 2016.

Retail Operations Manager
Magrabi Retail

An operations manager with progressive experience career in supervising multisite retail stores for multinational well-known companies in the Middle East. Worked on few start-up retail projects as a consultant. In addition to my retail experience, I am also supervising my family business in retail state and F&B in Saudi Arabia.

Director of India, Middle East and Africa
Scala

Currently Mike is a Regional Director for Scala, one of the worlds leading and largest deployed Digital Communications Platforms for Customer Engagement looking after India, Africa and the Middle East. Originally from the UK he has had the opportunity to live and work across 6 countries including the USA, India and Singapore. In the past Mike has had the chance to work with and support many large global organisations such as Microsoft, JP Morgan Chase, Tata Communications and Boston Consulting.

Group Marketing & Communication Manager
Paris Gallery

Mohamad Jaber is the Group Marketing and Communications Manager of the region’s leading luxury retailer, Paris Gallery. A results-oriented person, he has an uncanny knack for knowing what works and what does not. At Paris Gallery, he is in charge of not only the company’s corporate marketing unit but also the company’s worldwide franchises. His outlook in life: When it’s challenging, it’s even more interesting. Mohamad has always found himself in challenging management positions where he has had to use his highly developed social and professional skills and experience to become one of the major reasons for the success and growth of those organizations.

A marketing and public relations expert with nearly 20 years of experience, he is well known for developing innovative approaches to meet emerging opportunities. He has been instrumental in successfully conceptualizing and orchestrating a number of retail marketing campaigns in the UAE which includes the corporate identity launches of the Wall Street Exchange, Doha Bank, Ambulatory Healthcare Services SEHA, First Gulf Bank, Ibn Battuta Mall, Jumbo Electronics Qatar, and in the launch of Palm Jumeira, Al Sondos Suites by Le Méridien, Abu Dhabi National Hotels and the Mövenpick Hotel & Apartments in Bur Dubai. An inspirational and practical person, Mohamad is the kind of person who calls a spade a spade, making it easy for people to work with him and get results even in the most difficult of situations. He is a very down-to-earth person with sensible reactions and expectations.

Business Head
Dayofdubai.com

Started my career from Mumbai India in 2003 & built my reputation in field of tech sales. Came to UAE in May 2007 & since then have worked with various organizations including my last stint at Monster.com, leading a team of business development. In December 2013, took my first independent plunge with Petrichor Consulting, focusing on promoting Social Collaboration & Digital Communication tools. November 2015 joined as director of newly launched Business News & Information Portal “dayofdubai.com” leading marketing & business development.

CEO
Harbor Real Estate

Dubbed “The Wolf of Real Estate” on the cover of the April 2014 edition of Property Times, Mohanad Alwadiya is an award-winning real estate professional and entrepreneur, and the CEO of Harbor Real Estate. He has been a senior advisor and faculty member at the Dubai Real Estate Institute, the official training and certification arm of the Dubai Land Department since 2008. Mohanad is also the content producer and presenter of MEMAAR, the first-of-its-kind property reality-TV show in the Middle East which is broadcasted weekly on Dubai TV and Sama Dubai TV, the official broadcasting channels of the Government of Dubai.

Mohanad’s extensive experience and exceptional track record in the real estate sector has positioned him as one of the most respected and sought-after industry influencers and analysts. He is regularly invited to appear as an industry expert on various local and international print, TV and radio channels, and has contributed as an advisor to several industry regulatory bodies across the GCC region. Mohanad has is also a founding steering committee member and advisor to the UN Global Compact, UAE Network.

Head of Facilities Management
Duroclean Technical Services LLC

A Facilities Management industry expert with a cumulated 18 years of experience, with experience on strategy, planning and execution covering, FM processes, and continuous improvement plan. Was handling contracts management, budgeting, and business development. Involved in designing and implementing Policies & Procedures for managing facilities operations and also for internal processes.

Possess a good business acumen and end result oriented. With hands-on experience on technology, have the competency to optimize productivity and effectively innovate by applying contemporary technology.

Sustainable Business Consultant
ECOSTRATEGIE

Ms Verdure-Labeille founded her consultant agency in 2008 to help organisations to integrate sustainability in their core business, as a daily reflex, and create value thanks to this approach. She works with The Natural Step sustainability framework and other tools to develop the best matching combination to launch the incentive. She is affiliated professor to Toulouse Business School and preside jurys of ANEDD, only national event in France that give to students the power of judging the sustainability of innovations.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor - Cranfield School of Management,
Professor of International Management Economics - Cranfield University,
Director of Policy - Sustainability & Performance Community

Professor Joe Nellis is Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Director of Cranfield School of Management. He is also Director of the Policy, Sustainability & Performance Community with leadership responsibility for Economics, Finance & Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Corporate Responsibility and General Management Development programmes. He also holds Visiting Professorial appointments at various universities in Germany, Belgium, Austria, Netherlands, Hungary and Ghana. Joe has published 18 research and subject-based books and over 200 academic and practitioner journal articles. His research encompasses analysis of business developments in a changing world in terms of the macroeconomy, the role of government, the impact of technology, societal and demographic trends.

Director
Sharjah Tatweer Forum

Reem Bin Karam has been an active member of Sharjah Tatweer Forum since 2006 and in February of 2010 was confirmed as a member of the new Board of Directors of STF and has since held the position of Head of Finance and Budgeting for the organization. STF is a member based non-profit organization whose Honorary Chairman is His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. As a think tank, STF works on empowering youth, developing and promoting entrepreneurship, supporting viable projects for Sharjah and fostering community outreach initiatives. Ms. Bin Karam also plays a vital role in managing STF’s marketing strategy, brand image and public awareness. Ms. Bin Karam is also a Board Member and the Acting Director of the Sharjah Children’s Centers, one of the organizations under the umbrella of Her Highness’s Executive Office since 2013.

Highness’s Executive Office since 2013. With a professional background in interior design and a flair for creativity and event management, Reem Bin Karam and her sister started Thaya Floral and Gourmet Boutique in 2008 as commercial floral and gourmet business specialized in high quality products and services, including marketing strategy and public imaging. She played a pivotal role in managing the creative and commercial side of the business as well as expanding its scope of business. “Imagination, a unique style and design philosophy along with a related educational background and a passion for creativity are what make Thaya a success. A graduate of the American University of Sharjah in Interior Design, Ms. Bin Karam has extensive experience with the Bin Karam Group both as a Director of Purchasing and as a turnkey designer. Previously, she worked for the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Dubai International Airport concluding several design projects for the organizations.

“I am an Emirati professional interior design enthusiast with extensive experience and achievements in project design as well as charity event planning, including but not limited to “Pink Caravan” for Breast Cancer Awareness. My career is also my hobby. I enjoy pursuing innovative, creative and authentic ideas, while expanding my knowledge base from art, design and architecture.” Ms. Bin Karam has also been actively organizing events for the past 3 years for the Pink Caravan initiative, and has a leading role in the organization of numerous Sharjah based events such as the Arab Women’s Sports Tournament.

Senior Partner
Vecta Strategy

Richard combines 20 years of international management consulting experience with 7 years of practical management experience in the manufacturing sector in the UAE. As a consultant Richard worked with clients from a wide range of industries including banking, insurance, metals, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications, automotive and services as well as central and local government. Richard has successfully completed a total of 88 projects including 50 technology consulting projects; 17 ERP consulting and implementation projects (13 SAP & 4 Oracle); and 21 business consulting projects.

Director
London Hair and Beauty Ltd

Richie Perera is the director of London Hair and Beauty Ltd which owns the London Makeup School and the London Hair Academy. With 210% growth in the last financial year, the academy has become the fastest growing and the highest rated and externally reviewed in the industry in the UK. Richie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Purchasing and Supply Chain Management and also an MBA.

Managing Director
In Learning

Rohit is a pro-active and highly engaging speaker who inspires you through the power of awareness, consciousness and energy. With over 20+ years of experience he is committed to adding value to you using his extensive years of international experience from Afghanistan, Philippines, UK, Congo, Ireland, France, Australia, America, India, Kenya and the Middle East. He has worked with the likes KPMG, PwC, Eurostar, Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Terminals, The Address, Harrods, DP World, Oracle, HSBC, Harley-Davidson and many more.

Senior Manager - Monitoring & Advisory Unit
Khalifa Fund

Saer Imad has over 14 years of experience focused on conceptualizing and starting innovative businesses, raising capital, structuring deals, organizational-capability development, project management and strategy execution with bottom-line orientation. Enjoy high energy level and tendency to display endurance & capacity for fast pace. Currently, he heads the Monitoring & Advisory Unit, where he works closely with more than 250 entrepreneurs and existing businesses in building their capabilities and developing their businesses to secure their success. Expert in turn around strategies for distressed projects, Conceptualize, design and develop financial models for complex projects, In depth knowledge of various sectors and subsectors and potential opportunities in each along with growth potential, value chain, market attractiveness and life cycle stage. Develop and work on different initiatives such as the Franchising program, the Export Opportunity program, and the SME Economic impact.

Previously he managed the financing arm of “Mohammed Bin Rashid Est” (Dubai SME) for more than 7 years. At MBRE Saer has developed a robust business evaluation, and post-fund support and monitoring process that are sensitive to local business and economic environment. He managed disbursement of over US $25M as debt to 60 start-up and existing businesses in different industries. He worked on several projects such as establishing a sharia compliant venture capital fund, credit guarantee scheme and SME friendliness index. Prior to MBRE Saer was a corporate banker at Bank of Beirut in Lebanon for 3 years and then implemented the overseas growth strategy of BOB by opening their first branch in Nigeria. Saer is an MBA graduate from “London Business School” and has BSc in Economics with a sub degree in banking and finance from Lebanese American University. He is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants and the “Private Equity and Venture Capital” Club in London. Is An Accredited Mentor from Mowgli Foundation

Director Operational Excellence
Gazelles Management Consultancy

Lean Six Sigma Practitioner , trainer with 24+ years of experience in carrying out organizational transformations through deployment of various models of Business process excellence, Change Management, Operations excellence, and Business Process Reengineering across multiple industries and business domains. Specialist and certified as Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, ISO 9001 2008 lead auditor, Dubai Quality award assessor, ITIL V3, Balance Score Card practitioner. Trained more than 1000 resources in manufacturing , Retail, BPOs , BFSI, KPOs across Asia Pacific in Six Sigma, Lean, Supply Chain, BPMS, Project / process Management & Quality management.

Chief Human Capital Officer
Apparel Group

Vaneeta is a Post Graduate in Management from India with 20 years + experience in Human Resources and has worked with various industries – FMCG, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare in India. She has been in UAE since last 18 years and her previous companies include Seven Seas Computers and Eros Group. Presently she works for Apparel Group as Chief Human Capital Officer heading the Group’s Human Capital and Business Excellence Departments. Vaneeta is also a key member of Dubai Quality Award Office (Business Excellence Centre) since last 13 years.