Speakers & Panellists

Sarah Phillips, Head of Conferences, Messe Frankfurt Middle East

Hassan Alhajji, Co-founder and Business Director, Automation and Digital Transformation Co.

Hassan is the Co-founder and Business Director of Automation and Digital Transformation Co, in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Previously, Hassan had worked for Saudi Aramco as Automations Leader for Saudi Aramco Refineries and NGL Plants.

Hassan has executed many projects in various technical fields such as Automations, Advanced Process Control, Digital Transformations, Information Systems, Plant Networks, Cyber Security, and Process Simulations.

Tim Shelton, Digital Transformation and Innovation Lead, Arcadis Middle East

Tim has nearly 20 years of experience in the Construction and Real Estate industries working as both client and consultant in the management of major capital programs of work in the UK and across the Middle East. Tim is currently responsible for driving digital transformation internally within the Arcadis Middle East business, and also to develop and nurture innovative products and solutions in partnership with an evolving technology ecosystem.

Dr. Hadj Batatia, Associate Professor - School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University Dubai

Dr. Hadj Batatia is an Associate Professor at the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences in Heriot-Watt University Dubai (HWUD) since 2020. He is also the Programme Director of Studies for BSc (Hons) Data Sciences. In his current role, Hadj is mainly responsible for managing programme content and leading admission decisions.

Prior to joining HWUD, Hadj was an Associate Professor in the Computer Science department of the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse (INP Toulouse), France. Previously, he also was Director of the Graduate Apprenticeship in Computer Engineering, Head of the Computer Science department, and Associate Director of the Engineering School at Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers – Toulouse Campus, France.

He has taught courses across a large spectrum of subjects that include Systems Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Medical Image Processing and Software Development at various levels (Diploma, Bachelors, Masters). His combined experience in academia spans a total of 25 years across France, the UK, Malaysia and currently the UAE. Throughout his academic career, Hadj has contributed to the design of new curricula and updating existing ones.

His research interests mainly lie in the areas of Statistical Medical Image Processing, Artificial Vision, and Statistical Machine Learning. To date, Hadj has published 130 research papers in peer-reviewed academic journals and international conferences, in addition to supervising 14 PhD theses.

Hadj completed his PhD at INP Toulouse and his postgraduate studies at the University of Toulouse, France and the University of Algiers, Algeria. He is fluent in both English and French. In his free time, Hadj likes reading history, hiking, mountain trekking, and gardening.

Lt. Colonel Dr. Hamad Khalifa Al Nueimi, Head of Telecom Division, Infrastructure Dept., ICT Center, Abu Dhabi Police GHQ

Lt. Colonel. Dr. Hamad and his team manage the wireless telecommunication for Abu Dhabi Police, starting from the designing of our based location to the activation of the network itself. Lt. Colonel. Dr. Hamad holds two degrees from the Higher College of Technology (HCT) which are a higher diploma (HD) in the Science of Network and Bachelor in Network Computer. He also holds a Master's degree in Telecommunication and Network Management from Syracuse University, New York, USA.

His managerial experience has provided him with valuable first-hand experience of organizational and corporate change and inspired passionate interest in organization management and administration. His first management position was with Abu Dhabi Police as a Network Section Manager, from 2005-2009 and later on continued from 2012 to 2016. He spent four months working with one of the renowned Information Technology companies in Boston, Massachusetts, USA

He received valuable experience of successfully achieving a record of customer satisfaction as well as figured out the differences between the business overseas and here in the UAE. Lt. Colonel. Dr. Hamad is also a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP), and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certified. Moreover, he has had a successful course training in leadership preparation in Abu Dhabi Police training department.

Khaled Al Blooshi, Vice President, Digital Projects & Innovation, ADNOC

Khaled Al Blooshi is leading the Digital transformation journey in ADNOC, developing Digital transformation strategies, and Supporting the businesses to drive value from Digital and & Artificial intelligence technologies.

Khaled comes from a deep technical career where previously he was the Technical Authority in Instrumentation and control, he played various roles in his career in Engineering and Maintenance. His career started with the pneumatic era where the field instruments were operated through the pneumatic air and witnessed the rapid revolution of Automation and digitization through his career.

Dr. Humaid Alshamsi, Representative of the Artificial Intelligence Division, Abu Dhabi Police

Dr. Humaid Alshamsi, is currently a Representative of the Artificial Intelligence Division at Abu Dhabi Police, over the years he has served in a number of entities in the Strategic management and performance development. Dr. Alshamsi gives many speeches locally and international events related to Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things as well Smart Cities, he also has wide research interests including digital signal processing, machine learning, human-computer interaction, computer vision, embedded systems and communications.

Shankar Narayanan, Head of Engineering & Commissioning, Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority

Mr. Shankar Narayanan holds over 25 years of professional experience working with the HV Electrical system (Engineering, Commissioning, Installation, Tender departments) in several MNC’s and utilities.

Dr. Jassim Haji, President, Artificial Intelligence Society Bahrain

Dr. Jassim Haji has management and executive experience in Aviation, Hospitality, Technology and Telecommunications for over 30 years. He has served on the board of directors of a leading hospitality and tourism technology provider in the Middle East and on SITA Council representing the Middle East and North Africa. Furthermore, he has been part of the Bahrain Centre of Excellence, which is over-looking excellence in the public sector.

Dr. Haji has been instrumental in implementing some key innovations at Gulf Air’s IT systems and processes in recent times, most notably, the introduction of advanced technology for Gulf Air World Wide Contact Centre, Cloud Computing, Business Intelligence, Disaster Recovery Centre, Green Technology, In-house Oracle R12 upgrade, Big Data, Electronic Flight Bag and deploying tablets to cabin crew for on-board services plus ISO 27001, 9001, 20000, 240001, 22301, 55000 and 50001 certifications that have helped further improve customer interface services as well as cost efficiency to the company. He managed to achieve forty-three top Middle-Eastern technology awards, including four CIO distinguished awards.

He participated as a key speaker and chairman in over 80 technology conferences in Middle-East and Europe to cover latest technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Information Security and Business Intelligence. He also published articles in relation to the above topics. Additionally, Dr. Haji is part of several advisory boards of key technological events in the Gulf and he is participating in several judging panels for reputable technology awards. Furthermore, he has featured on 19 international technology and aviation magazines cover pages with over 80 interviews. Plus published four books in English and Arabic on Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation post-COVID-19, Technology Management and Organization Culture.

Dr. Haji received his Doctorate in Business Administration (PhD) from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK in 2010. He has completed his Master's degree in Management of Information Technology from the University of Sunderland, UK and graduation in telecommunications from the famed Cable and Wireless College, Cornwall, UK.

He started his career with Sprint Telecommunications in London before joining Gulf Air in 1985 as a network engineer and moved to Sabre – an airline IT solutions company – to whom Gulf Air outsourced its IT services. He then moved to EDS as an Executive Director, another American IT solutions company with a global presence, then in 2008 to Gulf Air as the Director of Information Technology Division. He is currently working as President of Artificial Intelligence Society Bahrain plus AI and Aviation Technology leading expert, consultant and executive Director.

Ahmed El Sobky, ICT Expert, Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)

Mr. El-Sobky is the Vice CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency "ITIDA", the implementing arm of the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. He is responsible for managing the sectors related to ICT markets development in ITIDA, which includes the departments responsible for attracting foreign directs investments, promoting the Egyptian ICT exports, talent development, and the private sector capacity building. In addition, he is the general trustee of the Supreme Council for Cyber Security. He has been working in the fields related to Information Technology since 1985.

He was the first Chairman of “Silicon Waha”, a joint-stock company responsible for establishing six new Technology Parks in Egypt, in which two of them have been opened already in December 2016 and the other two inaugurated in Dec. 2017.

He worked as the Director of Strategic Projects at the Ministry of Investment and participated in managing a number of e-government projects implemented under the umbrella of the Ministry of State for Administrative Development "MSAD".

On the African level, he participated in the development of e-learning strategy for both Nile Basin and COMESA Countries as an Egyptian expert who participated in implementing the first e-learning master degree in the Middle East in collaboration with "Middlesex" University in the UK and in establishing the Egyptian node for the Global Distance Learning Network of the World Bank (GDLN).

On the regional level and as a member of the Arab Workforce Group preparing the WSIS 1st. phase he participated in formulating the document "Towards a Pan Arab Information Society - A Joint Action Plan". In addition, he participated in the drafting committee of the "High-Level Arab Conference" to prepare for the first phase of the WSIS, which was held in Cairo in June 2003. In addition, he participated in reviewing a regional document called: "Towards Activating the Geneva Plan of Action: A Regional Vision to Promote and Develop the Information Society in the Arab Region" which was submitted in the second phase of the WSIS held in Tunis.

In 2014, he led a national workgroup of multi-stakeholders experts (governmental, private, and NGOs) -under the umbrella of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology- to prepare the national strategic plan of ICT in Egypt. In addition, he is a member of a national workgroup of multi-stakeholders experts to develop the eLearning in Egypt.

He led a national workgroup -under the umbrella of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology- to issue "Egypt ICT Golden Book" which shows the projects undertaken by different Egyptian stakeholders in the field of "Information for Development - ICT4D" as one of Egypt's efforts in the implementation and follow-up of the two phases WSIS; Geneva and Tunis.

He also contributed to implementing the "National Contest of the e-Content" under the umbrella of "Information Technology Industry Development Agency - ITIDA" through his membership of the competition executive committee. In addition, he participated as a jury in the second round of the competition in 2007 in the field of "e-learning."

Mr. El-Sobky is an author for a number of papers submitted in international, regional, and local conferences in the areas of e-Learning, e-Content e-Government, and the Knowledge Society. In addition, he authored a book in the Arabic language called: "A Guide for Information Technology and Systems Security".

He participated as a member of the "Board of Information Technology and Communication – Internet Security Workgroup", Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt.

He also participated in formulating the initial drafts of “Cyber Security Law” and “Data Privacy Law” through his membership of the “Laws Formulation Committee” under the umbrella of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Dr. Mohammed Khaled, Futurist and Cyber Security Expert

A seasoned IT leader with a 16+ year track record of transformation technology, information, security, projects, building ground-up IT departments in start-up organisations and delivering complex and challenging IT solutions and projects. Served multiple very large government organisations with technology-oriented and aligned with business needs to accelerate the future and shaping the future government. Highly motivated with a proven ability to lead, manage and develop IT teams.

Hassan Khawaja, Digital Transformation & IR 4.0 Strategy Consultant

Hassan Khawaja is a Digital Transformation, IR 4.0, technology and innovation strategy consultant, with 20+ years’ global consulting and implementation experience. He is currently engaged in the Oil and Gas industry focused on Upstream digital transformation. Prior experiences include working at Microsoft where he specialized in Cloud, Data and AI solutions, using digital technologies as a key enabler to accelerate customers’ transformation journey.

Uwe Troeger, Senior Executive Vice President Digital Industries, Siemens Middle East

Troeger’s career at Siemens spans 29 years with extensive international experience, beginning in Germany as a commissioning engineer, project manager and service manager before taking on a role in the UK as senior technical support engineer at Siemens ICN. Following a 10-year period in Asia including positions in Hong Kong, Singapore and China, in 2003 Troeger returned to the company’s headquarters in Germany as global head of department for Lifecycle Services. In 2006 he was appointed Global Service Manager for Siemens’ Industry Sector, Oil and Gas and in 2014 took on the role of CEO of the company’s Center of Competence for oil and gas for the Industry Sector. He was subsequently Head of Vertical for the Process Solutions business unit within onshore and offshore oil and gas. Troeger is now the Senior Executive Vice President Digital Industries at Siemens Middle East.

Jesper Toubøl, Vice President, Elements and Moulds – Engineering, LEGO Group

Jesper has delivered organizational footprint and technology strategies within Element design and Mould Manufacturing - establishing Engineering centers in LEGO manufacturing sites in Mexico and Denmark. Responsibilities include delivering innovation to support product development and leading engineering on manufacturing sites. During his work Jesper has profound focus on how IoT can support his visions and enable the future – a true IOT-technology evangelist.

Jesper has worked for LEGO in several roles. 1) Responsibility for R&D in Packaging and Processing (Decorations and Assembly) product line. 2) Responsibilities for product development execution for LEGO DUPLO , LEGO Games , LEGO Technic , LEGO Hero Factory - leading development teams through design, sourcing and marketing process from concept to finished product. 3) establishing logistics strategy, delivered turn around results in increasing differentiated services and reducing costs by e.g. outsourcing, consolidating sites and redefining logistic service offering.

Adrian Castillero, Associate Director, Digital Transformation, Boston Consulting Group

Adrian Castillero joined Boston Consulting Group in 2019. He is part of Digital BCG and a digital expert member of BCG’s Technology Advantage practice. He is a member of the Technology Advantage practice and an expert with the Digital Accelerator System (DAS) for the firm. He works to push BCG’s digital and technology advantage business in the Middle East region and works with client companies across the wider CEMA region to use digital technologies and advanced analytics to unlock new sources of economic value and achieve step-function improvements in productivity, flexibility, and speed.

Adrian is also a professor of Technology & Innovation Management and Digital Transformation at IE Business School. Prior to joining the firm, he worked in various roles in consulting firms involved in global and international initiatives, supporting the guidance of several top tier company’s business and technology transformation.

Dr. Hamed Ali Al-Hashemi, Director of Strategy Department of Health, Abu Dhabi

Dr. Hamed Ali Al-Hashemi is currently a Director of Strategic Affairs at Department of Health (Abu Dhabi) overseeing the healthcare strategic planning and performance management. He is also leading digital healthcare transformation programs including accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence, building big data analytics capacity, heath information exchange, AI & Innovation Lab and foresights in healthcare. Previously, he served as Director for Government Strategy and Performance at General Secretariat, Executive Council of Abu Dhabi Government. He also worked as the Director of Economic Policy Planning at Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development. He started his career in the oil and gas industry with Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company Ltd. (ADGAS) where he headed the development, planning and engineering divisions.

His expertise spanning strategy formulation, policy-making, digital transformation, outcome and result based performance management, design thinking, scenario plannin, project management, and building institutional capabilities.

He holds a master’s in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School and a doctorate in Business Administration from Cranfield University.

Richard Agyeman-Yeboah, P&PM Specialist & Upstream Division Group Lead, Saudi Aramco

Richard is a finance and accounting leader with over 20 years of diverse and extensive experience in financial control and global operations in the oil and gas industry. He has a Master of Business Administration in International Business from the University of Houston, having previously obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Southern University and A&M College. Additionally, he has taken part in several leadership and management training programs, including Rice University and Cornell University both in USA.

As a P&PM Specialist & Upstream Division Group Principal at Saudi Aramco, Richard leads a multicultural team of oil and gas professionals in overseeing the planning and performance of the management group. The team consists of qualified professionals overseeing an array of administrative areas including exploration, drilling and workover, petroleum engineering, and oil and gas production. As a group leader, Richards provides support and direction in delivering all duties and responsibilities.

In his spare time, Richard enjoys international travel, watching movies and trying new cuisine and recipes. He is also an avid Chelsea football club supporter

Ruba Al Nashash, Founder and General Manager, 3dinova

Ruba is the Founder of 3Dinova and currently works as a 3D trainer alongside her other responsibilities of running this educational startup. She enjoys creating unique learning experiences through applying different teaching techniques. Ruba started her career in the Oil and Gas industry, and then moved to the construction industry as a Structural and Design Engineer for 5 years. She is a mother of 2 kids and enjoys spending family time, working on a prototype or reading during her spare time. Ruba graduated from the American University of Sharjah with a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering.

Saud Al-Fahdi, Head of Control and Automation Discipline, Petroleum Development Oman

Saud Al-Fahdi is Head of Control and Automation Discipline in Petroleum Development Oman, with over 20 years of oil and gas experience, technical head of PDO control, automation and instrumentation engineering and maintenance activities. Saud’s current focus is team upskilling and carrier development, design simplification and standardization, PCD cybersecurity and functional safety lifecycle management. Saud is ISA President of Oman’s chapter.

Dr. Yousif Al Zaabi, Unit Head, Foresight, Department of Health Abu Dhabi

Dr. Yousif Alzaabi, Vice Chairman of the Department Health Abu Dhabi Youth Council

Dr. Alzaabi received his bachelor from University of Sharjah in dental surgery, graduated the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland with a master’s degree in healthcare management and studied a master’s in public health in the University of Essex. He is the Vice Chairman of the Department of Health Abu Dhabi Youth Council and a Certified Foresight Practitioner (CFP). He also leads the AI and innovation lab in the Department of health with the aim to transform healthcare delivery and (excellence for the population in Abu Dhabi). His passion advanced his career in healthcare landing him in the Public Health division of the Department of Health Following his belief in giving back to the community. His most recent role is the Head of Foresight Unit as part of the strategy division within the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi where he engages with the wider ecosystem in futures studies and long-view strategic planning. Dr. Alzaabi believes in good design (for everyday life) and he is a passionate practitioner of design thinking. He also believes in transforming how value is created in ecosystems, from products and services to platforms creation. In his free time, he enjoys reading, volunteering, painting, and jogging.

Athar Siddiqui, Executive Vice President, Factory Automation & Motion Controls, Siemens

Athar Siddiqui is the Executive Vice President of Factory Automation & Motion Controls at Siemens Middle East. He joined Siemens in 2006, after graduating in industrial electronics at NED University of Engineering and completing his MBA at ZABIST, and held various positions in the automation division in the Middle East and Germany.

Walid Yehia, Senior Presales Director for Turkey, Africa, and Middle East, Dell Technologies

Walid Yehia, is the EMC regional Sr. presales Director for Turkey, Africa, and Middle East.

Walid has more than 20 years of extensive IT consulting experience managing all facets of Information Technology from Strategy, System Integration, to design and delivery.

Walid has been with DELL EMC since 2006 in different leadership positions. During this period, Walid closely worked with many large enterprises from different industries to support their IT strategy around Cloud, big data and Digital transformation.

Prior to joining EMC, he worked for various multi-national vendors and systems integrators.

Dr. Kathryn Vince-Odozi, Energy Field Director, Global Energy Program, Dell Technologies

Kathryn Vince-Odozi is Energy Field Director with the Global Energy program at Dell Technologies, leading business development for the oil & gas and utility industry solutions across EMEA. With more than 20 years’ experience in the energy industry, she is ideally positioned to engage customers on their business challenges to help them improve operations and accelerate the energy transition, from leveraging Big Data to deploying digital solutions at the edge.

Kathryn holds a Ph.D. in Geology and joined Dell Technologies in 2018, bringing extensive technical and business development experience from the Upstream, Downstream, and Renewable Energy industries.

Hani Khalaf, BDM – Internet of Things, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), Dell Technologies

Hani Khalaf leads the Business Development of Internet of Things Solutions and Digital Cities in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Dell EMC. He believes in the Internet of Things (IoT) being a key disruptive technology in driving the Digitization of the business and cities and is very passionate about helping customers in their Digital Transformation journey. He has over 22 years of experience in the field of telecommunications, networking, public safety and Internet of Things technology.

Susan Chang, Channel Sales Manager, Advantech

Susan Chang is the Channel Sales Manager at Advantech and her main focus is in the Middle East & N. Africa region, providing advice and key solutions to enable digital transformation.

Nasr Mahmud, Sales Manager, IFM Electronic FZC

Responsible for the G.C.C, GME, and Pakistan and Bangladesh region.
10+ years experience in the field of automation in the Middle East.

Amro Suleiman, Digital Expert

Amro is a technology, digital, and innovation expert based in Dubai. He has been working closely with oil and gas industry leaders globally on their digital transformation journeys. Amro comes with extensive experience on topics of strategy, cloud, artificial intelligence, and data.

Berley Rajan, Technical Sales Engineer, BECKHOFF Automation

Berley Rajan is a Technical Sales Specialist at Beckhoff Automation, one of the leading Automation Solutions provider globally. He is an experienced Automation Engineer with a demonstrated history of technical support and project implementations for more than 5 years.

He is skilled in Control Systems Design, Process Control, SCADA, HMIs, PLCs, and RTU systems. He is currently focusing on proactively developing opportunities for PC based Control and exploiting the advantages of Open Automation technology with IIoT.

Berley is based in the UAE and holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Automation and Communication from The Manchester Metropolitan University in UK. He started his Engineering journey with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Electronics and Instrumentation from University of Kerala in India.

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2020 Speakers & Panellists