The Global CIO Forum hosted the highly anticipated World CIO 200 Summit – KSA Edition 2025 at VOCO Riyadh, bringing together visionary technology leaders, government representatives, digital innovators, and top CIOs under one roof. The event marked a significant milestone in the Kingdom’s digital transformation journey, highlighting the accelerating momentum of AI, cybersecurity, cloud innovation, and strategic leadership in the tech domain.
The summit commenced with a warm welcome note from Ronak Samantaray, CEO of GEC Media Group and Global CIO Forum, setting the tone for a day dedicated to forward-thinking discussions and collaborative innovation.
In his Country Ambassador address, Eng. Mohammed Mahnashi, Founding Member, CAAS, reinforced Saudi Arabia’s commitment to fostering a robust digital economy and nurturing tech leadership in both public and private sectors.
This was followed by an insightful keynote address by Hasan Mohammed Alameer, Superintendent at the Digital Economy Center, Riyadh. His address underscored the Kingdom’s strategic vision for embracing digital transformation and positioning itself as a regional tech powerhouse.
A major highlight of the day was the prestigious “Pioneers of E-Services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Awards 2025”, honoring individuals and organizations that have revolutionized service delivery through cutting-edge e-services and digital innovation.
The day unfolded with a series of power-packed sessions and discussions:
- Ektaa Puthran of Barco highlighted the evolving workplace and how intelligent environments can drive engagement and cultural change.
- Sascha Giese of SolarWinds provided practical insights into bringing IT environments together with observability-led solutions.
- A thought-provoking panel on AI and the CIO dilemma featured senior leaders like Irfan Ul Haq, Ahmed M. Al-Ghamdi, Rasha Almalik, and Mohammad Musharraf, moderated by Eng. Mahnashi.
- Niyaz Mohamed from Sophos explored a balanced approach to cybersecurity in the AI era.
- Hussam Baafeef from Pure Storage spoke on building an enterprise data cloud aligned with AI demands.
Another key discussion revolved around cloud exit strategies, led by Mohammed Al Shobani, with insights from industry leaders across healthcare, insurance, and foundations.
Nagesh Konduru, Founder & CEO of Banyan Cloud, addressed the need for modern security architectures built for hybrid cloud environments.
Post-lunch, Syed Muneer Bakht from NETS International Group delivered an engaging session on AI megatrends and tech disruption.
The afternoon featured two high-impact panels:
- “Innovation at What Cost?” moderated by Shehab El-Najjar, explored ethical and sustainable tech growth.
- “Resilience in Chaos”, moderated by Adnan Rafique Ahmed, delved into business continuity and GRC frameworks in an increasingly disrupted world.
The event concluded with the prestigious CIO 200 Awards Ceremony, recognizing CIOs across four distinguished categories: Next-Gen, Leader, Master, and Legend. These awards celebrated the pivotal role of technology heads in driving enterprise transformation and building digital-first organizations.
