Marc Rotenberg is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), a global network of AI policy and human rights experts in over 100 countries. He led the development of key international frameworks, including the OECD AI Principles and the Universal Guidelines for AI, and compiled the AI Policy Sourcebook.

Prof. Oreste Pollicino is a leading expert in AI regulation, digital constitutionalism, and fundamental rights. He is a Full Professor at Bocconi University, where he directs the LLM in Law of Automated Systems, and the Italian Member of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. Founder of Pollicino & Partners AIdvisory, he has advised on GDPR, AI Act compliance, and digital rights for public and private sectors. A Fulbright Scholar and former visiting professor at Oxford and NYU, he has authored over 300 articles and 40 books, and contributes as a columnist for Il Sole 24 Ore.

Gabriele Mazzini is a pioneer and leading expert AI governance and regulation and a sought-after advisor, lecturer and public speaker across the world.

Former Team Leader at the European Commission, he designed and led the drafting of the Commission EU AI Act and acted as the principal advisor during the legislative negotiations with the Parliament and the Council. He also shaped earlier policy work on the European approach to AI since 2017, including the White paper on the ecosystem of excellence and trust for AI and the work on liability for emerging technologies. Previously, Gabriele was a senior executive at the Millennium Villages Project, an international development initiative across several sub-Saharan countries founded by Columbia University economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. He also worked in New York with early stage start-ups in the field of emergency communications and smart energy solutions. As EU official, he also served in the European Parliament and the EU Court of Justice. He holds a LLM from Harvard Law School, a PhD in Italian and Comparative Criminal Law from the University of Pavia, Italy and a Law Degree from the Catholic University in Milan, Italy. He is qualified to practice law in Italy and New York.

Essam Al Tamimi is the Founder and Chairman of Al Tamimi & Company, the largest law firm in the Middle East. With over 34 years of experience, he is a leading authority in litigation, arbitration, and regulatory advisory across the UAE and GCC, covering sectors such as corporate law, finance, real estate, and infrastructure.

He has played a key role in drafting major UAE laws and advising federal and local governments on regulatory frameworks, including landmark work with DIFC, ADWEA, and TRA. Essam is also a board member of the Dubai International Chamber, contributing to the Emirate’s trade strategy. Internationally recognized, he has served in senior roles within ICC, LCIA, and CIArb, and has been appointed arbitrator under major global rules including ICC, LCIA, DIAC, and PCA. A prolific author and trainer, Essam has received numerous accolades, including lifetime achievement awards from IFLR and Gulf Legal for his contributions to the legal sector.

Dr. Victor Mateu leads the research and development of cryptographic solutions in the cryptographic research center at TII. His extensive expertise in applied cryptography spans among different areas such as secure protocol design, cryptographic engineering, security architecture for embedded systems, design of electronic voting solutions, zero knowledge proofs, and quantum resistant cryptography. Dr. Mateu has written multiple conference papers, open-source IEEE and Elsevier journal papers and book chapters. Moreover, he has also actively contributed several open-source projects supporting cryptographic libraries and its integration in company products for international companies.

Christophe joined Pasqal in September 2022 as SVP of Global Business Development, leveraging over 20 years of experience in driving growth and customer success in high-growth environments. He oversees European business development and coordinates global sales strategies.
A graduate in IT Engineering from Evry-University–Paris-Saclay, Christophe has held key roles at leading tech firms including IBM, Oracle, Synertrade, UiPath, and Nvidia. Notably, at UiPath, he successfully built the large accounts sales division during the company’s pre-IPO phase.

Dr Jean-Michel Moriniere has been a French practicing lawyer for 28 years and a legal consultant in the UAE for almost 20 years.

He has been a lecturer in law at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi since 2007 and he is a research associate at Nantes University’s maritime law Centre. He is also the vice-president of the Academic board at EM Normandie in Dubai.

He got acquainted with legal aspects of digital technologies when doing research at the University of Waterloo, Canada and was once a founder of the first legal website and digital legal journal in France.

He assists creators and innovators through their legal pathways and has a keen interest in law and new technologies.

Ahmed Nabil is an Information Security expert with over 20 years of experience in Cyber Defense, Cloud Architecture, IT Management, and Digital Transformation. He holds multiple certifications from Microsoft, CISCO, ISACA, ISC2, and others.

A public speaker at global conferences (e.g., Microsoft Ignite, GISEC, CISO Africa Summit), Ahmed has co-authored a book on M365 Security.

Currently the Head of Information Security Engineering at a leading bank, Ahmed has held senior roles as CISO, Regional Security Manager, and Chief Security Architect across various sectors in Egypt, UAE, and the Middle East.

He has been awarded the Microsoft MVP for 12 years and the Microsoft Regional Director award in 2020. Recognized with the MESA CISO 100 Award, CISO 50 Award, and multiple CISO of the Year titles, Ahmed was also a finalist for the EC-Council CISO Award and recently named a Global Ambassador for the Responsible AI UAE chapter.

He holds a BS in Electrical and Control Engineering, an MSc in Business Information Technology, and an MBA.

Nabil Cheqroun is leading Honeywell Building Solutions’ (HBS) projects P&L business across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. He is responsible for expanding the company’s footprint, deploying its go-to-market strategy and building regional partnerships and capabilities to deliver projects varying from Airports land and airside, Smart Cities, Energy efficiency, and integrated projects in all types of buildings, warehouses, facilities.

Nabil has held various leadership roles in Project and Program Management, P&L, Sales, and was responsible for all end-to-end business operations and strategy for the META region.

Prior to his current role, Nabil spent nearly 17 years in the Energy field – Power, Transmission, Distribution and Renewable Energy.

Nabil has been with Honeywell since 2021, and previously worked for General Electric, Alstom, Areva T&D, and Bombardier Transportation where he held various regional roles including leading sales and business leadership roles.

He holds a Doctorate in the field of leadership development & energy transition from Ecole des Ponts Business School ParisTech, a dual specialized master in project and program management & Business development from SKEMA business school, and an electrical engineering degree from CESI Paris.

Sultan Mohamed Bin Ghanim Alkaabi is a PhD researcher in Data Science and the Vice President of the Fujairah Youth Council, recognised for his pioneering contributions to AI ethics, digital governance, and innovation leadership in the UAE.

He currently serves at the Ministry of Interior, where he integrates predictive analytics into sustainable policing strategies.

Sultan Mohamed holds a Master’s in Innovation Management from the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, where he was awarded for excellence in innovation.

A certified AI Ethics Assessor by IEEE and a Government Excellence System Evaluator, he has actively contributed to digital transformation frameworks and AI governance initiatives aligned with UAE Vision 2031.

His leadership development includes international training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and ongoing mentoring efforts to advance youth leadership and ethical AI adoption in public institutions.

Shaher Tayfour is a passionate software developer and tech community builder with a focus on artificial intelligence, data science, and digital innovation.
He has led multiple youth-focused initiatives, built AI-driven applications, and collaborated with government and industry partners on technology programs.

As the founder of CodersLaunchpad, he works to make advanced tech skills accessible through hands-on learning.

Naima is Senior Vice President Portfolio Strategy at Mubadala. She holds Master Degrees in both Computer Science and Finance & Investments. Naima also completed her Executive Education in Artificial Intelligence at MIT.

Muhammed Lameen Abdul-Malik is a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, with over 25 years of experience in international management working in the UK Government, United Nations in nuclear science and technology, the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, an International Saudi Think Tank and an entrepreneur.

During his tenure at these organizations, he helped establish Zambia’s first cancer hospital, which treats about 1,500 cancer patients annually; developed a regional strategy to help Africa use nuclear science and technology to address its development challenges; launched a unique global infectious diseases index to inform governments about their prevailing infectious diseases and has written papers on green hydrogen and how to use deep tech /AI to develop an economy.

He runs his own boutique consultancy and is also a Senior Advisor at Roland Berger, a European Strategic Consultancy.

Enrico Natalizio is currently Chief Researcher of the Autonomous Robotics Research Center with the Technology Innovation Institute (UAE) and a Full Professor with the LORIA laboratory at the Université de Lorraine (France).

He obtained his master’s degree magna cum laude and his Ph.D in Computer Engineering at the University of Calabria (Italy) in 2000 and 2005 respectively.

In 2005-2006 he was a visiting researcher at the BWN (Broadband Wireless Networking) Lab at Georgia Tech in Atlanta (USA). From 2006 till 2010, he was a research fellow at the Titan Lab of the Università della Calabria (Italy). In 2010, he joined POPS team at Inria Lille – Nord Europe (France) as a postdoc researcher and from 2012 till 2018 he was an Associate Professor at the Université de technologie de Compiègne (France), and Full Professor at the Université de Lorraine, from September 2018.

His research interests include UAV communications and networking, robot and sensor communications with applications in networking technologies for disaster management and infrastructure monitoring, and IoT privacy and security.

He is currently an associated editor of Elsevier Vehicular Communications, and Computer Networks. He has been ranked in the top-2% world-wide scientists of the Stanford-University’s bibliometric study for the year 2024.

Ali Haidar is a Canadian qualified Barrister and Solicitor with almost 20 years of both in-house and private practice experience across Canada, the UK, and the Middle East.

As Head of Legal and Government Affairs for Microsoft in the UAE, Ali leads various legal and tech strategic initiatives, including an active role as a Responsible AI thought leader and frequent public speaker and commentator.

With a multijurisdictional legal background and a commitment to ethical technology, Ali guides organizations through the complexities of AI governance and adoption and has established himself as a valuable voice in discussions on the effective use of AI technology to support the practice of law.

Ali has worked in private practice, with firms such as Clifford Chance LLP in London, and in-house with multinationals 3M Company, and Microsoft.

He holds a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, in Toronto, and a degree in Economics from Western University, in London, Ontario.

Helal Tariq Lootah is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Lune Technologies a leading, DIFC based Financial Data Science Startup.

Mr Lootah is also currently a Board Member of the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), a member of the Dubai Youth Council and is a New York Qualified Attorney and Counsellor at Law.

Prior to Co-Founding of Lune Technologies, Mr Lootah notably occupied positions in organizations such as Dubai Courts, and holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Exeter, England.

Abhinav Kumar Srivastava is an Associate Vice President – Information Security at NMC. In his current role, Abhinav leads NMC’s information security practices and provides leadership, vision, and managerial oversight in developing and implementing strategies that enable effective information security practices, robust security controls implementation, enhanced security culture, and minimized security risks for the organization.

Abhinav holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering, laying the foundation, followed by a Master’s degree specializing in Information Security, and is currently engaged in the pursuit of a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Information Security.