Meet our Keynote Speakers
Dr. Jassim Haji
President, IGOAI Community
Dr. Jassim Haji
President, IGOAI Community
Dr. Haji is a veteran in the field Information and Communications Technology with over 3 decades of robust experience in implementing IT strategies to move applications/infrastructure, formulating vision, improving vision/culture, innovation and change management . With hands on expertise in reorganizing operations, managing core infrastructure including servers, storage, network, collaboration, application, middleware products. Deft in IT infrastructure management, management of heterogeneous networks, information security and service delivery as well as it regulatory compliance. Proven ability to affect transformational change across a range of operational areas and create a sustainable difference to a business’s operational performance.
Manage large scale delivery assignments for various platform technologies coupled with established credibility in providing domain support for managing operations round the clock while establishing command center and security operation.
He is continuously conducting research in Artificial Intelligence and Organizational Change, exemplified by his publications on latest technologies and how to be leveraged operationally and economically in organizations. He lead the entire Information Technology department in Gulf Air and implemented numerous cutting edge projects and technologies. He managed to achieve over 40 prestigious awards including 15 distinguished CIOs (Chief Information Officer). He formerly served on the board of directors of a leading hospitality and tourism technology provider in the Middle East and on SITA Council representing Middle East and North Africa. He has the ability to implement processes for improving IT Services entailing continual service improvement, service operations, service transition and service design & strategy.
Philippe Blanchard
Founder & CEO, Futurous
Philippe Blanchard
Founder & CEO, Futurous
With 25-year-old global expertise in Technology and mega-event, Philippe Blanchard founded Futurous, the “Games” of Innovation. A new type of competitions associating male and female, athlete and para-athlete, sports and esports, mankind and robots and offering education and interactivity between
competitors and spectators.
Mr. Blanchard has been the senior Advisor to Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai. Philippe was in charge of the Bid Dossier and has been pivotal to the success of Dubai: strategic planning, Technology and Innovation master plans. His mission was to ensure Expo 2020 Dubai operates as an advanced smart city, harnessing the power of Technology for better services and stakeholder experience.
Prior to joining Dubai Expo, Philippe served as Director for the International Olympic Committee: he was appointed in the perspective of the IOC reorganisation and he set the new business intelligence and knowledge management practices, helping bidding and Organising committees in their Olympic ambitions. His department was also responsible of the Olympic Legacy and the interface with the Academic world.
He previously served as Director general of La Cité Apprenante, a Think tank on ICT and as a consultant with Accenture in strategy and organisation.
On a personal level, he is an active member of several United Nations working groups (e-governance, smart cities), of the US and European Chapters of the Internet Society (ISOC)...
He holds a Master of Science in business administration (EDHEC Business School) and post-graduated in Innovation & Technology management (Ecole Centrale Paris). Philippe is also an alumnus of the Executive trainings of IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland).
Pedro Fernandes Mestriner
CEO and Co-Founder of Horizm
Pedro Fernandes Mestriner
CEO and Co-Founder of Horizm
Pedro Fernandes Mestriner is the CEO and Co-Founder of Horizm, the leading provider of digital inventory management for sports. An explorer by nature, a former professional athlete, and a specialist on being a generalist. After studying Computer System Analysis with a focus on A.I.he started his career designing and coding software on B.I for Pfizer. After a long experience as Project Manager, Pedro moved to Product Development at Hitachi, leading the Digital Division. In the last decade, he has helped start-ups such as Letgo.com to scale, enter new markets, and create innovative products.
Esteban Granero Molina
CEO, Olocip
Esteban Granero Molina
CEO, Olocip
More than a decade of experience in Spanish First Division, English Premier League and more than 400 official matches. U-19 European Championship, Spanish Copa del Rey and a LaLiga Championship are his main football records.
Esteban, founder of several projects in professional sports and industry, particularly Olocip, a pioneering company specialized in the development and implementation of Artificial Intelligence.
Under the technical direction of its technological partners, the prestigious scientists Concha Bielza and Pedro Larrañaga (both AI full professors with more than 30 years of experience), positioning itself as a disruptive company of maximum reliability and based on scientific rigor.
For this reason, in 2018 Esteban was awarded by the CSIC at the Science Gala for the "Promotion of Research and Science” and received recognition from the Community of Madrid as a highly innovative company in Research and Innovation for intelligent specialization.
In addition, since 2019, Olocip has been a member of the European Artificial Intelligence Alliance. He is also currently Chief Strategic Officer at Best Of You Sports, a leading company in the sports sector, member of the advisory board of the World Football Summit and a member of the expert committee of the Spanish marketing association.
Dr. Lorenzo Cotino Hueso
Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Valencia
Dr. Lorenzo Cotino Hueso
Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Valencia
Lorenzo Cotino Hueso, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Valencia (“Catedrático), former judge of the High Court of Justice of the Valencia Region (2000-2019).
PhD in Law and Graduate and Advanced Studies in Political Science, Guest professor at Konstanz (Germany) since 2004 and honorary professor of Universidad Naciona of Colombia and U. Católica de Cuenca (Educador). Author or editor of 20 books, he has written over 150 scientific articles and book chapters. OdiseIA Privacy Director. President since 2004 of National Association www.derechotics.com
- Professor of Constitutional Law Univ. Valencia.
- Judge Superior Court of Justice Valencian Community 2000-2019.
- Member of the Transparency Council C. Valenciana since 2015 (independent transparency authority)
- Coordinator of the www.derechotics.com Network of ICT Law specialists since 2004.
- INAP Award, M. Defense, Army, Doctorate Extraordinary, City of Sciences.
- Doctor and Bachelor of Law (U. Valencia), Master in Fundamental Rights (ESADE, Barcelona), Bachelor and Diploma in Advanced Studies of Political Science (UNED).
- He has written or coordinated 16 books, 123 articles or chapters and 312 papers on Internet freedom, e-Administration, data protection, open government and artificial intelligence.
- Guest professor in Konstanz (Germany) since 2004 and from various Colombian universities (Honorary Prof. National University of Colombia and U. Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador).
- Principal researcher since 2004 of 15 national projects on Law and new technologies, as well as regional and international projects, currently on digital transformation, robotics and algorithms.
- Director of the first official Master's Degree in Law and ICT and currently Diploma title in data protection.
- ORCIDNA0003-2661-0010. Google Scholar - Index H13, index i10 is 19.
Gael BOVEN
Attorney and co-founder, Art Can Die and international forum 4Blockchainers
Gael BOVEN
Attorney and co-founder, Art Can Die and international forum 4Blockchainers
Entrepreneur / Speaker / Attorney-at-law specialized in Blockchain, Crypto, Artificial Intelligence,
Investment, Business, and Conciliation.
He co-founded the international forum “4Blockchainers.com” dedicated to the fields of Blockchain, DeFi and Artificial Intelligence as well as the decentralized fundraising platform for supporting art: “Art Can Die”
Ahmed Saleh AlBalooshi
CEO Fintech IT Service
Ahmed Saleh AlBalooshi
CEO Fintech IT Service
- 35 years experience in the field of Information Technology.
- Specialized in Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0)
- Mainly focusing on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Blockchain, and Fintech.
- Worked for Gulf Air, Sabre, EDS & Bahrain Islamic Bank.
- Founder & owner of Fintech IT Services & Consultations.
- Public Speaker and moderator, conducting Technologies panel discussions.
- Member of the International Group of Artificial Intelligence (IGOAI).
- President of Bahrain IT Professional (BITP) Toastmasters Club.
- Toastmasters Area 3 Director | Division C | District 20
- Has been honored 3 times CIO 200 awards as one of the best ICT leaders.
Dr. Sam Saarinen
Founder of Edapt Technologies
Dr. Sam Saarinen
Founder of Edapt Technologies
Sam is an Artificial Intelligence researcher and founder of Edapt Technologies. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Brown University, where his dissertation focused on applications of machine learning to educational assessment. His company now provides consulting and APIs for specialized education data analytics. His current work is focused on three critical problems: personalized instruction and curriculum; optimal content review and practice; and adaptive assessment.
Aco Momcilovic
Co-Director & Co-Founder, Global AI Ethics Institute
Aco Momcilovic
Co-Director & Co-Founder, Global AI Ethics Institute
Owner of the FutureHR consulting company focused on consulting in the areas of: Strategic organisation of Human Resources Department; Education and Management Development; Recruitment; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Engagement; Company Branding, Corporate Culture. Full 360 HR consulting, at one place. FutureHR - Making the cut 🙂
Jorge Sebastiao
Co-Founder Global Blockchain Organization
Jorge Sebastiao
Co-Founder Global Blockchain Organization
A seasoned CEO, CTO, CISO, Advisor and International speaker, with experience in Blockchain, DeFi, Asset Tokenization, Cyber Security, AI, IoT, 5G, Cloud, Disaster Recovery, Bigdata, & Managed Services. Jorge is professional advisor in several innovative startups using disruptive technologies with focus on generating business value and enabling sustainability.
He created the powerful framework A6 of security: Assess, Assess, Apply, Administer, Awareness & Agility. Jorge is a regular speaker at international conferences.
Badr Boussabat
President of AI TOGETHER, AI Expert
Badr Boussabat
President of AI TOGETHER, AI Expert
Badr Boussabat has a multidisciplinary profile and he is one of the most quoted AI specialists in France and Belgium. As a representative of the Belgian Finance Center, he was appointed to participate in several official fintech missions with the official Belgian delegation as well as with ministers in China and South Korea. He met with senior leaders from Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and Samsung in order to set up business projects.
Badr Boussabat is a serial entrepreneur, AI Speaker and Author of "L'intelligence artificielle: notre meilleur espoir" (2020) which is one of the most widely read books on AI in French-speaking countries. His book has been reported as one of the best books on AI of the year 2020. His second book “L’intelligence artificielle dans le monde d’aujourd’hui” (2021) has just released.
Badr has been invited on TV to talk about AI in Economy and Law. Badr gave also over 80 conferences to major financial institutions, World Economic Forum, Nvidia, banks, law firms, public authorities, SME's and Universities.
Badr Boussabat is the Founder & President of AI TOGETHER. AI TOGETHER is an NGO promoting inclusive use of AI and gathering the most eminent AI leaders on the planet. This is the largest organization gathering AI leaders from private companies. He is also one of the Advisory Board Members of the International Group of Artificial Intelligence (IGOAI) and Country Advisor to Belgium. Plus, he is an Advisor for the World Alliance of International Financial Centers and Independent AI Advisor to private companies.
Last year, Badr Boussabat has been invited as a TEDx Speaker and in this context, he coined the concept of "Augmented Basic Income" based on AI and data. Finally, Badr Boussabat has written many articles in the press (France, Belgium, Switzerland, Morocco, Tunisia, etc.) linked to AI strategies in economy and society. He is an AI Expert for the Swiss Media "Monde Economique" and bi-weekly AI Columnist at LN24 which is the 1st News Media in Belgium.
Dr Abdulla Nasser Alnoaimi
Executive Director, Nasser Vocational Training Centre
Dr Abdulla Nasser Alnoaimi
Executive Director, Nasser Vocational Training Centre1
Dr. Ahmed Nasser
Assistant Secretary General, HR, Finance & IT, Shura Council
Dr. Ahmed Nasser
Assistant Secretary General, HR, Finance & IT, Shura Council1
Shaikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa
Project Director, Supreme Council of Health
Shaikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa
Project Director, Supreme Council of Health1
Dr. Jaflah Al-Ammary
Assistant Professor, College of IT, University of Bahrain (UOB)
Dr. Jaflah Al-Ammary
Assistant Professor, College of IT, University of Bahrain (UOB)1
Dr. Ahmed Zeki
Assistant Professor, College of IT, University of Bahrain (UOB)
Dr. Ahmed Zeki
Assistant Professor, College of IT, University of Bahrain (UOB)1
Dr Sh Fay Abdulla Al Khalifa
Director of eLearning University of Bahrain
Dr Sh Fay Abdulla Al Khalifa
Director of eLearning University of Bahrain1
الأستاذ إبراهيم التميمي
مدير برنامج أفضل الممارسات والحوكمة شؤوون مجلس الوزراء - مملكة البحرين
الأستاذ إبراهيم التميمي
مدير برنامج أفضل الممارسات والحوكمة شؤوون مجلس الوزراء - مملكة البحرين1
سعادة الدكتور عبد الحسين بن علي ميرزا،
رئيس هيئة الطاقة المستدامة مملكة البحرين
سعادة الدكتور عبد الحسين بن علي ميرزا،
رئيس هيئة الطاقة المستدامة مملكة البحرين1
H.E. Ali bin Saleh Al Saleh
Chairman of Shura Council, Kingdom of Bahrain
H.E. Ali bin Saleh Al Saleh
Chairman of Shura Council, Kingdom of Bahrain1
H.E. Shk Ali bin Abdul Rahman Al Khalifa
Bahrain Polytechnic
H.E. Shk Ali bin Abdul Rahman Al Khalifa
Bahrain Polytechnic1
H.E. Abdul Nabi Salman
First Deputy Speaker of the Representatives Council
H.E. Abdul Nabi Salman
First Deputy Speaker of the Representatives Council1
المحامية فاتن الحداد
المحامي وكاتب العدل الخاص الحداد للمحاماة – مملكة البحرين
المحامية فاتن الحداد
المحامي وكاتب العدل الخاص الحداد للمحاماة – مملكة البحرين1
Dr. Eman Mohamed Khorsheed
Associate Professor | Department of Mathematics, University of Bahrain
Dr. Eman Mohamed Khorsheed
Associate Professor | Department of Mathematics, University of Bahrain
Dr Eman Khorsheed holds a PhD in Statistics from University of Bath, UK. In 2020, she obtained a professional certificate in Data Science from IBM, USA. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at University of Bahrain (UOB), and a member of the UOB 2022-2027 Strategic Plan Preparation Committee. She is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), UK since 2011. Khorsheed has published several articles in scientific refereed journals and proceedings of international conferences, in which she implemented the innovative techniques of data science and artificial intelligence in studying the space & satellite systems for global navigation, and modeling big data for prediction purposes in many fields such as the Medical sector, Energy, Industry, Economy, and etc. In 2021, Dr Eman became an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute (isi), the most prestigious international institution for statisticians and data scientists.
Dr. Sawsan Hilal
Assistant Professor, Coordinator of MSc in Big Data Science and Analytics, University of Bahrain
Dr. Sawsan Hilal
Assistant Professor, Coordinator of MSc in Big Data Science and Analytics, University of Bahrain
Dr. Sawsan Hilal holds a Ph.D. in statistics and M.Res. in statistics from Lancaster University (UK) and M.Sc. in mathematics from University of Bahrain. She also holds PCAP as a professional certificate awarded by York St John University (UK). Her research interest covers Data Science, Extreme Value Theory, Financial Risk Management, Econometrics & Financial Time Series Analysis, Data Analysis, Statistical Modeling, Statistical Inference, and Statistical Applications. Dr. Sawsan is the coordinator of the M.Sc. in Big Data Science and Analytics. She had a wide range of academic activities including giving a series of learning workshops to the university students. Dr. Sawsan is VIWA 2018 Award Winner under the category of “Distinguished Woman in Science – Statistics” by Venus International Foundation.
Dr. Claudio Feijoo
Professor, Technical University of Madrid (UPM)
Dr. Claudio Feijoo
Professor, Technical University of Madrid (UPM)
Dr Claudio Feijóo holds an MSc and PhD in Telecommunication Engineering and an MSc in Quantitative Economics. He is full professor at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) where he is the Director for Entrepreneurship, leading programs on education, launch and acceleration of tech-based startups and spin-offs. At academia, he teaches on Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, leads the EU-funded Master program for AI in public services, and pursues research on the future socio-economic impact of emerging technologies. From 2014 to 2020, his key responsibility was to reach agreements for cooperation and launch joint research and innovation projects with the best technology universities in Asia. During that time, he organized several high-level international conferences on AI, while publishing reports and papers on AI innovation ecosystem in China and its international spillovers.
He also set the first incubation program for Spanish-related entrepreneurs in China. Claudio has worked in assignments on five continents for main international institutions. His employment record includes spells at the European Commission and the Spanish Ministry of Industry. He also has a 20+ years’ background as founder and mentor of startups and is experienced in managing the implementation of innovative projects. He regularly lectures at international seminars and for postgraduate courses. He also guest edits for major academic journals, having authored more than 300 publications in books, journals and conferences. His latest book addresses the use of technology within international geo-strategy.
Dr. Idoia Salazar
Co-founder and President, OdiseIA
Dr. Idoia Salazar
Co-founder and President, OdiseIA
Prof. Idoia Salazar (PhD), Co-founder and president of the Observatory of the Social and Ethical Impact of Artificial Intelligence (OdiseIA). She is in the list of experts to assist the European Parliament´s Artificial Intelligence Observatory (EPAIO) and Principal Investigator of the SIMPAIR Research Group (Social Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics) , focusing mainly on the need for a multicultural approach to Ethics in AI. She is specialist in Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, professor in international degrees at CEU San Pablo University. Author of 4 books about AI and it´s impact. The last one: ‘The Algorithm and I: guide to coexistence between human and artificial beings’ (in spanish). She is Country advisor (Spain) in the Advisory Board of International Group of Artificial Intelligence (IGOAI), Founding member of Springer ‘AI and Ethics’ journal and member of the Global AI Ethics Consortium. (GAIEC).
May Li
Marketing VP, Huawei ME
May Li
Marketing VP, Huawei ME
May Li is a highly experienced technology consultant with over 25-year experience in IT and Network infrastructure technologies, who worked in telco, multiple industry and government sectors. She specialises in designing smart ‘connectivity’ that helps clients to achieve their digital transformation objectives. Her areas of expertise are, 5G wireless technology, IoT solutions, cloud infrastructure, enterprise architecture, and smart city IT and communication infrastructure architecture. May started as a network integration engineer telecommunication service providers. Her career developed to hold senior-level responsibility for managing and delivering major transformation programmes, technology strategy projects, and architecture design. She also took senior roles in professional services (system integration and managed services) business development, sales, and commercial management throughout her career that gave her valuable perspective when helping clients create value propositions and business cases for their transformation programmes.
Dr. Nerea Luis Mingueza
Artificial Intelligence Engineer, Sngular
Dr. Nerea Luis Mingueza
Artificial Intelligence Engineer, Sngular
Nerea Luis has a PhD in Computer Science and works as an Artificial Intelligence Engineer at Sngular, where she leads projects related to Machine Learning and Computer Vision, among others. She is passionate about outreach, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
Nerea is Women Techmaker Scholar in 2016 by Google. In 2018, the COTEC Foundation selected her as an expert in Technology, Talent and Gender within its network “Los 100 de Cotec”. She has been the winner of the Innovative ICT recognition by the Fundación Cibervoluntarios. In 2019, Nerea has been awarded by the Royal House with the decoration to the Order of Civil Merit and she has also been selected within the Top 100 leading women in Spain in the revelation category. In 2020 she has been included in the Future Leaders ranking prepared by LlyC and among the 21 changemakers of Forbes Spain.
Dr. Eva-Marie Muller-Stuler
Partner | Consulting Ernst & Young Middle East (Dubai Branch)
Dr. Eva-Marie Muller-Stuler
Partner | Consulting Ernst & Young Middle East (Dubai Branch)
With numerous accomplishments, including being voted as one of the “Top 10 Most Influential Women in Technology” and as “one of the world’s best Data Scientists”, I am a strategically minded CTO and Chief Data Scientist with 23 years’ experience in industry leading organisations.
As a pioneer in the field, I am a unique hybrid of a deep technical understanding, leadership ability and extensive experience in leading IT operations, corporate finance and M&A. I excel in my ability to use Data science as a tool to improve corporate performance, increase enterprise efficiency and provide long-term value creation.
I am a sought-after Advisor to start-ups on strategic and financial planning and management, product development and technology. I actively advise both governments and international bodies, such as the UN, on the risk of AI and its impact on society. I work in collaboration with these bodies on developing a worldwide AI ethics framework. I am a passionate and avid supporter of women in technology, contributing as a mentor and an ambassador and co-host of Women in Data Science (WiDS)