11
Woman in Tech
Rania Al Jaber
Head of Cyber Security at Escarta Solutions
Rania, a tech leader in the Middle East, is currently the head of cyber security at Escarta Solutions based in the UAE. Under her leadership, Escarta’s UAE business has quadrupled over the last 5 years.
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Earlier, she has worked with Dell Technologies and Microsoft as cyber security engineer. She is well recognised for her support for the women in tech in the region.
Veronica obtained a Bachelor's degree in Applied Informatics.
Nouman Qarout
Cloud Architect lead-at Oracle
Nouman is a Cloud and Data Architect at Oracle Middle East. Part of Oracle leadership team, Nouman has been working closely with the GCC leaders to define and execute Oracle Cloud Go to Market Strategy.
Nouman is a result-driven and accomplished tech professional with 21 years of experience in the areas of cloud, data management, and solution architecture.
Nouman has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Amman, Jordan
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Cloud Architect
01
Technology Architect
Kamal Kishor Singh
Technology Architect and PM at GBM
Kamal has 18 years of experience architecting and developing cutting-edge technology solutions. He has spent 9 years in the middle east working with futuristic organizations realizing their vision.
In the past, Kamal has worked with IBM and HCL and has led business growth of cloud / digital businesses for these companies.
Kamal has an MBA in Finance, Information Systems and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering.
Ahmed Al Issa
Head of Technology, Sanad Cash
Ahmed is Head of Technology at Sanad Cash, A fintech that helps employees relieve financial stress by getting them instant access to their salaries between paychecks.
Earlier Ahmed was a Senior Associate with Strategy&. Ahmed also helped launch an e-commerce platform focusing on toys and was the country manager for Qatar at Malomatia.
Ahmed has a master’s degree from the London School of Economics in Real Estate Economics and Finance and a bachelor’s degree from King’s College London in Business Management
02
CTO
03
CTO
Dr Prabhat Manocha
Associate Director – Government, IBM
Dr. Prabhat has over 26 years of cross-industry experience focused on IBM’s Cognitive, Cloud, IOT, and Blockchain Initiatives.
He has been engaged in the conceptualization, conception, and delivery of complex business solutions based on multiple technologies. He has led the strategy and positioning of IBM's Public Cloud with the Government.
Dr. Manocha has a Ph.D. in Technology
Youmna Odeh
Head of Venture Capital at Kuwait Investment Authority
Youmna is a Chief Investment Officer at KIA, where she has led and closed several investments in technology companies across the region over the past 6 years. Youmna specializes in marketplaces, transportation, on-demand logistics, and SaaS. She is a board member of several technology startups.
Youmna has 20 years of industry experience. She was CCO for AdFalcon and earlier than that she was the regional director of Yahoo!
Youmna has an MBA with a Strategic Planning specialization from Heriot-Watt University.
04
The VC
05
CEO
Hassan Awwad
Country CEO at Careem
Hassan is the Country CEO of Careem, Jordan. Previously, he was General Manager at Uber for MENA in the Levant & GCC. Under his leadership, he grew the business in several multiples over 4+ years and worked with the government to pass ridesharing regulations in Jordan, the first of their kind across the region.
Earlier, Hassan established the specialty grocery store, becoming one of the first in Jordan to introduce organized retail at a neighbourhood level. He sold the business 6 years in, after hitting USD 15+M in revenues.
Hassan holds an MBA from The Wharton School, and a master’s in engineering from the University of Southern California.
Mohamed Trabelsi
Senior Product Manager - Jumia Group
Mohamed is a Product Manager with a proven track record in handling complex software products. He is currently leading the product team at Jumia Group Tunisia.
Mohamed has 12+ years of proven track record of product, project management, and operational roles in IT, banking, and engineering corporations and has led teams, products, and campaigns while maintaining high efficiency and attention to detail.
Mohamed has a Bachelor's in Computer Information Systems.
06
Product Manager
07
Data Scientist
Karim Hajjar
CIO / Head of Data Science at Aramex
Karim heads Technology and Data Science for Aramex. He is focused on unleashing the power of data and technology to meaningfully engage with consumers.
Karim has 20 years of technology experience with skills in Ad Tech, D2C, eCommerce, logistics, analytics & aata science
Karim has an MBA in Finance and Marketing.
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Saad Al Turki
Head of Growth – Saudi Telecommunications Company (stc)
Saad is an award-winning Head of Digital Growth at stc. Saad has a demonstrated history of working in technology. A skilled digital growth planner, he has strong experience in business partnerships and negotiations, and CRM.
Saad has an MBA from Duke University.
08
Growth Hacker
09
Serial Entrepreneur
Pradeep Sundriyal
Founder – quanticiti, VP - MoverLabs,
Pradeep has over 30 years of experience incubating, and mentoring tech startups in the US, Russia, UAE, and Timor-Leste. He’s the founder of quanticiti, a quantum computing startup.
In the past, Pradeep has successfully led the middle east expansion of several tech companies like BPC Banking Technologies, OpenWay, and KnowledgeRiver.
Pradeep has a Master's in Artificial Intelligence from KU Leuven (Belgium), and a Master's in Computer Science from Western Michigan University (USA).
Salmah Badawi
Executive Architect at IBM
Salmah has 20+ years of technology experience with IBM. She has managed technical professionals and businesses through several phases of growth in the middle east. Her area of expertise is Cloud Solution Architecture and Cloud Adoption Strategy.
Salmah established and managed the delivery practice of Blockchain in the Middle East and Africa to serve clients globally. His team includes Architects, Business Analysts, Consultants, Developers, and Project Managers. She also acts as a delivery architect for Blockchain to several clients regionally and globally.
Salmah has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Ain Shams University, Egypt.
10
Architect and Inventor