IDC CIO Summit 2024- Kuwait | International Data Corporation (IDC) | 12 May 2024 | Arraya Ballroom, Courtyard by Marriott, Kuwait , Al Shuhada Street Kuwait City, 15463, Kuwait

The Kuwaiti government continues to push its digital agenda, in line with the Kuwait Vision 2035 and Kuwait 2040 Upstream Strategy . Across the public and private sectors, organizations are embracing different technologies and establishing digital-first mandates to be at par with their regional counterparts. In fact, many of Kuwait’s leading organizations will now explore and invest in generative AI (GenAI) use cases. IDC believes that these organizations need to be ready for an "AI Everywhere" world in the future. IDC forecasts that annual spending on AI-centric systems worldwide will surpass $300 billion by 2026, while ICT spending in Kuwait will exceed $5.5 billion by 2024.

In the era of GenAI-driven disruption, technology leaders are reassessing AI's pivotal role in the digitalization landscape. Given AI’s transformative power to significantly enhance digital innovation, customer experiences, operational efficiency, and sustainability, forward-thinking governments and digitally-driven organizations are adopting an ‘AI everywhere’ mindset and making AI a tech agenda priority to maintain competitive parity with early adopters.

As a result, today’s IT leaders increasingly find themselves in multidimensional, strategic, and collaborative roles in which reporting structures and mandates have evolved and risen in prominence. These new roles also have greater responsibilities. As it increasingly gets embedded in services, products, and experiences, AI will inevitably become intertwined with the lives of employees, customers, partners, and society at large. Indeed, AI will be everywhere — underpinning areas such as performance, growth, engagement, satisfaction, safety, security, governance, privacy, sustainability, ethics, wellbeing, payments, and more.

CIOs and IT leaders need to prepare their organizations for an "AI Everywhere" future. They must focus on building data-centric platforms, migrating workloads to cloud infrastructure, governing the economics of cloud, redefining security and digital trust, and investing in skills.

The CIO Summit will provide an essential platform for empowering IT leaders. It will help leaders better understand their new roles in today's AI-infused landscape and deliver expert guidance on achieving success while crafting innovative solutions for current and emerging challenges. Join us as we discuss a multitude of hot topics, trends, and challenges, providing technology leaders with the critical insights they require to forge new business models, adapt to shifting business landscapes, and scale massively in today’s dynamic digital economy.

Why Attend?
• New Perspectives
Assess the progress of your team or your organization's growth while discovering what to do to correct common mistakes.

• Professional Development
Learn new leadership skills that will set you apart and help you to advance in your career.

• Peer-to-Peer Insights
Participate in immersive networking exercises and engage with your fellow leaders over lunch and dinner.

• Persuasive Communication Techniques
Discover how to get you what you want when you need it.

• New Product Offerings
Enhance your tech stack and strategy with exclusive access to the very latest services and solutions.

Key Themes:
• AI everywhere
• Digital Business Strategies
• Digital Economy Trends
• Data Platforms for the Intelligent Enterprise
• Data-driven Customer Experience (CX) Transformation
• Future of Work
• Digital Trust And Security
• Industry 4.0
• Sustainability
• Future of Digital Infrastructure
• Software Innovation and Modern App Dev

2024 Speakers

ADVISORY BOARDS:

Dr. Ammar H. AI Husaini
Acting director General, Central Agency for Information Technolgy

Mai B Alowaish
Chief data & Innovation Officer, Gulf Bank

Dr. Reem Farah AI Shammari
Founding Partner & Board Member, Women in Cybersecurity Middle east

Barrak AlMatar
CIO, Burgan Bank

Dr. Khaled Mahdi
Secretary General, The Supreme Council for Planning and Development

Yousef AlMazeedi
ICT Director, Capital Markets Authority

SPEAKERS:

Jyoti Lalchandani
Group Vice President & Regional Managing Director (META), IDC

Dr. Ammar H. Al Husaini
Acting Director General, Central Agency for Information Technology

Steven Frantzen
Senior Vice President & Regional Managing Director (EMEA), IDC

Manuel Rodrigues
Vice President, Secure Power, Schneider Electric

Dr. Dari Alhuwail
Associate Professor, Information Science Department, Kuwait University

Mai B AlOwaish
Chief Data & Innovation Officer, Gulf Bank

Murat Acinci
Principal Technology Consultant, Veeam Software

Ezzeldin Hussein
Regional Senior Director, Solutions Engineering, SentinelOne

Nikolai Belstein
CISO, Boubyan Bank

Abdullah M. Al-Najjar
IT Director, Head of CIO Office, Health Assurance Hospitals Company (DHAMAN)

Yousef El Kourdi
Group Head of IT, City Group

Hussain Al Nakkas
CIO, Kuwait National Assembly

Manoj Ramachandran
Group CIO, Al Babtain Group

Maisa Bakhesh
Team Leader, Infrastructure, Security, Business Continuity & Communications, Petrochemical Industries Company

Rami AlHaddad
Group CIO, Menzies Aviation

Yousef AlMazeedi
ICT Director, Capital Markets Authority

Dr. Dheeraj Bhardwaj
Group CEO, City Group Co.

Praful Thummar
Vice President IT, Jazeera Airways

Mohammed Alansari
Chief Information Officer, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development

2024 Partners

STRATEGIC PARTNER:
• Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT)

SUMMIT PARTNERS:
• Schneider Electric
• Google Cloud

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS GROUP PARTNERS:
• Veeam
• SentinelOne
• Thales

EXHIBIT PARTNER:
• ManageEngine

ASSOCIATE PARTNERS:
• Women in Cyber Security Middle East (WiCSME)
• General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development

HEALTH PARTNER:
• Fitness First