IDC CIO Summit Agenda

The IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2022 features a tailored agenda filled with handpicked topics, discussions, panel sessions, and keynote presentations from regional and global technology experts that will explore all of today's hottest ICT issues.

The 2022 edition will be hosted as both a physical event on Days 1 & 2 (February 22 - 23) and as a digital event on Day 3 (February 24). Here's what you can expect:


Time Event & Speakers

IN-PERSON EVENT AGENDA (Al Samaya Ballroom at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre)

8:30

Registration & Networking

8:40

Opening Act

8:45

Welcome Address

Jyoti Lalchandani

Group Vice President & Regional Managing Director (META), IDC
8:55

Opening Keynote

Wesam Lootah

Chief Executive Officer, Smart Dubai Government, Digital Dubai (UAE)
9:05

IDC Keynote: Reimagining Tech Strategies for a Digital-First World

Steven Frantzen

SVP & Regional Managing Director, EMEA
As organizations strive to recover from the uncertainty wrought by the pandemic, they are taking a digital-first approach to build resilience into their operations. The journey to the future digital enterprise has accelerated, driven by significant investments in new customer experiences, new digital ecosystem business models, digital supply chains, and Future of Work initiatives. All of this must be supported by resilient cloud-enabled digital infrastructure and applications, rapid app development, digital platforms, data-driven and AI-enabled intelligence, and security and trust. Strong leadership, an appetite for innovation, and a sound strategy for addressing regulations will all be key to driving the digital agenda.
9:30

Achieving Digital Resiliency in a Changing World

Cherif Morcos

Vice President of Digital Business Solutions, GBM

Hani Nofal

Vice President of Digital Infrastructure Solutions, GBM
Responding to swift market changes and making the necessary adjustments at the leadership and operation levels are crucial elements in achieving business resiliency. In the constantly changing world filled with challenges, digital resiliency will be critical for organizations transitioning to the ‘Next Normal.’ Accordingly, this session will show how the adoption of secure cloud strategies will help instill a culture of innovation and continuous transformation, allowing organizations to fully capitalize on the massive surge in digital opportunities. This session will also highlight why digitally resilient organizations need to embrace digital trust by putting security at the heart of the conversation. Working in line with government regulators and technology/service providers, organizations will have the strength and agility to respond to security threats while protecting the digital assets generated by their customers, employees, and partners.

9:50

Innovate, Change, and Grow with Digital Dexterity

Ram Ramachandran

Senior Vice President (MEA), Tech Mahindra
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that organizations need to develop digital dexterity to ensure survival, growth, and a differentiated standing in today's increasingly complex business environment. The drive for imagination and innovation, the quest to change and build for the better, and the need to run with agility have become key priorities for every CXO. Organizations need to thrive on change that is powered by digital yet human-centric and purpose-driven connected experiences. Businesses must also build seamless yet simple enterprises that collaborate, synergize, and drive change. This session will showcase methodologies and best practices that can help organizations innovate, change, and grow with speed and agility in the new world environment.

10:05

Healthy Bites Break

10:07

How should digital leaders approach this challenge in 2022?

Paul Potgieter

Senior Vice President, Injazat

Advances in technology are reshaping competition and value creation in every industry. Customer demand is shifting faster than many organizations can react, and as companies consider their operating paradigms for the future, formulas for past success often matter less than they ever have. How should digital leaders approach this challenge in 2022?

10:22

AIOps and Observability

Roman Spitzbart

Vice President of Sales Engineering, Dynatrace

As applications and infrastructure get more complex, the frequency of changes rises and the amount of data and metrics for monitoring and management explodes. Leveraging AI and machine learning to make sense out of data – as well as using such technologies for automatic root cause analysis to support humans – has become necessary. This presentation will highlight how AIOps, together with the growing standardization of observability of applications, helps organizations fulfil their promises.

10:37

Advancing the Digital Enterprise with Unified Observability and Actionable Insights for a Seamless Digital Experience

Brad Wood

Senior Vice President, Customer Experience, Riverbed

Transformational shifts to hybrid work, hybrid networks, and distributed, multi-cloud applications make it difficult for IT to keep digital services accessible, high-performing, and secure for all end users. IT lacks visibility and control over complex digital ecosystems that generate massive volumes of data and alerts across numerous siloed monitoring tools. This presentation highlights how actionable insights and performance solutions can inform, accelerate, and protect the digital enterprise. A unified observability solution can capture every business activity and transaction across the network and application service without sampling and transform full-fidelity telemetry into actionable insights for a seamless digital experience.

10:52

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

10:57

The Experience Economy: Customer Experience and the New Economy

Ahmed Hamdan

Co-Founder & CEO, Unifonic
11:12

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

11:17

Popcorn Break

11:22

The Role of CIOs in Mergers & Acquisitions

Sumanta Roy

Vice President & Regional Head, Tata Consultancy Services

Sunil Nair

CIO, GMG

Noman Rasheed

Head of IT, Dubai Islamic Bank
Bringing Two Distinct IT Hubs Together

Seamless IT integration plays a pivotal role in determining the success of any M&A deal — which means, from the early stages of a deal through to its completion and integration, the CIO is the guiding star of the ship. The CIO steps into the strategic planning process early, carries out a careful assessment of the two IT environments to be merged, and ensures that the integration goes smoothly, while also making note of software, initiatives, and projects that no longer make business sense going forward.

This is easier said than done. The role of a CIO during and after an M&A transaction is complex and vast. As a CIO, one must bridge all the gaps among different departments and groups, while making sure the business processes and requirements are in sync. The CIOs have the challenge of merging their own departments while being sensitive and responsive to the significant and changing demands of the business.

The CIO not only manages meetings with CXOs to ensure cost savings and synergies, but also provides support to other business units in their planning. It is critical for the organization to reach its goals and this can be ensured by having the CIO involved throughout the deal. This session will discuss how IT leaders can navigate the complexities of bringing two distinct organizations — and two distinct IT hubs — together.

11:37

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

11:42

How Not to Sabotage Your Transformation

Luc Hennekens

Director of Enterprise Strategy, AWS
Many C-Level executives reveal that their own operating models are preventing them from transforming their organizations. Fortunately, through thousands of engagements with executives from some of the world’s largest organizations and extensive research, the patterns of success and failure that influence how work gets done in organizations have been identified. This executive keynote will go beyond the theory and establish – based on real-world experiences – the things organizations should look at to become truly competitive. The keynote will also look at the organizational and staffing implications needed to meet transformation goals and showcase how progressive organizations are managing their people to deliver outstanding results.

11:57

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

12:02

Tea / Coffee & Networking Break (Please visit our 'NO SHOPTALK' zones)

12:30

Best Practice Session (Parallel Sessions)

Best Practice Session A
From Secure to Trusted: A Journey to Digital Leadership

12:30 - 12:35

Wellness Session

12:32 - 12:35

Opening Raffle- Apple Airpods by Armis

12:35 - 12:40

IDC Overview

Hamza Naqshbandi

Associate Vice President (Saudi Arabia & Bahrain), IDC
12:40 - 12:50

Secure Your Supply Chain with Better Data

Atif Shaukat

Product Sales Manager, Cybersecurity Risk Management, RiskRecon
12:50 - 12:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

12:55 - 13:05

Security Automation for the Digital Journey

Hadi Jaafarawi

Managing Director, Qualys
13:05 - 13:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:10 - 13:20

Addressing the Massive Security Blind Spot

Desiree Lee

Chief Technology Officer, Armis
13:20 - 13:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:25 - 13:35

Five Reasons Why Software Security Is More Critical Than Ever

Shabir Bhat

Regional Sales Director, Checkmarx
13:35 - 13:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:40 - 14:10

Panel Discussion: Vendor Selection and Management: Best Practices and What to Look Out For

Ahmad Ali Al Emadi

Director-IT Operations, and Cyber Security, Nakheel PJSC

Ali Juma Al Ajame

Director of Digital Health Department, Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) (UAE)

George Eapen

Group CIO, Petrofac

Best Practice Session B
Cloud Computing: The Springboard for Digital Transformation

12:30 - 12:35

Wellness Session

12:32 - 12:35

Opening Raffle- Amazon Vouchers worth USD 250 by HCL

12:35 - 12:40

IDC Overview

Ranjit Rajan

Vice President, Research (META), IDC
12:40 - 12:50

Multicloud Data Integration with Data Virtualization

Dr. Alexey Sidorov

Data Management Director and Chief Evangelist, Denodo
12:50 - 12:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

12:55 - 13:05

Utilizing a Cloud-Native Approach to Build Distributed IoT Operations with Hundreds of Edge Devices

David Jungmann

Vice President, Cloud & DevOps, Wizards
13:05 - 13:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:10 - 13:20

Digital First Requires Continuous Cloud Modernization

Siki Giunta

Executive Vice President & Head of #HCLCloudSmart Practice, HCL Technologies
13:20 - 13:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:25 - 13:35

Create, Automate, Integrate, and Analyze

Conor Lawlor

Cloud Architect, Salesforce
13:35 - 13:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:40 - 14:10

Panel Discussion: Alignment, Collaboration, and Co-Innovation with Lines of Business

Bassam Rached

Director of Digital Business Solutions, GBM

Tareque Choudhury

Vice President, Technology Risk & Enterprise Architecture, Dubai Airports (UAE)

Fuad Al Ansari

Vice President of IT & Support Services Division, Al Dhafra Petroleum (ADNOC) (UAE)

Frederik Bisbjerg

Executive Director, Digital and Innovation, National Health Insurance Company - Daman (UAE)

Best Practice Session C
The Future of Work and the Long-Term Implications of a Distributed Work Environment

12:30 - 12:35

Wellness Session

12:32 - 12:35

Opening Raffle- Apple Watch by Apptio

12:35 - 12:40

IDC Overview

Nagia El-Emary

Country Director (Egypt) & Senior Consultant (MEA), IDC
12:40 - 12:50

Leveraging Intelligent Automation to Enhance Customer Experience

Viji Varghese

Senior Vice President & Head of Global Payments & Clearing, Mashreq Bank
12:50 - 12:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

12:55 - 13:05

A Human-First and Purpose-Driven Future-of-Work Strategy

Mark Ackerman

Area Vice President, ServiceNow
13:05 - 13:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:10 - 13:20

Unlocking Business Value with Every Technology Investment

Greg Holmes

Regional Vice President, Presales, Apptio
13:20 - 13:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:25 - 13:35

Single, Hybrid, or Multicloud? How to Craft Your Cloud Transformation with Confidence

Karim Kalaawi

Executive Vice President, Alliances, Cloud4C
13:35 - 13:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:40 - 14:10

Panel Discussion: Talent Development and the Demand for New Skills: How Do You Optimally Structure Your Team?

Ahmad M. Almulla

Former EVP, Corporate Services, Emirates Global Aluminium (UAE)

Dr. Moza Suwaidan

Director Strategy & Innovation Department /Director General Consultant, Smart Dubai Government, Digital Dubai (UAE)

Hammad Sharif

CIO & Head of Data, Procter & Gamble (UAE)

Ghinwa Baradhi

Chief Information Officer MENAT, HSBC Bank (UAE)
Best Practice Session A
From Secure to Trusted: A Journey to Digital Leadership
12:30 - 12:35

Wellness Session

12:32 - 12:35

Opening Raffle- Apple Airpods by Armis

12:35 - 12:40

IDC Overview

12:40 - 12:50

Secure Your Supply Chain with Better Data

12:50 - 12:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

12:55 - 13:05

Security Automation for the Digital Journey

13:05 - 13:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:10 - 13:20

Addressing the Massive Security Blind Spot

13:20 - 13:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:25 - 13:35

Five Reasons Why Software Security Is More Critical Than Ever

13:35 - 13:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:40 - 14:10

Panel Discussion: Vendor Selection and Management: Best Practices and What to Look Out For

Best Practice Session B
Cloud Computing: The Springboard for Digital Transformation
12:30 - 12:35

Wellness Session

12:32 - 12:35

Opening Raffle- Amazon Vouchers worth USD 250 by HCL

12:35 - 12:40

IDC Overview

12:40 - 12:50

Multicloud Data Integration with Data Virtualization

12:50 - 12:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

12:55 - 13:05

Utilizing a Cloud-Native Approach to Build Distributed IoT Operations with Hundreds of Edge Devices

13:05 - 13:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:10 - 13:20

Digital First Requires Continuous Cloud Modernization

13:20 - 13:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:25 - 13:35

Create, Automate, Integrate, and Analyze

13:35 - 13:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:40 - 14:10

Panel Discussion: Alignment, Collaboration, and Co-Innovation with Lines of Business

Best Practice Session C
The Future of Work and the Long-Term Implications of a Distributed Work Environment
12:30 - 12:35

Wellness Session

12:32 - 12:35

Opening Raffle- Apple Watch by Apptio

12:35 - 12:40

IDC Overview

12:40 - 12:50

Leveraging Intelligent Automation to Enhance Customer Experience

12:50 - 12:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

12:55 - 13:05

A Human-First and Purpose-Driven Future-of-Work Strategy

13:05 - 13:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:10 - 13:20

Unlocking Business Value with Every Technology Investment

13:20 - 13:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:25 - 13:35

Single, Hybrid, or Multicloud? How to Craft Your Cloud Transformation with Confidence

13:35 - 13:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

13:40 - 14:10

Panel Discussion: Talent Development and the Demand for New Skills: How Do You Optimally Structure Your Team?

14:10

Lunch & Networking Break (Please visit our 'NO SHOPTALK' zones)

15:05

Technology Focus Group Sessions - Begin with Welcome Back Raffle (Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel) (Parallel Sessions)

Technology Focus Group 1
Cloud-Native App Transformation for Customer & Operational Excellence

13:20 - 13:30
15:05 - 15:06

IDC Overview

Nagia El-Emary

Country Director (Egypt) & Senior Consultant (MEA), IDC
15:06 - 15:10

Welcome Back Raffle ( Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel)

15:10 - 15:20

Achieve Faster Economic Rebuild without having to Rip Out Legacy Software

Rodrigo Castelo

Vice President (Middle East & Africa), OutSystems
15:20 - 15:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:25 - 15:35

Innovate Everywhere with Open Source and Build Digital Resilience Through Linux and Kubernetes

Amr Marzouk

Sales Director, SUSE
15:35 - 15:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:40 - 15:50

The Modern Architecture to Integrate Microservices and Cloud Native Apps

Alaa Al-Sharif

Senior Solutions Engineer, Confluent
15:50 - 15:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:55 - 16:05

Maik de Wolf

Managing Director, Mendix
16:05 - 16:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

Technology Focus Group 2
Digital Building Blocks to Drive Trust, Enhance Customer Delight, and Upskill the Distributed Workforce

15:05 - 15:06

IDC Overview

Uzair Mujtaba

Program Manager — IDC Saudi Arabia
15:06 - 15:10

Welcome Back Raffle ( Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel)

15:10 - 15:20

Complexity: The Enemy of Security and Incident Response Teams

Harri Sylvander

Senior Managing Consultant, Mandiant
15:20 - 15:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:25 - 15:35

Leveraging Key Management and Automation to Secure Your Public and Hybrid Clouds

Hamid Qureshi

Regional Sales Director, Middle East, Africa & South Asia, Entrust
15:35 - 15:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:40 - 15:50

Connecting the Digital Workplace with Enterprise Service Management

Keith O'Kelly

Keith O'Kelly, Chief Revenue Officer, IFS
15:50 - 15:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:55 - 16:00

The New Paradigm for Cloud Adoption: Democratizing Cloud Skilling Across The Enterprise

Sanjeev Singh

Managing Director, Spectrum Networks
16:05 - 16:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

Technology Focus Group 3
Building Hybrid Clouds for the Digital Era

15:05 - 15:06

IDC Overview

Harish Dunakhe

Research Director, Software and Cloud, META IDC
15:06 - 15:10

Welcome Back Raffle ( Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel)

15:10 - 15:20

Why Hybrid Cloud? An Overview of the Top Benefits

Kamel Al-Tawil

Managing Director, Middle East and North Africa, Equinix
15:20 - 15:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:25 - 15:35

Getting the Highest ROI from your SD-WAN Edge Platform

Eyad Alnaqi

SD-WAN SE Architecture Lead, Aruba
15:35 - 15:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:40 - 15:50

How to thrive sustainably in the cloud wave

Matt Watts

Chief Technology Evangelist, NetApp
15:50 - 15:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:55 - 16:05

The Dynamic Shift in the Digital World

Karthik Ananda Rao

Chief Technical Evangelist, ManageEngine
16:00 - 16:05

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

Technology Focus Group 4
From Digital Transformation to Digital Innovation: A Journey Toward Realizing Business Outcomes

15:05 - 15:06

IDC Overview

Wilson Xavier

Research Director, Telecom & IT Services (META), IDC
15:06 - 15:10

Welcome Back Raffle ( Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel)

15:10 - 15:20

Next-Gen Cloud Data Innovation in Middle East

Waqar Ahmed

Senior Director of Cloud Sales & Strategy, Informatica
15:20 - 15:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:25 - 15:35

Why Full-Stack AIOps and Why Now?

Marc Merheb

Director of Sales Engineering, Micro Focus
15:35 - 15:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:40 - 15:50

How do We Address the Skills Crisis and Bridge the Talent Gap

Samir Akel

Regional Vice President, Udacity
15:50 - 15:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:55 - 16:00

Next-Generation IoT for a Sustainable Future

Mohammad Khamis

Regional Sales Manager (MENA), Zoom
16:00 - 16:05

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

Technology Focus Group 1
Cloud-Native App Transformation for Customer & Operational Excellence
13:20 - 13:30
15:05 - 15:06

IDC Overview

15:06 - 15:10

Welcome Back Raffle ( Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel)

15:10 - 15:20

Achieve Faster Economic Rebuild without having to Rip Out Legacy Software

15:20 - 15:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:25 - 15:35

Innovate Everywhere with Open Source and Build Digital Resilience Through Linux and Kubernetes

15:35 - 15:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:40 - 15:50

The Modern Architecture to Integrate Microservices and Cloud Native Apps

15:50 - 15:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:55 - 16:05
16:05 - 16:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

Technology Focus Group 2
Digital Building Blocks to Drive Trust, Enhance Customer Delight, and Upskill the Distributed Workforce
15:05 - 15:06

IDC Overview

15:06 - 15:10

Welcome Back Raffle ( Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel)

15:10 - 15:20

Complexity: The Enemy of Security and Incident Response Teams

15:20 - 15:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:25 - 15:35

Leveraging Key Management and Automation to Secure Your Public and Hybrid Clouds

15:35 - 15:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:40 - 15:50

Connecting the Digital Workplace with Enterprise Service Management

15:50 - 15:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:55 - 16:00

The New Paradigm for Cloud Adoption: Democratizing Cloud Skilling Across The Enterprise

16:05 - 16:10

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

Technology Focus Group 3
Building Hybrid Clouds for the Digital Era
15:05 - 15:06

IDC Overview

15:06 - 15:10

Welcome Back Raffle ( Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel)

15:10 - 15:20

Why Hybrid Cloud? An Overview of the Top Benefits

15:20 - 15:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:25 - 15:35

Getting the Highest ROI from your SD-WAN Edge Platform

15:35 - 15:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:40 - 15:50

How to thrive sustainably in the cloud wave

15:50 - 15:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:55 - 16:05

The Dynamic Shift in the Digital World

16:00 - 16:05

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

Technology Focus Group 4
From Digital Transformation to Digital Innovation: A Journey Toward Realizing Business Outcomes
15:05 - 15:06

IDC Overview

15:06 - 15:10

Welcome Back Raffle ( Smart TV & 1 Night Stay at Caesar’s Palace Hotel)

15:10 - 15:20

Next-Gen Cloud Data Innovation in Middle East

15:20 - 15:25

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:25 - 15:35

Why Full-Stack AIOps and Why Now?

15:35 - 15:40

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:40 - 15:50

How do We Address the Skills Crisis and Bridge the Talent Gap

15:50 - 15:55

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

15:55 - 16:00

Next-Generation IoT for a Sustainable Future

16:00 - 16:05

Q&A (Ask questions and stand a chance to win)

16:05

Mega Raffle (Dinner & Spa Voucher For a Couple and 60" Smart TV)

Summary & Close of Summit Day 1

Contact Us

Ronita Bhattacharjee

Vice President - Conferences, IDC Middle East, Africa, & Turkey

+971 4 391 2747

Taher Hamdan

Senior Sales Manager, Conferences, IDC Middle East, Turkey & Africa

+971506591320

About IDC

60 Years | 1300 Analysts | 110 Countries

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,300 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com.