Ali Al Ebrahim loves two things – coffee & technology! Passions that inspired him to establish COFE App, an online coffee-centric marketplace that is changing the way coffee lovers access their daily cuppa. An entrepreneur by nature, Ali has always sought to create collaborative business environments, all the while challenging the status-quo. Ali is also the recipient of Kuwait Award of Entrepreneurial Excellence under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Nawaf Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (2020), the Arabian Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2019).

Dr. Marwan Alzarouni is an internationally recognized blockchain technology advocate, keynote speaker and strategic advisor. Dr. Alzarouni is the CEO of Dubai Blockchain Center (DBCC), an impact business and a strategic partner to Dubai Future Foundation. The center was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum under the Area 2071 initiative in May 2018. It aims to create a fertile ground and a holistic ecosystem for blockchain companies and projects to thrive in. DBCC regularly hosts a number of blockchain startups within Area 2071 and also conducts educational classes and seminars around blockchain use cases in government and private sector. Dr. Marwan is currently heading the Digital Asset Task Force (DATF), a research and advisory team that reports to the Dubai Future Council for Blockchain. The purpose of the task force is to conduct a comprehensive study to provide clear guidance on how digital assets can be encouraged and regulated. The council establishes Dubai as a global blockchain capital, offering a prominent platform for decision-makers from various local and international governments and private sector entities to explore futuristic, blockchain-based solutions.

Tala manages Admissions event programming strategy for NYU Abu Dhabi and loves being a part of a global team. Prior to joining Admissions, she was part of NYUAD’s community outreach office in Campus Life, managing programs and events in various fields including youth mentorship, sustainability, disability advocacy, humanitarian action, among others. Tala earned her degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Culture & Politics with a minor in American Studies. In her free time, she plays basketball, enjoys the outdoors, wakeboards, and fervently advocates for the use of the Oxford Comma.

Matt Dixon, CEO and Founder of Evai.iohas over 30 years of experience in the financial services sector. A former consultant to the World Bank and FCA CF30 accredited financial advisor, he has been inspired to use his experience to bridge the worlds of traditional finance and digital asset investment. Before founding Evai in 2019, Matt designed and implemented successful algorithmically traded funds regulated by the FCA. The concept for the Evai.io business was formed when he returned to education to study his MsC at the University of Brighton, where he was introduced to Professor Andros Gregoriou.

Nadine Mezher is the co-founder and CMO of Sarwa, the first automated investment advisory platform in the Middle East Gulf region. Nadine co-founded Sarwa after years of consultancy in retail strategy and marketing with a track record of successful projects delivered for clients ranging from government entities such as the Office of HH the Crown Prince of Dubai and multi-nationals such as OSN, Nestle… Prior to that, she worked for Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Government of Dubai in retail strategy and strategic alliances, where she led the management of citywide festivals. Nadine comes from a multi-disciplinary background with over 15 years of experience in management and brand communication across industries. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration/Marketing from the American University of Beirut, as well as a degree in design from Esmod Paris.

Senior Director for Strategy and Partnerships at Careem Pay

A graduate of University College Dublin, Alaeddin held multiple positions with one of Europe’s largest and fastest growing online payment gateways. Since, joining HyperPay in 2013, he helped transform HyperPay to become the regions leading payment gateway. He is a regular speaker at payments and Internet industry events across the region as a payments expert.

Faisal comes from a financial background where he was involved in the investments sector since the beginning of his career in 2007. He progressed during his time with Kuwait Finance Center (Markaz) where he engaged in Private Banking Services, working mainly with clients in the investments sector. In addition, Faisal was closely involved in the launch of multiple tech startups such as Ride Rove & The Pretty Book. Today, he looks over Tap’s integration team.

Hubertus is Partner at Ghaf Capital, a leading web3 VC investment firm in the UAE with a portfolio of over 60 companies. He is also Chairman of the Tezos Foundation board and Founding partner of Enabling Future, a family office VC firm with a global portfolio in fin-tech, market-places and blockchain-tech. Prior to that Hubertus was co-founder of Babil Games, the first mobile games publisher in the MENA region delivering Arabic content, acquired by Stillfront Group in 2016.

Nic is a business leader, entrepreneur and investor who is passionate about the convergence of business and technology in mobility, fintech, cyber security and blockchain. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Udrive, the GCC’s first and largest car sharing platform. He also Co-Hosts the regions largest Blockchain and Fintech Podcast. He mentors start-ups and SMEs heading towards rapid scale and in his past experience has worked with larger organizations to help re-focus, re-align priorities, and facilitate rapid change for those being heavily impacted by technological innovation. With a 20+ year career in leading teams, developing products and building on-the-ground presence in India, Africa, the Middle East and the United States across multiple industries in the B2B and B2B2C sectors, Nic has played a key role in helping to shape and propel businesses forward.

I’m a career talent management expert with more than 17 years of technology talent-focused acquisition experience in the Middle East. I lead the people & culture organization for Tap Payments, working with an amazing HR team hiring exceptional talent and building a world-class culture and high-performing global teams with one common goal: Making payments easy, quick, and secure for our clients all around the world.

Hosam is the CEO and Co-founder of tabby, a fintech startup born in the UAE which has become one of the best funded startups in the Middle East with over $130m raised. Previously, Hosam was CEO and Co-founder of Namshi, the Middle East’s premier online fashion destination which was fully acquired by Emaar Malls in 2019. Prior to co-founding Namshi, he worked in Private Equity with Waha Capital in Abu Dhabi, managing Waha’s portfolio of assets. Hosam earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Canada’s Queen’s University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School in Boston.

Megha Merani is an independent journalist with over a decade of news reporting experience in the Gulf. Her stories have made headlines across Reuters, Zawya, Arab News, Arabian Business, Entrepreneur Middle East, CEO, The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, Gulf News and 7DAYS. She has also produced editorial for the World Government Summit, World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils, and Dubai Chamber of Commerce. She reports on a variety of subjects including finance, technology and entrepreneurship. She has won reporting grants from the Thomson Reuters Foundation and The Global Initiative Against Organized Crime. In 2020, she was among 11 journalists chosen from around the world to be a Summer School Fellow at the Reuters Institute For Journalism at the University of Oxford, UK.

Anuscha has over 15 years of experience in investment banking and alternative asset management. She is currently Co-Founder of Spotii, the MENA regions leading Shop Now Pay Later platform. In the last 24 months Anuscha has successfully launched Spotii, grown the business across multiple markets and attracted an international strategic buyer. Prior to co-founding Spotii, Anuscha served as a Managing Director at The Abraaj Group where she oversaw the Investment Office function at the firm. Prior to joining Abraaj, Anuscha worked with Dresdner Kleinwort in New York as an Analyst in the media group, working on mergers and acquisitions and film financing projects. Anuscha graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science in Economics from the Wharton School and a Bachelors of Arts in Biology from The College of Arts and Sciences in 2005. She is an active member of Penn Alumni interview program in Dubai.

Narendra is a catalyzer to NymCard’s vision towards business and growth. He carries over 25 years of experience in Large Consumer facing businesses where he has helped create and scale up Businesses across Schemes, Payments, Financial Services. Presently, he is the CBO of Nymcard and leads the business and growth functions. In his other recent career stints, he has been the Global Business Head for Issuances with FSS Technologies, and also led processing solutions for Mastercard in South Asia. He also headed Rupay, the Domestic scheme in India and laid the foundations of UPI which is the fastest growing payment ecosystem in the world. He was also the co-founder of PayU, the fastest growing Payment aggregator in India and no exaggeration, he shaped the Acceptance infrastructure in India. He was also a part of large consumer business like GE, Whirlpool, Aviva and HSBC in his early part of career.

Ahmed is the EVP of Business in Tap Payments. Driven by his passion to help businesses grow, Ahmed manages operations across the region to offer seamless payment solutions to merchants. Prior to joining Tap, Ahmed has 13 years of experience in Business development across multiple industries including technology, telecom and cybersecurity.

Technical Product Manager at Tap Payments

Padmini Gupta is the Co-founder and CEO of Rise, a fintech platform that democratizes access to essential financial services for millions of migrants globally. Rise is Entrepreneur’s “”MENA Fintech of the Year”” for 2020. Rise launched Xare which was inspired by Rise’s migrant customers and allows anyone anywhere to share money with anyone, anywhere. Xare is one of the fastest-growing fintech’s globally and won Entrepreneur’s ‘Fastest Growing Fintech of the Year’ for 2021. Prior to starting rise, she was an award-winning Banker from California and World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow, and an Oxford MBA. Padmini began her career in banking in the 1990s in California, where she was responsible for running a $200 million+ portfolio in commercial banking. She was one of the early pioneers dedicated to bringing financial products to women and minority-led businesses. As a result, she was twice awarded by the US Small Business Administration. She also sat on the Banker’s Board of Accion and was a part of the San Diego City Redevelopment Task Force. In 2004, Padmini left her lucrative banking career to pursue an MBA at the University of Oxford. She joined the World Economic Forum as a Global Leadership Fellow, working with global public and private sector leaders around key issues such as urban mobility, smart cities, and climate change. She also served as a distinguished member of the World Affairs Council, leading discussions with international experts around the most pressing global issues of the day. A passionate advocate for society’s ignored voices, Padmini has always been a strong proponent of the importance of financial independence and co-founded rise in 2016, as a way to combine her financial expertise with her desire to drive important social change. Padmini continues to be a mentor and advisor to several startups and plays an active role in supporting women entrepreneurs through her involvement with Dubai Business Women Council, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (SHERAA), to name but a few. As a global citizen who has lived and worked in more than 10 countries, she brings a unique understanding and passion to redefining migrant banking and helping a billion people to build a better, more equitable, and more sustainable future.

Emir Isik is a Senior Business Development Manager at Tarabut Gateway. He brings over 7 years of diverse sales & marketing experience that he attained in tech companies, Financial Institutions, and FinTechs in Boston, New York, Bahrain, and UAE respectively. Prior to joining Tarabut Gateway, Emir worked for Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch in New York, managing UHNW portfolios. He then discovered his passion for FinTech and made a move to Bahrain partnering with startups to manage their regulatory setup as well as assisting pioneers of newly emerging licensees to graduate from the CBB regulatory Sandbox. He then worked for Arab Financial Services where he managed affiliate partnerships for their first b2c digital wallet As the Senior Business Development Manager- Fintech at Tarabut Gateway, Emir is responsible for sales strategies and execution of key value drivers for regional financial service clients across Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Emir holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, and a minor in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A, and has completed several certificate programs including Digital Marketing by Columbia Business School, Emeritus Institute of Management, and Payments Innovation Pro

Rifad Mahasneh is the Vice President and General Manager of Rain in the UAE. Rifad joined Rain, one of the regions leading crypto currency exchanges, in 2021 after spending years at Uber where he was managing the ride hailing segment of the business in the GCC & Levant Markets. Rifad brings over a decade of experience in business strategy, management, and public policy, having worked across multiple markets in the MENA region. Rifad holds an MBA from IE Business school and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto.

Tariq Sheikh founded Postpay, the leading Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) provider in the region, in 2019. Postpay has been paving the way for financial freedom, enabling users to easily purchase products on the spot and split payments into three installments with absolutely no interest or fees. Prior to founding Postpay, Sheikh was a strategy consultant at Kearney. With the creation of Postpay, Sheikh’s purpose was to transform his interest and passion to make a change that can tangibly enhance people’s everyday life. Postpay gives people the freedom to achieve their aspirations, without burdening them with interest fees and hidden charges. Inspired by global BNPL players, Sheikh was able to identify great potential in the industry and had the foresight to be a part of the BNPL revolution, helping to grow the industry in the Middle East region. Sheikh holds an MBA from ESADE and the University of Cape Town GSB (with Distinction) and a Bachelors of Commerce from the University of South Africa (with Distinction). He is also on a personal mission to help solve access to basic rights. He has collaborated with several charities and foundations while also combining his passion for fitness as a triathlete to raise awareness through sport.

Danny is a fintech expert and a serial entrepreneur that feels very passionate about using technology to solve daily-life problems. He currently is launching his 3rd start-up ‘BANKIOM’ a digital bank for millennials and mobile natives in the GCC and beyond…

Richie Santosdiaz is an economic development advisor who has worked with various governments and multinationals in the management consulting space. He also comments about it regularly in the media. He has an ongoing engagement as an Executive Economic Development Advisor with The Fintech Times and Fintech Power 50, as well as an Executive Economic Development Advisor with The Corporate Group – amongst other roles. Richie has worked with a wide range of sectors in the context of economic development and internationalization, but, in particular he developed a skill set and sub-passion for fintech as well as agriculture/food, tech, tourism and creative industries (particularly film & television).

Paul leads the Cards & Payments team at Al-Futtaim, delivering digital payment services and solutions across MENA and SEA for brands such as IKEA, M&S, Toys R Us, Toyota and Lexus

Ihsan is part of the founding team at Dapi and the Regional manager for the MENA region.  Worked in venture creation and consulting, helped a large number of local startups develop their business model and go to market strategy. Ihsan and the Dapi team are determined to bring the open banking revolution to the MENA region by providing the infrastructure and the toolset to various eco-system participants. In the past year alone, Ihsan have engaged with more the +150 Fintech founders across MENA.

I am not a rocket scientist, but I have worked with some. I have worked in business, technology and media globally. Growing with the internet as it has revolutionized content, commerce and now currency. I am a founding member of the Dubai Blockchain Council (since 2015). Oh, and I have a TED talk on cultural revolution with over a 1 million views. As for the scientists, their rocket reached Mars. Really.

Mehdi Tazi, Lean’s Chief Business Officer focuses on acquiring new clients and leading the development and execution of a strong market strategy within the MENA region. Mehdi draws from his sales and business development experience from working at well-regarded, high-performing companies such as the Boston Consulting Group and CRE Ventures. Prior to this, Mehdi graduated from McGill University and the University of Hong Kong specializing in Accounting and Finance

Riaz Naqvi is an editor with Hill + Knowlton, where he works with clients across the financial technology, oil and gas, and automotive sectors. Over the past decade as a journalist with Arabian Business, Gulf News and Khaleej Times, he has created digital and print content for hundreds of reports across a range of verticals, including technology deep dives, in-depth leadership profiles, healthcare sector outlooks and much more. He has interviewed individuals who have excelled in different walks of life: local e-commerce leaders, fintech CEOs, best-selling authors, product design chiefs, video game developers, VR experts and fitness gurus. Riaz began his career as a journalist at Khaleej Times, holds a NCTJ Diploma in Journalism from the UK and has contributed to independent newspapers across London.

Remo Giovanni-Abbondandolo is SVP MENA at Checkout.com. He has over ten years’ experience supporting entrepreneurs and business leaders to scale their businesses across the MENA, Africa and APAC regions. At Checkout.com, Remo is responsible for expanding the business across the Middle East and North Africa region. Prior to joining Checkout.com, he worked for Africa’s largest online travel agency, Travelstart, where he oversaw the company’s expansion into the Middle Eastern market. He was also part of the founding team of Africa Internet Accelerator (a Naspers’ investment), which launched three of the fastest- growing e-commerce businesses in South Africa. He also worked at Rocket Internet Australia & South East Asia where he was a founding member of the team that launched leading e-commerce companies The Iconic, Zalora and Lazada.

Basil Al Askari is the Cofounder and CEO of MidChains a regulated virtual asset trading based in Abu Dhabi, UAE focused on both the retail and institutional markets. MidChains was founded after his tenures on Mubadala Capital’s Private Equity team and various commercial finance teams in GE Capital based in the UAE, US, UK.

Dr. Antoine Khadige is a Principal with Strategy& and a member of the Financial Services practice in the Middle East. He is also a member of the firm’s global management team for payments and open banking. He has over 15 years of experience in strategy consulting and fintech entrepreneurship in the Middle East and globally. Antoine specializes in payments and digital financial services. He works extensively with financial institutions, payment service providers, nonfinancial companies, and fintech firms on strategy and large-scale transformations with a focus on payments, such as enterprise payments strategy, M&A, open banking, merchant services, cards, emerging payments technology, payments infrastructure, and policy. In addition to his client work, Antoine has co-authored several articles: How open banking can transform payments in Saudi Arabia, All set for growth: Fintech on brink of rapid expansion, and How GCC banks can help clients through the effects of the pandemic. Antoine holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Lyon, an MBA from IE Business School, a master’s in management and finance from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in computer and communication engineering from the American University of Bei

Katral-Nada Hassan joined YAP in 2018 to lead a team of designers building the region’s first independent digital banking application. She serves as the head of product experience and innovation, creating ease-of-access to banking tools for millions across the Middle East and Africa and utilizing cutting-edge technology to enhance the user interface of the application. Katral-Nada is a veteran product and design strategist with more than 15 years of experience developing optimal user experiences for products across web and mobile in all sectors. She specializes in the end-to-end design process and the convergence of design, business, technology and the user in that process to create products that are simple to use. At YAP, she oversees the product, design and user experience team and leads the charge on building the future of banking in the region.

A digital transformation and payment leader in notable CIO & CDO positions with 20 years of experience in shaping and delivering digital growth in payments & cross border remittances with advancements in strategic partnerships with Fintech, Government and FIs. Developed and executed a wide range of strategic programs with an emphasis on digital transformation. Member, Advisor and Speaker at various Blockchain, Fintech and Payment forums. Received various CIO and CXO awards and was recognized as one of the ’50 Most Influential Payment Professionals’ at World Payment Congress.

Ronit Ghose is Global Head of Banking, FinTech & Digital Assets for Citi Global Insights. Ronit is the lead author of Citi’s fintech GPS series – the first edition has had more than 350,000 downloads making it the most read report ever published by Citi, and one of the most read FinTech reports ever published. Ronit joined Citi in 1997 as an equity analyst in London. He has covered banks in the Americas, Asia and EMEA. Ronit was Global Sector Head for Banks Research, Co-Head of the FinTech Group and Head of MENA Research for Citi before moving into his current role. He has been based in Dubai since 2016. Prior to joining Citi, Ronit has also worked at the British Bankers’ Association and as a research assistant in Parliament for the former UK Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford and a postgraduate diploma from University of London. He is also an Advisory Board Member at the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship and several technology start-ups and funds in Africa, the Middle East and the UK.

Prateek Dwivedi – Co-founder CMO Prateek is a Blockchain enthusiast, investor and veteran Internet Marketer. He conceptualized the proprietary 5IRE consensus mechanism and reward protocols. In his internet marketing days, he clocked 8-figure affiliate revenues and helped incubate many startups. He founded Kaching Media and multiple internet marketing companies. He is also a heavy proponent of work life balance and healthy living. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateekdwivedi1991

Gaurav Dhar is the CEO of the Payments Solution Provider Marshal in Dubai. Gaurav has been working at Marshal for over 19 years now. He strives to continually be on the frontier of building FinTech ecosystems and solutions. His personal time is spent on working with and investing directly in innovators, with a view to the future of Fintech both locally and globally via his cache of relationships which include VCs, incubators, accelerators, and start-ups and Angel Syndicates. In his position as a board member of the MENA FinTech Association and several advisory positions to international family offices, start-ups and funds, he looks to grow the relationships within the FinTech and start-up ecosystem to contribute towards the education of budding disruptors and eventually the growth of economies and the job market where possible in the MEA Region and abroad.

Faisal Toukan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ziina. He has experience across enterprise sales, blockchain, start-ups, and venture capital with a passion for bringing new technologies to market. Most recently, Faisal was part of Dunya Lab’s Founding Team based between San Francisco and India. Together with his team, he built tools for the mass adoption of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. He is an avid reader of the latest tech in the space and strongly believes in its future. Prior to Dunya Labs, Faisal served as an Oracle Enterprise Account Executive for Financial Applications for the Northeast United States. Under ‘Office of the CFO’ he sold software to enterprise clients with over $2 billion in revenue. Under Oracle’s high intensity sales environment, Faisal would work with his clients to simplify financial reporting across complex multinational organizations. Faisal graduated from Boston College, where he earned his degree in Economics. In his spare time Faisal enjoys reading about historical figures and playing basketball. He is a lifelong fan of the NBA, Lebron James, and Michael Jordan.

Sujoy Ghosh is the co-founder and CTO of Datacultr tackling the global problem of financial inclusion at Datacultr. He is massively experienced in driving ideas from conceptualization to production and scale, with a keen sense for what it takes to get things done. Prior to Datacultr, he built a startup in the Ad-Tech space which turned profitable and is run by a team of professional managers now. He worked at BlackBerry from 2011 to 2013, leading the App World marketing efforts across APAC, Middle East and Africa. He also built India’s first and largest Telco App Store for Airtel during his stint from 2007 to 2011. Sujoy holds a Master’s in Business from IMI, and Bachelor’s in Information Technology from Delhi University.

Hala is an expert in corporate venture capital and FinTech investing in MENA. Hala was a founding team member and Vice President of Operations at liwwa, the first P2P lending startup in MENA, building the foundations to move it from startup to scale-up. Hala also worked on a number of multi-million dollar deals as an investment banker in Jordan and the GCC. Hala is an experienced researcher, holding positions in a number of economic policy thinktanks and winning fellowships and awards for her contribution to academic societies. Hala graduated from the United World College of the Adriatic (Duino, Italy), the American University in Cairo, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, all with the highest honors.

Srinu Chowhan joined BitOasis in 2021 to lead the company’s marketing & growth initiatives. He joined the team with the objective to drive crypto adoption in the MENA region and beyond, which lined up perfectly with the BitOasis team’s vision to build a region-wide crypto ecosystem that will help revolutionize the financial industry and enable financial freedom for all. Srinu has been working in the crypto space since 2017. He has a proven track record of driving growth and helping scale businesses over his decade-long career in digital marketing.

Miljan has a rich history in helping financial services providers implement digital solutions for their business and their customers. With over 14 years of experience in banking, financial services, and insurance technology space, he brings an in-depth perspective in the areas of digital banking, customer experience, and omni-channel delivery.