OUR EXPERT JUDGES
Caspar Herzberg President for the Middle East and Africa at Schneider Electric
Herzberg heads Schneider Electric's operations in the Middle East and Africa, overseeing 7,500 employees. In July 2020, the company secured a deal worth around $295 million with Egypt's national utility provider to convert the country's electric distribution network into a smart grid. Herzberg is also a published author and was recently chosen by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum to serve on the Dubai International Chamber's Advisory Board.
Ronaldo Mouchawar Vice President for Amazon in MENA
Mouchawar co-founded Souq.com in 2005, which went on to become the largest e-commerce marketplace in the Arab World. The platform was acquired in 2017 by Amazon for around $580 million and rebranded in the U.A.E to become Amazon.ae in 2019, making it one of the region's largest tech-acquisitions at the time. In June 2021, Mouchawar was appointed a board member of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Luma Fawaz CEO of Oasis 500
Fawaz has been the CEO of Amman-based pre-seed and seed fund manager and accelerator Oasis500 since 2018, before which she had been Head of Investments at the company since 2015. The company has a $20 million fund dedicated to investing in startups and entrepreneurs.
Sherif Bishara Group CEO of the Mohamed & Obaid Almulla Group
Bishara has been at the helm of the Mohamed & Obaid Almulla Group since 2018. In 2020, under his leadership, the American Hospital Dubai partnered with Oracle and Cerner for a major digital overhaul to optimize cost management, doctor performance, and inventory management. Bishara was ranked among Forbes Middle East's list of
Top CEOs In The Middle East 2021.
Farah Foustouk CEO for the Middle East at Lazard Gulf Ltd
Foustok joined Lazard Gulf Ltd in 2014, where she now oversees its operations in the region. She also co-founded Reach in 2013, a non-profit female mentoring program in Dubai's DIFC, as well as launching TARA in 2020, a speed mentoring NGO platform. Foustok was ranked among Forbes Middle East's list of The Middle East's Power Businesswomen 2021.
Elie Habib Co-founder and CTO at Anghami
Habib co-founded Anghami in 2012. Today it is one of the most successful music streaming platforms in the Middle East, with more than 70 million registered users worldwide streaming over 57 million Arabic and international songs. The platform was the first Arab technology company to list on Nasdaq via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), at a valuation of $220 million in March 2021. This made it only the second Middle Eastern firm to list on a U.S. stock market since 1997.
Yuri Misnik Group CTO at the First Abu Dhabi Bank
Misnik has over 21 years of experience and worked at HSBC, Microsoft, AWS, and the National Australia Bank (NAB) before joining First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the largest bank in the U.A.E. Misnik also served as the Executive General Manager for NAB. In April 2021, he was appointed as Chairman of the Information Technology Committee at the U.A.E. Banks Federation. He has been a member of the AWS CIO advisory council since 2018.