Agenda

Jatin Kalra
Vice President & Country Head
Apparel Group

Jatin is a senior retail leader with over 27 years of experience across India and the MENA region, with expertise in strategic P&L leadership, omni-channel transformation, business growth and operational excellence. He has built his career by bridging board-level strategy with on-the-ground execution, driving profitable growth through sharper operations, customer-centricity, digital transformation and high-performing teams. His experience spans leading businesses across brick-and-mortar, e-commerce and corporate channels, with a strong focus on growth, expansion and innovation.

Currently Vice President at Apparel Group, Jatin has previously held senior leadership positions with Landmark Group, Tata group and Carlsons group. His leadership philosophy is rooted in continuous learning and the belief that staying an “Active Student” is essential to navigating an evolving retail landscape.

Ruairi Mc Veigh
Omnichannel Director – Product
Chalhoub Group

Ruairi McVeigh is Omnichannel Director of Product at Chalhoub Group, where he leads digital product strategy and transformation across a portfolio of luxury, fashion and beauty brands. With experience spanning product, technology and e-commerce, Ruairi is focused on creating seamless customer experiences that connect digital innovation with real customer and business value. 

Smriti Singh Bhatia
Founder & Managing Director
MiraiQTech

Smriti Singh Bhatia spearheads MiraiQTech and InQognito Insights with over 24 years of experience across consumer insights, behavioural science, neuromarketing, advanced analytics and technology-led innovation.
A frequent speaker at global industry forums, Smriti brings together the worlds of human behaviour, business strategy and emerging technology, with a strong focus on translating innovation into practical solutions for brands and organisations.

At heart, Smriti is an insights entrepreneur and AI innovation strategist, driven by a simple belief: the future of decision-making lies in combining the depth of human understanding with the scale and intelligence of technology.

Sheikh Mohammad Bilal
Director of Growth
Bybit

Sheikh Muhammad Bilal is Growth and Content Director at Bybit, specializing in content strategy, SEO, product education, and go-to-market execution. He builds high-performing teams, scalable AI-powered operations, and customer experiences that transform complex financial products into clear, accessible opportunities for retail users, VIP clients, and institutions

Mohamed Yousry Taher
Chief Marketing Officer
Mondelez International

Mohamed Yousry is the Chief Marketing Officer for Mondelez Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP), with over 20 years of marketing and strategy leadership across the region from Egypt to Jeddah to Dubai, and top multinationals including Mars, Henkel, and Vodafone. Mohamed believes great brands are built on genuine human connections. He’s built that belief into a career of turning insights into ideas, and ideas into results that move people and businesses forward.

In 2025, he was named among the Most Influential Marketing Leaders in the GCC, A recognition he credits to the teams and partners who’ve shaped the journey with him. Beyond the brand work, Mohamed is passionate about mentoring the next generation of marketers, helping them find their own voice.

Douglas Harvey
Vice President – Digital & Omni
GMG

Douglas Harvey is Vice President – Digital & Omni at GMG, where he leads the company’s digital, e-commerce and omnichannel strategy across a diverse portfolio of global brands. He is responsible for accelerating digital growth, strengthening e-commerce and marketplace performance, enhancing CRM and performance marketing, and creating seamless consumer experiences across GMG’s markets in the Middle East and beyond.

With more than two decades of experience, Douglas has built a career at the intersection of marketing, digital transformation and commerce, helping some of the world’s most recognised brands adapt to changing consumer behaviour and unlock sustainable growth.

Mason Tay
Director- Global Markets Growth
TripAdvisor

Mason is the Director of Global Markets & Loyalty at Tripadvisor, based in Singapore. He leads the company’s global incentives and loyalty strategy, shaping how promotions, rewards, and member benefits are used to acquire, convert, and retain travelers across Tripadvisor’s platforms.

In parallel, he leads international growth across Europe, APAC, and Latin America, partnering across Marketing, Product, Data Science, and Content to accelerate growth, improve customer experiences, and expand Tripadvisor’s presence in key global markets

Edmund Atcheson
Head of Innovation, MEA
Adobe

Edmund Atcheson is Head of Innovation for Adobe across the Middle East and Africa. His focus is on helping enterprises become true experience businesses in the age of agentic AI. With 14 major digital transformations behind him across NatWest, Virgin Atlantic, American Express, GSK, Unilever, Volvo, and others, Edd brings strategic credibility to every conversation. He knows what it takes to drive change from the inside, and he helps Adobe customers do exactly that: boldly transform, innovate, and lead with AI.

Nick McCarthy
Chief Growth Officer, EMEA
Merkle

Nick McCarthy currently holds the position of Chief Growth Officer at Merkle, where his primary responsibility is to drive new business and revenue expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). A results-oriented leader, he oversees Merkle’s integrated growth platform spanning sales and alliances, driving transformative customer experiences for brands. His journey with Merkle began in 2017 when he assumed the role of SVP, Data Solutions, where he played a key role in developing and commercialising data-driven products. Transitioning to the role of SVP, Alliances in 2020, Nick played a pivotal role in driving significant growth within Merkle’s technology alliance partnerships, fostering strong collaborations with industry leaders such as Salesforce and Adobe.

Nick brings diverse expertise gained from leadership roles across multiple sectors, including marketing services, media, and digital businesses. His experience encompasses various facets of business strategy, data management, and marketing leadership within client organisations.
Outside of his professional endeavours, Nick is actively involved in Merkle’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, reflecting his deep-seated commitment to promoting diversity and equality within the organisation.

Andros T.
Regional Director, DTC – Retail & Omni Channel SEA
ASICS Corporation

Regional Commercial & Business Transformation Leader with 20+ years of experience across Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific, specialising in Wholesale, Retail, eCommerce, Marketplace and Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) businesses. I help organisations expand into new markets, accelerate commercial growth and transform businesses by integrating strategy, omnichannel, customer experience, AI-enabled digital capabilities and data-driven decision-making into one connected ecosystem.

Passionate about business transformation, digital innovation, AI adoption, leadership and building future-ready organisations that deliver sustainable growth through people, technology and execution.

Shalini Seneviratne
Marketing Director
Kimberly-Clark

An award winning business and brand leader with deep experience leading multi billion dollar global categories and brands. Shalini has worked across multiple Personal Care, Beauty, Baby and Home Care brands in the South East Asia, South Asia, US and Africa. She has a successful track record in leading innovation, turning around businesses, managing P&Ls, leading through transformation and crafting award winning communication.

She has won multiple Cannes Lions and Effie awards for campaigns like Lifebuoy Help a Child Reach Five, Is your Soap Slow, Vaseline Skin Stories. She started her career in Sri Lanka, and has worked and lived in Singapore, Vietnam, USA and Ethiopia. After 18 years at Unilever, Shalini now leads the Baby and Child Care segment for Kimberly Clark.

Melissa Lim
Managing Director, Global Head of Marketing, Corporate & Investment Banking & SC Ventures
Standard Chartered

Melissa Lim is a strategic global marketing leader with a track record of driving brand and business growth across Asia, Europe and the Americas. As Managing Director and Global Head of Marketing for the Corporate & Investment Bank and SC Ventures at Standard Chartered, she partners with C-suite leadership to strengthen the bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking brand, elevate global client engagement and lead digital marketing transformation.

With almost 20 years of experience in corporate and investment banking and marketing, Melissa has led award-winning campaigns, spearheaded organisational redesign, and built high-performing cross-border marketing teams. Her expertise spans digital strategy, content and research-led storytelling and multi-market campaign orchestration.

Madhurjya Banerjee
Senior Global Marketing Director
Unilever

Madhurjya Banerjee, known as Banjo in global marketing circles, is a Senior Global Brand Director at Unilever and a leading voice in AIled marketing transformation. With over 19 years across iconic FMCG brands including Knorr, Lifebuoy, and Pepsodent, he has consistently operated at the intersection of brand growth, societal impact, large scale behaviour changes and technology.

Today, Banjo leads global marketing strategy for Pepsodent, where he is reimagining creativity and content at scale, modernizing market research and insight systems using AI, and building brands fit for algorithmic environments. An AI optimist and operator, he champions human–machine creativity to drive speed, relevance, and effectiveness across complex global systems.

Jason Huan
Chief Marketing Officer
Endowus

Jason Huan is the Chief Marketing Officer and a founding team member of Endowus, one of Asia’s leading digital wealth platforms. He brings 18 years of experience across e-commerce and fintech, having built and scaled marketing functions across Singapore and Hong Kong. Before Endowus, he was CMO at Lazada Singapore, then the Philippines, leading Alibaba’s Southeast Asian e-commerce powerhouse.

Dr. Jaslyin Qiyu
Chief Marketing Officer and Customer Experience Head
Cigna

Jaslyin is Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Customer Experience Singapore and Australia for Cigna Healthcare, where she leads brand strategy and customer experience initiatives across the region.

With over 20 years of B2B and B2C brand, marketing and communications experience across diverse industries, she specializes in brand building, customer experience management, change management, MarTech and AI adoption strategy, content strategy, multi-channel performance marketing, and mobile engagement and optimization.

Adobe

Varun Sharma
VP & Head of SAP CX – Middle East Africa
SAP

Varun Sharma is VP of Sales with 20+ years scaling SaaS and software businesses across APAC and EMEA. He builds high-performing global teams and data-driven GTM strategies that turn fragmented customer engagement into connected, revenue-driving systems, with a particular focus on embedding AI and predictive analytics into modern sales exécution. 

Greg Newton 
Customer Success Director 
Autotrader

The car-buying journey has changed, but many retail models are still catching up. Greg specialises in helping retailers of all sizes evolve their entire business to meet the modern requirements of the ever-changing car buyer. No buzzwords, no fluff, just a relentless focus on the strategic precision and data-driven insights that allow brands and dealers to adapt, evolve, and win.

Mrunal Bhagat 
Retail Media Specialist 
Pearson

Mrunal Bhagat is a Retail Media Specialist at Pearson and a decoder — specialising in turning data into dollars for brands by managing systems, not campaigns, and building AI-led commerce strategies that go beyond ROAS into real commercial growth.

Amarvir Sandhu 
Senior Solutions Engineer 
Hightouch

With a decade of experience turning complex data and AI into real business outcomes, Amarvir partners with enterprises to design warehouse-native, composable customer data platforms that power marketing, personalisation, and customer activation.
With a background in software engineering and solution consulting at IBM, Salesforce, and Retool, Amarvir has led countless workshops and proof-of-concepts that bridge the gap between modern data platforms, composable MarTech, and AI-powered customer experiences.

Yasin Kheradmand 
Head of Growth 
Stakemate

Yasin is a Head of Growth with deep consumer app expertise. He scaled Stakemate from MVP to millions in revenue and the UK’s #1 sports app. Before that, he scaled Co:Create and Waterbear while at a Growth consultancy, and led Huzzle’s marketing org. He advises various startups, contributes to networks such as PMA, and serves as a guest lecturer at the University of London.

David Hicks 
Co-Founder & Chairman 
XM Coach

David Hicks is a globally recognised customer engagement and experience leader with over 30 years’ experience advising boards and senior executives. Founder of Mulberry Consulting and TribeCX, and Co-Founder & Chairman of XM Coach, he helps organisations operationalise brand promise and translate technology investment into measurable performance, loyalty, and growth

Kanchan Lad 
Head of Product – MarTech 
Papa Johns

Kanchan Lad is a growth and digital transformation leader. At Papa Johns, she works across international markets to build scalable growth engines and yes, she firmly believes pineapple belongs on pizza.

Giulio Beltramo
Head of Marketing
One Retail Group

Giulio Beltramo is a marketing leader specialising in ecommerce, performance marketing, and brand growth. As Head of Marketing at One Retail Group, he leads strategy across a portfolio of brands including Pro Breeze, Active Era, Aycorn, Cosi Home, and others, overseeing digital growth across owned channels, marketplaces, and the wider media mix. Drawing on a creative background in film, art, music, and theatre, he brings a distinctive blend of commercial thinking and storytelling to modern marketing. His experience across the fashion, luxury interiors, and skincare sectors has given him a versatile understanding of brand building across multiple consumer categories.

Paul Morris
Senior Director, EMEA Performance Marketing & Web eCommerce
RS Group plc

I have 25 years’ experience leading Marketing, Digital & Ecommerce. I was previously Director of Digital/ Ecommerce at Marshalls, Head of Marketing at Tesco Bank, Global Digital/ Ecommerce Director at PZ Cussons (St Tropez, Imperial Leather, Original Source, etc), led Digital marketing at the Co-op Group (Food, Electrical, Funeralcare, etc) and have worked agency (McCann, Havas, Bray Leino Yucca & Visualsoft) and client side with brands including Wickes, Laterooms, Distrelec, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Cash Generator, Stagecoach & Silverstone. I’m now Senior Director EMEA Performance Marketing & Web eCommerce @ RS Group. SHORT BIO (3rd person): Paul Morris has 25 years’ experience leading Marketing, Digital & eCommerce having worked at brands including Marshalls plc, Tesco Bank, PZ Cussons, Co-op Group & Agency side with McCann, Havas, Bray Leino Yucca & Visualsoft. Paul is now Senior Director EMEA Performance Marketing & Web eCommerce @ RS Group.

Silvia Sartori
Group Digital and Business Technologies – Marketing Director
Barilla Group

Silvia Sartori is a marketing technology leader with nearly 20 years of international experience across Europe and the US. Based in London, she leads Digital and Business Technologies supporting Marketing at Barilla Group, where she connects marketing and technology teams to deliver scalable consumer experiences and drive business growth through impactful digital transformation for one of the world’s leading food companies.

After starting her career in digital agencies, Silvia joined Barilla and has held roles in Italy, the US, and the UK. Her work has focused on digital strategy, marketing platforms, data integration, and global operations. Over the years, she has helped build scalable, user-friendly technology ecosystems while fostering a stronger digital mindset across the organisation.

Pooja Nambiar
Global Head of Marketing Platforms
Yugo

Pooja Nambiar is the Global Head of Marketing Platforms at Yugo, a global student living brand and operator, supporting students to find their next home across major university cities. She leads the development of Yugo’s digital platforms and experiences, ensuring the brand connects with today’s digital-native audiences through seamless, meaningful customer journeys.

Her work focuses on the intersection of brand, technology, and user experience, helping transform student accommodation from a transactional product into a connected community experience.

Yolande D’Mello
Associate Director, Editorial and Production
Martechvibe

Yolande is a journalist with over 15 years of experience reporting on technology across both enterprise and the start-up landscape. Since 2015, she has been hot on the trail of covering artificial intelligence and its impact on how marketing and CX teams function.

Sébastien Marque
Vice President of Strategy
Luna PR

Born in Paris to French and American parents, Sébastien brings a strong blend of creativity, strategic thinking and cross-cultural insight to his role as Vice President of Strategy at Luna PR, where he helps shape the agency’s growth narrative and market strategy across Web3 and emerging technologies.

After studying Business and Marketing at McGill University in Montreal, he began his career at Jellysmack, one of Paris’s leading social media start-ups. Within a year, he progressed from Social Media Manager to Head of Social Media, leading a team of seven managers and scaling the basketball-focused content channel House of Bounce. Under his leadership, the channel generated over $5 million in annual organic revenue and more than 10 billion views across Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, while becoming an official NBA partner.

In 2021, he relocated to Dubai, where he led digital strategy for Thallium Consulting and Paris Saint-Germain Academy UAE, developing multi-platform content strategies to increase visibility and engagement.

Since joining Luna PR in 2023, Sébastien has played a key role in strengthening the firm’s strategic positioning and supporting founders and executives in navigating capital, credibility and market adoption. He also leads the strategic positioning of Luna PR’s flagship global events, including the Crypto Polo Cup and DAT Summit, and regularly moderates and speaks at major industry events.

Sanjay Raturi
Senior Account Executive
AppsFlyer

Sanjay Raturi has 12 years of experience in MarTech, including 5 years with AppsFlyer. He has worked with apps across various industries, including leading e-commerce and fintech companies in the UK and Central Europe.

Katib Belkhodja
Marketing Director Toyota & Lexus UAE
Al-Futtaim Automotive

Katib Belkhodja is Marketing Director for Toyota & Lexus UAE at Al-Futtaim Automotive, leading the full marketing, PR, events and motorsports agenda for the UAE’s leading automotive brands. He owns the end-to-end marketing strategy across brand, performance, PR, CRM, digital and motorsport, embedding a data-driven culture tied to revenue, lead quality and brand equity, while ensuring strong alignment between marketing, sales and product.

Previously, he served as Customer Centricity Director and Marketing Director within Al-Futtaim Automotive, overseeing Marketing Communications, Digital Media, eCommerce, PR, Digital Product Development, Data & Analytics, CRM and Call Centre operations, and sitting on the Automotive Executive Board. He is also a MEA Advisory Board Member at Meta.

Earlier in his career, Katib held senior leadership roles at NissanUnited (TBWA), CARIZY (Groupe Renault), Al Masaood, Nissan Motor Corporation and AXA, leading regional and global marketing, media and product strategies across Europe and the Middle East, and delivering record sales growth, major product launches and award-winning campaigns.

Ilaria Buonpane
Chief Marketing Officer
Wear That, Chalhoub Group

Ilaria Buonpane is a Chief Marketing Officer with 16+ years of experience across brand, growth, and customer experience. Operating at the intersection of magic and logic, she has led marketing for some of the region’s most loved consumer brands.

She is currently at Chalhoub Group as CMO of Wear That, a fashion-tech brand reshaping personal styling in the Middle East. Ilaria owns the full marketing system—from creative direction and campaign strategy to performance and user growth, influencer and community building, and tech-enabled personalisation.

Eslam Mohamed
Chief Marketing Officer
Ali Al Mulla Group

Eslam is the Chief Marketing Officer at Ali Al Mulla Group, where he leads marketing strategy and brand growth for a premium luxury portfolio including Rebellion Timepieces, Franck Muller, Areej Al Ameerat, Durance, and more across the UAE and GCC. In his role as CMO, he drives omnichannel strategy, digital transformation, e-commerce expansion, and high-impact brand launches, combining creativity with data-led decision-making.

With over 20 years of experience spanning luxury, logistics, SaaS, and agency leadership, he has held senior roles across the Middle East and Europe, including Marketing & Communications Manager at Shipa and Senior Brand Strategist at Emarsys. His background also includes leading creative and digital teams as an Executive and Creative Director, giving him a rare blend of strategic, creative, and commercial expertise.

Known for building brands that balance performance with long-term brand equity, he brings a strong perspective on integrated marketing, customer-centric growth, and modern CMO leadership.

Dharani Dharan G
Director of Product Management
Careem

Dharani Dharan G is the Director of Product Management at Careem, where he leads the product organisation powering the core engines of Careem’s multi-vertical ecosystem, including Ride-Hailing, Food, Grocery, and Box. With over 12 years of experience in product leadership, he has grown within Careem from PM2 to Director, driving strategic impact across Marketplace, Pricing, and Supply.

He has led large-scale AI and ML-driven initiatives across pricing, marketplace optimisation, and captain supply systems—improving cancellations, fulfillment rates, margins, onboarding speed, and operational reliability. His work spans intelligent matching, ETA optimisation, real-time two-sided pricing engines, ML-based elasticity and incentive models, AI-powered KYC, fraud prevention systems, and instant payout platforms.

Prior to Careem, Dharani held product roles at Flipkart, Melorra, and Snapdeal, where he led seller platforms, payments and incentives, mobile app launches, ad-tech solutions, and end-to-end e-commerce optimisation initiatives.

Vanja Novakovic
Director of Product Marketing & Customer Strategy
Lucidya

Vanja Novakovic is the Director of Product Marketing & Customer Strategy at Lucidya, where he sits at the intersection of CX, Agentic AI, and enterprise go-to-market execution. With over a decade of experience across Fortune 500 companies and high- growth startups, Vanja leads the narrative that translates complex product innovation into clear customer value, scalable adoption, and measurable revenue impact. At Lucidya, he owns product marketing and customer strategy end to end — from differentiated positioning, personas, competitive intelligence, and launch strategy, to customer advocacy, lifecycle engagement, and retention programs. He plays a central role in shaping Lucidya’s product-led growth motion, optimizing the journey from trial to conversion through data-driven onboarding, in-product messaging, and tight alignment with product, growth, and analytics teams.

Vanja is also responsible for partner marketing enablement, sales enablement frameworks, and Lucidya’s digital and content experience, ensuring every touchpoint tells a consistent, compelling story.

Mohammed Suhaim
Head of Business Development & Partnerships – MENA & Asia
Geomotive

Mohammed Suhaim is a senior business leader specialising in location intelligence, analytics, and data-driven marketing across the MENA and Asia regions. As Head of Business Development and Partnerships at Geomotive, he works at the forefront of OOH and DOOH innovation, helping brands, agencies, and media owners unlock the power of location, audience, and mobility data to drive measurable performance and smarter marketing decisions.

With over a decade of experience spanning omni-channel marketing, SaaS growth, and strategic partnerships, Mohammed brings a unique perspective on how data, technology, and media converge to transform out-of-home advertising. His work focuses on turning complex datasets into actionable insights that improve ROI, accountability, and real-world business outcomes.

Nitish Jalan
Director – Revenue Growth and Advanced Analytics
Americana Restaurants

Nitish is a senior growth, revenue, and analytics leader, currently serving as Director – Revenue Growth & Advanced Analytics at Americana Restaurants, where he leads data-led initiatives to drive revenue acceleration, profitability, and scalable growth across multiple markets. He brings extensive experience from high-growth and unicorn organisations including PharmEasy, Swvl, and Dezy (Smiles.ai), where he built and scaled growth engines across B2C and B2B businesses, improved unit economics, and led strategic growth and analytics charters. Beyond his operating roles, Nitish is an Investor and Advisory Board Member at Bibo, contributing to business growth and strategic direction, and a Co-Founder of easyrail.in, a fintech mobility platform that was successfully acquired. His background uniquely combines deep analytical expertise, strategic leadership, and entrepreneurial experience.

Harry Lonergan
Digital Marketing Director
Chalhoub Group

Harry Lonergan is a results-driven marketing leader with extensive experience delivering high-impact local and global campaigns across the EMEA region. Currently Digital Marketing Director at Chalhoub Group, he specialises in omni-channel strategy, CRM, performance marketing, SEO, and marketing technology to drive measurable business growth. With a strong background across retail, hospitality, and eCommerce, Harry is known for building data-driven marketing strategies that increase brand visibility, accelerate revenue, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Umar Khan
Marketing Director
Emaar

Umar Khan is a strategic marketing professional with over 12 years of experience driving business growth through full-funnel marketing, brand building, and digital transformation. He brings hands-on expertise across performance marketing, SEO/SEM, CRM, content strategy, analytics, events, and integrated campaigns. Umar has delivered measurable impact across the real estate, hospitality, and destination sectors, helping brands strengthen their market presence and achieve sustainable growth.

Dax De Long
Account Director
Hightouch

Dax is a Software Executive with international experience in Martech. Having worked with some of the biggest brands across both Europe and the Middle East, Dax brings strong first-hand experience as a former marketer. Through conversations with senior leaders, he identified a common challenge around activating data in a way that allows Data teams to focus on core priorities while enabling Marketing teams to execute independently and drive results. This led him to Hightouch, the Composable CDP that is transforming how businesses activate their data.

Yara Milbes
SVP Marketing & Growth
Lucidya

Yara Milbes is a global marketing and growth leader with 20+ years of experience scaling B2B SaaS, telecom, and enterprise technology brands. Currently Senior Vice President of Marketing and Growth at Lucidya, she leads brand, product marketing, go-to-market strategy, and demand generation to drive sustainable global growth. Yara has held senior leadership roles at CEQUENS, Infobip, HID Global, and Orange Jordan, and has been recognised by Inc. Arabia as one of the “30 Women of Influence in MENA” and Personality of the Year 2025. A frequent global speaker, she is widely known for her expertise in AI-driven marketing, category creation, and scaling high-growth tech businesses.

Akshay Singh
Vice President Retail Media Product & Monetization
Majid Al Futtaim

Akshay is the Vice President – Retail Media Product & Monetisation at Majid Al Futtaim, where he leads the development of data-driven retail media solutions across onsite, in-store, and offsite channels. With over 15 years of experience across Asia and the Middle East, Akshay has built and scaled high-impact retail media ecosystems, first-party data monetisation platforms, and AI-powered product capabilities that deliver clear commercial results.

He brings a unique blend of digital, data, product, and P&L leadership, having held senior roles across retail, e-commerce, and omnichannel businesses including Carrefour, Xiaomi, OLX, and Flipkart. Known for his execution-focused and commercially grounded approach, Akshay is passionate about shaping the future of privacy-first, insight-led retail media and digital transformation.

Anne Tulloch
Divisional Marketing Director – Beauty & Wellness
Alshaya group

As the Wellness Divisional Marketing Director at Alshaya Group, Anne leads the marketing strategy for a portfolio of global brands across the Middle East including Bath & Body Works, Charlotte Tilbury, Ulta Beauty, Alo Yoga and Boots. She has over 25 years of international experience in connecting brands with customers in relevant and meaningful ways.

Ross Symons
Generative AI Coach and Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder
ZenRobot

Ross Symons is the Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder of ZenRobot, and a leading voice at the intersection of creativity, storytelling, and generative AI.

Ross began his career as a web developer in the advertising industry, where he built strong problem-solving skills but felt creatively constrained. This led him to transition into content creation, where he gained global recognition through origami stop-motion animation and went on to collaborate with leading international brands across entertainment, technology, and consumer goods.

With the emergence of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and MidJourney, Ross quickly identified their potential to transform creative workflows. He began experimenting with AI across ideation, storyboarding, visual development, and animation—using it not as a replacement for creativity, but as a catalyst to enhance it. Today, his focus is on training creatives, marketers, and teams to integrate AI into their processes in a practical, human-centred way.

Through ZenRobot, Ross works closely with agencies and brands worldwide, helping them bridge the gap between AI technology and human insight. His work empowers teams to streamline production, elevate visual storytelling, and unlock new creative possibilities—while preserving originality, strategy, and emotional impact.

Ross is also a sought-after speaker and trainer, known for demystifying AI and showing how human creativity and AI-powered execution can work together to produce meaningful, high-impact work.

Kevin Chesters
Strategic Consultant, Keynote Speaker and the Author of “The Creative Nudge”

Kevin Chesters is a strategic consultant, renowned keynote speaker, and co-author of The Creative Nudge. With over 30 years of experience, he has held senior strategy roles at BT, Saatchi & Saatchi, Wieden+Kennedy, and Ogilvy, where he served as Chief Strategy Officer. Kevin now works independently with global brands including adidas, M&S, KPMG, and bp, and is a visiting lecturer at leading universities worldwide. Based in London, he speaks internationally on creativity, storytelling, and behavioural science.

Parul Khanna
Chief Marketing Officer – Retail and Food
Grandiose

Parul Khanna is the CMO – at Grandiose Retail and Food, a proud Home grown UAE brand.

She is a customer centric marketing professional with diverse experience in P&L management, Brand strategy, Marketing & Customer strategy across FMCG and Retail.

Her experience in B2B, B2C and e-commerce makes her well-rounded Onmichannel professional with diverse assignments in Global organisations across UAE and India.

She has successfully launched and scaled up multiple retail businesses and led transformation projects with end to end strategic leadership and project execution.

Keen observer of shopper behavior, she continues to shape business strategies in sync with evolving consumer needs.

ObservePoint’s Web Governance platform brings insights, automation, and compliance to the complexity of your digital experience. Our solution automatically scans your websites from the highest traffic pages and user paths to the darkest corners. See what’s performing below acceptable standards, trace it back to the source, and get on a path to improvement. Audit privacy compliance efforts, validate landing pages, confirm data tracking, monitor your entire marketing tech stack, and much more. ObservePoint presents the reality of what’s happening on your website and gives you a clear map to make it even better.

Gaurav Sinha
International Marketing Director – AMEA
Domino’s

Gaurav is a marketing strategy and brand communications leader with 19 years of experience across digital and traditional marketing. He has worked with some of the world’s most recognised consumer brands, including Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Dulux Paints, Marico, and Whirlpool, leading marketing, brand building, new product development, and media strategy across the Middle East, North Africa, and India.

With global experience spanning Food, QSR, Retail, Durables, and FMCG, Gaurav has built differentiated, high-impact brands that have driven strong top-line and bottom-line growth. He is known for championing digital- and social-led marketing while balancing modern performance strategies with traditional brand-building principles.

Gaurav currently serves as the International Marketing Director for Domino’s Pizza in the AMEA region.

Mohamed Al Awadhi
VP, Personal Banking Marketing
First Abu Dhabi Bank

Mohamed Al Awadhi is a marketing leader with over 16 years of experience aiming to deliver culturally resonant campaigns. His work includes the relaunch of Modesh, the development of the Dubai Home Festival branding, du’s first Emirati-focused Family Plan campaign and FAB’s first Elite segment campaign. As VP of Personal Banking Marketing at First Abu Dhabi Bank, he drives customer-centric strategies that blend data-driven insights with compelling storytelling. As a previous mentor at Sheraa and DIFC Innovation Hub, Mohamed brings deep expertise in brand strategy-combining rigorous research with imaginative thinking to build brands that shape culture and connect meaningfully with audiences.

Hira Omar Aamer
Brand Strategy Director
The Coca-Cola Company

Hira Aamer serves as regional Brand Strategy Director for Sprite at The Coca‑Cola Company. With over 12 years in marketing & leadership roles at Unilever, and consulting, she has built expertise in brand strategy, innovation, and culturally resonant communication. An Oxford graduate in Economics and Management, her superpower is integrating strategic vision with precise execution. Hira champions consumer‑centric marketing that seamlessly blends creativity and analytical rigor, delivering impactful brand and business growth in complex, fast‑changing markets.

Nina Mohamed
Cluster Director of Marketing & Communications
Movenpick and Pullman resort Al Marjan Island

Nina Mohamed is an award-winning hospitality marketing and communications leader with over 15 years of experience across the Middle East and Asia. Renowned for her creative storytelling, data-driven strategy, and guest-centric approach, she has shaped the brand identity of some of the region’s most recognisable island-resort destinations.

As Cluster Director of Marketing & Communications at Mövenpick Resort Al Marjan Island and Pullman Resort Al Marjan Island, Nina has elevated both properties into top-performing family-island destinations. Under her leadership, the resorts have won more than 40 international, regional, and local awards since 2023, including multiple World Luxury Awards, FACT and What’s On accolades, and sustainability recognitions. Several of her brand campaigns and toolkits have been adopted as best practice across the Accor MEA APAC portfolio.

Roxana Nicolescu
VP Brand Marketing & Social Media
Wego.com

Roxana currently serves as VP Brand Marketing & Social Media for Wego. With more than a decade of marketing experience in the region, most of it in the aviation and travel industries, she passionately drives the brand marketing activities and brand awareness growth in the Middle East Roxana began in this role in October 2017 in Wego’s Dubai office where she focused on developing Wego’s Brand Marketing department as well as played a significant role in expanding the brand footprint across the region. Over the years, Roxana has worked for several well-known brands in various industries, including aviation, media, and travel tech. Her expertise includes brand strategy development, product positioning, market research, and marketing communications. Roxana has also developed an impressive track record in building brand equity through effective brand management. Prior to joining Wego, Roxana held senior marketing & corps comm roles with leading regional airlines and a radio network in the UAE.

Zia Rahamat
Director of Growth and Analytics
Anghami

Growth and Analytics Leader who has scaled unicorns, driven IPOs, and ran cross-country P&Ls across MENA, SEA, EU, and India. In the past, he has built, led and shaped Growth teams at GoJek, Airtel and P&G. Known for building high-performance org. cultures grounded in data discipline, experimentation, strategic clarity, and bold but measured risk-taking.

Arjun Sarkar
Vice President, Digital Ecosystem and Partnerships
Dubai CommerCity – Member of Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority

With 18 years of experience in digital transformation, eCommerce, and supply chain innovation, Arjun Sarkar is a key driver of technological advancements in the digital commerce sector. As Vice President of Digital Ecosystem and Partnerships at Dubai CommerCity, he leads the development of a robust digital ecosystem that empowers businesses to scale and succeed in the Middle East’s thriving eCommerce market.

Arjun has a strong background in software engineering and business strategy, having spearheaded the digital transformation of global brands such as Marks & Spencer, Toys R Us, Ace Hardware, and Lancôme. His expertise in omnichannel retail and technology-driven solutions has enabled brands to optimise operations and enhance customer experience.

Mohamad Al Rayes
Director of Growth – YallaMotor
bayt.com

Mohamad Al Rayes is a product and growth leader with deep experience across digital marketplaces, AI-driven platforms, marketing technology, and large-scale product optimisation. He specialises in transforming user journeys, scaling acquisition funnels, and building data-powered experiences that drive measurable growth.

His expertise spans product strategy, UX/UI leadership, performance marketing, growth hacking, and designing intelligent systems such as AI sales agents, smart search experiences, and dynamic customer platforms. With a strong background in AI, automation, and user-centric design, Mohamad is known for bridging strategy, technology, and experience to create high-performing digital products.

Georges Yaryura
Senior Vice President, Head of CIBG Marketing
Mashreq

George Yaryura is a global Chief Marketing Officer and Brand & Growth Strategist with over 25 years of leadership across financial services, fintech, PropTech and telecom. He transforms strategy into measurable growth—building brands that lead, marketing engines that deliver revenue, and communications that inspire confidence. George has driven transformation for global organisations, including Mashreq, Visa, Allfunds (Santander), Skype, and Orange, supporting 8–9 figure revenue goals, M&A, and IPOs. A published author and patent holder in tokenisation, he brings entrepreneurial energy, multilingual fluency, and board-level expertise to scaling high-growth businesses across MENA, Europe, the U.S., and Asia.

Álvaro Martínez
Senior Director MENA, Growth Marketing & Pricing
Talabat

Álvaro Martínez is a dynamic growth leader with a proven track record driving expansion and pricing innovation in fast-moving consumer digital businesses across LATAM, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. With a strategic mindset grounded in data-driven insights, he has led market-entry and scale-up initiatives that have redefined customer acquisition, monetisation and competitive advantage. At Talabat and InstaShop, Alvaro oversees multi-channel growth strategies, pricing models and partner ecosystems to deliver sustained profitability and regional leadership.

Joy Dabeet
Chief Marketing Officer
amana

Joy Dabeet is the Chief Marketing Officer at amana. Leveraging her 15 years of industry experience, she steers every facet of amana’s marketing strategy and implementation. A key aspect of Joy’s responsibilities is to strengthen amana’s position as the leading neobroker; scaling the brand and driving its growth across the region. As a data-driven marketer, she runs a fully in-house marketing team which includes performance marketing (acquisition, CRM, SEO, data analytics), brand communications, content creation and design. Her team’s data and performance analysis also support other departments from sales and customer service to operations and finance.

Ahmed Nour
CX & Digital Solution Consultant – KSA
SAP Emarsys

For the past years, Ahmed has been helping brands across the Middle East, Africa, and Near East truly connect with their customers. As an Emarsys Advisor, he works side-by-side with marketing and CX teams to turn data into meaningful conversations delivering the right message, on the right channel, at the right time. His passion lies in creating personalised, omnichannel experiences that don’t just drive sales, but build trust and loyalty. Ahmed believes that great customer engagement is less about technology and more about understanding people and using the tools to bring that understanding to life.

Vollin Braganza
Associate Director of Sales
MoEngage

Vollin Braganza is an experienced sales and growth leader with a strong track record across top global brands, a results-driven and growth-oriented professional with a passion for driving digital transformation through modern technology. With over 8 years of experience in the B2B SaaS space, he specializes in helping businesses scale across industries—E-commerce, Fintech, Banking, Real Estate, Edtech, and Healthtech.

At MoEngage, Vollin leads strategic growth initiatives across the MENA region, helping B2C brands unlock customer value through insights-led engagement.

Yolande DMello
Senior Editor
Martechvibe

Yolande is a journalist with over 15 years of experience reporting on technology across both enterprise and the start-up landscape. Since 2015, she has been hot on the trail of covering artificial intelligence, exploring its evolution from emerging innovation to global disruptor. Her conversations with C-suite data and tech decision-makers globally gives her insights into leading marketing strategies, trends, and policy decisions shaping the future of work, business, and life as we live it.

Haris Naeem
Account Executive, Emerging Enterprise
Braze

Haris Naeem is a Senior Account Executive at Braze. Haris has been with Braze for 3.5 years and was the first dedicated hire in the region, managing key client relationships and helping drive customer success and growth. Outside of work, Haris has a passion for history, film photography and playing padel.

Victor Busnel
Associate Trading Director,
The Trade Desk

Victor Busnel is the Trading Director for MENA at the Trade Desk, responsible for helping clients take advantage of the various tools and features the Trade Desk’s platform has to offer, helping brands and agencies get the most out of their programmatic media spend. After spending 3 years at The Trade Desk in the UK, Victor started working on developing the company’s business in MENA , and is now based in Dubai with a full focus on growing programmatic for the region. Prior to Joining The Trade Desk, Victor worked in consulting at The Boston Consulting Group helping clients optimize their marketing strategies, and in marketing roles at L’Oréal and NBCUniversal.

Simon Shaw
Chief Communications & Marketing Officer
King Salman Park Foundation

Julian Morbidelli
Director of Loyalty
Cenomi Centers

Mohamed Hegazy
Group Chief Experience Officer (CXO)
almatar

John Speers
Joint Managing Director Middle East
MSQ

May Bahjat Kanounji
Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
AANI&DANI

Bady Ammar Dokhan
Product Lead

Ahad Hamza Nihal
Group Marketing and Commercial Director
Abdullah Al Othaim Investment Co.

Ibrahim Abuaqel
Product Director
Tamara

Adeel Ahmed
Senior Director Brand
Team Saudi

Bandar Adnan Abdulmajeed
Chief Brand and Marketing Officer
Amsa Hospitality

Mohammad Zain Alabidien
Director of Marketing & Communications
Al Rajhi Takaful

Dr Adham Bakr
Group Marketing Director
Al-Inma Medical Services Co

Talha Iqbal
Director of Sales & Marketing
Radisson Hotel Group

Braze is a leading customer engagement platform that helps brands build meaningful relationships with their audiences in real time. By leveraging AI-powered personalization, cross-channel messaging, and actionable insights, Braze enables businesses to create seamless and dynamic customer experiences across mobile, web, email, and more. Trusted by global brands, Braze empowers marketers to craft data-driven campaigns that drive loyalty, retention, and growth. With a focus on innovation and scalability, Braze is redefining how companies connect with customers in today’s digital-first world. Learn more at braze.com.