Saudi Arabia’s leading CIOs, CISOs, digital transformation leaders, government officials, enterprise executives, AI experts, and technology innovators convened at the World CIO 200 Summit – KSA Edition for a day of thought-provoking discussions, strategic collaboration, and recognition of excellence in technology leadership.
Hosted by Global Enterprise Connect, the summit continues its mission of bringing together the brightest technology minds from across industries to exchange ideas, foster collaboration, and accelerate digital transformation across the region and beyond.
The World CIO 200 Summit has grown into one of the world’s most influential platforms for technology leadership, connecting CIOs, CISOs, digital transformation leaders, and industry innovators across more than 60 countries. Built on four foundational pillars – Community, Knowledge, Human, and Health – the summit fosters collaboration, knowledge sharing, innovation, and leadership while strengthening the global CIO community.
The KSA Edition commenced with a Welcome Note by Ronak Samantaray, CEO & Co-Founder, Global Enterprise Connect, who welcomed delegates and highlighted the growing importance of collaborative leadership in accelerating digital transformation across industries.
Building connections, empowering communities
Opening the day’s thought leadership sessions, Hamdan Alshammari, Digital Enablement Director, Seha Virtual Hospital, delivered the keynote “The Collaborative CIO – Powering Cross-Industry Tech Alliances.” He emphasized that while technology continues to evolve rapidly, collaboration across industries and collective intelligence are becoming the true drivers of innovation and sustainable digital transformation.
The summit then explored the future of enterprise AI through the panel discussion “The Next Wave of AI: Strategy, Innovation & Intelligent Enterprises.”
Moderator
- Anas Mosa | IT Director | RUA ALHARAM ALMAKKI
Panelists
- Syed Fakruddin Albeez | Chief Technology Officer | Osus Real Estate
- Nezar Al Turki | Chief Information Officer (CIO) | Ministry of Saudi Arabia National Guard
- Suliman Khader | Group Chief Information Officer | Al Faisaliah Group
- Dr. Fatimah Alakeel | Cybersecurity & AI Expert | Assistant Professor | King Saud University
- Ruba Farouq Khader | Managing Partner | Digitalogy
The panel discussed how organizations can leverage artificial intelligence to drive enterprise-wide innovation, strengthen governance, unlock business value, and prepare for the next generation of intelligent enterprises.
Continuing the AI conversation, Keyur Joshi, Regional Director, Bull, presented the keynote “AI at Scale, The New Era of Supercomputing,” highlighting how next-generation computing infrastructure is accelerating AI adoption and enabling organizations to unlock new possibilities across industries.
Following a networking lunch, delegates reconvened for the next pillar of the summit.
Sharing knowledge, advancing expertise
Khalid Mubarak Alzahrani, Manager of Enterprise Architecture, GEOSA – General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information, delivered the keynote “Enabling Vision 2030 – The Strategic Role of Digital Transformation,” highlighting how enterprise architecture, innovation, and digital transformation are supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 ambitions.
The Leadership Panel “Resilience, Governance and Business Continuity” focused on building secure, resilient, and future-ready organizations.
Moderator
- Ali El Kontar | Founder & CEO | Zero&One
Panelists
- Ramesh Murugesan | Head of IT Governance & Advisory
- Thamer Alrowidhan | Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) | Saudi Government
- Betania Allo | Head of TMT, AI Governance & Privacy | Legal Tracks
The discussion explored governance frameworks, cyber resilience, business continuity strategies, AI governance, privacy, and the evolving regulatory landscape shaping modern enterprises.
Adding further insights into enterprise governance, Arif Siddique Khokhar, Associate Director, Internal Audit & Risk Advisory, TransVare Corporation, delivered the keynote “The Digital Transformation of Audit, Governance, Risk & Compliance,” showcasing how integrated governance, risk, and compliance strategies are helping organizations improve visibility, accountability, and operational resilience.
The cybersecurity track concluded with Praveen Manohar, Vice President – Customer Success & Support, Prophaze, who presented “Securing Cloud Native Enterprise,” sharing best practices for protecting cloud-native environments through proactive cybersecurity strategies.
People first, lasting impact
The final leadership discussion of the day featured the engaging Power Panel “From Competition to Co-Creation: Why CIO Communities Win Faster,” highlighting the growing importance of collaboration among technology leaders.
Moderator
- Adnan Rafique Ahmed | Risk Management and Business Continuity Expert | Rasikh Group (Institute) | Smart Irtekaz
Panelists
- Dr. Mansoor Ali Yusuf Baig | Digital Transformation and AI Strategist/Expert | King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center
- Vinay Kumar | Head of Information Technology | Tim Hortons – Middle East
- Mohammed Al Shobani | Chief Information Officer | AviLease
- Ali Saif | Head of Information Technology | Tanmiah Food Company
- Usman Abrar | Head of Technology | PKF Al Bassam
The panel explored how stronger CIO communities, cross-industry partnerships, shared innovation ecosystems, and strategic collaboration enable organizations to innovate faster, solve common challenges, and create lasting business impact.
CIO 200 honourees
The event concluded with the prestigious CIO 200 recognition and felicitation ceremony, honouring Saudi Arabia’s outstanding CIOs and digital leaders for their remarkable contributions to technology innovation, cybersecurity, digital transformation, enterprise leadership, and business excellence.
Next-Gen (5–10 years of experience)
- Usman Abrar (PKF Al Bassam)
- Khalid Al Anazi (GOSI)
Leader (10–15 years of experience)
- Mohammed Ziyad (Etihad GO Telecom Co.)
- Hussein El Husseini (Algihaz Holding)
Master (15–20 years of experience)
- Sajjad Ahmed (Albawani Company Ltd)
- Alaa Gharbawi (Emaar The Economic City)
- Mohammed Khalid (Albassami International Business Groups)
- Majed Alshodari (Ministry of Hajj & Umrah – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
- Rayed Altukhais (Riyadh First Health Cluster)
- Gaurav Kole (Leylaty Group)
- Qasim Nadeem (Bank)
- Rami Alghamdi (Najm for Insurance Services)
- Imtiaz Ahmed (Alrajhi Capital)
- Muhammad Farhan Sohail (Group Five Pipe Saudi (Listed) Co.)
- Rao Ismai (Scopa Defense)
- Abed El Majeed Khader (Ministry of Transport – Saudi Arabia)
- Mifres Alotaibi (SDAIA)
- Khalid S Alghamdi (Public Investment Fund (PIF))
- Asif Ali (Ahmed A. Abed Holding)
- Yousef Alharbi (Saudi Railway Company)
Legend (More than 20 years of experience)
- Mustafa Qurban (AI Experts)
- Mansoor Ali Yusuf Baig (King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center)
- Waqas Butt (Yelo Holding Group)
- Faisal Hadi Hassan Khan (National Gas and Industrialization Company (GASCO))
- Anas Mosa (RUA ALHARAM ALMAKKI)
- Salman Khalid Bakhsh (KSUMC – King Saud University Medical City)
- Mubarak Alshahrani (King Saud University Medical City)
- Aamir Khalid Pirzada (National Metal Manufacturing & Casting Company – Maadaniyah)
- Asim Badhuralam Syed (Al Jabr Holding Group)
- Suhail Akhtar (Capitol Technology University)
- Khaled Harbah (Prince Mohammed Bin Salman College (MBSC))
- Mirza R Baig (Sahb Finance Company)
- Nezar Alturki (Ministry of Saudi Arabia National Guard)
- Mohammed Sibgathullah Khan (National Petrochemical Industrial Company)
- Suresh Muthuvadath (RICC – McDonald’s)
- Wissam Al Adany (Ades Holding)
- Sulaiman Alkharashi (SME Bank)
- Muhammad Ali (Shapoorji Pallonji Mideast LLC)
- Javeed Abdul Baree (Ministry of Finance MOF/NCGR)
- Khalid Farooq (Magrabi Health – DMS Innovation Unit)
- Muhammad Bilal Khan (Nadec)
- Ramez AlFayez (KAFD)
- Vinay Kumar (Tim Hortons – Middle East)
- Muneer V Abdurahman (Confidential)
- Thamer Alrowidhan (Confidential Government)
- Oleg Krylov (Confidential – PIF)
- Hamdan Alshammari (Seha Virtual Hospital)
- Abdullah Alghamdi (Saudi Mortgage Guarantees Services Company (Damanat))
- Syed Fakruddin Albeez (OSUS Real Estate)
- Naif AlQahtani (NCGR)
- Saulat Ali (International Medical Center)
- Ashmar Kalangottil (Abeer Medical Group)
Building success together
Global Enterprise Connect extends its sincere appreciation to all partners whose support contributed to the success of the KSA Edition.
Boardroom Partner
- Orbus Software
Registration Partners
- Sudo
- AWS
Gold Partners
- Bull & PureEdge
- ManageEngine
- Prophaze
- ZingHR
- Zero&One
Exhibiting Partners
- Denpro Technologies
- LMNTRIX
- Silverse
- Transvare
Supporting Partners
- ITHR
- Vision Soft
- CooFounder
With another successful edition concluded, the World CIO 200 Summit continues its global journey with several country editions still to come, bringing together technology leaders across regions to foster collaboration, innovation, and digital excellence. The 2026 roadshow will culminate at the World CIO 200 Summit Grand Finale in Sri Lanka from 22nd to 24th September 2026, where CIOs and digital leaders from around the world will gather to celebrate leadership, collaboration, and the future of enterprise technology.
