AI, Adtech and Me

Ian is currently the Executive Director of the IAB MENA, having worked with other industry leaders to establish it in MENA. He has had the privilege of working in multiple roles across multiple markets over his 20+years. This included leading global clients for Agencies in London, as CEO for an Agency in South Africa and recently as Head of Agency Partnerships for Facebook in the MENA region.

Shailley brings several years of product management experience in digital advertising at Yahoo and Say Media building products for mobile advertising, ad operations, targeting solutions, and integrating data platforms. Shailley has supported and worked with multiple IAB initiatives in the past, namely MRAID and Mobile Rising Stars specifications. At Yahoo, he worked on creating innovative ad experiences for mobile and tablet platforms as well as native formats. Shailley has a diverse background as a product leader, consultant, and entrepreneur building and sustaining high performing teams at both large organizations as well as venture funded startups like Paypal, Yahoo, Say Media, Serus, Accenture, and PwC. Shailley has an MBA and Chemical engineering degrees.

Suhaib Aleses runs an agency and makes the content himself, and that shapes how he approaches brand discovery in an AI-first market: visibility now depends on being worth recommending, not just being findable.

Leads strategic client relationships across MENA. With over 15 years of experience across media, advertising technology and data, Working with leading brands and agencies to navigate the evolving intersection of technology, creativity and media.

Akshat Jain is Senior Manager, Programmatic Sales MENA at StackAdapt, based in Dubai, where he has led the region since January 2023. With 18 years in digital advertising and B2B sales, he specializes in building out programmatic partnerships and market presence across MENA.

Chris Gregory-Pasha is Senior Director of Business Development at The Trade Desk, leading the Travel vertical across AMET. With 20 years’ experience in digital media and advertising technology, he has held senior roles at Sojern, Tripadvisor and Sky TV, and works with leading travel brands on data, measurement, identity and the open internet.

Gosia Wajchert is a senior digital marketing and ad-tech professional with over 19 years of experience spanning ad tech, digital marketing transformation, investments, and partnerships. She has held senior roles at media agencies including GroupM in London, Omnicom, Publicis, and Mediabrands in Dubai, leading digital investments and partnerships focused on performance, addressable media, and e-commerce. Recognized for developing future-proof media strategies and digital transformation initiatives, Gosia has worked with global technology platforms, agencies, and clients across travel, telecommunications, CPG, and retail. She currently leads Criteo’s business across the Middle East and Africa, focusing on the growth of commerce and retail media solutions in the region.

ulien is a business leader and ad-tech professional. His management practice revolves around the following “hard with the facts, yet caring with people” Raised in the South of France, he is an alumnus of Skema Business School. He started his career in Private Banking in Paris finance institutions HSBC & Swiss Life Private Bank, before settling in the Middle East in 2011 and a career shift to the Media Industry. First at JCDecaux Middle East, responsible for Global brands' advertising at the Dubai International Airport, and later on in digital advertising startups before taking a senior role at Teads Middle East Africa, leading its regional expansion; now helping brands and advertisers to broadcast advertising campaigns to global & regional audiences, across the world’s best media properties. A regular contributor at the Marketing Society and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) MENA chapter, Julien advocates throughout the region for a sustainable advertising and media ecosystem, one that protects user privacy while funding quality content and journalism. He is equally focused on empowering marketers to thrive in the digital economy. His hobbyhorses include the importance of building personal relationships and offering blistering opinions on the industry's critical topics

Daniel has more than 15 years of international experience in advertising research and forecasting. Before being appointed as Chief Economist of IAB Europe, he was Executive Director for Advertising Research at global information company, IHS Markit. Daniel’s research areas span all domains of digital advertising, with emphasis in video, programmatic, platform economics, the business application of AI/ML technologies, agency transformation, and buy- and sell-side optimization.

With deep experience in digital media, publisher monetisation, strategic partnerships, and AdTech, Aladdin focuses on strengthening Nabd’s role as a leading Arabic content and audience platform for advertisers across the region. He is a strong advocate for the value of Arabic content in the AdTech ecosystem, championing more intelligent, locally relevant, and commercially effective ways for brands to engage Arabic-speaking audiences.

ad Bou Saleh is Head of Ad Tech and Operations at DMS, with over 12 years of experience helping publishers, advertisers, and agencies across MENA adopt and scale digital advertising technologies. He works closely with media organizations, agencies, and technology partners on data, measurement, automation, and advertising operations, helping drive growth, efficiency, and innovation across the digital ecosystem.

With over 14 years of expertise in the MENA region, Jad has played a pivotal role in digital transformations across a spectrum of industries, including destination marketing, tourism, telecommunications, automotive, FMCG, retail, and governmental entities. His strategic prowess at Starcom KSA resulted in substantial business growth and winning flagship global accounts. Currently at MMS, he leads a team dedicated to connecting partners with opportunities on MBC Group’s digital platforms, driving collective growth.

Sebastian is representing Google on the IAB MENA Board of Directors. He moved from his country of birth, the Netherlands, to the UAE in 2011. Since then, he advised Media, Telecom and Technology clients throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia for Booz & Company (known as Strategy & today). In 2015 Sebastian joined Google in the Large Partnerships organization, a team tasked with supporting Publishers with advertising monetization on Google’s ad stack. Since then, Sebastian held several strategic business development positions, led all account representatives across EMEA’s Emerging Markets (including Russia, Turkey, Israel, the Middle East and Africa) and since mid 2022 heads up the large publisher business across the Middle East and Africa.

Daniel Shepherd is Chief Strategy Officer at Omnicom Media MENA, leading strategy across the group in the region. He has spent more than 15 years in media and communications, with much of his career in the Middle East, working with some of the region’s largest local and international brands. Before taking on his current role, Daniel was Co-Managing Director of PHD MENA, having previously served as Head of Strategy. His experience spans brand and communications strategy, media planning and digital, with a particular focus on how media can drive stronger business and brand outcomes. In 2025, Daniel was selected to serve on the Cannes Lions Media Shortlisting Jury.

Ram Jalan is an enterprise AI, customer experience and digital transformation leader with over 20 years of experience across the Middle East, India and International markets. At Incubeta, he leads AI and transformation initiatives that help organisations convert emerging technologies into measurable commercial outcomes. His expertise spans AI strategy, MarTech, digital platforms, automation, product innovation and data-driven decision-making, with initiatives delivering more than US$300 million in business impact. Having worked with organisations including DAMAC, HSBC, Cisco, BATELCO and Reliance, Ram brings a distinctive boardroom-to-execution perspective.

Stephanie Wilson is Vice President at WPP OpenDoor, where she leads the Amazon partnership across the Middle East, Africa and Türkiye. Stephanie has held leadership roles spanning client management, media investment, publisher and commercial partnerships across Asia Pacific, Latin America and now the Middle East and Africa. She is passionate about building high-performing teams and helping clients navigate an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving media landscape.

Vineeta brings close to two decades of advertising experience across India and the Middle East, having worked with brands including Mondelez, Unilever and Kellogg’s, and agencies like Ogilvy, JWT and MullenLowe. Today, she leads a business division at Serviceplan Middle East, bringing together her experience in advertising and brand building with certifications in Artificial Intelligence from INSEAD and Digital Transformation from MIT. Over the years, she has also been part of work that has won at various advertising awards, but for her, great work has always been about solving real business challenges. When she’s not working, she’s usually experimenting with AI-generated videos for her new endeavour or thinking of business ideas that could genuinely help others.

Abdelnabi is currently the head of digital at UMMENAT overseeing the digital product and managing media & data partnerships across the region. Abdelnabi has an overall 16+ years of experience in the industry and managed a large portfolio of clients and industries. In addition to his role at UM, Abdelnabi has been one of the leaders of the IAB Measurement & Ad quality workstreams in the MENA region.

Céline is EVP MENA & APAC at Equativ, leading the company’s business across some of its fastest-growing and most diverse markets. With over 20 years of experience in advertising and technology, she is passionate about transformation, innovation and building high-performing teams.As AI reshapes the advertising industry, Céline is particularly interested in the human side of this transformation , how roles, skills and leadership are evolving, and how we can use technology to amplify, rather than replace, human potential.Beyond her corporate role, she is a passionate endurance athlete and advocate for women’s empowerment through movement, health and community.

Souade Derbouz Bekhti is a strategic communications executive with over 20 years of experience across corporate communications, crisis management, media relations, and public affairs. Of North African and French heritage, her career has taken her from Paris and Geneva to North Africa and the Gulf, a path that mirrors her own. She currently serves as Regional Vice President, Communications at Alstom, covering Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, a role that follows a decade at Alstom spent shaping corporate, crisis, and public affairs strategy across the region, including as Cluster Communications Director across Egypt, Morocco, and North & Central Africa. Before Alstom, she built communications functions and led media relations across sectors and markets, from Paris, Geneva to the Gulf. Across every market, her focus has stayed the same: building trust between organizations and the governments, media, and communities they operate among, and knowing how to turn a high-stakes moment into an opportunity to strengthen, not just protect, a company's reputation.

Stéphanie Reniers is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gentis, an international recruitment company founded in 2011. With nearly 20 years of experience in recruitment and people management, she is passionate about the future of work, talent, leadership and the impact of AI on recruitment. She is also an author and speaker, sharing practical and often outspoken perspectives on careers, hiring and the workplace.

Tony is a team coach, leadership advisor and author of the best selling book Generation AI. After spending many years in leadership roles in advertising companies and latterly at Meta, Tony’s firm belief is that focusing on people rather than internal products or processes is the foundation for meaningful change.