Asma Siddiki is Executive Director of Education at the Diriyah Foundation of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Previously, she served at the Prince Mohammad bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship in KAEC, Saudi Arabia, as the Interim Dean, as well as the Founding Dean for Student Affairs since 2016, to which positions she was seconded from her role as Senior Director for Special Projects at Emaar Economic City in KAEC.

Asma is also the Founder & ex-Chief Executive Officer of Oxbridge Learning Limited (previously Alpha1Education) that organizes Oxbridge Summers, a summer school program at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She is an Education Management Consultant and previously served as Director for Global Higher Education at the Huron Consulting Group in Dubai and Riyadh.

Her earlier roles include Associate Dean for Development and Director of Degree Programs at the Dubai School of Government and Vice-Dean at Effat University. Siddiki is currently on the Executive Committee of the Saudi British Society based in London.

She earned a DPhil from the University of Oxford, and was educated in Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and England.

Mayank Singhal is CEO of 10xAD, a UAE based investment firm representing strategic capital from Abu Dhabi. In his current role, Mayank runs a global investment mandate with a hybrid investment strategy spanning fund commitments and direct deals across global markets.

He was recognized by the World Economic Forum in 2022 as a Young Global Leader (YGL) for his efforts in global technology investing across emerging and developed markets. Mayank was also invited by Fortune to its ‘40 under 40’ young leaders cohort in 2019. He holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB), where he served as the youngest member of its Global Management Board. Mayank previously served on McKinsey and Company’s New Ventures Advisory Council in New York, advising the firm on its technology initiatives. 

Prior to 10xAD, Mayank helped establish ADQ, a leading sovereign wealth fund in the UAE, where he served as Executive Director and Global Head of Private Equity and Venture Capital. While at ADQ, Mayank is credited with building the world’s largest technology-focused sovereign investment program. He led investments in excess of $25 billion across several technology businesses in North America, Europe and Asia, and made mega-sized LP commitments to develop deep partnerships with several top tier funds and top-rated GPs. During his time at the firm, Mayank was a Member of the firm’s Management Committee and Investment Committee.

Before ADQ, Mayank served as a close personal advisor to Ratan N Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, and helped set up RNT Capital, a $300 million venture fund backed by Ratan Tata to invest in global technology start-ups including AirBnB and Xiaomi.

Mayank also spent a number of years at established global firms including Temasek, TPG and McKinsey, where he built his career across consulting and private equity investing.

Ahmed Sobhy is Chief Investment Officer of Banque Misr, Egypt's second-largest commercial bank. He oversees the bank’s principal investments in private equity, debt capital markets and third-party assets under management. With extensive experience in investing and investment banking, Sobhy has worked in the UK, US and Egypt, leading and participating in M&A transactions valued at over $31 billion. He has served as an Investment Principal at Ezdehar Fund Management and was Vice-President in the Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley. Sobhy's background includes work in the Financial Advisory and Principal Investments teams at Swicorp, a MENA-focused M&A and investment firm based in Geneva and Riyadh. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo and a Master's degree in Finance from the London Business School.

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama was appointed Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work of the United Arab Emirates in 2020. He joined the government in 2017 as Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, where he was responsible for enhancing government performance by investing the latest technologies and tools of artificial intelligence and applying them in various sectors. Al Olama is also the Managing Director of the World Government Summit in the Prime Minister’s Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, and Deputy Director of the Future Department at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, where he contributed to the preparation of the UAE Centennial 2071 strategy and the UAE 4th Industrial Revolution Strategy. Al Olama has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the American University of Dubai, and a Diploma in Project Management and Excellence from the American University of Sharjah.

Noor Sweid is a visionary and tenacious leader. Recently named one of the World's Top 50 Women in Tech, she drives venture capital in the region. She once served as Chief Investment Officer in the Dubai Future Foundation and made history as the first woman to lead an IPO in the Middle East.

Dr. Khaldoon is the Founder & Managing Director of iMENA Group. In the last 25 years, he has participated in the development of the regional technology venture capital ecosystem in the MENA region as a founder, investor, and advisor. Khaldoon was a founder at Arabia.com (first venture backed online business in MENA), Arab Advisors Group, NetAdvantage, OneCard, Riyada Ventures, and Impact MENA. Key funds that he managed include IDEAVELOPERS (first regulated regional VC fund), Riyada, and iMENA, while companies that he invested in include OpenSooq, SellAnyCar, Jeeny, ReserveOut, Telr, JRD, Hellofood, Akhtaboot, IdealRatings, and Rufoof. As an ecosystem builder, he has participated in the development of iPark, ABAN, Oasis500, PICTI, and Wamda. Khaldoon was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. He is also a Kauffman Venture Capital Fellow and a member of the Young Presidents Organization. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from The University of Jordan and has completed the Young Global Leaders Leadership and Policy education program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, and the YPO programs at Harvard Business School, Stanford, and London Business School.

Founder and CEO of STV, the largest technology investment firm in the Middle East that's backing the region's most disruptive technology champions and shaping its technology venture capital ecosystem. Held executive leadership roles at Google’s headquarters including heading the company's global efforts to build new businesses and partnerships for Android, and establishing Google's emerging business operations in the Middle East. A member of the board of trustees and directors of several leading organizations. Attended MIT and received BSc and MEng degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a concentration in Economics. Actively solving the technology advancement and talent development agendas through impactful investments and public-private partnerships.

Ashish is a celebrated serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. He started his first business in 1996 at the age of 15 with a $5,000 loan. Since then, Ashish and his family have driven the growth of the company from a small IT business in Uganda to the globally recognized multi-sector investment group that exists today. Through its businesses and investments, the family now created a presence across 26 African countries in sectors spanning technology, manufacturing, real estate and financial services. Ashish is passionate about enabling, empowering and inspiring young entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs. In 2009, he launched the families Foundation to foster and support emerging entrepreneurs through mentorship, Mara Mentor is a free online global platform that connects emerging entrepreneurs with business leaders and industry experts. The family's vision is to create a self-sustaining Africa through entrepreneurship.

Silje Vallestad is an accomplished entrepreneur, innovation leader, VC advisor, and ecosystem builder. She has an extensive track record of building transformative projects from idea to operation, curating networks, and ecosystems to drive impact through innovation and thought leadership and cultivating practices to boost organizational innovation performance.

Her expertise has been built over almost three decades of hands-on experience marked by entrepreneurial pursuit and a sharp analytical but equally out-of-the-box mindset. From building tech companies out of Silicon Valley, to advising enterprises and government bodies on innovation, to organizing the largest Global Investor Summit in Norway, to venture building for established companies seeking to diversify their portfolio, Silje is a proven builder who delivers results fast. She develops holistic and out-of-the-box solutions creating sustainable impact.

Silje is a strong believer that “magic happens when the right people meet”, and that magic requires that barriers created by geography, disciplines, and ages are broken down; “the old ways will not create the needed new solutions to our global challenges”. To facilitate change Silje has continuously curated communities that engage young talent alongside global leaders; Nobel Laureates, Presidents and Royals, C-suite executives of the largest tech companies, leading entrepreneurs and academics, Hollywood celebrities and artists. For over 20 years Silje has built and activated networks that inspire new partnerships and projects that drive change.
Engraved in Silje’s ethos is a commitment to global impact, and her work has been widely recognized earning her recognition as a Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum), a Top 20 Nordic Thinker (Nordic Business Forum), Female Entrepreneur of the Year (Ministry of Trade and Industry), Female Entrepreneurship Ambassador (European Union) and winner of the Rosing Creativity Prize - to name a few.

Educationally, Silje is a cross-disciplinary lifelong learner. She moved to Wales at 16 to attend United World College together with 400 teens from over 100 countries, which sparked her passion for cultures, diplomacy, and religions. Her undergraduate degree mixed World Religions, with public administration and social economics, and her Master's focused on strategy, business, and public-private partnerships. Silje has throughout her career continually pursued executive programs in leadership, innovation, and sustainability at world-leading institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and Stanford.

Claudia is currently on a challenging mission to transform the culture of one of the most successful business units of Siemens, with the intent to ensure higher collaboration among its 14,000 team members and more co-creation with partners and customers. After all, there is no digital transformation without an accompanying cultural transformation.

In her previous role, as Siemens Oman CEO, Claudia was committed to enabling the digital transformation in the sultanate and to contributing to its economic development. She drove business in power generation and distribution, smart grid, smart buildings, control and automation, and digital solutions for industrial applications. She assumed her role after working with Siemens in Germany, Denmark and China for various business fields, including wind power and rail automation.

Originally from Brazil, she commenced her career in strategy consulting, undertaking assignments in France, Morocco, South Africa and the United States, besides her home country. She subsequently co-founded a SaaS edtech startup in Brazil, Eduqo, which she ran for a couple of years before joining Siemens. Claudia developed her passion for education during her college days, when she worked as part-time teacher preparing students for university entrance exams in Brazil.

In her free time, Claudia enjoys to dance, travel and learn about different cultures, as well as to mentor young entrepreneurs. She is a Board Member of ITAex and of the Casimiro Montenegro Filho Foundation and she sits on the Advisory Board of Battery Associates. She was nominated by Forbes as one of the most powerful businesswomen in the Middle East in 2021 and 2020, by Business Insider Germany as among the Top 25 Female FutureMakers in 2021, and by LinkedIn as one of its 2020 Top Voices. She is also a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Claudia holds an Aeronautical Engineering Degree from Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica, an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA in International Studies from the Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania. She also later pursued executive education courses in universities such as Stanford, Princeton, Cambridge, Oxford, London School of Economics and Nanyang Technological University Singapore.

Ms. Raya Yusuf-Sbitany is an entrepreneur and Private Sector and Gender specialist.

She is the CEO of Derma Beauty Lab, a boutique skincare manufacturing company in Jerusalem, focusing on producing premium skincare products under the brand MINERALINE, using natural and organic ingredients, and enriched with Dead Sea minerals. The company has a sustainability strategy and a social program, focusing on ethical production and marketing, in addition to offering employment to women and youth from Jerusalem, where unemployment is at its highest, reaching over 85% among women in the city.

Raya also worked as a Private Sector and Gender consultant with UN Women. Prior to this position, Raya was the Chief Business Development & Financial Inclusion Officer at Bank of Palestine. During her career at the bank, she founded several departments at the bank including Business Development, Financial Inclusion, Investor Relations, and Quality Assurance, in addition to designing and implementing the bank’s Women’s Market program “Felestineya”, a comprehensive program to support women by offering banking products and services that meet their needs, a full program of advisory services and training, as well as implementing internal changes to promote gender equality. In 2015, Raya received the award of Best Investor Relations Professional in Palestine by the Middle East Investor Relations Society.

Raya holds a Master’s degree from King’s College London in International Management, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in Middle Eastern Studies and Economics.

Raya is a member of the national Financial Inclusion Committee of the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA), a board member at Vitas Palestine Microfinance Institution, the Yabous Cultural Center in Jerusalem, and the Arab Orphan Committee Organization in Jerusalem.

Ali Zuashkiani is Chief Executive Officer of the Physical Asset Management Corporation, a consulting company dedicated to improving asset management practices globally, with a focus on the Middle East and Iran. As a global subject matter expert in this field, he is a frequent speaker at international events on topics related to physical asset management, maintenance and reliability. Zuashkiani is also Director of Educational Programs at the University of Toronto Centre for Asset Management. In 2003, he co-founded Knowledge Diffusion Network, an organization that aims to promote collaboration between Iranian academics living abroad with the scientific community in Iran. Later, he became Co-Founder and President of International Association of Iranian Managers, which aims to improve management knowledge and practices in Iran and the Middle East. He was recognized by the President of Iran as the most distinguished student of Iran in 1999.