Dubai Business Forum

H.E. Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al-Ghurair is a leading businessperson who holds the position of Chairman at the UAE Banks Federation, Masafi LLC, Abdullah Al Ghurair Education Foundation and the Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair Refugee Education Fund. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oman Insurance PJSC, Vice Chairman Al Ghurair Investment and Board Member of The Emirates Foundation. Furthermore, His Excellency is Emeritus Chairman and Board Member of Family Business Council-Gulf, Governing Council Member of the Global Muslim Philanthropy Fund for Children in partnership with UNICEF and Islamic Development Bank.

His Excellency was elected as Chairman of the United Arab Emirates Federal National Council (UAE Parliament), from 2007 until 2011. Previously, he served as CEO of Mashreq for nearly 30 years, and sat on the Board of Directors of major companies such as Emaar, Dubai Investments, Visa International, MasterCard, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Co-Chairman of the Arab Business Council – World Economic Forum (WEF).  He was also a member of the Consultative GCC Council for the GCC Leaders and President of The Knowledge Fund, and a member of the Board of Trustees of New York University, USA.

H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri was appointed Minister of Economy of the UAE and member of the UAE Cabinet in July 2020. He is the Chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE International Investors Council, the CSR UAE Fund’s Board of Trustees, and the Head of the Circular Economy Policy Committee within the UAE Circular Economy Council. He also chairs several government committees including the Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection, the National Civil Aviation Security and Facilitation Committee, the Economic Integration Committee, and the Emirates Tourism Council.

His Excellency has held various senior government positions. As Secretary General of the UAE Cabinet, he was instrumental in strengthening the interdependence between the federal and local governments. In this role, he also spearheaded many initiatives aimed at measuring public opinion and acceptability of public policies, and developed critical partnerships with international organizations such as the World Economic Forum.

Minister Al Marri formerly served as the Chairman of the Securities and Commodities Authority and the Director General of the Executive Office of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He was part of the leading team behind the launch of “Area 2071,” the nucleus of the future envisioned in the UAE Centennial Plan 2071. He also took part in the unveiling of the Hatta Economic Zone development project and the relaunching of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Center for Leadership Development.

In addition, as former CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, Al Marri played a vital role in the successful launch of Dubai 10X, the Emirate’s bid to become the city of the future, and other initiatives at the local and national levels.

Minister Al Marri is a member of the Boards of Directors of various federal entities. In these roles, he actively supports the development of priority sectors in the country such as the Golden Visa initiative, which seeks to attract talented individuals from across the world.

As the CEO of Dubai Economic Development Corporation (DEDC) at Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), Hadi Badri is responsible for leading the DEDC team in orchestrating the implementation of projects relating to the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33. As the economic development arm of Dubai, DEDC’s mandate includes enhancing Dubai’s economic competitiveness across sectors, diversifying the emirate’s economy, attracting foreign investment and global talent, and establishing initiatives focused on advancing innovation and the contribution of Dubai’s digital economy.

Prior to joining DET, Hadi held various management roles at Emaar Properties, including as CEO of Emaar International, Group Chief Strategy Officer at Emaar and Chairman of Namshi. Hadi has served as a Board Director for Emaar Properties in 15 companies across Real Estate, E-commerce and Hospitality, including Emaar’s real estate development businesses in India, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco and Jordan.

Previously, Hadi accumulated extensive experience working with multinational corporations across diverse fields including management consulting with Bain & Company and private equity investing with The Carlyle Group.

A member of the Executive Council of Dubai, member of the Board of Directors of the Investment Corporation of Dubai and the Director General of the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA), Almarri was recently appointed as chairman of Dubai Financial Market and also serves as a member of the Supreme Committee of the Expo 2020 and board member at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Emaar Properties PJSC and Taaleem PJSC.   Almarri’s responsibilities span enhancing Dubai’s positioning as the preferred destination for investment, business and leisure and for developing and strengthening the Emirate’s economy.  He is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and previously worked at consulting firms, McKinsey and KPMG.

With more than a decade of experience as a driving force in transforming businesses and organizations that contribute to Dubai's strategy of economic diversification, Belhoul now leads the DFF across its five strategic business units that include imagining and understanding the future, disseminating future knowledge, building future capacity, designing, accelerating the future, and seeing and experiencing the future. Under his supervision, Dubai Future Foundation continuously works towards achieving its vision and goals of placing Dubai as a leading city of the future, and a hub for innovation and technology.

Prior to his role at DFF, Belhoul served as the Vice President of Strategy at Dubai Holding, where he was responsible for formulating Dubai Holding’s strategic direction and enhancing its investments and its role in the diversification of Dubai’s non-oil economy. Earlier in his career, Belhoul played a key role in setting up the Belhoul Investment Office, responsible for launching a sophisticated asset allocation strategy spanning private equity, alternative investments, real estate and conventional assets.

DCTCM, which was established in December 2013 as an affiliate of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, now known as Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

Kazim is the driving force behind DCTCM's rise, having built the team from ground up and establishing a vast global network of offices. He oversees all aspects of Dubai's branding, promotion, and marketing, playing a pivotal role in forging global partnerships and fostering relationships with industry stakeholders, partners, and investors, all contributing significantly to the city's increased visitation.

Since assuming leadership at DCTCM in February 2014, Kazim has developed and led a dynamic team, pioneering innovative destination tools and data-driven platforms, to enrich the Dubai visitor experience.

Before joining DCTCM, Kazim held the role of Director of DXB Live and Commercial at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). In this capacity, he successfully launched strategic live events.

His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer the Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA (PJSC) has an overall experience of more than 35 years in telecommunications, energy, water, infrastructure, oil, gas and industry.

Under his leadership since 1992, DEWA group has achieved unprecedented success and is recognized today to be one of the most distinguished utilities world-wide. His Excellency founded several successful companies, notably Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (EMPOWER), Etihad Energy Services Company (Etihad ESCO), Mai Dubai, among others. His Excellency is a Member of the Dubai Executive Council and Strategic Affairs Council, Chairman of Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), Chairman of Dubal Holding, Chairman of Dragon Oil Company, Vice Chairman of Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Vice Chairman of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), among others. His Excellency received several prestigious awards such as the “Middle East Champion of Energy” award from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

In 2016, the UNDP appointed His Excellency as "UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goals". The Swiss Business Council, Dubai & Northern Emirates, awarded His Excellency the prestigious “Lord of Matterhorn Award”. His Excellency also received an honorary doctorate from Amity University in Dubai, and the prestigious Honorary Fellowship from the Energy Institute, United Kingdom.  

Brett oversees Sales, Marketing, Communications, Business & Analytics. His embrace of disruptive technologies has fundamentally changed Kerzner’s commercial culture and has been pivotal in driving global sales operations towards a more customer-centric, insight-driven and digitalized approach.

Joining Kerzner in 2007, Brett has successfully launched and integrated new resorts and brands while imparting a deep understanding and continuity of Kerzner's history and evolution, all leading to effectively navigating the organization and driving growth. Brett has transformed Kerzner's commercial operations through versatile, data-driven technology and a new, integrated culture.

Leading the commercial function of the company, Brett has had a remarkable career spanning multiple continents with leading hospitality groups. He joined Kerzner International as one of the first employees to open Atlantis The Palm successfully. He has worked for several prestigious brands, including The Savor Group, InterContinental Hotels Group, Jumeirah Group and more.

As CEO of Crescent Enterprises, Jafar leads a diverse conglomerate operating in nine sectors across 15 countries. He actively engages in various non-profit initiatives spanning humanitarian aid, international development, strategic philanthropy, corporate governance, entrepreneurship, and the arts. Jafar's roles include membership in the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing and UNESCO's International Commission on the Futures of Education. He's also appointed to the Advisory Committee and as a Special Representative for Business & Philanthropy & Private Sector for the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Notably, in 2010, Jafar founded the Pearl Initiative to promote corporate transparency and accountability in the Gulf Region. He is the Founding Patron of the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy at the Cambridge Judge Business School and MENA's first Strategic Philanthropy Initiative at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Chris Anderson is currently playing a pivotal role in a cutting-edge AI and advanced manufacturing startup, operating discreetly to redefine industry paradigms. Prior to this, he held the position of Chief Technology Officer at Kittyhawk, a pioneering air taxi venture backed by Larry Page, contributing to the future of aviation.

His extensive career includes serving as the CEO of 3DR, a frontrunner in the drone industry. Notably, Chris founded the Linux Foundation's Dronecode Project and initiated the DIY Drones and DIY Robocars communities, including the groundbreaking ArduPilot autopilot project.

Chris began his influential journey as Editor in Chief of Wired Magazine. He also made impact working with The Economist in London, Hong Kong, and New York.

His literary contributions have garnered critical acclaim, with New York Times bestselling books including "The Long Tail," "Free," and "Makers: The New Industrial Revolution". Chris has received numerous accolades, including Editor of the Year by Ad Age (2005), a place in Time 100's list of the most influential people in the world (2007), and the Loeb Award for Business Book of the Year (2007)

Div Turakhia is a serial tech entrepreneur, self-made billionaire and investor.

Div started his first company in the UAE in the early 2000's. Across the last 20 years, Div successfully built and exited 3 different startups – Media.net (founded & self-funded with approx. $2M, exited at $900M in 2016), Skenzo (founded & self-funded with $20k, valued at $200M+ and exited in 2008), Directi (co-founded at the age of 16 with $500, exited at $160M).  

In 2022, Div founded Ai.tech, a cutting-edge startup studio with its global headquarters based in Dubai. Ai.tech develops advanced machine learning algorithms designed for predictive decisioning across large sets of unstructured data. Ai.tech has incubated a few different businesses, the largest of which is Advertising.tech. Advertising.tech develops machine learning technologies for large-scale media buying, and licenses diverse online advertising solutions to prominent companies within the ad tech industry. The Ai.tech startups now exceed 1000 employees worldwide.

David Hanson develops robots that are widely regarded as the world’s most human-like in appearance as part of a lifelong quest to create true living, caring machines. To accomplish these goals, Hanson integrates figurative arts with cognitive science and robotics engineering, inventions in novel skin materials, facial expression mechanisms and collaborative developments in AI within humanoid artworks like Sophia the robot, which can engage people in naturalistic face-to-face conversations and currently serves in AI research, education, therapy, and other uses.

Hanson worked as a Walt Disney Imagineer, both a sculptor and a technical consultant in robotics, and later founded Hanson Robotics. As a researcher, Hanson published dozens of papers in materials science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and robotics journals. He wrote two books including “Humanizing Robots” and received several patents. Hanson has been featured in the New York Times, Popular Science, Scientific American, WIRED, BBC and CNN.

Dr Malte Heyne is a university lecturer in economics, chairman of the board of the Initiative Pro Metropolregion Hamburg (since 2020), a member of the supervisory board at the shareholders’ meeting of Hamburg Marketing GmbH (since 2020) and a supervisory board member of Hamburg Messe and Congress GmbH (since 2021).

After studying economics in Bamberg, Heyne earned his doctorate at the University of Bremen. He then began working in business development in 2004 with close contacts to the chamber organization. In 2007, he joined the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. From 2010 to 2014, he headed the Tourism and Sports Department in the Infrastructure Division. In 2014, he continued his professional career as managing director of IHK Nord e.V. where he bundled the common interests of the twelve North German member chambers. He realigned IHK Nord, increased cost efficiency and reformed the association and committee structure. Key topics included foreign trade, energy and industrial policy, as well as innovation and start-ups. In 2020 Dr Malte Heyne was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Noack manages the Research team, the Future Academy and the World Economic Forum’s UAE Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He is Policy Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge, is a member of the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region’s Technical Advisory Committee and writes an opinion column in The National on foresight topics. Prior to this role he was senior policy adviser at the Royal Society where he led on emerging technologies and foresight. He was responsible for a landmark report on neural interface technologies – iHuman – which aimed at exploring the forthcoming scientific opportunities and the social and policy implications. In the years prior, he has developed scenarios and foresight on complex issues with United Nations specialised agencies and in the private sector.

Daniel Susskind is a keynote speaker, the co-author of the best-selling book, ‘The Future of the Professions‘, and an expert on the impact of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, on work and society.

Daniel wrote ‘A World Without Work: Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond‘ which was shortlisted for several awards, including the FT / McKinsey Business Book of the Year and Fortune Magazine’s Best Business Book of the Year 2020. The New York Times described it as “required reading for any potential presidential candidate thinking about the economy of the future”.

Daniel is the host of Automation Nation (BBC World Service), a three-part radio documentary series, which explores automation, the future of work and the impact on society in the US and across the world.

He is currently a Fellow in Economics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he teaches and researches and is also and a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. Previously, Daniel was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University and has worked for the British Government in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, in the Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street, and in the Cabinet Office.

The question of whether machines will replace humans in the world of work is becoming an ever more pertinent one. Daniel Susskind is at the forefront of those exploring this topic and his TED Talk, on the future of work has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. 

Appointed as Managing Director and CEO to establish INVEST INDIA, the National Investment Promotion Agency of the Government, Deepak Bagla’s eight year tenure in March this year resulted in the Agency being acknowledged as the World’s most awarded IPA.

Invest India is the point of reference for Investors and also assists several important initiatives of the Government including, Startup India, One District One Product, The Prime Minister’s Science and Technology initiative and the digitisation of the processes and approvals during the investor journey. Deepak has been a member of several High-Level Government Committees including the Committee on Financing infrastructure, Core Group on Corporate Governance for Independent Directors, Committees on Fintech, Innovation, Tourism, Healthcare, and a special invitee to the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council. 

Eric is an award-winning entrepreneur, CEO of Omnitron Sensors and previous Advisor to Ascent Robotics.

Eric started his career by building sensors for drones at US Navy research labs and defense contractors. He then joined a startup company that licensed Navy IP that built a revolutionary motion sensor. This led to an acquisition by Google where Eric transitioned to developing autonomous systems. He was the avionics lead at Goggle(x) Wing, enabling autonomous flight for their commercial delivery drones before working for Tesla leading firmware and sensor integration efforts for Model 3. Eric now leads Omnitron in developing 3D sensors, leveraging a proprietary semiconductor process.

Greg Lindsay is an urban tech fellow at Cornell Tech’s Jacobs Institute, a senior fellow of MIT’s Future Urban Collectives Lab, a senior advisor to Climate Alpha, and a non-resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Strategy Initiative.  

Greg is a partner at the advisory firm FutureMap and has advised Intel, Samsung, IKEA, Starbucks, Audi, Hyundai, Tishman Speyer, British Land, André Balazs Properties, Aldar, Emaar and Expo 2020, along with numerous G20 government entities. He was previously the urbanist-in-residence at URBAN-X — BMW MINI’s urban tech accelerator — the director of applied research at NewCities, and founding director of strategy at its mobility-focused offshoot CoMotion. He is the co-author of the 2011 critically acclaimed international bestseller Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next.

Prior to his appointment as CEO of DFM, Hamed Ali served as Deputy CEO and has also been leading Nasdaq Dubai as the CEO since 2012. In these roles, Mr. Ali develops and implements the expansion of existing markets and activities at both exchanges and is creating new areas of growth, building on the synergies between DFM and Nasdaq Dubai.

Under his leadership, Nasdaq Dubai launched equity derivatives on UAE stocks in 2016 and on Saudi stocks in 2019.

Nasdaq Dubai has become one of the largest exchanges in the world for Sukuk listings. It is the largest exchange in the Middle East for US dollar-denominated bond listings, many of them from Chinese and other international issuers as well as GCC issuers. Under Mr. Ali’s direction, Nasdaq Dubai has also pioneered the UAE’s listed REITs market. The exchange’s MarketSite event space, launched in 2018, has become a leading venue for thought leadership and media activity.

Mr. Ali’s experience includes serving as Chief Operating Officer of DIFC Authority and most recently as Executive Director at the Dubai Knowledge & Human Development Authority. He has played a key role in the development of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 and participated in various strategy development exercises.

Jean-Claude Trichet is one of the world’s most respected Central Bankers. He was the President of the European Central Bank from 2003 to 2011 and is now an Honorary Governor of the Banque de France.  Jean-Claude Trichet is a keynote speaker on global economics and other finance related topics.

A distinguished public servant, Mr Trichet was appointed Censor of the General Council of the Banque de France and Alternate Governor of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1987. He was Chairman of the European Monetary Committee from 1992 until his appointment as Governor of the Banque de France in 1993. He was the Chairman of the Monetary Policy Council of the Banque de France as of 1994, a member of the Council of the European Monetary Institute from 1994 to 1998 and thereafter a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. At the end of his first term as Governor of the Banque de France, he was reappointed for a second term. He was elected Chairman of the Group of Ten (G10) Governors in June 2003.

He was named “Person of the Year” by the Financial Times (2007), “Policymaker of the Year” by The International Economy magazine (1991 and 2007), was n° 5 of the “World most powerful” in the 2008 Newsweek list and was one of the “Most influential people in the world” in Time Magazine (2011). He has received a number of awards, including the 2011 International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen for his contribution to European unity and also received the 2011 Global Economy Prize from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by several universities (Stirling, Montreal, Liege, Tel Aviv, Bologne and Sofia).

Jane Prokop is a financial services and fintech leader with over 20 years of experience leading companies to profitability, scale, and exit in the financial services and media sectors. She has a unique breadth of experience from early days serving as an international private equity investor through to senior leadership and eventual GM/CEO positions at finance and media/tech companies - pure startup through established F500.

 Jane leads the Global Product and Engineering team serving the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) segments at Mastercard.  Her team drives innovation, strategy and product development, building on Mastercard’s strengths in card products and multi-rail payments as well as extensive data, cyber, software and network assets. 

Prior to joining Mastercard in 2021, Jane spent 14 years immersed in the small business financing space.  She led strategy for the largest private US micro-leasing company, and then bootstrapped an alternative lending startup and grew it into one of the most highly respected and profitable private originators in the sector, originating over $750 million in small business unsecured financing across the US and Canada.  

An economist with more than twenty years’ experience in macroeconomic research spanning three continents, and currently Chief Economist and Head of Research at one of the UAE's largest banks, Khatija Haque is a thought leader on regional economies with a high local and international media profile.

Prior to joining Emirates NBD in 2011 as one of the founding members of the research team, helping to build the bank’s macroeconomic coverage on the GCC and wider MENA region, Katija was vice president at Deutsche Bank AG in London covering several countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Kathy is one of Mainland China’s trailblazing young serial entrepreneurs. As CEO of Oneness Labs, a cutting-edge Web3 game company serving the 1B passionate Arabic gamers acknowledged by MIT's Technology Review for its in game AI advancement, Kathy has been named as one of MIT’s 35 Global Innovators under 35.

Kathy serves as Chief Ambassador at Xterio, a next-gen Metaverse startup that raised a founding round of $55 Million in 2022.  Before gaming, Kathy founded ai. Law, a robotic legal startup that reduces the barriers of legal services. Until its acquisition of 11 Million USD in 2017, ai. Law had served 3 million people, with 67% of them being women.  She plays Chess competitively and was China’s youngest national chess champion and one of the country’s youngest chess masters.  In 2012, Kathy founded a not-for-profit organization, World's Young Voices, to sponsor grass-root Chinese students for their social entrepreneurship capability.

Global Ventures is a UAE-based, Series-A focused, emerging-market venture capital firm with presence in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria and a leading investor across the Middle East and Africa. Since its inception in 2018, Global Ventures has completed 60 investments and 4 exits across ten markets, deliberately focused on sectors positively affecting millions of lives across the world, such as FinTech, Digital Health, EdTech and AgriTech, creating 10,500 jobs, enabling female leadership, powering financial inclusion for over 62 million people and expanding healthcare access to over 6.8 million patients.

Prior to Global Ventures, Noor was the first woman to operate, scale and IPO a company in the MENA region, listing Depa on NASDAQ Dubai and the London Stock Exchange for US$1.1 billion. Identified by Forbes as one of the “World’s Top 50 Women in Tech” and by Arabian Business as one of the “Most Influential Arabs”, Noor's previous roles include Chief Investment Officer at The Dubai Future Foundation and a Founding Partner at Leap Ventures. Noor also founded ZenYoga, the largest chain of yoga and Pilates studios in the Middle East.

Noor is an active, independent board director of Clue, the largest femtech company in Europe. She is the Founding Chairwoman of the Middle East Venture Capital Association, a Director of the Global Private Capital Association, TechWadi, and the Karman Fellowship.   She is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders.

Professor von Scheel is a strategist and futurist best known as the originator (Godfather) of the 4th Industrial Revolution and Digital theme of today.

Named the ‘leading authority on strategy’ by the Financial Times and recognised as ‘the most influential management thinker of our times’ by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, Professor von Scheel played a significant role in defining Germany’s future digital strategy as part of the Advisory Council at the Federal Ministry of Education & Research. His ‘Digital Agenda’ was adopted by the European Commission in 2010 as part of the Europe 2020 and evolved into the ‘European Digital Revolution’.

The Professor’s work is applied to over 24 national economies, influences GDP growth, triggers global themes and has shaped the performance of 23% of the Fortune 500 fastest growing companies.  As recipient of the prestigious Nobel Laureates of Knowledge Award for Intellectual Achievement and knowledge sharing, Professor von Scheel has evolved mainstream thinking and practices of today’s businesses. He is proactively engaged in shaping global future themes at various councils, economic forums and committees and is a Professor at Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business.

Ian Goldin is Oxford University Professor of Globalisation and Development and the founding Director of the Oxford Martin School, the leading centre for interdisciplinary research into critical global challenges. Professor Goldin leads research groups on Technological and Economic Change, Future Work and Future Development. He was previously World Bank Vice President and the Group’ Director of Policy after serving as Chief Executive of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Advisor to President Nelson Mandela. The Professor advises businesses and governments globally and has received wide recognition for his contributions to development and research, including having been knighted by the French Government and nominated Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. He has written and presented three BBC series on subjects including AI, the pandemic and globalisation and is the author of 24 books including Age of the City, Terra Incognita and Rescue: From Crisis to a Better World.

Prior to his current role at Amazon, Mouchawar co-founded Souq.com in 2005, and grew the company into the largest e-commerce retailer in the Arab world. Following the company’s acquisition by Amazon for USD $580 million in 2017, Mouchawar spearheaded the rebrand from Souq.com to Amazon, launching Amazon.ae in the UAE in 2019, followed by Amazon.sa in Saudi Arabia in 2020, and finally Amazon.eg in Egypt in 2021. 

Mouchawar is currently leading the Amazon business across the region, focused on providing customers with a localized service, trusted online shopping experience, and an ever-growing array of products and services at great prices with fast delivery. He guides his teams across the business by four key principles: customer obsession, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking.

Rashed A. Al Ansari is currently the Group Chief Executive Office and a member of the board of directors of Al Ansari Financial Services P.J.S.C. a publicly listed company on the Dubai Financial Market. He also holds the role of the CEO of Al Ansari Exchange since 2010, the UAE’s largest foreign exchange and remittance company with a network consisting of more than 230 branches.

Previously, Mr. Al Ansari was the CEO and Vice President of Dubai Industrial City, responsible for the day-to-day management and setting the strategic direction for the industrial township. He has also founded various strategic projects such as Dubai Industrial Academy and Transpark Logistics. In 2005, Mr. Al Ansari was appointed as a board member of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, a joint venture between the government of Dubai and the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prior to that, he held positions at Dubai Holding and The Executive Office in Dubai.

Richad Soundardjee has had a longstanding career in the investment banking industry and has held various management positions within the Societe Generale Group. Richad joined CICC as a Managing Director in Nov 2022 and, subject to licensing and regulatory approvals, will serve as the CEO for CICC in the UAE, while also being in charge of a few other countries in the GCC and Egypt region.

Richad started as an equity capital markets specialist in France, Southeast Asia and UK, then moved to debt capital markets as Managing Director and Global Head of the structured bonds private placement platform. In 2009, Richad took responsibility for the Equity and Debt Capital Markets origination activities of the Societe Generale Group for the CEEMEA region, served as the CEO for the Middle East and Egypt and SEO for DIFC branch from 2013 to 2021.

Salem Al Shamsi manages an extensive network of strategically located international representative offices in key markets across the Middle East, Africa, Eurasia, China, India, and Latin America. Al Shamsi leverages his expertise and strong business acumen to play a critical role in achieving the objectives outlined in Dubai Chambers’ 2024-2022 strategy. As part of his duties, he is responsible for strengthening partnerships with global chambers, international businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs, with the goal of cementing Dubai's status as a leading global hub for trade and investments. In addition, he oversees the implementation of the Dubai Global initiative, which was launched in 2022 to create a powerful network of 50 international representative offices for Dubai in 30 targeted markets across five continents by 2030.

 Prior to joining Dubai Chambers, Al Shamsi served as Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure, he worked closely with the Minister's office to ensure all polices were updated and implemented effectively.

An experienced corporate banker with over 19 years of successful experience at Citi in many locations including the UAE, Brazil, UK and Ireland, Al-Falasi is the first Emirati woman to lead Citi’s UAE onshore businesses and operations, heading the largest multinational corporates business cluster in MEA. Prior to this, Al-Falasi worked as a senior business and relationship manager responsible for regional multinational clients in the MENA region and was Citi’s Global Subsidiaries Group (GSG) Head for GCC & Iraq and Senior Business and Relationship Manager for the Middle East North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey (MENAPT) region based in the UAE

Shamsa was awarded best UAE national female banker in the UAE by Citi CEO and His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah in 2013.  She is a Board Member and Vice President for memberships at AMCHAM Dubai, acting as an independent voice on behalf of financial institutions active in the UAE, GCC and Iraq and working closely with American corporates. She enhances the collective voice of American businesses in the UAE and ensures they are well represented in private sector forums, as well as advocating on behalf of American business interests with various government circles and US government entities. Shamsa is a certified professional coach and participates actively as a mentor/coach.

Ted Souder is a globally recognized speaker and advisor specializing in Digital Transformation, AI, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, and insights straight from the Google Playbook. As one of Google's earliest employees, he held various senior roles in the U.S and France, including Head of Industry, Retail and Founder of the Google CFO Forum. His leadership also extended as Vice-Chair of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Today, Ted educates on digital strategies at the Section school online and is a part owner of the Monthly Barometer, a boutique geopolitical advisory in Chamonix, France. He’s a board director at 1871, a premier tech incubator and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and holds advisory roles with the Rise of the Rest Fund in Washington D.C. and HTAT Journeys in Africa. Championing the potential of technology, Ted consistently inspires audiences to confidently navigate the digital era.  

Tariq Fancy has served as a successful investor, hands-on turnaround specialist, and entrepreneur who has lived and worked across North America, Europe, and Asia.

In 2018 and 2019, Tariq served as BlackRock’s first-ever Global Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing. After leaving he began publishing op-eds challenging the ESG status quo, culminating in a 2021 viral essay entitled “The Secret Diary of a Sustainable Investor” that argued that business leaders are “answering inconvenient truths with convenient fantasies.” The essay was called ‘riveting’ by the Economist and sparked a growing backlash against widespread ESG industry practices that constitute greenwashing with little to no real-world impact.

From 2013-2017 he founded and built Rumie, an award-winning digital non-profit that pioneered smartphone-based ‘microlearning’ that is used today by millions in over 200 countries – including by Afghan girls to learn safely from anywhere on a mobile phone.

Tariq spent a long career on the ‘profit’ side as a senior investment professional. A self-taught programmer who received full-time coding offers upon graduation, he began his career in 2001 in Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB)’s technology investment banking group, which led the IPOs of Google, Amazon, and Cisco. In 2003, he joined MHR Fund Management, a private equity firm with a focus on distressed, turnaround and special situations investing, where he became the firm’s youngest partner in 2006. From 2010 to 2012, he served as senior investment professional at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), where he led the creation and investment of various new global investment strategies.

He is especially popular as a voice amongst those who believe that we need a hard-nosed, practical and honest conversation about where business is today and where it needs to go, and want to get from the optical changes and PR initiatives of the last few years (talking the talk) to the real-life results (walking the walk).