Former Radio Host

Managing Partner at Milestone Ventures. Milestone Ventues is a 360 end-to-end consultancy specializing in growth, community building, and audience building.

Madiha ‘Madi’ Naz is the team captain of the first ever all female esports team in the Middle East. She is also the first Pakistani female to pursue esports as a career.

Rebecca is the Research Director at KidsKnowBest, leading research in the key behaviours that impact kids’ development and helping brands develop global strategies to engage family audiences. Since joining KidsKnowBest, Rebecca has worked with brands such as Cartoon Network, eOne, Hasbro and Viacom.

Robbie is CEO of BLAST, the global esports media network delivering world class entertainment experiences. From broadcast studio shows, arena events, digital platforms or top-class multi-platform content, BLAST create’s the most exciting, exhilarating and euphoric moments in esports. Prior to BLAST, Robbie was Vice President Digital, EMEA, running digital partnerships for The Walt Disney Company. Robbie joined Disney in April 2015 as Managing Director, EMEA for Maker Studios (acquired by Disney), where he oversaw all business operations for Maker EMEA. Before joining Disney, Robbie worked at Google based in Paris and London, where he occupied three different positions – Head of Branding & YouTube Solutions across SEEMEA; Head of Mobile, SEEMEA and Head of Mobile France during his four and a half year tenure. Robbie joined Google in July 2010 through Google’s acquisition of AdMob. From 2007-2009, he headed Digital Sales for Euronews. Robbie is a graduate of French and Politics from Leeds University and has a Certification from Stanford in Advanced Project Management.

An award winning entrepreneur and angel investor with more than 8 years in the esports and gaming industry, Saeed Sharaf is also regular guest business analyst on SkyNews, CNN and other reputable outlets.

Butheina Kazim is the founder of Cinema Akil, the only independent arthouse cinema in the Gulf region programming repertory cinema programs at their flagship home in Alserkal Avenue in Dubai and through the nomadic cinema across the UAE. Kazim is a member of the Steering Committee of the Network of Arab Alternative Screens where Cinema Akil is a member. Kazim lives and works in Dubai. Instagram @butheinahk | Twitter @butheina

Words, what an invention. Sarah has known nothing more intimately than letters combined into a logical and, more often than not, illogical order. She’s been the Editor-in-Chief of Step Feed for the better part of four years now, with contributions to TimeOut Beirut and Annahar newspaper previously. As a survivor of the unique experience called Lebanon, she lives day by day, preaching ‘life is hard, don’t make it any harder.

Vish partners with the biggest advertisers in the region to develop meaningful and measurable brand experiences on Snapchat. He has developed hundreds of AR Lens experiences to drive impact, from briefs about new product launches and cultural moments, to pioneering virtual shopping and supercharging consideration.

Aswin leads Webengage’s MEA business and is responsible for driving the growth of customers and partners in the region. Over the course of 9+ years, he has been leading Post-sales, Revenue Operations, and Technical sales in WebEngage and Freshworks. Aswin helps global brands engage and retain their users by personalizing their customer experience using the WebEngage platform and helping them with custom solutions and integration. He is a technologist by passion and loves to learn something new every day.

Amrita Sethi Amrita is an award-winning, golden visa holder and the first NFT artist in the Middle East. After a successful career, spanning 15+ years, in some of the world’s largest multinational financial companies, Amrita left the corporate world for a deeper calling, which led to the creation of a new multimedia art form, called ‘Voice Note Art’©️ now called SoundBYTE(c). From the SoundBYTE, Amrita then breaks down the artwork into smaller SoundBITs collections as well Voice note Art merges sound, technology and story telling with NFT’s giving her a perfect platform to showcase her dynamic art form. The unique idea led to her recognition and coverage with Forbes, CNN, BBC World news to winning awards, selected for Expo 2020 and creating live activations and installations in Middle East Asia and Europe.

Jay Dalvi is a Regional Vice President at CleverTap. Over the past decade, Jay has helped hundreds of brands move to mobile; helped them grow and improve user retention. He’s passionate about the attention economy and excited to witness how mobile is changing human experiences in every domain. He’s spoken to 1000+ app publishers in the last 6 years, so if you have a question about your mobile strategy, he may have the answer. He’s an alumnus of Manchester Business School and has studied Information Systems & Digital Marketing.

Georgio Bassil, known as Georgio Copter, rose to fame on Snapchat as an artist and an official lens creator. Since then, he has expanded his horizon to focus on not just art, but social media and all modes of content creation and has recently co-founded his boutique creative agency Copter Co.

Kerrie Finch, Founding Partner, futurefactor Prior to founding FinchFactor in 2009 (now futurefactor), Kerrie was PR Director at Wieden+Kennedy. There she wrangled brands such as Nike and Heineken, Coca-Cola and Electronic Arts. Today, Kerrie is a country representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, board member of the ADCN, and the founder of SheSays Amsterdam. She hosts, moderates and speaks on stages globally, from Cannes Lions, Ciclope and The Next Web, to Promax, Advertising Week and Dublin Tech Summit

Mouin Jaber is the producer, co-creator and co-host of ‘The Sarde (after dinner) Podcast’ one of the leading podcasts in the Middle East which deals with a wide range of topics in an open and simple way with guests from all walks of life. From the heart of Beirut Lebanon and the comfort of their own home, He, along with journalist and co-host Médéa Azouri created a platform that challenges every single rule in the mainstream media playbook by having long-form candid conversations to better understand our part of the world from societal, political, psychological, historical, scientific perspectives. Mouin believes that his current generation has been criminally robbed of any proper representation on traditional media outlets and sought to change that, one podcast at a time.

Lemya Soltani is the Managing Partner of Next Broadcast Media, the largest digital audio & podcast marketplace in MENA. In her current role, Lemya is in charge of partnerships and of developing and implementing effective strategies to drive Next Broadcast’s growth across the MENA region and globally. Previously, she was the Commercial Lead at dubizzle/ OLX Group, where she helped advance the company’s strategic objectives. Prior to that, Lemya was the Head of Sales at InMobi in London, and prior to that she was responsible for agency relationships at Yahoo. Lemya holds a Masters in Business Administration & Marketing Management from Munich University of Applied Sciences.

Mamta Varerkar has more than 16 years of experience in Branding, Advertising and Communications, with a focus on providing clients with Digital solutions. Mamta is a Partner and Digital Director at Yellow – a branding, communications and digital agency based in Dubai Design District. Mamta has also been an independent marketing consultant to several SMEs and startups helping them meet their marketing and business objectives. Mamta shares her experience working with startups in her podcast called: Startup Hustle Middle East, which includes stories of startups and VCs from the ecosystem.

Bella Ibrahim is the Marketing Director at Kerning Cultures Network. comes from a creative advertising background, working on award-winning ad campaigns for brands like Pepsi, American Express, and Charity: Water. She is currently based in New York.

Elsa Aoun is the co-founder and managing partner of Parallel, a group of online publishing and e-commerce companies focusing on the verticals of Beauty and Health. Parallel has succeeded in building communities of shared interests through content (Ounousa.com; Sohati.com; LooliaTV) and achieve new monetization schemes through e-commerce (LooliaCloset, Sohaticare, Oh Beauty Box), with online presence all over the Arab world and operational presence in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. Prior to launching digital media companies, Elsa was a strategy consultant in Media&Telecoms for Booz &Co in the Middle East and A.T. Kearney in France. She is a graduate of HEC, Paris and holds an MS degree in Telecom Engineering from Saint Joseph University (USJ).

Richard Fitzgerald is CEO and Founder of Augustus Media, an award-winning modern media company in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, publishers of Lovin Dubai, Lovin Saudi and Smashi. Former Regional Head of Social Media for Mindshare MENA, and Managing Director of Brndstr, since 2015 Richard has grown Augustus Media to 40 employees across 3 offices to become one of the leading modern media companies in the region.

As Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman of Telfaz11, Alaa Fadan is the driving force behind the company’s steady expansion as it claims its place as a leading player in the Middle East’s digital media scene. A strong believer in the tremendous potential of the region’s creative and digital economies, his vision was central to the rapid rise of Saudi Arabia’s short-form video industry and established Telfaz11’s as its most influential voice. In addition to inspiring a growing community of Telfaz11 followers throughout the Middle East and beyond, Alaa’s infectious passion for unconventional storytelling and entrepreneurship has helped build a new era of innovative and impactful entertainment in the region. Guided by his leadership, Telfaz11 has become renowned for producing captivating, authentic and locally relevant content with universal appeal. Telfaz11’s unique approach not only brings added value to its clients and brands, but is also playing a key role in shaping the region’s cultural landscape.

Casey is senior writer & host at Lovin Dubai; the social, local news channel. Part of the company since day one, she’s responsible for story-telling, content creation, monitoring internet trends and distributing news updates in various digital forms.

Loulou is an entrepreneur, angel investor and host of Conversations with Loulou, a podcast featuring entrepreneurs and business leaders from the MENA region. Loulou founded Kickstart Ventures in 2019, a network of angel investors that has invested in a dozen of regional and global startups backing great founders. Loulou also founded Nabbesh.com in 2012 and built it to become the MENA region’s first and largest online freelance marketplace, Nabbesh was acquired by Ureed in 2020. Loulou is Lebanese, holds a BA from Bournemouth University, is a CFA Level 2 candidate and has completed an Entrepreneurship program at The Harvard Kennedy School. Find Loulou on social media @louloukhazen or visit www.conversationswithloulou.com

Abed is the founder and CEO at Vinelab, the leading influence marketing company that enables brands to tap into the social side of social media by harnessing the power of people-centric narratives and conversations. By leading a tech and digital-first institution, Abed has acquired exceptional understanding of the underlying changes that social media has brought to shift the balance of power between the mass, corporations and cultural elite.

Kristel Bechara has always strived to create art that celebrates life and honours beauty in its various incarnations. As a modern visual artist, her work is known for its innovative use of dynamic patterns and expressive colours which are set against a monochromatic background, creating imagery that is vivid and thought provoking. Kristel has also found recognition for being a pioneer of NFT art in the Middle East, having been one of the first artists in the region to adopt the technology in the creation of her digital art.

Panagiotis is an entrepreneur with Computer Engineering background, keen on technology oriented companies and the startup scene. Panagiotis loves making communications and has a soft spot for marketing and advertising. He started his career in 2012, when he co-founded Brainbow Development (http://www.brainbowdevelopment.gr/), a web & mobile agency based out of Patras. Currently, he is part of Susurrus (https://www.susurrus.io/), the leading influencer marketing platform in EMEA, where he serves as the CEO of the company. As the CEO he takes care of the business development and his main focus is making Susurrus a global platform. In parallel he was curating the Open Coffee Patras meetings, the monthly events for the local community of tech startups (2013-2017). A TEDx speaker also and a Startup Weekend Organizer.

Moe Minkara is the founder and Executive Creative Dircetor of mink, a content driven marketing communications agency with a love for branding & design! Today Mink is a team of 30 multi disciplinary creative communicators with offices in Dubai and Beirut. Prior to opening up his agency, Moe held posts as the Executive Creative Director of Leo Burnett MENA and as the Regional Executive Creative Director at Memac Ogilvy responsible for the Levant & North Africa region. Moe has over 20 years of experience in advertising from the Middle East to London and then Zagreb where he was the Creative Director of Bruketa & Zinic and a co founder of Brandoctor. His experience has won him numerous awards from around the world such as the New York Festivals, Epica, London International Awards, Art Directors Club, D&AD London, MIAF-Moscow, Clio, Dubai Lynx, Red Dot, and many more. Along the years he was also a Jury member at various international advertising festivals.

Basim is a Political Science and International Affairs graduate from the Lebanese American University class of 2014. He was awarded the prestigious scholarship Tomorrow’s Leaders by MEPI. Following his graduation, Basim became a Lazord fellow at AUC’s Gerhart Center. This fellowship helped him kick off his professional career in 2015 as a Program Officer at Drosos Foundation, a Swiss donor organization. He joined Sowt in January, 2021as Business Development Manager. Basim has special interest in politics, sports, music, traveling and cooking.

Rob Beswick has been with the Virgin brand in the region for over 10 years. He is currently the Managing Director for Virgin Mobile UAE where he is leading the first fully digital mobile brand, pioneering digital innovation, with the goal of making the digital mobile experience even better for customers. Following two years as Chief Commercial Officer where he led the digital transformation and commercial growth strategy, he is now responsible for overseeing all strategy, growth, operations and talent management. Under his leadership, Virgin Mobile UAE has grown incrementally year-on-year and has been consistently recognised for its digital transformation and benchmark customer experience. It has received accolades for Best Customer Experience by Telecoms World for two years (2019, 2020), Innovation of the Year by Arabian Business Technology (2019) and Best Customer Service Provider by Telecoms Review Excellence Awards (2020). Prior to joining Virgin Mobile UAE, Rob held the position of Group Vice President for Brand at Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa for seven years. Here, he was responsible for leading the successful launch of Virgin Mobile in the region, as well as the management of digital strategy, multi-channel retail, customer experience, and the brand and marketing strategies across all markets. Ahead of joining Virgin Mobile, Rob was Group Marketing Director for Lycamobile, leading the launch of the brand in 12 markets over six years.

Tanya Ponomareva is a Creative Director based in Amsterdam. In her work, she’s focused on delivering smart, human-centric concepts that can contribute to positive change in the world. She is on a mission to transform the advertising industry into a better, more inclusive, equal, mindful and diverse place. She helps to build sustainable brands on a genuine foundation, giving a new generation of consumers a real communication value. As a leader, she encourages creatives to develop ideas that bring more common sense to the industry, as well as purpose-driven work to the world. She works with strategists, creatives, designers and producers to deliver the best quality on every project, establishing trust-based, long term relationships with her clients. Having worked at agencies across the globe, she is a true global citizen. She has launched creative unicorns across seven different countries, and has worked with a wide range of high-end brands. She has also won numerous prestigious international, regional and local awards including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Epica Awards, Eurobest, New York Festival et al.

Aref is the mobile business manager at MBC Group, managing the mobile apps portfolio of MBC and MBC Partners, as well as WIZZO Mobile App, the biggest Arab gaming community platforms in the Middle East & North Africa with 12m+ downloads.

Stefano Fallaha is the CEO & Founder of Podeo بوديو , one of the fastest growing media-tech companies in MENA. Podeo is a podcast platform that enables creators & publishers to record, host and distribute their podcasts on global podcasting directories, including the Podeo app which has been named the “Netflix of Arabic Podcasts”. At the age of 23, Stefano is on the list of Forbes 30 Under 30 and has landed recognition from global press publications and international investors backing Podeo’s vision of localizing the digital audio ecosystem.