Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber

Minister, Ministry of Information and Communications Technology

Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber is the first-ever Minister of Information and Communications Technology in Qatar following the formation of the nation’s new Cabinet by H.H. the Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani in 2013. She is the third Qatari woman to assume a ministerial position in the state. Prior to becoming a minister, Dr. Hessa held the position of Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) since its inception in 2005. During her tenure as Secretary General, Dr. Hessa has overseen the liberalization of Qatar's telecommunications market, ushering in an era of choice and competition. Passionate about ensuring that the benefits of technology reach all sectors, Dr. Hessa has led numerous initiatives to make Qatar a more inclusive society through ICT.

Charbel Sarkis

Sector Lead, Retail, e-Commerce, Technology and Telecom, Google MENA

Charbel Sarkis is the Sector Lead for Retail, E-Commerce, Technology and Telecom at Google in MENA. Prior to Google, Charbel spent several years covering the Telecom, Media and Technology industries as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in London and a strategy consultant at Booz & Co in the Middle East. Charbel studied Engineering at USJ in Lebanon and Strategic Management at HEC in France, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

 

Faleh Al Naemi

Chairman and Managing Director, Q-Post

Faleh Al-Naemi has more than 20 years of experience in Human Resources, with expertise in manpower planning, personnel administration, employee relations, compensation & benefits, and training & development in numerous industries including Oil & Gas, Power and Telecommunications. Prior to joining Q-Post, he held the position of Assistant Secretary General of ictQATAR's Shared Services Division, where he was responsible for three key functions - Human Capital, Finance & Accounting and Contracts, Procurement & Administration. He had also worked in senior management positions with the Social Rehabilitation Center, QAFCO (Qatar Chemical Fertiliser Company), and the Water & Electricity Corporation. Al-Naemi holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Economics from Qatar University.

 

Dr. Eyad Al-Kassar

Managing Director Middle East Internet Group-, Rocket Internet

Before joining Rocket Internet, Dr. Eyad worked as a Senior Researcher in Computer Science. During his studies he was a fellow of the German National Academic Foundation. Eyad Holds a Ph.D Summa Cum Laude in Computer Science from Saarland University.

 

 

 

Majed Abukhater

General Manager for Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Uber

Majed Abukhater completed his degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Western Ontario, as well as received an MBA from INSEAD, one of the leading business schools in the world. Prior to his position in Uber, Majed was a portfolio manager/actuarial associate at the Great-West Life and Annuity Insurance Company in Winnipeg, Canada, the nation's second largest insurer in sales of individual life insurance through banks. In 2010, bringing with him an excellent background in communications and business consultancy, Majed Abukhater joined The Boston Consulting Group in the UAE, Dubai’s leading advisor on business strategy. He joined Uber technologies in July 2013.

 

Mohammed Mubarak Al-Khater

Executive Director of Investment, Qatar Development Bank

Mohammed Al-Khater has held this role since January 2015, having been Executive Director of Financial Services for Enterprise Qatar, which has now merged into QDB. Mr. Al-Khater was appointed to use his background in mergers and acquisitions to establish the SME Equity Fund that will be investing in start-ups and SMEs in Qatar. Before joining , Mr. Al-Khater worked as an Associate with Latham & Watkins LLP. He was recruited to the firm’s Doha office in 2010, advising on capital markets, corporate and commercial transactions, including joint ventures, the establishment of new corporate entities, and billion dollar debt offerings. In 2013, he transferred to the firm’s New York office, where he spent more than a year working with the mergers and acquisitions practice group. Prior to that, he worked for Qatar Petroleum as a legal counsel, where he was involved in the establishment of a number of joint ventures with international oil companies, the drafting of LNG sale purchase agreements, and providing general corporate legal advice. Mr. Al-Khater has a bachelor’s degree in law from Cardiff University and is working to complete an Executive MBA degree from HEC Paris in 2016.

 

Dr. Tejinder Singh

Entrepreneur & Board Member, EO Qatar

Dr. Tejinder Singh is a business executive and entrepreneur. He is the founder of many start-up projects and has worked with numerous companies, including being Qatar based BPO+. Dr. Tejinder Singh is a professional with 23+ years of experience. He has a Post graduate degree in Commerce & Economics from Delhi University, he holds an MBA in International Business. Dr. Sing also played a key role in establishing Q-tickets, which is a successful online ticketing platform which has transformed the way in which Qatar residents purchase tickets to events and the cinema.

 

Hector Merodio

Head of eCommerce and Digital, Shopify Expert

Hector has 13 ten years in roles of SMEs general manager, internationalization, strategy, finance, Internet, digital, media, marketing, sales and eCommerce. He is currently a Managing Partner at OH Digital and Cofounder at JamonEat.com. Hector also founded VisualMente.com, a successful Virtual Events Company which has since been sold to Entelgy. Hector Holds an International MBA, from La Salle University.

 

Christos Mastoras

Founder & Managing Partner, Iliad Partners

Christos is the Founder & Managing Partner of Iliad Partners, a new early stage tech venture capital firm based in Dubai. He is a digital executive, tech entrepreneur and venture investor with over 17 years of experience in technology, digital media, e-commerce and telecom in MENA, the US and Europe. Previously, Christos was the Director of Business Development of Yahoo Maktoob. There he led strategic partnerships closing over 20 deals with media groups, internet companies, telecom operators, e-commerce players, startups and government agencies across MENA.

 

Omar Soudodi

Managing Director, PayFort

Omar Soudodi is the Managing Director of PayFort, the Arab world online payment gateway. Omar brings entrepreneurial innovation and extensive dotcom expertise to PayFort, coupled with strong management experience in the financial sector in the Middle East and the United States.  Soudodi was previously the general manager of Souq.com Egypt, the largest online retailer in the Arab world where he oversaw the launch and the successful growth of the portal since 2009. Prior to that, Soudodi was behind the creation and launch of Accelarabia.com in 2006 where he founded the region’s first online mortgage aggregator, earning him regional recognition and nominations for multiple entrepreneurial awards.

 

Kivanc Onan

Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, PayPal Turkey

Kivanc graduated from Istanbul Technical University with a BS in Management Engineering and Columbia Business School with an MBA. Kivanc started his career at UBS AG in Switzerland. He worked as a Director for Strategy for American Express before returning to Turkey in 2008 to lead a team of consultants on strategy in finance, telecoms and consumer practices at Deloitte İstanbul as a Senior Manager. In 2010, the global leader in payment systems, PayPal expanded its business and opened its Istanbul office. Kivanc Onan was appointed as the Country Director. Today he is still leading PayPal’s operations with a broader responsibility as the Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, which covers 22 countries, including Turkey, as of 2014. Kivanc is also a member to AIESEC Board of Advisors, Board of ETICAD (E-Commerce Sites’ and Operators’ Association), and Young Society Leaders of Turkish American Society.

 

Pietro Candela

Senior Partner, Leader of Customer Innovation (Europe, MiddleEast, and Africa), Ernst & Young Advisory

Pietro’s mission is to evolve clients' positioning and reinvent the customer experience through innovation, marketing, sales and customer service value propositions. He advised leading media incumbents in Europe to reposition their core business in the digital arena, supporting the launch of new initiatives in multichannel, pay TV, OTT-TV, interactive advertising, e-commerce, and web 2.0.

 

Sol Salinas

Managing Director, Accenture Digital – Mobility

Global Lead, Accenture Smart Cities

Sol Salinas is responsible for the development and maintenance of a global Smart Cities offering and alliances with global Internet of Things (IoT) providers. He is involved with and often directly oversees the work of multi-disciplinary teams supporting Accenture’s work in cities across North America and throughout the world. Salinas holds a joint MA/MBA (minor) from both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School of Journalism and Kenan-Flagler Graduate School of Business as well as a BS and a BA from George Mason University.

 

Nathan Cushnie

Sr. Director, Head of Emerging Products & Innovation, MENA, Visa

Nathan Cushnie heads Emerging Products and Innovation for Visa in the MENA region, with a mandate to drive digital products innovation, rollout and growth in e-commerce, proximity contactless, mobile payments and push payments. Nathan draws upon 15 years of experience in strategy, innovation and product development in digital, telecom, and financial services. Before joining Visa, Nathan held multiple roles at Telefonica, including global head of Mobile Proximity Payments and Head of m-Commerce Product development & strategy,  shaping global product strategy and portfolio priorities across Europe and Latin America. Prior to that, Nathan held multiple strategy and consulting roles within payments, financial services and telecom industries.

 

Iyad Kamal

Chief Operating Officer, Aramex International

Kamal obtained his first degree, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, from the University of Jordan in 1989. In 1991 he received his Masters of Arts Degree in Economics from Bowling Green University in Ohio. Since he joined Aramex in 1994, Kamal has worked in several capacities including Vice President of Logistics and Ground Services, General Manager Logistics, Express Product and Quality Manager, reaching the position of the Chief Logistics Officer in 2007; and his current position of COO in 2010.  Kamal is an active member of the global Aramex management team and offers an extensive knowledge of the logistics and transportation industry. Iyad Kamal is also a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals USA.

 

Suresh Bajpai

Head of Retail Banking, Doha Bank

Suresh Bajpai is the Head of Retail Banking for Doha Bank based in Doha, Qatar. He joined Doha Bank in July 2012 and is responsible for leading the Retail Banking and Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) Banking Businesses in Qatar and International Markets. Suresh is a career banker, with deep domain expertise in Retail Banking, Wealth Management, Consumer Finance, Credit Cards, Digital and Mobile Payments, mCommerce and Remittances. Prior to joining Doha Bank, Suresh was based in New York with Citigroup where he has worked for over twenty years.

 

Dr. Maher Hakim

Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

Dr. Maher Hakim is currently an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar where he teaches courses on innovation entrepreneurship, business technology consulting, and business and data analytics. Dr. Hakim has 20 years of experience as a tech entrepreneur and a corporate executive in the information technology industry. Between 1994 and 2012, Dr. Hakim cofounded five technology startup companies and served in various management roles at large software companies such as Infor and Autodesk. Dr. Hakim is a sought-out expert and educator in technology innovation & entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship financing, and M&A (merger and acquisitions) in the tech industry. In addition to teaching, Dr. Hakim is a board member, advisor and a mentor to several tech startup companies and is an active angel investor.  He holds a Ph.D. in Computer-Aided Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1993) and a M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1990).

 

Dr. Aiman Erbad

CEO, Qatar Best Deals

Dr. Aiman Erbad is the Co-Founder and Board Chairman of Riyada Trading W.L.L. the operator of the e-commerce portal QatarbBestDeals.com. Dr. Erbad is an Assistant Professor and Computer Engineering Program Coordinator at Qatar University.  He obtained a PhD in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia, a Master of Computer Science in Embedded Systems and Robotics from the University of Essex and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Washington. Dr. Erbad received the Platinum Award from H.H. The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Education Excellence Day 2013 (PhD Category) and graduated recently from Qatar Leadership Center rising leaders program. His research interests span cloud computing, distributed systems and multimedia. He regularly reviews and serves as a technical program committee member in international journals and conferences in the area of multimedia systems and networking.

 

Youssif Al Musleh

Founder, eSouqQatar

A Mechanical Engineer with over 20 years of professional experience in management, design, and construction of multidiscipline projects in the Oil & Gas Industry among which 11 years in supervisory/managerial positions. Experience extends over wide range of projects including field development, power plants, civil & infrastructure, and facilities & utilities. Extensive experience in management and engineering, with proactive and organized approach to project management. An assertive manager, with strong leadership, communication, negotiation, and problem solving skills. Awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. Awarded Executive MBA degree from HEC Paris.

 

Susan Ingalls

Co-Founder, Urban Point

Co-founder of Urban Point, Doha, Qatar; Selected by the Global Shapers Community as one of the New Champions for 2015. Virtual panelist for the World Economic Form's 2015 Annual Meeting in Davos on the topic "Religion, a pretext for conflict?" with Tony Blair and Hamza Yusuf; MBA from Mannheim Business School, Germany; Business Development Manager under C-level management at Accuracy, Corporate Financial Advisory in Paris; Consulted in Financial Services - Transaction Services for PwC in Frankfurt, Germany during the financial crisis; BSc. in Math and Economics-Accounting from Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles, California. Moderator and lecturer.

 

Diane Mullenex

Head of the Global Telecom Practice, Pinsent Masons

Diane is a dual-qualified French lawyer and UK Solicitor, heading the international telecom and gaming practices. She specializes in and has extensive experience advising a wide range of clients in telecommunications, technology and other highly regulated industries. In particular, Diane specializes in complex multi-discipline, cross-border matters which have earned her the reputation as an expert in this field. Diane is the Chair of the communication committee of the International Bar Association and a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and the International Association of Gaming Advisors. She is also a Foreign Trade Advisor appointed by the French Government.  She was recently awarded the Insignia of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite for her involvement in promoting the French TMT sector.

 

Gert Botha

Chief Executive Officer, Hive Technology

Currently Gert is the CEO and one of the founding team of Hive Technology.  He is a motivated and passionate individual who strives to build quality lasting relationships with clients and partners. He believes that in order to succeed one needs to develop true human potential in every possible way as we travel this journey. He stays abreast of technology trends and consults with CIO's, CMO's & CEO's on technology strategy and how to use technology to innovate client service delivery. Gert assists organizations with the business case preparation for board approval.

 

David Fuller

Managing Director MENA, Redbox Digital

David has a career that spans some of the most important facets of the e-Commerce ecosystem. He has worked in retail on the supplier side for companies like Unilever, been involved with the supply chain and logistics, and on the digital side worked with pioneering mobile application developers, social media platforms and SEO tools. David has a global view of digital and e-Commerce, having worked in Australia, the USA, UK and now MENA, based in Dubai. As an MD of Redbox Digital, David has worked alongside merchants and suppliers of key e-Commerce services in the region to bring world class online shopping to local consumers.

 

Malek Bechlaghem

Senior Director, IT Risk & Assurance, Ernst & Young

Malek Bechlaghem leads EY MENA cybersecurity practice. With over 15 years of experience in this field, he has a heritage of designing national strategies and practical design and implementation of large transformational cybersecurity programs. His area of focus is around PKI and digital identity where he contributed to some of the largest deployments including national ID programs in GCC countries. His research interests are around zero-footprint PKI and e-ID frameworks that would facilitate the integration of these frameworks within large business initiatives at country level such as e-Commerce and E/M Government. Malek’s mission and ambition are to contribute to the deployment of added security, e-ID and PKI usage in public and private sectors.

 

Sunita Babbar

Director of Enforcement, Qatar Financial Center Regulatory Authority

Sunita Babbar has wide knowledge of the law affecting financial services regulation including policy initiatives and implementation as well as all aspects of enforcement activity. She is a qualified solicitor from the United Kingdom with extensive experience of financial services regulatory matters and commercial litigation.  Babbar joined the QFC Regulatory Authority from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) where she was a Legal Adviser to the Regulatory Decisions Committee. She has also worked as Enforcement Counsel within the Enforcement Division of the FSA and has been involved in a wide variety of regulatory matters, both contentious and non-contentious. Prior to her roles at the FSA, Babbar worked in private practice in the City of London. Ms Babbar holds an LLB from the London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) and the Solicitors Post Graduate Professional Examination.

 

Khaled Jaouni

Managing Director, Accela Middle East and Africa

Khaled Jaouni joined Accela in October 2010 to help lead its expansion initiative into international markets. Mr. Jaouni brings 20 years of experience in private equity, business management and transformation. Prior to joining Accela, he held a number of senior positions with leading multinational firms in the United States and the Middle East, including Ernst & Young, Cap Gemini, and Boeing. Mr. Jaouni was also a Partner at Ithmar Capital, a Dubai-based private equity firm, where he served on the boards of seven companies. The Harvard Business School published a case study exclusively on Ithmar Capital as an example of a private equity success story in the Middle East. Mr. Jaouni holds a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University and a master's degree in business administration from the Edinburgh Business School.