Automation and AI

AUTOMATION AND AI

AI and Automation are poised to transform the entire face of the workplace on a global scale.

A power packed quarter!

Welcome to the July issue of Enterprise Channels MEA!

At GEC Media, we have had a rather busy yet engaging and interesting quarter, buzzing with events, customer interactions, B2B match makings and product innovations. Many of these events are a progression towards the magnum opus in September - The World CIO 200 2023 Grand Finale, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

A close watch into the nominations received worldwide, showcased a steady inclination of enterprises towards AI and Intelligent Automation and we are seeing more and more practical use cases of Intelligent automation in enterprise-wide transformation.

In this edition, we delve deep into the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation, exploring how cutting-edge companies are spearheading innovation in this field.

The cover story for this issue sheds light on the groundbreaking advancements in AI and Automation that are transforming industries across the Middle East and Africa. We bring you exclusive insights into how these technologies are revolutionizing businesses, enhancing customer experiences, and optimizing operations for greater efficiency and productivity.

Discover how Genesys’ AI-powered platforms are empowering organizations to deliver seamless and personalized customer experiences, revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their clientele. How Vectra AI is harnessing AI and Automation to design intelligent robots capable of handling complex tasks in various industries.

We also delve into IFS and how their intelligent systems are optimizing business processes, enabling data-driven decisions, and creating new possibilities for growth and innovation.

Do not miss our coverage of the CIO 200 Roadshows held in the month of July in UAE, Philippines, Malaysia that facilitated invaluable networking opportunities, knowledge sharing, and discussions on the latest technology trends and challenges faced by today’s businesses.

Looking ahead, GEC Media Group and Enterprise Channels MEA are thrilled to announce the 4th CPCA Conclave in November, set to take place in the UAE and KSA. This prestigious event is expected to attract over 1000 channel partners from both countries, providing a unique opportunity for resellers, system integrators, and distributors to connect and forge profitable partnerships.

We hope you enjoy this power-packed issue, filled with insights into the AI and Automation revolution and a glimpse into the exciting tech events taking place across the region. As always, Enterprise Channels MEA remains committed to bringing you the latest trends and developments shaping the world of technology and business in the Middle East and Africa. Happy reading!

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Ingram Micro’s focus on relevant solutions, deploying the latest technologies, and working with the best vendors in their field of specialty is one key factor that is positively influencing the business in the regional environment. Then comes added value comprised of the company’s highly trained and skilled teams of technical, sales, finance, operations, and marketing. The Professional Services, training and specialist Security services are one more factor. Ingram Financial Services and Marketing Services are just some enablers that help support the customers across the region.

There is an increase in awareness of diversity. There are many projects encouraging female interns to learn and apply for Cyber Security jobs. Moreover, there are groups promoting female-led start-ups. At Ingram Micro in the Middle East the company ensures equality in pay and diversity also covers nationalities and age groups.

The strategic role of technology

Technology plays a huge role in driving business growth, especially when it comes to supporting employee enablement, efficiency, and productivity. You see this in tools that offer practical, gamified, and interactive business education to E-commerce and emerging technologies that allow live and online shopping assistants. And just in the last few weeks, we have seen the use of Generative AI like

Real rival in the fast-moving IT industry

Ingram Micro is the business behind the world’s brands reaching nearly 90 percent of the world’s population. Their Advanced Solutions cover Data Center products, Enterprise Networks, Cyber Security, Physical Security, AI, IOT, Cloud solutions, Unified Communications, Enterprise Software and Point of sale solutions. These are supported by their Professional and Financial Services.

ChatGPT to create marketing campaigns in seconds.

AI has the potential to significantly strengthen urban resilience to severe weather conditions by providing early warning systems, risk assessment, and prediction, supporting disaster response and management, aiding urban design and planning, enabling datadriven decision-making, and facilitating community engagement and communication. By harnessing the power of AI, urban areas can better prepare for, respond to, and recover from severe weather events, ultimately reducing their impacts and building more resilient cities.

Tackling urban carbon emissions

Tackling urban carbon emissions requires a multi-faceted approach. This includes setting ambitious targets, implementing energy efficiency measures, increasing renewable energy use, promoting sustainable mobility, adopting circular economy principles, engaging in collaborative efforts, measuring and reporting emissions, engaging stakeholders like government or other similar companies, innovating with emerging technologies, and planning for resilience.

Transformation journey of the organization

We have been and will continue to digitally transform as long as we are in this fast-moving IT industry. We change and ensure that we remain ahead. The company’s focus is on three areas: Customers, Employees, and Suppliers

Ingram Micro’s recent development that is believed to offer a unique and very new way for customers and partners to interact with us is our newly launched AI-driven Xvantage platform.

Ingram Micro Xvantage is a fully digital and intelligent, self-learning global experience platform—much like those we use daily to hire a driver, order groceries or find a place to stay. The platform is used by Ingram Micro’s associates, solution providers, and vendor partners—each having their own unique view—to connect, collaborate, learn, and manage Ingram Micro’s entire business of products, services, software, cloud, and business solutions in one “single pane of glass.” The company expect Xvantage to be rolled out Worldwide by the end of 2023.

Growing impact of business

Having ensured the delivery of services, products, and advice to customers during the lockdown and the pandemic has been a courageous and successful achievement. Retaining all our employees and keeping them safe and motivated has been another significant contribution.

Ingram Micro continue to use technology to provide us with the tools that will advance our business. This is in our culture. We are deploying the latest ERP systems and Xvantage in all our countries.

In addition, we are introducing new and exciting solutions to the market in partnership with our vendors. So, watch the space.

Ali Baghdadi, SVP & Chief Country Executive – MEA Ingram Micro

There’s a picture that pops instantly into our minds when we hear the word ‘Metaverse’: ‘avatars’ of you and your friends in a futuristic setting, almost like new-age versions of the age-old SIMS videogame that was hugely popular in the early 2000s. And while the metaverse undoubtedly feels like an advanced version of a video game, the possibilities of what it holds far surpasses our imagination. A future where the metaverse is all-pervasive may not happen overnight, but a gradual yet determined collection of digital changes and experiences could certainly take us to the next realm.

UAE leading the race

Dubai’s pioneering metaverse strategy aims to add US$4 billion into the city’s economy while adding 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030. By 2035, the estimated economic contribution of the metaverse to the annual GDP of UAE could be between US$8.8 billion to US$16.7 billion.

A key factor to ensuring the metaverse is adopted is to have an environment that

The metaverse and you

As UAE takes the lead in envisioning a future in the metaverse, what could it mean for all in the real world?

supports and enables its quick adoption. The UAE is the forefront of leading the world into the limitless possibilities this new technology holds. With a sound Web3 strategy, a Minister of AI, and a Digital Transformation Ministry, UAE hopes to push forward the growth of a digital economy that contributes 20 percent of the gross non-oil national economy.

While few other countries can boast of the UAE’s vision in this regard, many countries are actively and heavily investing in the metaverse. In the MENA region, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are all investing heavily in AR, VR and AI, creating lucrative investment opportunities in the region. With governments pushing strongly to create digitally sound economies, corporations are now taking the initiative to create systems that will benefit the overall economy.

Digital Twins to gain popularity

If we take a step back in time, a quick glance at tech history shows that the adoption of Web1 and Web2 were seemingly different because it relied on adoption by consumers to grow. What will make Web3 different is that we might see a higher adoption rate from enterprises and businesses more than consumers, which means that you may not have to put on your VR goggles to necessarily shop from your local grocery store, but chances are, the backend is handled by store managers donning those same glasses.

One such emerging technology that is revo-

lutionizing the management of big warehouses and minimizing response time is that of the digital twin. A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical object, system, or infrastructure that mirrors its physical counterpart and is dynamic in nature. Companies can use digital twins to manage their inventories and drastically shorten the time it takes to flag an issue or process a request.

Metaverse in the public eye

On the marketing side too, we are witnessing many big players, like Nike and Gucci, quickly jumping on to the metaverse bandwagon with the promise of an enhanced shopping experience. With a Gartner report suggesting that 25% of the population will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for activities ranging from shipping to working to social media and entertainment, it opens a whole new avenue for brands to connect with their audiences. Several companies already use VR to help you experience their product in the comfort of your home, like furniture retailers who help you find the perfect spot for a couch or luxury watchmakers who use AR to try on different kinds of watches to help you pick what would look best on your wrist.

As the UAE races ahead in the fourth industrial revolution, it will be built on the strength of AI, 5G, Robotics and Twin Technology, ensuring fast-paced growth in the digital and physical worlds. ë

Viswanath Pallasena, CEO Redington MEA

The security operations center is blind. In a technology hotch-potch of unvetted remote devices, third-party networks, and anonymous clouds, the region’s SOC analysts are left in the dark. But these unknowns come with one advantage. They are known to us. They are known unknowns. We know what we don’t know.

This may seem like meager comfort when facing a threat landscape as ominous as the one currently outside our digital doors. But the plain truth is, if we only rise to the occasion and extend our security beyond our data centers and endpoints to the beyond - public clouds, their services, and their identities - we take a huge step forward.

When trying to arm outgunned SOCs, we need to think upstream. We know what our unknowns are, but we should ask ourselves why security teams must endure them. The problem lies in three basic shortfalls - the three Cs of cybersecurity blindness.

3 Cs of cybersecurity blindness that are swept aside by Attack Signal Intelligence

Attack Signal Intelligence is an autonomous digital detective, fully versed in attackers’ habits and exhaustively briefed on the individual environment it is tasked with defending.

1. Coverage

We must face up to an unassailable fact. We operate in a perimeter less environment where prevention is all but inviable. All modern cybersecurity approaches acknowledge this to some extent. Attack surfaces are expanding, so we must deploy zero trust principles, for example, to cover the AWSes and Microsoft Azures, the Microsoft 365s, and the GCPs. Hundreds of SaaS apps and dozens of cloud-based identity products combine to form a sprawling unknown. This fills attackers with glee and a switched-on security professional with dread.

2. Clarity

Let us all spare a thought for today’s SOC. Facing more sophisticated attacks, CISOs and their teams watch their budgets dwindle. They see business expectations rise while resources shrink. And they see colleague after colleague bid farewell to the chaos, leading to more pressure. The SOC in 2023 is Doing-More-WithLess Central. Now consider the individual security analyst, a problem solver who spends their days tweaking and tuning tools. Fortunately, having previously solved the coverage problem, we can add much-needed context to real-time signals and reduce latency in SOC workflows. Technology that rapidly captures and analyzes data in context, at speed and scale, is now possible.

3. Control

So, attack opportunities are on the rise, attackers’ methods are becoming wilier, and

security teams are shrinking. A recent report showed 42% of UAE cybersecurity profes sionals believed their organization’s leadership was neglecting security. Vectra research has revealed that 72% of security leaders fear an attack is already in progress within their walls but they cannot confirm it because of a lack of visibility. Investments in technology and tools often do not translate to value because information and tool silos persist. The solution to the silo paradigm - a single pane that allows analysts to shut down suspect sessions, rescind credentials, and act against an aggressive anomaly - returns control of the environment to where it belongs: the SOC.

To arms

We are, essentially, trying to unwind a Spiral of More - more attack surface, more attack methods, more cybersecurity tools, more alert fatigue, more resignations. Indeed, the only thing we see less of in this spiral is talent. But there is something of which we need more. Signal efficacy. More signal efficacy equips SOCs in a way that makes attackers think twice. AI and ML models have been fine-tuned to such an extent that they can detect real threats and ignore the ones that routinely result in false positives and alert fatigue.

Cloud-based incidents are escalating. Unknowns have become the constant bane of security professionals. By prioritizing preven tion, organizations are inviting blindness; and attackers will be only too happy to capitalize. We must address the three Cs - coverage, clar ity, and control - if we are ever to empower our security teams to see all the way to the horizon in every direction. ë

Taj El-khayat, Area VP – South EMEA Vectra AI

Middle East businesses are realizing the importance of delivering superior employee experiences in order to retain and energize their personnel. Technology is at the heart of digital transformation in the workplace, with 81% of UAE employees stating that technology adoption has resulted in productivity and engaging experiences. A rising number of regional firms have prioritized providing empathetic, engaging employee experiences.

AI leaders, as identified in the Economist Impact study “AI comes of age,” gain from adopting the technology to support their customer-facing personnel. Employee productivity has increased significantly, according to two-thirds of business leaders polled.

Let’s look at four simple measures that any business owner can take to eliminate manual processes and attain the long-term benefits of AI in the workplace.

1. Enhance Quality with WEM

CX executives can leverage workforce engagement management tools to improve employeefocused functions, including forecasting, scheduling, quality assurance, and monitoring. A good example of a process that AI can boost is quality assurance.

When a contact center receives thousands of calls in a typical day, the supervisor’s ability

How organizations can reinvent employee experiences with AI

An organization can use AI to automate the entire process. Instead of evaluating only a few exchanges, AI may “listen” to them all. The supervisor can concentrate on those needing improvement and then collaborate with the agent to drive that development.

to review a relevant number of those calls is limited.

This scales the entire process. It enhances the sample size, eliminates bias, and increases the amount of time a supervisor may spend instructing each employee.

2. Coach in Real Time with Agent Assist

When interacting with customers, managers cannot constantly look over their employees’ shoulders and give them pointers on what to say or do. However, AI can observe conversations and provide suggestions without interfering.

Agent-assist solutions powered by AI can guide agents on a wide range of topics, from expressing empathy in conversation to the optimal course of action for a particular consumer. This real-time coaching boosts employee performance over time, and it helps minimize agent stress, increasing productivity and enhancing interaction outcomes.

3. Reduce Friction to Improve Performance

AI-based solutions that aid in process optimization will result in several performance gains. One of the most significant advantages of AI is its capacity to undertake routine activities at scale.

Robotic process automation is used by more than half of AI leaders to reduce employee effort. Bots are another standard technology that, although appearing to improve the customer experience, can also enhance the work experience by delivering real-time insights and minimizing employee effort.

Predictive engagement is another way AI may reduce friction. AI can be used to provide customer intelligence to agents, such as their likelihood to respond to a recommendation or offer.

4. Orchestrate Experiences in the Cloud

Chatbots, predictive engagement, and predictive routing are all tools that can help with experience orchestration. Chatbots powered by AI, for example, can triage interactions and route pertinent ones to agents. Furthermore, predictive routing can connect agents with specific consumers based on an agent’s knowledge and experience.

The agent realizes that a more productive interaction is possible and feels empowered to perform what they do best. The customer receives the necessary answers and enjoys an outstanding experience. That is the pinnacle of AI-powered orchestration.

The Future Starts Now

Most firms that deploy a powerful, cloud-based CX platform already have the AI tools they need to rethink their employee experience while boosting business performance and lowering the cost of service.

The outcomes that AI leaders are already witnessing demonstrate the promise of AI in the workplace to improve employee experience, although these firms remain in the minority. Businesses that use AI now may raise business value through increased employee satisfaction, as 77% of AI leaders did, but also through increased revenue (72% of AI leaders) and decreased cost to serve (71%). Therefore, regional organizations must take the first step today and ensure that they prioritize reinventing employee experiences. ë

Amr AlMasri, Regional Director Genesys, Middle East

We are going through an incredible transformation with breakthroughs in AI translating across every industry and changing every company. Goldman Sachs research believes that new developments in AI could drive as much as $7 trillion in global economic growth by 2030.

Every business leader recognizes the need to keep pace. They need a digital strategy that builds resilience, drives greater efficiency and productivity.

To unlock new opportunities and achieve growth in 2023, companies need to create a single source of truth, connect every customer interaction to deliver personalized experiences, and make their entire organization smarter, faster and more productive.

However, developing a clear AI strategy aligned with their business objectives, safely implementing it, and driving results is easier said than done. Organizations must work collaboratively and ensure guardrails are in place.

Here are key trends that will help companies unlock the true potential of transformative technologies and drive growth.

Leveraging Generative AI Effectively requires Understanding its Potential and Risks

Generative AI holds immense potential to enhance business operations and surpass tar-

How AI, Data and CRM can drive transformation and growth

To gain a competitive advantage, companies should approach their AI strategy with care, utilizing trustworthy products and empower their entire workforce to deploy them effectively.

We can expect greater utilization of predictive analytics, incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning. The recent volatility in supply chains has underscored the disadvantages faced by businesses unable to gather and analyze relevant data in real time.

gets while freeing up valuable time for teams to engage in more strategic tasks. In 2023, businesses - and employees - must learn how to partner with generative AI to bring out each other’s strengths.

Sales teams, for instance, can leverage AI insights to identify optimal next steps and accelerate deal closures. With AI, customer service can engage in human-like conversations and handle repetitive inquiries, enabling agents to tackle more complex requests. Marketing can comprehend customer behavior and personalize the timing, targeting, and content of marketing activities. Commerce teams can power highly personalized shopping experiences and smarter e-commerce platforms.

AI is only as good as the data powering it. While it demonstrates a firm grasp of language, it lacks human common sense and worldly knowledge. When deploying AI in customer interactions, ensuring accurate and up-todate data across every touchpoint is crucial to deliver effective results.

Data Insights Will Guide Trusted Decision-Making

To navigate uncertain economic conditions and enhance their business impact, an increasing number of companies are relying on realtime data to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions. To achieve success, organizations need to allocate resources to data tools and provide training for employees to convert these insights into actionable strategies.

As consumers become increasingly discerning about their spending habits, businesses that can deliver a seamless end-to-end customer experience and provide personalized interactions in real-time will distinguish themselves from competitors and cultivate customer loyalty.

Another emerging trend is the way companies leverage data. Currently, 75% of marketers rely at least partly on third-party data, but with upcoming changes in privacy regulations, this strategy needs to adapt.

Businesses that pivot toward zero-party data (provided explicitly by users) and first-party data (directly collected from customers) will position themselves favorably in the long term.

Automation and Integration Strategies Will Drive Efficiency and Productivity

Currently, organizations employ over 1,000 applications, yet 70% of these remain disconnected from each other and the core business.

Embracing composability and integrating business systems, organizations can cut costs and unlock new levels of efficiency - eliminating data silos and automating workflows, creating a cohesive and collaborative ecosystem.

Combining the power of AI, data and CRM, companies can now create seamless, connected, and hyper-personalized customer experiences that weren’t possible before. In harnessing their full potential, companies can adapt to changing market dynamics and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. ë

Thierry Nicault, Area Vice President and General Manager, Salesforce Middle East.

Vijay Jaswal, Chief Technology Officer,

IFS

Unlocking innovation and productivity

IFS Cloud incorporates AI and machine learning capabilities to provide intelligent and predictive functionalities. IFS has been ready for a number of years to meet the Industry 4.0 demands of customers.

Overall, the adoption of automation and AI technologies can lead to increased productivity, improved decisionmaking, enhanced customer experiences, cost savings, and innovation. By leveraging these technologies effectively, businesses can gain a competitive edge, drive economic growth, and adapt to the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Increased productivity and efficiency are the key area here, Automation and AI technologies can automate repetitive and mundane tasks, allowing businesses to streamline their operations and improve productivity. By replacing manual processes with automated systems, companies can achieve higher output levels with reduced costs and fewer errors. This increased efficiency leads to improved overall productivity, allowing businesses to allocate resources more effectively.

Improved customer experience is another key area, where automation and AI technologies enable businesses to personalize and tailor customer experiences at scale. AI-powered chatbots, for example, can provide instant and accurate responses to customer queries, enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing

response times. Additionally, AI algorithms can analyze customer data to anticipate needs, personalize product recommendations, and deliver targeted marketing campaigns, leading to higher customer engagement and loyalty.

Trends and innovations

IFS Cloud incorporates AI and machine learning capabilities across the platform, to provide intelligent and predictive functionalities. These can include predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, intelligent scheduling, anomaly detection, and data-driven insights to support better decision-making and optimize business processes. Other innovations include IoT in order to provide Remote Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance: IoT sensors embedded in industrial equipment and machinery can collect real-time data on parameters like temperature, vibration, pressure, and energy consumption. IFS integrates this data into its software systems, allowing businesses to monitor their assets remotely and detect potential issues or anomalies. By analyzing this data, IFS can provide predictive maintenance insights, helping organizations identify maintenance needs before failures occur, thereby reducing downtime and improving efficiency.

Asset Tracking and Management: IoT enables businesses to track and manage their assets effectively. IFS incorporates IoT devices and technologies to monitor the location, condition, and usage of assets such as vehicles, tools, and equipment. This information is integrated into IFS’s asset management solutions, allowing companies to optimize asset utilization, schedule maintenance, and reduce theft or loss.

Field Service Management: IoT connectivity allows IFS to offer advanced field service management solutions. By connecting field service technicians with IoT-enabled devices and assets, IFS enables real-time remote diagnostics, asset performance monitoring, and predictive maintenance scheduling. This helps field service teams deliver efficient and proactive services, resulting in improved customer satisfaction

Ready for the revolution

IFS has been ready for a number of years to meet the Industry 4.0 demands of customers. In fact, IFS’s business unit called “IFS Labs” is dedicated to new & emerging technology that supports Industry 4.0. IFS Labs focuses on exploring emerging technologies, conducting research, and developing innovative solutions that can enhance and extend IFS’s existing product offerings. It serves as a dedicated team within IFS that is tasked with experimenting, prototyping, and incubating new ideas and technologies.

Furthermore, IFS recruits many graduates who are already ‘Digital Natives’. Especially in the Middle East, IFS has a strong Graduate program that identifies bright students before they graduate and brings them into the organization on graduation.

Taking the business forward

The 2023 first half release of IFS Cloud will focus on: Business Resilience and will offer the tools, innovations, and experiences to help accelerate our customers in the new reality by fusing on:

l Optimizing people, assets, and services

l Connecting global operations

l Achieving your ESG goals profitably

APJ&MEA

AmiViz is the first B2B enterprise marketplace focussed on Cybersecurity business in the Middle East and Africa, designed specially to serve the interests of enterprise resellers and vendors

10 Years Industry Experience

500+ Resellers

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Enterprise Marketplace

The World CIO 200 Morocco edition

The World CIO 200 Summit 2023 Morocco edition was successfully held on 1st June 2023 at Hôtel Les Jardins De La Koutoubia . Panelists, winners and attendees joined the event and made it a great success. The World CIO 200 Summit Morocco edition honored nearly 10 top IT decision makers.

Attendees and keynote speakers were welcomed by Anushree Dixit, Global Head, Global CIO Forum. She also shared the collective vision of the Global CIO Forum as a platform of knowledge sharing and networking for like-minded CIOs globally, with the audience.

The event followed the theme of ‘Rise of the power’. The World CIO 200 2023 roadshow is designed to help IT leaders develop and enhance the qualities of leadership, power, vision and focus. Through a series of workshops, knowledge-sharing sessions, thought-provoking life experiences, panel discussions, and networking events, the event explored the

latest trends and innovations in IT leadership.

The CIO leadership panel on ‘Rise of the Power’ was together joined by,

• Mohamed El Mehdi Driouiche-Vice President Digital & IT/ Royal Air Maroc

• Youness Zmirli-CIO/Foundever

• Mohammed Belrhitri- CIO/BANK AL YOUSR

• Mohammed Bahri-CIO/ASWAK ASSALAM

• Dr. Ing. Imen Hbiri-Co-Founder, CTO/Robocare

The panel discussion was moderated by Anushree Dixit, Global Head, Global CIO Forum. The panelists discussed the qualities and traits needed for an IT leader and how they understand the technology to be able to align the business and technology strategies.

It was an unforgettable event for the technology heads and Morocco witnessed great responses from the IT experts as well.

The World CIO 200 Philippines edition

The World CIO 200 Summit Philippines edition honored top IT leaders with the World CIO 200 Awards on 26th July at City of Dreams Manila, Philippines. The event was successful with the presence of top IT leaders who made the event more engaging and effective.

Attendees and keynote speakers were welcomed by Jennefer Lorraine Mendoza, Project Lead Manager, GEC Media Group. She shared the success story of World CIO 200 roadshow in every country and honoring the success of CIOs for their contribution to the industry.

The event follows the theme of ‘Rise of the power’. The World CIO 200 2023 roadshow is designed to help IT leaders develop and enhance the qualities of leadership, power, vision and focus.

Sheridan Leroy P. Laroza, Senior Director of Information Technology, Thermo Fisher Scientific kicked off the event with his country inaugural keynote. DM Varun, Regional Head-SEA, Xoxoday spoke about every industry’s growing technology needs and trends and innovations in the tech world. The event became more engaging and interesting through a thought-provoking panel discussion by some influential panelists.

Sheridan Leroy P. Laroza-Senior Director of Information Technology-

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Oliver Junio-Dean / Information Technology Director-University of Perpetual Help System – Laguna, Gemma Rose D -CIO-Cyber Security Philippines CERT, Noel Adalia Dimasacat-CIOAlexander Karl Group Corp., Kenneth Catugas-Head of IT-ING and Arlene Romasanta-Chief/Information Technology Officer-DICT-MISS took part in an engaging panel discussion on the topic ‘Rise of the Power’.

The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Mary Joy Abueg-President-National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP).

The event was successful with the support of the sponsors and also made the event an unforgettable experience for all the attendees.

Below are the sponsors for the World CIO 200 Summit Philippines edition,

l Positive Technologies

l SeeBurger

l Xoxoday

l Lingaro

l Inypay

The World CIO 200 Malaysia edition

On 24th July 2023, Malaysia witnessed the gathering of many top inspiring IT leaders in The World CIO 200 Summit at W Kuala Lumpur Hotel. The like-minded technology heads shared their knowledge and vision on the growing tech trends and how businesses are leveraging these technologies to improve their services and productivity. The World CIO 200 Summit Malaysia edition felicitated 25 top IT leaders with the World CIO 200 Awards.

Attendees and keynote speakers were welcomed by Jennefer Lorraine Mendoza, Project Lead Manager, GEC Media Group. She shared the vision of The World CIO 200 Summit which identifies the latest trends and innovations in the IT industry and recognizes the remarkable contributions of the IT leaders to their industry.

The event follows the theme of ‘Rise of the power’. The World CIO 200 2023 roadshow is designed to help IT leaders develop and enhance the qualities of leadership, power, vision and focus.

Dr. Shubhabrata Samantaray-Founder- Enheroes Global Energy kicked off the event with his country inaugural keynote on ‘Championing Corporate Sustainability with Responsible AI’. The event became

more engaging and interesting through a thought-provoking panel discussion by some influential panelists.

Joo Ming Thang -Group CIO- UCSI Group, Mohamed Ariff Ameedeen -Chief Information Officer- Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Ts. Izuddin Abdullah - Head of IT-TNB Integrated Learning Solution, Julian Wong -Senior Vice President – Chief Technology Officer-Magnum 4D Berhad and Yap Ming Cur-Head of IT-Biocon Biologics who all took part in an interesting panel discussion on the topic ‘Rise of the Power’.

The panel discussion was moderated by Ts. Saiful Bakhtiar O. - Head of IT, Shared Services-PNB Commercial Sdn. Berhad.

The event was successful with the support of the sponsors and also made the event an unforgettable experience for all the attendees.

Below are the sponsors for the World CIO 200 Summit Malaysia edition,

l Positive Technologies

l SeeBurger

l Xoxoday

The World CIO 200 Summit Bahrain edition successfully held under the patronage of H.H. Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa

The World CIO 200 Summit 2023 Bahrain edition was successfully held at The Art Hotel & Resort, Bahrain on 20th July under the patronage of H.H. Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. H.H. Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy President Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of the General Sports Authority, and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, presented CIO & CEO Country Awards 2023 to the winners in The World CIO 200 Summit Bahrain Edition.

Attendees and keynote speakers were welcomed by Dr. Jassim Haji, President, IGOAI. He shared the technological vision of Bahrain, deploying modern technologies to further develop the country’s services and shared the aim of The World CIO 200 Summit which identifies the latest trends in the IT industry and recognizes like-minded technology heads.

The event followed the theme of ‘Rise of the power’. The World CIO 200 2023 roadshow is designed to help IT leaders develop and enhance the qualities of leadership, power, vision and focus. All the influential panelists gathered for the discussion at the World CIO 200 Summit made the event a more interesting and thought provoking one.

Anas Kamaluddin-Head of Technology-Strategic Business Units

Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo Group, Anupama Prasanth-Dean-College of Computer Studies-University of Technology Bahrain, ERKAN AYTÜRK–Chief Technology Officer – Ebrahim Khalil Kanoo

Moderated by: Khalid Jalal, Bahrain Country Manager-International Group of Artificial Intelligence

LEADERSHIP DOS AND DON’TS

Alka Srivastava-ICT Manager Healthcare-Ibn Al-Nafees Hospital, Kai Miethig-CEO and Founder-W-AI-STE and Fatema Akbar - Head of Technology and Innovative Teaching Unit-Gulf University

Moderated by: Mahmood Aladraj -Chief Executive Officer- VirtuThinko

ELIMINATING DATA DEBT AND REPLACING LEGACIES

Ahmed M Buti- Regularity Audit Manager - Bahrain National Audit Office, Shaker AlOwainati - CIO - Ahjar Gallery Online, Wafeeq Ajoor - Executive IT/Cloud Advisor - National Health Regularity Authority (NHRA) - Kingdom of Bahrain, Shaima Almeer-Senior Space Data Analyst-NSSA

Moderated by: Ahmed Saleh AlBalooshi - Managing Director-Fintech ICT Services & Consultations

Welcomed by Dr. Jassim Haji, President, IGOAI

The World CIO 200 Summit UAE edition witnessed the

RISE OF THE POWER of IT leaders

The World CIO 200 Summit 2023 UAE edition was successfully held at Address Sky View Dubai on 18th July. UAE witnessed a momentous event with the participation of influential leaders and their remarkable knowledge sharing sessions. The World CIO 200 Summit UAE edition felicitated 125 top IT leaders with the World CIO 200 Awards.

Attendees and keynote speakers were welcomed by Ronak Samantaray, Co-Founder & CEO, Global CIO Forum. He shared the vision of The World CIO 200 Summit which identified the latest trends and innovations in the IT industry and recognizes the IT leaders and like-minded technology heads. The event followed the theme of ‘Rise of the power’. The World CIO 200 2023 roadshow is designed to help IT leaders develop and enhance the qualities of leadership, power, vision and focus.

The event was embellished by some thought provoking and influential speakers and they shared their perspectives on the growing importance of technology and the emerging technologies that are predicted to be disruptive in the near future. Abrar Hussain, Regional Sales Leader, Oracle shared his vision on the topic ‘Oracle and the Modern Enterprise’. Ali El Kontar, Founder & CEO, Zero&One spoke about ‘The Art of Possible’, Charbel Zreiby, Director, Channel Presales, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Dell Technologies spoke about ‘Accelerate intelligent outcomes everywhere with AI’, and Chaitanya Peddi, Co-founder & Product Head, Darwinbox shared his vision on the topic ‘Innovation Redefined: Leveraging AI to Shape the Future of Work. Keyur Joshi, Head of Advanced Computing, META, Eviden shared his vision on the topic ‘AI in Digital Transformation’ and Naveen Hemanna, Regional Head - Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Xoxoday spoke about ‘Transforming Businesses with Digital Rewards & Incentives’.

Following are the panelists who take part in the panel discussion on the following topics:

RISE OF THE POWER

Aditya Kaushik, CIO, ZMI Holdings , Aamir Khan, Head of Enterprise & Data Architecture, Al Tayer Group, Mohammed Ameen, IT Director, Masafi LLC, Ahmed Shawky, Regional Director of Information Technology, Millennium Hotels and Resorts.

Moderated by: Jayakumar Mohanachandran, Chief Research Officer, I am CAAS

ELIMINATING DATA DEBT AND REPLACING LEGACIES

Muhamed Noufel, Cluster IT Manager, Royal Continental Hotels & Suites, Sunil Paul, Co-Founder & MD, Finesse Global, Gigi Mathew Thomas, Group Director IT & Digital Transformation, Ittihad International Investment LLC and Riasat Ali, Group Head of IT, RAK PORTS

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION VS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION - HOW DOES A CIO UNDERSTAND THE LINE OF DIFFERENCE AND BRING CHANGE

Stacy Samuel Vanchippara, Corporate Director of Technology, Ishraq Hospitality, Aus Alzubaidi, Director IT & Digital Transformation Leader, MBC GROUP, Syed Ashar Ahmed, Head of Malls IT & PMO, Emaar, Shahood Siddiqui, CTO, COFE App

Moderated by: Zeeshan Hadi, Country Manager UAE & Africa, HPE Aruba Networking

LEADERSHIP DOS AND DON’TS

H.E. Mubaraka Ibrahim, Acting CIO, Emirates Health Services, Akshay Lamba, Chief Digital Officer, Kalaam Telecom Group, Jayaraj Perumalsamy, Group Head of IT, Barakat and Alan Brouard, Director IT, Etihad Rail

Moderated by: Rajat Goel, Deputy Vice President, 3i Infotech Ltd.

LOOKING TO 2024

Faisal Syed - Group Digital Transformation Manager – Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, Ali Katkhada - Group CIO Depa Group and Kashif Rasheed - IT & Digital Transformation Project Manager- UnionCoop

Moderated by: Mohammed Mahnashi, Digital Transformation & Data Management Advisor, Saudi Electronic University.

CAAS, the technology revolutionary platform that has been formed with the purpose of delivering technology-enabled solutions at a better price and great quality by subject matter experts themselves, was also highlighted by the organizers of CAAS from different countries. Venkatesh Mahadevan, Founding Member, CAAS, addressed the delegates at the UAE edition of the World CIO 200 Summit 2023 and spoke about the amazing journey and vision of CAAS, since its launch in Bangkok in 2022. Manoj Saxena, CAAS|Sustainability, shared his vision on ‘CaaS and Sustainability’ and its importance for the modern enterprises across the world. Mohammed Mahnashi, CAAS, Saudi Arabia shared his vision on the outreach of CaaS and its establishment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Alan Brouard, CAAS, Wellbeing, shared his vision on ‘The CaaS way to Wellbeing’. Sabin Subramannian, CAAS | Competency Framework and Muhamed Noufel, CAAS | Hospitality Forum shared their vision on the launch of CaaS’ new vertical- Hospitality Forum. Jayakumar Mohanachandran, Chief Research Officer, Research-as-a-Service, CAAS spoke about the Research-as-a-service arm of CaaS and how it is all set to disrupt the research and market study landscape.

PARTNERS OF THE EVENT

PLATINUM PARTNERS

GOLD PARTNERS

SILVER PARTNERS

DIGITAL REWARD PARTNER

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

MEDIA PARTNERS

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

ORGANIZED BY POWERED BY

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

THE ROADSHOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE REMAINING COUNTRIES AND WILL CULMINATE IN A GRAND FINALE AT BAKU, AZERBAIJAN FROM 17TH TO 19TH SEPTEMBER.

MANAGING PARTNER

GLOBAL STRATEGIC PARTNERS

Tenable joins Cloud Security Alliance, recognised by Snowflake, Cohesity

Tenable announced that it has joined the Cloud Security Alliance, CSA as an Executive Member. CSA is the world’s leading organisation dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment.

As an executive level member, Tenable will champion preventive security approaches, helping organisations understand and reduce cybersecurity risk across their entire attack surface—from the cloud, IT, OT, identity systems and beyond. Tenable brings a wealth of expertise in cloud exposure management, having helped thousands of organisations maintain security and compliance standards without slowing down development cycles.

Tenable Cloud Security enables organisations to continuously assess the security posture of cloud environments, offering full

visibility across multi-cloud environments and helping organisations prioritise security efforts based on actual risk.

“According to a study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Tenable, 64% of businesses already use cloud security tools as part of their overall cybersecurity strategy,” said Brian Goldfarb, Chief Marketing Officer, Tenable.

“But the speed and scale of cloud computing often leave environments riddled with undetected or unremediated exposures such as misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and excess privileges. Joining CSA is an important way for Tenable to engage with cloud users and collaborate with our industry peers on important initiatives so we can secure these complex environments before cyber attackers can exploit them.”

In July, Tenable was named the 2023 Cybersecurity Partner of the Year award

winner by Snowflake, the Data Cloud company. Tenable was recognised for its Tenable One Exposure Management Platform. Previously in June, Tenable received the 2023 Global Security Partner of the Year award from Cohesity. The award was presented as part of Cohesity’s Global Partner Summit event.

SentinelOne integrates with Wiz to deliver Singularity Skylight

The company introduces real-time threat hunting with Singularity Skylight, enabling companies to leverage its market-leading security data lake and cloud workload protection platform to better manage risks

Delivering on its commitment to provide a holistic approach to cybersecurity, SentinelOne, the autonomous security platform, announced the general availability of its integration with Wiz, along with a new benefit: early access to Singularity Skylight, a solution that seamlessly ingests third-party data into SentinelOne’s Singularity Security DataLake.

“Organisations have too much data in too many silos, leading to an incomplete picture of security risks,” said Ely Kahn, Vice President of Product Management for Cloud Security and AI, ML, SentinelOne. “By enriching real-time cloud threat detections from SentinelOne with issues identified by Wiz in one security data lake, customers can triage and resolve security

findings faster and more effectively, and better support agile innovation in the cloud.”

SentinelOne Singularity Skylight is uniquely designed to make data normalisation and ingestion simple. And customers with both SentinelOne and Wiz can use it to their advantage. When SentinelOne detects a runtime threat to a cloud server or container, it automatically enriches the threat details with relevant context from Wiz about that cloud resource, including any vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and exposed secrets and delivers it within the SentinelOne management console.

“Cloud security continues to become more complex, and’s fragmented solutions make it difficult to manage,” Kahn said. “To successfully protect against threats in a constantly evolving landscape requires an end-to-end approach and our enhanced integration with Wiz allows us to deliver it.”

Brian Goldfarb, Chief Marketing Officer, Tenable.

Ely Kahn, Vice President of Product Management for Cloud Security and AI, ML, SentinelOne.

Trellix launches Mind of the CISO Initiative for CISO community

Trellix announced its new Mind of the CISO initiative, bringing global attention to the needs of the CISO community. The collaborative efforts span an inaugural CISO Council, research, and webinars.

Trellix’s CISO Council is founded on the principle of information sharing. The council brings together global influential experts to educate the industry on the challenges and solutions needed to effect change. Members will participate in Trellix-hosted events around the world and will also provide insightful contributed content.

Inaugural members include:

l Harold Rivas, Chief Information Security Officer, Trellix

l Ala Asali, Chief Security Officer, Arab National Bank, Saudi Arabia

l Ayed (Ed) Sleiman, Head of Special Projects, Former CISO, KAUST

l Ariel Picans, CISO, Banco Delta, Panama

l Everett Bates, Chief Information Security

Officer, EverView, US

l Jim Jenkins, VP, Information Security & ISO, Vantage West Credit Union, US

l Jose Vicente Vidal, Head of Global Security Operations, BBVA, Spain

l Rob Labbé, CEO & CISO-in-Residence, Mining and Metals ISAC, Canada

l Shamoun Siddiqui, Chief Information Security Officer, Neiman Marcus Group, US

According to Trellix’s 2023 Mind of the CISO research, the top challenges CISOs face are too many sources of information, the changing regulatory landscape, a growing attack surface, and the lack of skilled talent on their teams. AI is the newest change they need to navigate. Cybercriminals use AI to hone their skills while Security Operations teams benefit from automation and insights. To ensure a level playing field between good and bad actors, Trellix supports CISOs’ effective use of their current tools and shape future solutions.

Dragos launches Global Partner Programme across OT security

Dragos, a vendor in cybersecurity for industrial controls systems, ICS, operational technology, OT environments, launched the Dragos Global Partner Programme. According to Dragos, this is the only channel programme to comprise OT cybersecurity technology, services, and threat intelligence.

The Dragos Partner Programme extends even further by offering training that prepares partners as experts who can offer their customers assessment services based on Dragos’s proven assessment methodology; resell the Dragos Platform including asset discovery, threat detection, and vulnerability management; and manage deployment for customers.

The Dragos Partner Programme enables channel partners to offer their customers the full range of ICS, OT cybersecurity technology and services to increase revenue opportunity and deliver positive customer outcomes. Part-

ners gain confidence in being backed by Dragos experts, the industry’s largest, most experienced group of ICS, OT security practitioners who have been on the frontlines of major cyberattacks on industrial infrastructure.

The Dragos Global Partner Programme revolutionises partner training by providing a self-service portal that includes automated deal registration, materials for co-branding and other marketing assets, and access to selfpaced ICS cybersecurity skills training through Dragos Academy training modules.

With the Dragos Partner Programme, cybersecurity resellers receive the following benefits, depending on level of participation:

l The Dragos Platform, Dragos Professional Services, threat intelligence via Dragos WorldView, managed ICS, OT threat hunts and notification triage through Dragos OT Watch, and collective defence

Trellix’s Mind of the CISO highlights the need for increased engagement and support for CISOs, and this new initiative will create additional resources and pathways to support collaboration between CISOs and key stakeholders in their organisations. Trellix will host virtual summits, workshops, and webinars throughout the second half of 2023 and beyond, while continuing to add members to the CISO Council.

through Neighborhood Keeper

l Access to the Dragos Partner Portal, training, partner communications, and field sales and marketing support

l Market Development Funds, MDF, as well as proposal-based MDFs for demand and lead generation

l Cumulative volume discounts

l Deal registration with increased margin for identifying opportunities

Harold Rivas, CISO at Trellix

Mayank Verma, International Channel at Dragos

Westcon-Comstor launches its multivendor marketplace, PartnerCentral

Westcon-Comstor announced the launch of its new multivendor marketplace, PartnerCentral. This new digital gateway is a one-stop environment where partners can configure, quote, and order complex hybrid solutions—software, hardware, services, or a combination of all three.

With PartnerCentral, Westcon-Comstor partners can access intuitive data insights that simplify the procurement of services and products, and the addition of Partner Insights provides partners with the business and customer insights they need to capitalise on new opportunities and market trends.

The new marketplace has been developed to support the distributor’s Partner Success methodology. This new approach supports partners by providing them with more automation, better insights, and a simplified sale lifecycle.

“We continue to stay well ahead of the digital distribution curve. Now with the launch of PartnerCentral, we believe we are creating the perfect gateway to Partner

Success, where users, partners can better understand their customers’ product lifecycles and be more responsive,” says Louise Taute, Managing Director Westcon-Comstor Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The PartnerCentral marketplace has been built in close collaboration with our channel and vendor partners, keeping users in mind and focussing on providing access to educational resources, digital tools and data-driven processes essential to Partner Success.”

According to the distributor, the PartnerCentral marketplace is designed to accelerate and simplify the move to the cloud and as-a-service business models. Core capabilities include:

Simplifies the procurement and management of recurring subscription and as-a-service offers at scale.

l Provides a single platform for hybrid procurement so that partners can purchase hardware, software, and services with a mix of subscriptions and oneoff purchases.

l Makes self-service easy from one intuitive interface to better control procurement, user management, cloud usage and more.

l Automates pricing, quoting, and ordering processes, improving quote accuracy, speeding up sales cycles and helping easily track orders.

l Gives partners access to valuable data insights through Partner Insights, including descriptive analytics to help spot new opportunities, understand customer and industry trends, and proactively manage product renewals and subscriptions.

l Access to educational tools and materials.

Schneider recognises top channel partners at event in Egypt

Schneider Electric recognised its top channel partners in the Gulf for the company’s Secure Power Division in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh. Over 105 of the region’s top technology executives and experts attended the two-day summit.

Aligning with Schneider Electric’s primary pillars of Strategize, Digitise, Decarbonise – the company recognised its top channel partners who successfully delivered on growing their business through Electricity 4.0 – sustainable, smart energy.

Schneider Electric’s key partners and leadership including Mouna Essa-Egh, Vice President, Secure Power division for MEA, and Ahmed Gamal, Vice President of the Secure Power division for Saudi Arabia, attended the event.

The datacentre market in MENA is esti-

mated at $3.4 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $10.4 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 20.4% from 2022 to 2028, according to RationalStat’s analysis. With datacentres accounting for 3% of global energy consumption, it is crucial for industries to prioritise access to efficient and environmentally friendly IT solutions.

Winners across the Gulf included:

l Power & Cooling Middle East, UAE for

Outstanding Partner Performance 2022 in the UAE

l Aptec, an Ingram Micro Company, UAE for Volume Distributor of the Year 2022, Gold

l Logicom FZE, UAE for Volume Distributor of the Year 2022, Silver

l SecureTech LLC, Abu Dhabi for Edge Partner of the Year 2022 in UAE

Louise Taute, Managing Director WestconComstor Sub-Saharan Africa

VAST Data partners with Commvault to deliver data protection

VAST Data, the data platform company for the AI era, in conjunction with Commvault, announced a new, significant investment in their strategic alliance as the two companies embark to deliver more tightly integrated data protection and security solutions to customers and partners.

The first milestone in this multistep initiative to integrate Commvault’s enterprise-class data protection software suite with the VAST Data Platform will be to deliver a co-engineered solution for the needs of the ransomware era, based on real-world customer deployments, intended to maximise the recovery of critical data assets protected by Commvault data protection software on VAST infrastructure.

Combining Commvault’s next generation active defence and automation data protection capabilities with the scale and performance of the VAST Data Platform, the two companies will provide a robust, highly scalable, and performant solution designed to help enterprise customers return to business following a data loss event like a ransomware attack.

Together, this new validated design from VAST and Commvault will offer differentiated capabilities that help organisations keep data secure with built-in protocols that drive compliance, detection and monitoring to increase visibility and accelerate response times, and first-class recoverability to thwart data loss, restore

quickly and maintain business continuity.

Combining Commvault deduplication and compression with VAST’s Similarity-based data reduction, the solution delivers network bandwidth reduction and superior storage savings to offer a cost point equivalent to HDD-based backup appliances, with over one hundred times better restore performance.

VAST and Commvault are already helping customers and partners like Expedient deliver an industry- service level agreement, SLA to its own customers, without the conventional expense associated with legacy infrastructure.

“This is a great step in our continued partnership with Commvault, bringing organisations a joint solution that provides protection and recovery from ransomware and cyber-attacks while optimising performance, cost, and efficiency,” said Michael Wing, President at VAST Data.

Nokia to integrate network applications with Red Hat’s OpenStack, OpenShift

Nokia and Red Hat, announced they have reached an agreement to integrate Nokia’s core network applications with Red Hat OpenStack Platform and Red Hat OpenShift. As part of the agreement, Nokia and Red Hat will jointly support and evolve existing Nokia Container Services, NCS and Nokia CloudBand Infrastructure Software, CBIS customers while developing a path for customers to migrate to Red Hat’s platforms over time.

Nokia customers will continue to be supported by Nokia directly, while Red Hat will provide Nokia with ongoing development, services, and advanced care for Nokia NCS and CBIS. As customer cloud strategies evolve, Red Hat and Nokia will support a smooth transition path for customers who choose to migrate to Red Hat’s platforms. In addition, certain Nokia cloud infrastructure teams will transition to Red Hat to provide continued roadmap evolution, deployment services and support on

behalf of Nokia to its customers.

As service providers explore the opportunities with 5G, including core network, open RAN, multi-access edge computing, MEC, application modernisation and more, they require greater flexibility and options to deploy applications and services on the infrastructure and location of their choice. This means integration and interoperability amongst the ecosystem is critical.

Nokia cloud infrastructure platform customers will have the full service and support of Red Hat’s open-source ecosystem and access to Red Hat’s transformative 4G and 5G technologies and use cases. By combining Nokia’s 5G expertise with Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud vision, customers will be able to transform their core network infrastructure and applications to be fully cloud-native and future-ready with service and support from Red Hat as the industry accelerates to the edge.

Michael Wing, President at VAST Data

Darrell Jordan-Smith, Senior Vice President, Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment and Edge, Red Hat.

centre3 completes expansion of its hyperscale datacentre in Khurais

centre3, the digital hub and provider of hosting and data services in the MENA region and a stc Group subsidiary, has completed a 9.6MW expansion of its hyperscale-grade datacentre Khurais in Riyadh. The expansion enhances centre3’s hosting capacity for customers and accelerates the development of the MENA region’s digital industry.

The newly expanded datacentre features state-of-the-art infrastructure and advanced technologies and is built to meet global hyperscale requirements. The additional capacity will allow centre3’s customers to scale their cloud services and other digital services faster and more reliably.

This expansion follows centre3’s plan to build new datacentres across Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, and other strategic locations in the Saudi Arabia to address its customers’ requirements for high availability, disaster recovery, and scalability. The new facilities will feature operational standards that support service-level agreements and key performance indicators aligned with best-in-class international standards.

Eng Fahad AlHajeri, CEO of Centre3, commented: “We are proud to announce the expansion of our Khurais datacentre in Riyadh. We are committed to investing in the latest technologies

and providing exceptional services to our customers while meeting growing demand. Through this milestone, we also contribute to the regional datacentre industry’s development, which is crucial for the Saudi Arabia and the wider region’s digital transformation as it enables the localisation of digital applications.”

The new developments at centre3 are a continuation of stc Group’s expansion in scale and scope by providing its customers with a full ICT ecosystem through a number of subsidiaries. centre3 aims to reach over 300MW of managed capacity in the next few years, not just within Saudi Arabia but beyond as well. This operating model is well-aligned with stc Group’s “DARE” strategy and the Group’s development plans to position Saudi Arabia as a major digital hub for the MENA region.

Cisco plans to establish datacentre for cloud security in Saudi

Cisco announced plans to establish a datacentre for cloud-delivered security in the Saudi Arabia to help customers protect their users, infrastructure, and investments against threat actors. The announcement is part of Cisco’s continued effort to empower organisations locally and in the region with flexible security services and data protection for devices, remote users, and distributed locations.

The new datacentre will play a critical role in delivering agile, highly resilient, high-capacity secure access closer to users in Saudi Arabia. It will support Cisco’s cloud services including its new Secure Service Edge, SSE solution, Cisco Secure Access. Most organisations rely on a complex web of point products that were not designed to support ’s highly distributed environment, and users need to navigate inconsistent access experiences and reauthenticate throughout the day—disrupting productivity.

Findings of the latest Cisco Security Outcomes Report underscore the importance of

security resilience. The report revealed that 54% of organisations surveyed in Saudi Arabia experienced a security event that impacted business. The most common incidents were distributed denial of service attacks, 60%, network or system outages, 54% and malicious insider abuse events, 40%. The global report also states that converging networking and security into a mature, cloud-delivered secure access services edge boosted security resilience scores by 27%.

“This announcement reconfirms Cisco’s alignment to provide advanced cloud security protection and services to the Saudi community. It builds on Cisco’s long-standing commitment to our customers and reflects our continued support for digital transformation, by using the power of technologies to create a secured thriving digital economy in Saudi Arabia,” Salman Faqeeh, Managing Director of Cisco in Saudi Arabia commented.

The announcement reaffirms Cisco’s commitment to a hybrid architecture to rapidly

extend its global reach for customers. In Saudi Arabia, organisations will experience the benefits of Cisco’s co-located edge datacentre with the scalability of public cloud. The datacentre will be carrier-neutral, and available on any Internet Service Provider, ISP in Saudi Arabia. Cisco intends for the datacentre to have service availability by mid-2024.

Salman Faqeeh, Managing Director of Cisco in Saudi Arabia.

Maz Holding partners with NEXA to boost transformation of Saudi businesses

Maz Holding, a conglomerate in the Saudi Arabia, and NEXA, a global renowned digital and growth agency operating from its head office in Dubai, have announced the creation of MAZ NEXA. Leveraging their combined expertise and know-how, this groundbreaking collaboration aims to revolutionise the digital marketing landscape in the Saudi Arabia, driving innovation, delivering exceptional results, and transforming businesses.

As a prominent player in the Saudi Arabian business landscape, Maz Holding has consistently showcased its commitment to excellence and growth across various sectors such as manufacturing, energy, real estate, retail, IT, financial services, and healthcare.. By partnering with NEXA, a highly regarded digital agency known for its exceptional growth strategies and outstanding results as well as portfolio of clients that includes Amazon, Bosch, Toshiba, Audi,

UPS’ service contractor Eirad adopts what3words precision location

what3words announced that Eirad Trading and Contracting, UPS’s Authorised Service Contractor in Saudi Arabia, will integrate its location technology into their in-flight communications and retailer API, enabling e-commerce businesses to offer their customers deliveries to any 3 sqm in Saudi Arabia.

The precision offered by what3words addresses means deliveries can find the desired destination with ease, optimising the overall customer experience and eliminating the need for phone calls from lost delivery drivers. Eirad customers will have the option to specify their delivery address using what3words when they receive their SMS delivery updates - ensuring Eirad couriers know exactly where to go, without the need for additional calls.

what3words’ simple technology will also be integrated into the retailer’s application programming interface, API platform. This integration will enable e-commerce businesses

to give their customers the option to have deliveries sent to any what3words address in Saudi Arabia. Individuals can find a what3words address in the app, available for iOS

Nolte, and Shell, Maz Holding expands its presence in the digital marketing realm, paving the way for remarkable opportunities.

MAZ NEXA will offer a comprehensive range of services encompassing digital strategy and transformation enabled by industry tools such as HubSpot - a top-rated CRM, Marketing, Sales, and Operations platform.

Other services include search and performance marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, web design and development and a host of Web3 services encompassing NFTs and Blockchain technology. The company’s client-centric approach, fuelled by a passion for innovation and excellence, will ensure that each client receives tailored solutions to meet their unique business objectives.

“After enlisting the expertise of NEXA in 2019 to advise us on enhancing and leveraging our digital marketing presence for specific retail businesses and brands within Maz Holding, we were astounded by the exceptional performance improvements and exponential sales growth we witnessed,” said Eng Abdulsalam Al-Mazro, The Founder and Chairman of Maz Holding.

“There is no greater testimony than converting a satisfied client into a strategic business partner,” said Amit Vyas, CEO of NEXA.

and Android or through the online map at what3words.com.

One of the biggest challenges facing e-commerce businesses globally is inaccurate addressing. Duplicate street names, unaddressed new builds, postcodes covering large areas, and apartment buildings with several entrances are just a few of the obstacles facing couriers every day, as they make their delivery rounds.

what3words eliminates these issues - providing a simple and reliable way to pinpoint exact locations. It has divided the globe into a grid of 3m x3m square and given each square a unique combination of three random words: a what3words address.

Ali Akram Al Sayed, Country Manager, Eirad Trading and Contracting commented: “We expect that our customers will immediately see the value of the what3words integration.”

Chris Sheldrick, Co-founder, and CEO of what3words, said: “There is nothing more frustrating than receiving a failed delivery notification because a driver could not find the right door.”

Ali Akram Al Sayed

Chris Sheldrick

Mobily and Ericsson deliver AI-driven connectivity during Hajj season

Ericsson and Etihad Etisalat, Mobily have partnered to deliver seamless connectivity to this year’s Hajj pilgrims, enhanced by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics, ahead of the Hajj season which is expected to see a sharp rise in data traffic along with new usage patterns.

As part of this partnership, Mobily and Ericsson have deployed Artificial Intelligence, AI-based cognitive solutions that leverage automation, big data scalability, speed, accuracy, and consistency to improve network optimisation and enhanced throughput.

To cater to the anticipated substantial increase in data traffic and to enhance user experiences, Mobily has also deployed new sites with Ericsson Radio System products that increase the 5G capacity, expand the

backhaul capacity, and extend service coverage in Mina. Through analytics and AI, the cognitive solution deployed monitors and assesses the network to correct any anomalies, thereby enhancing performance and service experiences.

Alaa Malki, Chief Technology Officer from Mobily, says: “By deploying Ericsson’s AI-based solutions, we aim to revolutionise the way pilgrims connect during their pilgrimages by ensuring reliable and smooth connectivity throughout the duration of the Hajj season. The solutions will maximise our network capabilities and enhance user experiences in traffic-heavy locations. Our continuous efforts reinforce our commitment as a national digital enabler – harnessing all capabilities to facilitate for the pilgrims from around the world.”

Saudi based NOMU Group raises $5M in funding focussing on food-tech supply chain

NOMU, the food-tech supply chain platform set to revolutionise the food and beverage industry in the MENA region, announced the successful closure of its first round of financing after the merger and establishment of Nomu Group.

The seed round raised $5 million from investors, including DIV Capital, Shurfah, Core Vision, Purity for Information Technology, and prominent family offices in Saudi Arabia such as Altoukhi Family Office and Bakr Family Office, along with angel investors.

The funds raised will be used to expand NOMU’s B2B HORECA offering, with a specific focus on restaurants and financing solutions. NOMU plans to develop a Software-as-a-Service, SaaS solution and an AI assistant procurement officer chatbot. The company places a strong emphasis on sustainability and healthy unit economics, with two markets already achieving profitability.

Since its inception in 2022, NOMU has experienced rapid expansion and currently operates in four countries, including the Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. The company has plans to expand into 50 cities, towns by 2025. Remarkably, NOMU

Ekow Nelson, Vice President at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, says: “We are driven by our vision of a connected world where technology enhances lives and brings people together. Our joint efforts with Mobily have resulted in an expansion of Mobily’s coverage, increased in 5G capacity, along with intelligent capabilities towards the realisation of a fully autonomous network. We are confident that our advanced AI, ML capabilities combined with networks technologies will enrich the overall Hajj experience for pilgrims.”

has already proven a positive cashflow business model, recorded 10x revenue growth within 12 months and gross margins are above healthy sustainable levels, NOMU has established strategic international partnerships with industry giants such as Savola and Procter and Gamble.

Founded by Salman Attieh, Yassir El Ismaili El Idrissi, Shehab Mokhtar, and Ahmed Eldemerdash, NOMU Group’s headquarters are located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a holding structure in Abu Dhabi’s International Financial Centre. This strategic positioning enables NOMU to develop its operations further and expand its footprint, with plans to cover Pakistan and key subSaharan countries in the near future.

“We are thrilled with the overwhelming support we have received from our investors, both in terms of funding and strategic partnerships,” said Shehab Mokhtar, Co-Founder and CEO of NOMU Group.

Alaa Malki and Ekow Nelson

OQ to access RISE with SAP through private cloud launched by SAP in Oman

Oman reached a milestone in its digital transformation with announcement of the Sultanate’s first private cloud datacentre, launched by SAP in alignment with Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology, MTCIT.

At the same time, Oman-based integrated energy company OQ, formerly Oman Oil Company, signed an agreement to adopt RISE with SAP and to run its SAP solutions, including integrated enterprise resource planning, ERP across all of its business assets, using the new in-country datacentre, making it the first SAP Oman private cloud customer.

In the presence of HE Dr Ali Al Shidhani, Undersecretary for Communications, and Information Technology at the MTCIT, the agreement was signed by Eng Mariam Al Shaibani, Vice President of Integrated Digital Solutions at OQ, and Waheed Murtadha Al Hamaid, Country Manager, SAP Oman.

Maryam Al Shaibani, VP Information and Digital Solutions at OQ, said, “As OQ becomes the first partner in Oman with SAP International under this agreement will enhance confidence for the transition of Omani companies to cloud systems, which will improve the quality of data retention and accelerate the digital transformation process in the Sultanate of Oman, and develop national competencies in various fields of technology, this comes in line with achieving the goals of Oman Vision 2040 in the field of digital transformation.

HE Dr Ali Al Shidhani, Undersecretary for Communications, and Information Technology at the MTCIT, said, “The launch of a local SAP cloud service that enables companies to securely store their information within Oman’s borders is aligned with the MTCIT’s commitment to creating efficient digital systems and solutions as set out in the four-track digital

China Telecom partners with Zain Omantel to boost connectivity

China Telecom Global signed a strategic subsea capacity and connectivity agreement with Zain Omantel International, facilitating global expansion of both parties’ presence in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

The partnership allows the parties to deliver high-capacity, low-latency data connectivity across China, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Sudan, and South Sudan.

Speaking on the agreement, Faming Lu, Vice President at CTG, said, “Aligned with our worldwide strategy to enhance CTG’s foothold in the Middle East, we look forward to collaborating with Zain Omantel International to reinforce network assistance for clients and enable enterprises to venture into global markets and stay competitive.”

Sohail Qadir, Zain Omantel International CEO said, “As the gateway from the Middle East to the world, Zain Omantel International is proud to be CTG’s partner of choice in the Middle East for international capacity and subsea streams.”

The strategic partnership between CTG and Zain Omantel International marks a significant milestone in the collaboration between the parties. It will revolutionise the way global connectivity is offered and pave the way to offer more innovative and advanced international telecom solutions.

Waheed Al Hamaid and Maryam Al Shaibani

transformation programme announced last year.” By moving to the cloud, OQ will be able to leverage the benefits of SAP S4HANA ERP, which include increased efficiencies, 360-degree visibility, and greater control over all operations. The solution streamlines and automates business processes and delivers real-time analytics, enabling datadriven decision-making to respond with agility to new opportunities and changes in the market.

Zain Omantel International, the pan-regional network connecting all Middle Eastern countries to a vast international network, is set to be a significant change in the telecommunications wholesale industry, offering a diverse portfolio of services and solutions to meet the increasing demands of wholesale customers.

It will cater to the end-to-end telecommunications needs of telecom operators, as well as international carriers, datacentres, hyperscalers, content, and cloud providers seeking services within the region and beyond.

Leveraging its vast network resources of 50 submarine cables with 117T in intercontinental capacity and 229 Points-of-Presence, PoPs around the world, China Telecom offers a high-performing global network for international carriers and multinational enterprises.

Zain Omantel International is Middle East’s premier wholesale powerhouse serving regional operators, international carriers, global hyperscalers and cloud providers seeking services within the region and beyond.

QNB Group, in collaboration with IBM and its ecosystem partner, Mannai InfoTech, an ICT Division under Mannai Trading have delivered a digital banking experience to customers. IBM Consulting’s Business Transformation expertise, the IBM Garage methodology and innovative technology solutions played a key role in this success story.

The project aimed to deliver a seamless digital banking experience for QNB’s customers by

implementing a futuristic omni channel solution. Every layer of the technology stack was re-designed and modernised to support this vision.

To revolutionise QNB’s digital banking with a hybrid cloud approach, IBM implemented a microservices architecture using IBM’s Cloud Pak for Integration, deployed on Red Hat OpenShift; a platform that provides a single, unified experience that connect applications

and data across any cloud.

The implementation of this architecture has resulted in simplicity in version maintenance, dynamic scaling, service governance and service discovery. These advancements from IBM, together with the support of the ecosystem partner Mannai InfoTech, has allowed QNB to offer a more sophisticated banking environment, which has increased efficiency, enriched resiliency, streamlined operations, and improved productivity, benefiting the enduser experience.

In addition, integration architects from IBM Consulting guided the installation and configuration of IBM App Connect Enterprise, assisting with the deployment, testing of the infrastructure, and supporting QNB to easily govern their integrations to ensure the security and integrity of their data, applications, and services.

“At QNB, we engage with our trusted partners, such as IBM to leverage innovation and build smarter industry solutions. Having a cloud-native solution will significantly enhance our infrastructure and improve business productivity,” said Maryam Mohd Al-Kuwari, Senior Executive Vice President, Group Information Technology, QNB.

buildings, and providing impressive connectivity experiences indoors in Qatar.

Additionally, Ericsson will enhance Ooredoo Qatar’s 5G customer experiences with the introduction of additional spectrum such as millimetre wave, mmWave. Thanks to Ericsson’s extended range software, mmWave will allow the service provider to deliver exceptional speeds over multi-kilometre distances.

Ericsson, and Ooredoo Qatar signed a five-year extension of their 5G deal during Ooredoo Qatar’s visit to Ericsson’s headquarters in Kista, Sweden to increase collaboration on radio access network, RAN products and services.

Under the renewed contract, Ericsson will deliver cutting-edge 5G RAN solutions and services that enable faster data speeds, allowing Ooredoo Qatar to explore new 5G use cases

and connectivity opportunities for subscribers, to leverage the potential of Internet of Things, IoT applications, and exploring emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, AI and machine learning, ML for optimising network performance and user experience.

Ericsson will also continue supplying indoor small cell solutions, Ericsson Radio Dot System, ensuring seamless connection throughout

Leveraging advanced technologies and intelligent algorithms, Ooredoo Qatar will also make use of Ericsson Network IQ Statistics, working together with Ericsson Network Management, to gain comprehensive insights into network performance, traffic patterns, congestion hotspots, and incident detection in real-time, to better resource management and overall enhancement to customer experience.

As the need for IoT continues to grow, Ericsson and Ooredoo Qatar will collaborate on implementing optimised RAN deployments such as improved coverage and capacity, efficient power consumption, network slicing capabilities, and robust security measures. This will allow Ooredoo Qatar to manage various IoT applications seamlessly across its network.

QNB Group selects IBM to deliver digital b anking using microservices from IBM’s Cloud Pak

Ericsson and Ooredoo in Qatar extend 5G partnership by five years

CrediMax and Mastercard renew strategic partnership to drive digital payments in Bahrain

CrediMax renewed its strategic partnership agreement with Mastercard during a signing ceremony in the presence of Ahmed A Seyadi, CrediMax Chief Executive, and Khalid Elgibali, Mastercard Division President, Middle East, and North Africa. This collaboration reflects CrediMax’s joint commitment and underlines its continuous efforts to strengthen its position as a key player in Bahrain.

Mastercard’s’ Digital First programme gives consumers a whole host of options in making payments, from ecommerce to contactless to QR, using any digital device of their choice. It also enables consumers to have control to manage their finances, as well as enhanced security for peace of mind. Not to mention, consumers get to interact with card benefits and offers, that deliver real value in moments that matter to them.

“CrediMax is committed to facilitating digital payment solutions that help simplify the payment journey for consumers and corporations alike,” commented Ahmed A Seyadi, Chief Executive, CrediMax. “Building on our long-standing collaboration with Mastercard, this partnership will

enable us to meet the changing and unique demands of our customers.”

“Our partnership with CrediMax is another great example of Mastercard’s role as a trusted technology partner that enables customers to tap into the potential of digital and expand access to more market,” said Khalid Elgibali, Division President, MENA, Mastercard.

Through this partnership, Mastercard and CrediMax will work together and explore deployment Mastercard’s cyber intelligence solutions to ensure smart and safe payments, digitising payments for consumers and corporates, and launching new value-added products and services to differentiate CrediMax cards proposition.

With this greater demand for digital experiences, Mastercard is enabling its customers to innovate faster by providing a network of partners that support each step of the consumer digital journey – from acquisition and card usage to management and engagement, with a physical card option. Building a robust network of qualified enablers is helping customers quickly launch digital products from the ground up.

Ooredoo in Qatar and Nokia trial 5G standalone services

Ooredoo announced two advances in its 5G partnership with Nokia; successful demonstration of the first data call in 5G Standalone, SA mode as part of 5G Standalone Services trials, and the enabling of 5G devices that are Voice over New Radio, VoNR-capable.

5G SA will enable platforms to launch new, innovative applications requiring high speeds and low latency, providing an enriched experience for such applications and use cases that need to be managed remotely in real time. Time to market for the launch of new services will be reduced. The mode will also enable private secured virtual networks for enterprise customers and open up additional revenue streams for Ooredoo by enabling the telco to introduce new use cases quickly, leveraging network slicing to ensure differentiated services to enterprise customers.

The enabling of VoNR devices – another country first – thanks to Nokia 5G Standalone Core will result in customers with such devices being able to make and receive supreme quality voice and video calls over a pure dedicated 5G Standalone network. Nokia’s solution enables faster call setup, faster simultaneous data services and enhanced network reliability compared to Voice over LTE, VoLTE for Ooredoo’s customers.

Thani Al Malki, Chief Business Officer at Ooredoo Qatar said: “We are delighted with both the successful completion of the first data call in 5G SA mode in Qatar, a trial crucial to progress towards full launch of 5G SA services, and with the enabling of VoNR devices. As a global tech giant, Nokia is at the forefront of the global 5G ecosystem, and we are confident that its expertise and industry-leading solutions will enable

Thani Al Malki, Chief Business Officer, Ooredoo Qatar us to provide a world-class 5G SA experience to our customers.”

The trial of 5G SA data calling paves the way for the commercialisation of 5G SA services across the Ooredoo network, enabling the telco to partner with enterprises and developers to deliver innovative use cases in domains such as Industry 4.0 with massive Internet of Things, IoT devices demanding faster throughput and lower latency.

Saudi based NOMU Group raises $5M in funding focussing on food-tech supply chain

Airbus supplied secure communication technology to support the holy pilgrimage in Mecca. Airbus deployed its advanced communication solutions to support the security and

emergency personnel involved in this monumental event.

Airbus’ comprehensive portfolio of communication solutions facilitated better coordina-

tion and enhanced response times among field officers deployed across various key locations, hence enabling efficient incident management, and ensuring the well-being of all participants.

As every year, Airbus played a vital role in ensuring the security and safety of the holy landmark and over two million pilgrims visiting from around the world.

“Airbus is proud to contribute to the secure and successful organisation of the Hajj pilgrimage by providing mission-critical communication solutions,” said Selim Bouri, Vice-President for Airbus Secure Land Communications, SLC in Africa, Asia, and Middle East.

“Our state-of-the-art technologies and comprehensive network coverage ensure that security and emergency personnel can efficiently respond to any situation, safeguarding both people, and premises.”

“Airbus remains committed to delivering reliable and innovative communication solutions, supporting the safety and security of large-scale events globally. With its profound expertise in mission-critical communications, Airbus plays a vital role in facilitating seamless collaboration and ensuring public safety” Bouri added.

POWERED BY HOSTED BY ORGANIZED BY

AI is already proving its worth, its potential remains untapped

Now widespread in industry, artificial intelligence remains in its infancy. As it evolves, it will extend human ability and help us reduce biases.

value of $17.4M (RM73.1M), with 14x ROI. Of the 51 warnings, 12 were high-impact incidents. Resolving these ahead of actual failure reduced unscheduled downtime, reducing wastage and inefficiencies, and saving PETRONAS millions of dollars.

From chemicals to energy, artificial intelligence (AI) is already showing just how far it can help achieve global sustainability targets across different industrial sectors. One example is Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), which has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. For the Malaysian oil and gas multinational, plant reliability is key to achieving its sustainability goals.

PETRONAS identified that early insight into impending equipment failure would enable plant operators to fix equipment proactively before small issues become bigger problems. Proof of concept came via a pilot project in their corporate cloud on Microsoft Azure at four upstream and two downstream units.

Using AVEVA Predictive Analytics, a no-programming required AI power solution for predictive maintenance, the pilot implementation accurately predicted failures so PETRONAS could fix issues beforehand. Over 200 models were deployed in the first year – at a greater scale than would have been possible with human analysts – and the solution correctly identified 51 major early warnings. In the process, it delivered a

Besides streamlining day-to-day operations and regular maintenance cycles, several catches helped reduce critical rotating equipment failure and downtime, leading to improved reliability through proactive asset monitoring and maintenance. An alert about an instrumentation fault in a liquid separator, for example, helped the PETRONAS team save $222,000 (RM934,000) in impending asset failure and wasted material. Not only have maintenance costs been reduced but avoiding equipment failures and unplanned shutdowns has helped improve safety records and create a safer workplace.

Now the solution is being rolled out to an additional 10 plants with a total of 150 equipment trains. As Mohd Nazrin Zaini, Custodian (Rotating Equipment), PETRONAS, says, adding value quickly has a faster impact on the company’s sustainability goals.

The experience demonstrates how momentum around green industrial solutions has expanded in recent years, as more organizations realize that sustainability is good for business. The impact of the pandemic, combined with increasing pressure from consumers and regulators, has also played a part in compelling businesses to integrate sustainability into the business ecosystem and adopt strategies that pay off for people and the planet.

But although AI has been the most talked-about new business technology trend, humans have barely scratched the surface of its tremendous potential. As the science comes of age, organizations will continue embedding AI-based solutions across their operational value chains to streamline operations, reduce costs, boost efficiencies and foster resiliency.

As science evolves, AI is now set to offer industrial enterprises greater opportunities for efficiency, innovation and growth. Let’s take a look.

AI gets deeper and broader – with greater interaction

From machine learning to natural language processing, AI is an umbrella term encompassing many cognitive capabilities applied in various ways. Now the different types of AI are being combined within one software environment to deliver a more capable solution. These subfields – each a unique technology – will be deployed together to enhance organizational capability and improve business value.

We see cutting-edge analytics at work in predictive asset optimization, for example, where combining AI and physics-based simulation can predict potential asset failures while providing an optimized set of actions to mitigate losses. As a result, machine downtime and production losses can be eliminated. Over time, these applications will lead to the development of self-healing autonomous machines, potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars for large industrial businesses along the way.

AI will extend and transform human ability

AI systems are already recognized as a natural partner for human intelligence. We will see this synergy play out over the next few years as the world embraces the concepts behind Industry 5.0. Already, AI models support human decisions with data-led insights that can improve value and sustainability – something AVEVA calls Performance Intelligence.

Computers are now doing more of the heavy lifting, even carrying out detailed analyses for their human colleagues. We can expect AI systems to now make humans better at what they do. Repetitive tasks have already been automated away. The next step is to reduce errors by way of improved decision-making parameters and higher efficiency.

AI will enlarge the scope of our jobs and enable us to achieve bigger goals faster by providing us with sophisticated, actionable guidance, strengthening our insight and ability in the process.

Biases will be recognized and eliminated

As humans delegate ever greater volumes of work to machines in an AI-forward world, businesses will need to think about the data they are collecting, and how intelligence models mirror real-world prejudices. Applying AI to biased data can result in and even magnify the impact

JIM CHAPPELL Global Head of AI and Advanced Analytics AVEVA

of improper and unfair decisions. As regulators begin to take notice of these technology biases, companies will begin to embrace responsible AI solutions built on principles such as fairness and transparency resulting in the use of comprehensive and inclusive datasets and better corporate governance.

AVEVA is working on a project where physicsbased simulation, combined with AI data models can be used to alleviate AI biases in the industrial world. By introducing simulated real-world processes and pseudo-sensors into an AI model we can significantly improve the outcome in terms of prediction accuracy and bias reduction.

AI will transform how we live and work

The science of AI is only in its infancy, but it has the potential to change the world as we know it. As it shapes every aspect of the value chain, from industrial practices to environmental outcomes, AI could have a much greater impact on the business world than we have witnessed with previous technologies. We are only at the beginning of the AI industrial revolution.

As science evolves, AI is now set to offer industrial enterprises greater opportunities for efficiency, innovation and growth.

How cloud egress fees will challenge the future of AI

AI allows organizations to automate operations and acquire insights from data, which will help increase productivity and service.

AI is on the verge of radically transforming entire sectors, including technology, healthcare, and finance, making it possible to solve problems that once seemed insurmountable. However, fully tapping into AI’s potential necessitates access to plentiful training data and significant computing power, leading to challenges in storage and data management. Unsurprisingly, the cloud has become the go-to solution for storing and processing data for AI applications.

Cloud Storage: AI’s Foundation

Cloud storage offers a flexible, scalable, and cost-efficient solution for handling vast amounts of data, making it particularly useful for AI applications. It serves as the repository for training data that allows machine learning models to make predictions or decisions based on new inputs.

Take, for example, a bank developing an AI-powered fraud detection system. The machine learning model needs a wealth

of transaction data from customers, encompassing amounts, times, locations, and types. As data volumes grow, storage and management become increasingly complex. Leveraging a cloud storage provider enables the bank to store and analyze its transaction data efficiently and affordably, adding new data as required without investing in or maintaining its own physical infrastructure.

Many companies will choose to employ multiple clouds for AI to reap various benefits, such as cost optimization, access to specialized resources, and compliance with regulatory requirements. One strategy to harness these advantages could be as straightforward as training models on one cloud platform while running inference on another. With most companies already depending on multiple cloud providers, adopting a multi-cloud strategy for storage management is poised to play a crucial role in addressing the mounting demands of AI-driven progress.

Egress Fees: The Multi-Cloud storage hurdle

Cloud storage offers numerous advantages but also presents challenges, with cost being a primary concern. A key expense related to cloud storage is egress (or data transfer) fees, imposed by cloud service providers when data is transferred out of their networks. Egress fees can add up quickly, especially for organizations utilizing multiple cloud providers and transferring substantial data volumes. And most recently, generative AI companies are facing hefty fees for moving data across regions, even within a single cloud provider, due to the scarcity of available computing power.

JOHN ENGATES Field Chief Technology Officer Cloudflare

To minimize egress fees, cloud providers encourage customers to store data and train AI models solely within their cloud. While this may seem positive in theory, the reality is that committing to a single provider may be difficult for some companies due to cost and resource availability. Most businesses adopt multi-cloud strategies in order to maximize their growth.

A future with Zero Egress Fees

But what if cloud storage providers removed egress fees from the

equation? A future free of these fees would empower companies to store and analyze data across multiple clouds without incurring extra costs, enabling them to use the best available tools. This would allow organizations to fully harness AI’s potential without concerns about rising expenses.

A Zero Egress fee cloud storage model would result in significant cost savings for organizations, freeing up resources for other essential business areas. It also eliminates the risk associated with relying on a single cloud provider, ensuring greater reliability and better protection against outages.

Perhaps most importantly, a world devoid of egress fees would fuel innovation. The flexibility offered by a multi-cloud architecture allows businesses to effortlessly select the most suitable provider for specific tasks. This enables organizations to focus on experimentation and innovation, leveraging AI and other cutting-edge technologies without being hindered by costs or limitations.

Unleashing AI’s full potential

AI stands poised to revolutionize industries and society as a whole. Cloud computing and storage play a crucial role in AI, particularly in storing and managing ever-expanding training data, but egress fees can hinder AI’s growth by acting as a barrier to innovation. To create a brighter future for AI in the cloud, eliminating egress fees is essential.

By adopting an approach to cloud storage that removes egress fees, organizations can harness AI’s full potential without concerns about the costs associated with transferring data between clouds. A future without egress fees represents a significant advancement in multi-cloud storage, laying the foundation for a more efficient, innovative, and promising future in AI and data management.

Enabling automation across organizations

It is better in leveraging the power of AI for productivity and efficiency which will be resulting as an important step towards enabling the automation of various tasks.

Automation and AI transform businesses by enhancing productivity, reducing errors, and automating redundant work, thereby freeing up employees for more complex, value-adding activities. Moreover, AI assists in decision automation through predictive analytics, personalising customer experiences, and detecting obscure patterns. This drives innovation, efficiency, and competitiveness, and contributes to economic growth by improving productivity in existing businesses and also paving the way for newer business models.

AI made large strides in recent years?

AI has made large strides in areas like natural language processing, machine learning, computer vision, and robotics. AI systems can now interpret and respond to human speech, identify objects in images, make predictions from operational data, and autonomously navigate environments. This progress

is due to advancements in data collection capabilities, data processing capabilities, algorithms, and the availability of large, streamlined datasets for training AI models.

AI and automation affecting the work

Challenges in AI techniques include bias in data and algorithms, privacy issues, lack of explainability, and other cybersecurity risks that come with automated decision making. As for work, AI and automation may displace jobs, particularly those involving redundant tasks, but at the same time will be creating new roles in AI development, maintenance, and oversight. The transition could cause short-term job displacement and require a reskilling and upskilling of the workforce. But in the long run, AI will augment the productivity and efficiency of employees, not replace them.

While AI and automation may eliminate some jobs, new jobs will be created, though possibly requiring different skill sets. Daily tasks may be automated, leading to increased efficiency and productivity. However, this could also raise issues related to privacy, security, and the digital divide, underscoring the need for policies that can help mitigate the negative effects of AI, especially at the creation and deployment of critical processes like credit processing systems or a treatment plan at a hospital.

Trends and innovations

At ManageEngine, the company look to leverage the power of AI for productivity and efficiency and see it as an important step towards enabling the automation of various tasks.

Some of the use cases include monitoring user behaviour

SUJOY BANERJEE Associate Director, ManageEngine.

anomalies with anomaly detection, an AI functionality in IT monitoring solutions; enabling AI- and ML-based malware detection using functionalities that can detect file alterations and other abnormal activity; and using AI to predict how and when outages may occur based on the behaviour of the attributes involved.

Moreover, the company help organisations achieve Zero Trust network security by implementing MFA and single sign-on (SSO), and leveraging advanced endpoint security capabilities.

Thriving in the workplace for a better future

The ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances will be key. This means one should identify workers who are willing to learn new skills and take on new

responsibilities. The demand for advanced technological skills such as programming languages, ML algorithms, and data engineering and visualisation is on the rise, and to provide training for these will be key. Moreover, workers should receive training in order to develop interpersonal communication skills, social skills, and higher cognitive skills that focus on creativity, critical thinking and complex information processing, which will help their ability to be disciplined and self-reliant.

Future focus, transformative days

The world has already seen the rise of cutting-edge technology in the form of AI and automation, resulting in layoffs and bringing in the element of uncertainty. However, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is going to be people-centric. There will always be demand for people with advanced technological skills. While recruiting such talent is important, it is also essential to empower existing employees through training programmes to upskill and reskill their capabilities.

Zoho Schools, an Indian initiative by ManageEngine’s parent organisation, Zoho Corp., runs a two-year programme for students who are taught based on the trending market demands in the software field. With Zoho Schools, the company nurture local talent who could fill such critical and in-demand roles in the future.

The company like to continue its focus on enhancing AI capabilities. While improving the capabilities of in-house AI chatbot, Zia, the company is prioritising the implementation of robust data privacy and security measures across all the products. As they navigate the AI-enabled workforce transition, all are working on implementing three key strategies to unlock productivity potential while delivering on business objectives: re-balancing resources, investing in workforce reskilling, and, on a larger scale, advancing new models of education and learning.

Moving forward, the company have seen that enterprises of varying sizes have different needs with regard to their technology infrastructure and likely require the assistance of multiple solutions. There is the need for a unified, holistic platform that can provide every solution, and currently working towards that end.

Digital ageAutomate business processes

While AI and automation bring changes and challenges, they also offer opportunities to innovate, improve efficiency, and improve quality of life. It is essential to foster a balance between the benefits of technology and the well-being of individuals and society.

Automation and AI technologies streamline processes, eliminate manual tasks, and reduce human error. This leads to greater operational efficiency and cost savings, as companies can accomplish more in less time with fewer resources. Automation and AI enable companies to personalize and improve the customer experience. Chatbots, virtual assistants, and recommendation systems can provide tailored interactions, faster responses, and personalized recommendations, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. Data-driven AI-powered analytics and predictive models help businesses make informed decisions based on big data. This leads to more accurate insights, improved strategic planning, and better resource allocation, ultimately leading to growth and profitability. Automation and artificial intelligence drive innovation by enabling companies to develop new products, services and business models. They can automate complex tasks, enable data-driven insights and uncover new market opportunities.

Exploring virtual worlds

Some of the key advances that have driven AI in recent years - Deep Learning and neutral networks have revolutionized

AI by enabling complex decision-making and pattern recognition. Big Data and cloud computing provide access to massive data sets and powerful computing infrastructure for AI development. Increasing computing power, such as from GPUs, has accelerated AI computations and improved efficiency. Reinforcement learning has enabled autonomous systems to learn optimal decision-making in dynamic environments. Natural language processing has made significant advances, allowing machine learning to better understand and produce human language. Transfer learning has facilitated the transfer of knowledge from one task or domain to another and reduced the need for training. Ethical considerations and regulations have shaped the development of responsible and trustworthy AI systems.

Breaking down barriers

Any technology has its challenges and opportunities - AI models heavily rely on quality data for training and decisionmaking. Data collection and security, as well as obtaining relevant, accurate, and diverse datasets, can be challenging. Training data can introduce biases into AI systems, resulting in biased outcomes. Fairness and bias in AI algorithms are significant challenges that require careful attention. Several AI techniques, like deep learning, operate as black boxes, making understanding how they work difficult. This lack of interpretability poses challenges to accountability, trust, and regulatory compliance.

Ethical implications of AI such as privacy, algorithmic accountability, and job displacement need to be carefully addressed. Balancing innovation with responsible AI deployment is a challenge that requires ethical frameworks and guidelines. AI techniques may have limitations in certain contexts. They may struggle with rare or novel scenarios, lack common sense reasoning, or face challenges in

explaining their ability, hindering their widescale adoption.

AI and its future impact

Artificial intelligence and automation are expected to have a significant impact on people and their daily lives by 2030. Automation can replace some jobs, especially those that involve repetitive tasks. While some jobs may drop, new roles will emerge with AI and automation. People will need to adapt and learn additional skills and work with these technologies. Jobs that require creativity, critical thinking, and human interaction may become more important. Artificial intelligence and automation can improve productivity and efficiency in various tasks, saving time and effort. AI algorithms can analyze data to make personalized recommendations and tailored experiences.

From entertainment and shopping to healthcare and education, everyone can enjoy more tailored and personalized options. Automation can help improve safety, especially in industries like transportation and manufacturing. Selfdriving cars, automated safety systems and robotic assistance can help reduce accidents and improve overall safety. Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform healthcare through improved diagnostics, precision medicine, and remote monitoring.

Trends and innovative future

Cloud Box Technologies is focused on managing and monitoring the network infrastructure, as well as detecting and responding to security threats effectively. For this, the company has partnerships with key security vendors. These partnerships enable to access cutting-edge security solutions and stay at the forefront of evolving threat landscapes. Additionally, CBT has invested in a dedicated solution center and allocated resources to enhance capabilities in delivering robust and tailored security solutions to clients. This investment allows to provide comprehensive security assessments, AI based incident response, and security consulting services.

To prepare workers for the workplace of the future, effective training programs and strategies are essential. Companies can invest in upskilling and reskilling initiatives to equip workers with the necessary skills for emerging roles and technologies. Training programs can focus on areas such as AI literacy, data analysis, machine learning, digital literacy, and critical thinking. These programs provide relevant and practical training that aligns with industry demands. Partnering with companies and edu-

cational institutions can facilitate specialized training programs. By investing in comprehensive and well-designed training programs, companies can empower workers to thrive in the changing workplace and ensure they have the skills necessary to embrace these opportunities and navigate effortlessly through technological advancements.

Unleashing the power of AI

As an AI language model, it doesn’t represent a specific organization or has direct information about its readiness for the fourth industrial revolution. However, organizations can adopt certain strategies to prepare for emerging skill sets and fill critical roles. Organizations can proac-

tively identify the emerging skillsets required for the fourth industrial revolution by analyzing industry trends and technological advancements. This anticipation helps align workforce planning and skill development initiatives accordingly. Promoting a culture of continuous learning and development is imperative.

Cloud Box Technologies being a solution provider, believes in investing time and resources in market analysis and expansion. This will help to identify emerging trends, customer needs, and potential growth opportunities. Building long-term partnerships can lead to customer loyalty and referrals. Investing in employees’ skill enhancement ensures they are equipped with the latest knowledge and expertise in relevant technologies.

SAJITH KUMAR Senior Manager, Cloud Box Technologies.

How AI planning and scheduling takes employee and customer experience to the next level

The AI-powered scheduling can schedule large amounts of jobs, in real-time, to ensure the right engineer, is in the right place at the right time and with the right skills and parts.

Service, and the quality of the customer experience, are increasingly the key points of differentiation for businesses worldwide. In a recent consumer survey by PwC, 55% of respondents said they would stop buying from a company that they otherwise liked after several bad experiences, and 8% said they would stop after just one bad experience.

In today’s service economy, customers demand a rapid response, flexible appointment slots and guaranteed first-time fixes. Yet, with skills shortages continuing to impact servicefocused businesses, field service teams often find themselves stretched more than ever before. Dispatchers are frequently overburdened and under a lot of pressure. They have to manage a lot of different scenarios.

The intensity and complexity of their work means that dispatchers need to move from decision to decision very quickly and often have to switch contexts to do so. They are only too aware that field workers’ time is precious.

A difficult balancing act

To complicate matters further, dispatchers are having to manage planned maintenance with new jobs coming on stream in real-time. And they are trying to optimise the workforce to do this based on traditional processes, which are time-consuming and error prone.

Prioritising jobs is difficult too when multiple tasks are coming in continuously, often encompassing a wide range of different geographical regions. Dispatchers are forced to firefight, which can be highly demotivating and stressful. This, in turn, is likely to negatively impact employee retention.

Service managers also may struggle in this kind of scenario to navigate uncertainty and plan with any degree of precision. Added to all this, field workers themselves may become disillusioned, having to deal with significant travel requirements, short notice changes to job requirements and problems in completing allocated work.

Finding a solution

That’s a serious concern for businesses, of course, most of which are well aware of the requirement to focus on employee engagement and keep dispatcher, service manager and field worker stress levels to a minimum. At the same time, they must never lose sight of the need to optimise the customer experience, and meet SLAs, while minimising bottom line costs. But how do they best address these complex challenges?

What is needed here is a way of harnessing the latest advanced technologies like AI and machine learning (ML)

BOB DE CAUX VP AI and Automation IFS

to optimise the scheduling and allocation of planned and real-time maintenance jobs, enabling the dispatchers to focus on reactive jobs that come in. Beyond this, it can tailor or customise the chosen approach to meet the precise needs of each business. There will typically be a need to efficiently blend appointments with reactive and planned work, so businesses will, of course, need an effective way of aligning appointment times around existing committed work. But that is not sufficient in itself. Organisations will need to go beyond this to deliver something known as target-based scheduling.

What makes AI and machine learning the answer AI and machine learning capabilities are well-suited to driving all the capabili-

ties outlined above. They can manage data at a scale much more quickly and accurately than a human and therefore adjust schedules rapidly to optimise plans. Equally, they can deliver the predictive analytics capabilities needed to help businesses evaluate how they are likely to be impacted by a wide range of likely scenarios and therefore pinpoint the best action to take in a given situation.

AI is also key in enhancing the experience of the dispatcher by giving them information they can understand, particularly when something goes wrong, Dispatchers will want to get an idea of why certain decisions are being made. That’s increasingly possible today. The big advance in AI over the past few years has been around this growing focus on ‘explainability.’ This kind of explainability is increasingly key in terms of regulatory compliance but also simply in building trust and communication with dispatchers.

It is important to note, AI must always play a supporting role rather than dictating the final decision. In line with that, it can help get the right intelligence at the right time, in the right form to the dispatcher, so that they can consume it quickly and easily and then use it, alongside their own experience and expertise, to take the final decision.

The benefits of AI extend much further than simply streamlining the work of the dispatcher, however. Organisations also need to think about how this kind of technology can impact the other teams they are responsible for, the business itself and its customers.

Working in tandem to achieve common goals

Ultimately every service-based business and field service team operating today needs to be focused on enhancing the customer experience. The use of AI allows them to achieve this goal by enabling dispatchers to make workforce scheduling decisions that help ensure every customer receives a high-quality service.

These solutions combine the ability to analyse data at scale in real-time with the capability to serve information to decision-makers in an explainable format to drive service success. AIdriven service management tools are therefore increasingly vital to any service-based organisation – and those businesses that harness them most effectively will be best placed to achieve an edge in this highly-competitive arena.

AI-Driven threat hunting, analysis & response is the future of cybersecurity

With just a single mouse click, the security analyst can execute one or multiple actions, while continuing the conversation and analysis with the generative AI.

Cybersecurity comprises multiple elements and one of the biggest challenges for analysts – when dealing with threat-hunting scenarios – is building the right query to get effective results. To achieve useful results, the analyst has to be familiar with the query syntax at hand, so they can convert what might be a simple question into something the system can understand. The analyst must also understand what patterns to look for in the first place.

The great news is, today, these challenges (and others) can be tackled by deploying cutting-edge AI-led cybersecurity solutions that are dedicated to threat-hunting, analysis and response. With generative AI, it’s possible for analysts to source accurate, detailed and rapid responses to any question, in any language.

Known Quantities

Modern generative AI systems (also known as conversational

AI) enable threat hunters to skip the process of creating manual queries around compromise indicators and ask questions about specific, known threats and source answers in a short span of time.

As an example, an analyst could simply ask: “Is my environment infected with SmoothOperator?” and, in response, the AI-driven solution will deliver a table of results, along with context-aware insights based on the observed behavior and identified anomalies within the returned data. In addition, the system will also provide suggested follow-up questions and actions.

Using the SmoothOperator query example, a threat hunter may receive the following response summary from an AI-driven system: “Analysis of results shows there are three endpoints with the SmoothOperator malware detected, all from the same company site. The data shows that the malware has infected both desktop and server endpoints. This indicates there may be a larger-scale attack underway, and it is important to investigate further to determine the extent of the infection. The data shows the malware has been detected multiple times on some of the infected devices. For example, the malware has been detected twenty-two times on the endpoint named ‘The Enterprise’, where it was last observed a few hours ago. This suggests the malware is persistent and that it has been active on the infected devices for some time.”

For such AI cybersecurity solutions to be effective, it’s critical every question put forward by the threat analyst is executed against a combination of sources (or even a single correct source) transparently, without the person needing to be familiar with different data sources or the way data is

EZZELDIN HUSSEIN

Regional Director, Sales Engineering, at SentinelOne

ingested. An analyst should just be able to ask questions such as: “Are there any ec2 instances running xmrig?” or “Are there any disconnected Linux machines of type server or any Kubernetes node in my network?”

Tackling Unknowns

While being able to address known knowns is a powerful feature, AI cybersecurity solutions can also make a big difference when dealing with unknown unknowns i.e., when threat hunters don’t necessarily know what they are looking for. The capabilities and speed of generative AI can enable the threat hunter to leverage internal and external resources and ask questions about suspicious activity that they may not have been able to define themselves.

For example, the threat hunter can task the AI with the following: “Search for all instances of processes attempting to access sensitive data or files and investigate the source of these access attempts” or “Search for all command-line tools commonly used by attackers and investigate if they are being used in suspicious ways.”

Although these queries might seem straightforward, without generative AI, it would be challenging to translate terms such as ‘sensitive data’, ‘commonly used’ or ‘suspicious way’ into patterns, along with a syntax of a query language that could return useful results.

Simplifying Threat Analysis

Alert fatigue is widely reported as being one of the key challenges that modern security operations centre (SOC) faces. Simply put, more security alerts are delivered to security teams than they can investigate and address. The main issue here is that the security problem is a data challenge; only when a useful link between several points of information is assembled into actionable results can we say information becomes actionable intelligence or knowledge.

This is where generative AI can step in because, in addition to supporting security teams to ask complicated threat-hunting questions and run operational commands to manage the entire environment, it can simplify the threat investigation process significantly, thanks to natural language capabilities.

Generative AI’s understanding of the cybersecurity domain combined with ingested data, enables it to rapidly identify the chain of events and summarize what could be a complex situation to the analyst. Combined with other technology, AI-driven cybersecurity can enable an analyst to quickly find all events associated with an activity, in addition to providing a detailed summary of events and suspicion levels. Such a solution greatly improves an analyst’s efficiency, enabling a significant reduction in the time spent to investigate and triage a far greater volume of alerts.

By leveraging the power of large language models (LLMs) that generative AI is built around, threat hunters and SOC team analysts can identify and respond to attacks faster and easier. Whereas in the past it was only possible for experienced and highly trained analysts to invest hours of their time to discover certain threats, with generative AI and natural language prompts and responses, even less experienced or understaffed security teams can efficiently expose suspicious and malicious behaviour.

Where recent advancements have really leapfrogged innovation has been in the scale and quality of data sets available to train these models. We are in the data era, and AI learning algorithms now have access to some truly impressive, rich data repositories. This means they can be trained in a much wider range of scenarios which greatly enhances the quality of their outputs.

And of course, the other major paradigm shift has been the rise of generative AI. This in congruence with the aforementioned rich data sets has resulted in AI systems that are far more intuitive for users to interact with that offer up far more insightful and impactful responses.

How AI will transform the industry?

AI systems are a proven technology, having been successfully utilised in everything from business analytics and cybersecurity, to chatbots and personal assistants for several years now.

AI-powered automation can level up your organisation

Automation is widely used across industries to streamline repetitive tasks thereby reducing the manual labour demands and mitigating the potential for human error. AI further augments this ability and disrupts redundancy. By adding a level of intelligence, it can uncover potential for optimisation, offer up valuable insights and overall, make work even easier for knowledge workers. In this way, AI-based automation will not only enhance the quality of work, but also the quality of life while enabling the global transition to a knowledge-based economy.

AI is an incredibly powerful tool that should not be ignored. Therefore, that everyone, from entrepreneurs to salaried employees, needs to take a deep dive into AI.

This of course requires us to avoid the knee jerk reaction of feeling threatened by AI. We simply need to look to past experience to find reassurance – there were fears that accountants would be made redundant by calculators, or that clerical jobs would be replaced by computers. But today both these professions continue to thrive. So too will be the case with AI. We

can expect some jobs to be replaced, but at the same time, as entirely new capabilities are unlocked, entirely new professions and jobs will emerge.

For enterprises on the cutting edge, adopting an AI-first mindset, just as how a decade ago, visionaries adopted a mobilefirst approach. When vetting their ideas, pioneering organisations should consider how these would play out in an AI world.

Revolutionizing the landscape

Since its inception, Kissflow’s mission has been to make life easier for business users, and this remains a driving principle of our business even today. By pioneering the Low-code and No-code space, the company effectively democratised application development – enabling business users to create powerful, secure applications without technical skillsets being prerequisite.

Generative AI, which bridges the semantic gap between users and machines, enables to take this ability to the next level. Kissflow is currently in the process of deeply integrating generative AI into the unified low-code/no-code work platform and in the coming months will unveil new product capabilities that are focus on making application development even more intuitive.

SUJAY PATIL Regional Director – MEA Kissflow

Automation and AI have the potential to revolutionize business processes and boost economic growth across industries, by allowing organizations to save time on repetitive operations, increase accuracy, and work more efficiently.

Chatbots are just the beginning of what AI can do. AI solutions can now create a video replicating humans doing anything you want in any language, analyze millions of health records, create news articles or essays on the topic of your choice, generate images for children’s books, or create code for new computer programs – all in real-time.

Growing challenges in the use of AI techniques

We are at a stage where executives know they need AI, but they don’t know exactly why, nor do they have a clear understanding of what it is. This has led to a rush to embrace AI solutions, typically by consuming API services to leverage the various models that are available.

A lurking and significant risk is that employees are then pushing data into these solutions without a thought about the sensitivity or privacy of the data. The risk is where that data

AI and Automation, more important than ever

AI-powered automation tools can help businesses reduce costs, improve efficiency and boost response time. The AI models are predicting the customer’s future behavior as well.

is now stored. What steps has the API provider taken to ensure that data is not stored or logged? Could that data potentially be used for future training or presented to a third party for the purposes of performing a human feedback step to improve the model? Organizations cannot assume that API providers have addressed these concerns adequately.

Of course, there is also the risk of humans assuming that the AI is right. Many use AI systems to solve a problem and are then stumped when the AI-generated solution, code, or configuration does not work -usually because the task they are trying to accomplish is not possible with the tools they have regardless of what the AI says.

Unveiling the power of AI and automation

Artificial Intelligence is still very much in its infancy, similar to where the Internet was twenty to thirty years ago. While we can expect the rapid evolution and adoption of AI, it’s very difficult to predict what its impact will be, for good and otherwise. Just be aware that these capabilities are out there, and when using AI be very careful what information you enter and share.

To flourish in the AI revolution, professionals should consider reskilling in fields related to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science. They should look for courses that focus on:

l Foundational knowledge: Courses that

provide a strong foundation in computer science, programming languages (such as Python), mathematics, and statistics will be helpful in building the necessary skills for working with AI and ML technologies.

l Machine learning and AI techniques: Professionals should consider courses that cover various machine learning algorithms, deep learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. These courses should provide hands-on experience with popular AI and ML libraries like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Scikit-learn.

l Data analysis and visualization: As AI systems typically rely on large datasets, professionals should be skilled in handling and analyzing data. Courses in data analysis, data cleaning, and data visualization using tools like pandas, NumPy, and matplotlib can be beneficial.

l Ethics and security in AI: Given the potential privacy concerns and security risks associated with AI technologies, it’s essential to have an understanding of ethical considerations, data privacy, and security practices in AI. Professionals should look for courses that cover these topics.

l Domain-specific applications: Depending on the professional’s area of interest, they may want to pursue courses related to specific AI applications, such as AI for healthcare, finance, marketing, or cybersecurity. Upskilling has become essential for both individual career growth and overall economic development. Acquiring these new skills will help professionals stay competitive and seize new opportunities in the workplace of the future.

DAVID HOELZER, SANS Fellow and AI Expert

Revamp idea with innovation, a step to success

Customer success plays an integral role in the success of any organization. Customer success is the center of Raqmiyat’s strategy and it plays an integral part in their future vision as well.

Enterprise digital platforms, Core ERP, Cyber Security, RPA, Enterprise AI/Chatbot, Cloud, BI & Analytics are a few of our core areas of expertise. With the rapid pace of technological changes and the ever-evolving needs of the customers, Raqmiyat is continuously innovating to stay ahead in the game, by simply investing in the right people for the job, complete transparency, our commitment to overcome challenges and customer success.

In today’s disruptive environment, the ways companies innovate are fundamentally important and Raqmiyat is no different.

l We believe in integrating new technologies as a communication tool for our prospects and customers.

l Adapt and deliver a business model with the objective of enhancing customer journey to exceed expectations.

l Nurture the opportunity to become a more meaningful business that creates a positive impact and generates value to invest with us.

A few of our sustaining and breakthrough innovation offerings include low code/no code technologies, Conversational AI, Self Service Analytics, Enterprise Apps and Next gen cyber security solutions.

Offering comprehensive services through its partnerships

Raqmiyat’s partner ecosystem has matured over the years delivering best-in-class solutions in the region, offering endto-end technology consulting, and implementation services from medium to large enterprises across domains and geographies, as a well-known systems integrator and provider of digital transformation solutions and services in the middle east. Our recent partnerships have empowered our customers to convert their Digital Transformation vision into 100% success with key differentiators such as speed of delivery resulting in faster time-to-market, attractive ROI, low TCO for enterprises, and importantly our commitment as a local regional partner contributing to the areas of IT Consulting Services, Project Management, Innovative Technologies, IT Project Financing, SI Capabilities, and regional regulatory requirements.

Building the identity over the last three decades

The factors that help Ragmiyat in building its identity include Customer Promise, Pillared On Trust, Heritage, And Commitment.

MAHESH VISHWANATH Director – Digital Transformation Raqmiyat LLC

l Expertise of 30 years in IT & technology innovation

l Focus on tangible and measurable results

l Collaborative exposure with international firms of repute and prestigious clients in the Middle East

l Empowered people working as cohesive units yet able to independently take decisions

l Solutions transforming over 41 banks (including the Central Bank of the UAE), besides government entities, aviation, telecom, and healthcare

l Inclusive journey with clients as our strategic partners and their success translating to our success

Driving technology to transform tomorrow

At Raqmiyat, Customer Success is the center of our strategy and plays an integral part in our future vision. Raqmiyat’s mission and vision, both complement our growth story and drive technology to transform tomorrow. Chasing excellence in every delivery is at the core of the value we bring. Since our inception, we have been adhering to this across our offerings – Smart Business Solutions, Banking & Financial Services (BFS), and Technology Staffing. Converging on the technical expertise of our team and leveraging the industry experience we’ve accumulated over the years; we are driving tomorrow’s possibilities.

Our S.P.A.C.E is inspiring innovations to implement digital success.

l STRONG In Digital Acceleration

l PROFICIENT In Existing & Emerging Tech

l ANCHORED To a Trusted Name

l CATALYST In Transformation Enablement

l ENTERPRISING Continuous Growth & Innovation

Vision and Goal

At Raqmiyat, we believe in defining employee vision and goals by providing them with the right resources, support and opportunities to learn new skills, knowledge, and cutting-edge technologies, to apply them to their work. Keeping innovation our core value, we allow our employees the time and space to innovate by encouraging collaboration, having a feedback process and exhaustive training/ certifications to enable them in implementing nextgen solutions.

I often believe in visionary execution with a mix of participative and transformational leadership to ensure the company’s overall vision turns into reality by stating clear goals, outlining a strategic plan, empowering teams at all levels and our selecting leading technology solutions plus services enabling organizations to drive more efficient and profitable business.

Huawei launches the new-gen

HUAWEI MatePad

Air - high-performing tablet

Since the release of its first-generation tablet in 2010, Huawei has continuously developed and launched an impressive array of groundbreaking tablet products. Over the years, the HUAWEI MatePad Pro Series, HUAWEI MatePad Series, and HUAWEI MatePad SE Series have been carefully crafted to tailor to the needs of users seeking tools for domain-specific creativity, productivity, education, and entertainment. Huawei has announced the launch of two new products in its MatePad series - the HUAWEI MatePad Air and the HUAWEI MatePad 11.5.

Tablets have evolved beyond being just entertainment devices, and now act as versatile tools for both productivity and entertainment. Consumer trends show that people are increasingly using tablets for remote work and studying. As a result, the demand for smart office scenarios, including mobile and remote offices, is on the rise. Productivity scenarios are no longer confined to traditional office or library settings but are being widely adopted across

different application environments and diverse locations. The HUAWEI MatePad Air, a revolutionary addition to the esteemed MatePad Series, has made its global debut and is specifically designed as a performance light flagship model for business professionals.

The HUAWEI MatePad Air with HUAWEI Smart Magnetic Keyboard at a price of AED 2,099. Alongside, also available in the UAE – the new HUAWEI MatePad 11.5” with HUAWEI Smart Magnetic Keyboard at a price AED 1,299. Both tablets will be available in Huawei’s e-shop, Huawei Experience Stores and across select retailers in the UAE starting July 27th with gifts worth of AED 868 including HUAWEI 2nd Gen M-Pencil and more.

SentinelOne launches Cloud Data Security product line

Malware attacks are becoming more sophisticated, and as business increasingly moves to the cloud, companies need to up their defenses to protect against them. With SentinelOne, they can. The global leader in autonomous cybersecurity announced the launch of its Cloud Data Security product line and the general availability of the first two products within it: Threat Detection for Amazon S3 and Threat Detection for NetApp. These products are designed to help organizations using Amazon S3 object storage and NetApp file storage to detect and prevent the spread of malware across their cloud environments and enterprise networks. The offerings are part of the Singularity Cloud product family and complement SentinelOne’s existing Cloud Workload Security product line that enables customers to detect, investigate, and automatically remediate threats on their servers and con-

tainers across their public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud environments.

Both cloud object storage and networkattached storage devices contain volumes of data vital to business and protecting it is critical. However, with the number of files and objects often in the millions or billions, strict latency and performance requirements on storage associated with operational workloads, and malware continuously evolving, this isn’t easy to do. Leveraging the industry-leading threat detection technology that SentinelOne has deployed on tens of millions of endpoints, Threat Detection for NetApp and Amazon S3 automatically scan every file added to NetApp and object to Amazon S3 storage for file-born and zero-day malware. If a malicious file is detected, SentinelOne automatically remediates and quarantines it, keeping buckets clean and users safe.

Ely Kahn, Vice President of Product Management, Cloud Security and AI/ ML, SentinelOne

OPPO introduces the Reno10 Series and new IoT products

OPPO, announced the launch of its latest Reno10 series, featuring the all-new Reno10 Pro+ 5G, Reno10 Pro 5G, and Reno10 5G. In tandem, the global technology brand also launched two brand new IoT products, the OPPO Pad 2 and the OPPO Enco Air3 Pro.

With its Ultra-Clear Portrait Camera System, the Reno10 series provides a pro-level portrait imaging experience housed within the signature slim, lightweight, and trendy design of the OPPO Reno series. Together with up to 100W SUPERVOOC™ flash charging, a powerful SoC, the Dynamic Computing Engine, ColorOS 13, and a fast-charging, safe and long-lasting battery supported by OPPO’s Battery Health Engine and SUPERVOOC S power management chip, the Reno10 series delivers unrivaled all-round performance.

The Reno10 Pro+ 5G offers a remarkable Ultra-Clear Portrait Camera System for professional-quality portraits. It features a 64MP telephoto portrait camera with a large f/2.5 aperture, 25cm minimum focus distance, and a large 1/2 camera sensor, creating

GameSir launches its G7 SE wired controller

GameSir, a leading provider of innovative, high quality gaming peripherals, launches its G7 SE Controller, a licensed Xbox controller featuring Hall Effect sticks. This groundbreaking controller offers gamers unparalleled precision and customization options, delivering an enhanced gaming experience across multiple platforms. The GameSir G7 SE Controller is now available for purchase for £49.99/$44.99/€59.99 from Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Europe stores, AliExpress and GameSir official website.

The Anti-drift Hall Effect sticks use non-contact magnetic sensors, ensuring the sticks are extremely durable and reliable, to prevent wearing down prematurely and maintain pinpoint control for an extended time, particularly useful in FPS games. The precision-tuned triggers enable gamers to experience ultra-responsive, smooth, and accurate controls, enhancing gameplay and providing a competitive edge.

The controller also incorporates back button quick latches, allowing users to disable unintended inputs swiftly. This feature enhances gameplay by preventing accidental button presses and ensuring uninterrupted gaming sessions. The buttons can be enabled or disabled to seamlessly match the playstyle in different games.

an unprecedented portrait shooting experience. The telephoto portrait camera on Reno10 Pro+ 5G also boasts the highest megapixels among smartphones with telephoto cameras currently on the market. Additionally, the device offers a second-to-none, ultra-clear 6-times zoom with optical-quality allowing users to capture excellent close-up portrait shots.

The telephoto portrait camera is available on all three Reno10 series models. Both the Reno10 Pro 5G and the Reno10 5G feature a 32MP telephoto portrait camera powered by an IMX709 RGBW sensor, which improves light capture by 60% and signal-to-noise by 35% compared with a standard RGGB sensor. These models offer flawless high-quality portrait images with 2-times optical zoom.

Compatible with Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, and Windows 10/11, the GameSir G7 SE Controller is designed to meet the needs of gamers easily across different platforms and be a versatile gaming partner. Whether playing on the latest Xbox console or on a Windows PC, this controller ensures seamless compatibility and optimal performance. Providing a smooth and ultimate gaming experience, it has less latency, and being wired means there are concerns to be had over losing battery mid-game.

The G7 SE controller offers a unique customization feature with its swappable paint-friendly faceplate allowing users to express their creativity and customize the controller’s appearance to match their style or gaming setup. This personalized touch adds an extra layer of individuality to the gaming experience.

Tackling the MENA region’s data skills shortage requires an intelligent approach

Organisations across every industry need to access and work with data and analytics to stay competitive, yet the demand for data skills far outstrips supply in the MENA region.

Recent survey by PwC Middle East found that 46% of respondents in the UAE and 58% in Saudi Arabia said there is a skills shortage, this includes everything from basic Microsoft to cloud computing. In addition, respondents to a McKinsey global survey on future workforce needs say that solving the data analytics skills shortage is a priority focus area.

For many business leaders, analytics can be the difference between making informed real-time decisions for the business and the risk of being surpassed by competitors who have prioritised digital skills such as data literacy. The unique selling proposition of the world’s most profitable companies is their ability to collect, analyse and act on their stored data at scale, and use it to make better, more effective decisions.

Any organisation wishing to emulate these analytically mature businesses and achieve success using their data is not only being held back by a shortage of expert data scientists but the misconception that hiring more data scientists is the only solution to delivering these insights. They forget that the most significant data-driven insights in history were not delivered by data scientists - but by subject matter experts who had hands-on experience of solving.

So, how can businesses in MENA change their approach to hiring and managing talent - reducing their focus on simply recruiting data professionals and homing in on upskilling the existing workforce to deliver data insights?

Step 1: Discover and enable your in-department experts

Global research conducted by Gartner indicates that formal inclusion of data literacy in over 80% of data and analytics strategies will become imperative for driving business value by 2023. This means that success is linked to how well employees can “speak data”. Knowledge workers are not only the missing link between data and data scientists but also know where the gold is buried. Digitally enabled knowledge workers bring nearly immediate business impact. But data is everywhere. For these new data strategies to deliver across all departments, they must involve developing these in-department experts through cross-functional learning resources and engagement to ensure they thrive and bring the

Companies wishing to overcome the data skill shortage must therefore focus on empowering their existing workers.

unique knowledge and context they possess to the forefront of the decision-making process.

Part of achieving this goal and delivering the data skills that businesses need today is assessing what resources are contained within each department and how they can be put to best use.

Companies wishing to overcome the data skill shortage must therefore focus on empowering their existing workers. Finding and generating data-driven insights cannot be the remit of any single team, but a mission approached by everyone in the business.

Step 2: Create a new strategy incorporating these hidden experts

Most data scientists do not have the time or capacity to solve every problem they are given. A more efficient use of data experts is to have them provide leadership on data strategies, while in-department experts – knowledge workers who understand the business context and possess diverse perspectives – provide them with support and input on strategic decisions. According to Gartner research, more than one billion knowledge workers were in-role globally in 2019, but they remain critically underused.

Part of the problem is that most data analytics teams are heavily (or exclusively) made up of data scientists. This gap often leads to a narrow understanding of any given problem or solution. Organisations need to bring their in-department knowledge workers into the analytic journey. They can do so by developing a culture that enables and facilitates the communication of data. Developing this new culture necessitates establishing a sense of awareness and enthusiasm among people, providing the requisite training and upskilling and ensuring the successful implementation of the new culture.

Step 3: Develop a continuous cycle of learning and improvement

While companies often look outwards for technical solutions, the key component to successfully developing a broader dataliterate workforce comes from within. Tackling the MENA region’s data skills shortage is a journey. To build a more dataliterate workforce, companies must prioritise encouraging all data workers to improve their skills, rather than only providing specialised technologies for data scientists. This effort should be coupled with enjoyable activities like Datathons, which challenge teams to solve problems and learn collaboratively. Creating a safe environment for failure is also crucial; using sample datasets and virtual environments to test ideas can help employees navigate challenges.

By prioritising this, companies can address their data skills shortages and leverage existing experts to deliver insights faster, benefiting the organisation as a whole. The Smart Dubai Data Initiative has set a leading example in the UAE by establishing advanced governance frameworks to manage data as a strategic asset and fostering collaboration between the government and private sectors. Any company aiming to tackle its data skills shortage must focus on leveraging such initiatives, upskilling and enabling the experts they already employ to support current data science teams.

KARL CROWTHER VP, MEA Alteryx

Want to finally achieve Zero Trust? Apply the power of Entitlement Management

Most organizations with remote workers, BYOD environments and cloud-based assets see the value of Zero Trust. And why not? Continuous protection of highvalue assets, the ability to make employees productive wherever they choose to work, seamless integration with business partners, and the power of real-time customer connectivity are all core to modern business growth. Zero Trust makes it possible to do all of this and confidently pursue digital growth strategies.

According to analysts, Markets and Markets, the Middle East’s cybersecurity market will see 17 per cent annual growth from 2022 to 2027, increasing in value to $44.7 billion – but how much of this is currently allocated to achieving Zero Trust networks? Internationally, some surveys show that 96 per cent of companies are on board with pursuing Zero Trust, yet a study by CRA Business Intelligence shows that only about 25 per cent of those enterprises have successful frameworks in place. This is a concerning indicator for the adoption rates for a widely revered security concept that’s been in the market for nearly a decade.

It seems the biggest roadblock for most organizations is the enormity of the status quo. Organizations have employees and contractors working in offices, coffee shops, kitchen tables, customer sites, and airports around the world. Engineers, coders, salespeople, accountants and other professionals have changing workloads — and someone is always being promoted, transferred, shared or leaving the organization. Which means “what they need to do their jobs” can change from day to day. There’s also the issue of digital sprawl, as companies have built not-so-well-planned infrastructures with terabytes of sensitive data and hundreds — or thousands — of apps strewn across

multiple clouds.

In other words, Zero Trust is the right desired state for growth-minded enterprises, but day-to-day realities make it tough to implement, despite the intentions of the many dedicated internal champions trying to drive it forward. This is where the concept of Entitlement Management can provide enterprises with the visibility, control, and automation they need to make Zero Trust a reality.

Quick definition of Entitlement Management

Building and maintaining an effective Zero Trust framework clearly requires some way of automating approved access to data, apps, collaboration tools, and other digital assets. In addition to initial access, those privileges must be continually managed, as people change roles, get new assignments, or quit their role. Authorized users need to be given the right access at the right time to ensure productivity — without exposing the enterprise to cyberattacks or other risks. These requirements become considerably more complicated when including authorized users from outside organizations.

Entitlement Management is an identity governance approach that enables organizations to accomplish this at scale. The right technology-enabled policies can automate critical steps, such as self-service requests, security reviews, expiration and, of course, access to specific data, work groups and apps.

The enterprise world has firmly embraced the desire to move to Zero Trust. The actual implementation, however, is another matter.

Key Benefits of Entitlement Management

Gain granular visibility across a multi-cloud infrastructure

Most enterprises have built cloud-first infrastructures that allow for remote work, customer and business partner connectivity and on-demand scalability. But with all this digital agility comes increased risk. As risk expands, enterprise security teams need technologies to provide visibility and control across multi-cloud environments. Modern Entitlement Management solutions provide granular visibility and offer precise, automated control of permissions and user activity within those environments.

Create consistent and centralized security-based policies

The somewhat haphazard collection of cloud services that has been built up in many enterprises creates a considerable challenge for security teams. In

most cases, each cloud or app provider has its own set of policies, which leads to inconsistent security and increased risk. Manually identifying and addressing these security gaps is simply overwhelming for security teams. Even if an enterprise chooses to take a manual approach, it’s bound to fail due to a lack of bandwidth and budget. Entitlement Management solutions typically offer automated tools and self-service capabilities needed to resolve this dilemma. Using these solutions allows security teams to consistently apply best practice security policies and enforce least privilege access across even the most diverse multi-cloud infrastructures.

Automated detection and deactivation of over-provisioned users

Migrating workloads to the cloud can be an overwhelming experience for engineering and DevOps teams. To simplify the task, most of them will apply broader permissions than necessary. For most organizations, this leads to excessive permissions and extraneous entitlements that increase both risk and cost. Entitlement management solutions close this gap by identifying over-provisioning and deactivating unnecessary access.

Take a Phased Approach and Start with Identity

There’s enough evidence to prove that pursuing Zero Trust is a worthwhile endeavor, especially for digital-first enterprises. But the thing to remember is that building an effective framework typically takes two to three years and requires a phased approach that begins with identity and then moves to workloads, devices, networks, and data. Deploying an effective Entitlement Management solution needs to be a core part of the first phase. Making it part of your foundation is a good first step towards achieving a truly effective Zero Trust framework.

HAMID QURESHI

Regional Sales Director, Middle East, Africa and South Asia Entrust

Even if an enterprise chooses to take a manual approach, it’s bound to fail due to a lack of bandwidth and budget.

12 Tips to keep your business safe from cyberattacks

Protecting your business from cyber-attacks is crucial. They can also compromise your sensitive data and reputation.

According to recent research, more than 85% of companies have been the victim of a ransomware attack in the past year. It’s not a question of whether you’ve been attacked or when you’ll be attacked, but how often you’ll be attacked. While there is no way to guarantee you will never be attacked, you can take some simple steps to make it more difficult for the attackers to succeed and keep your business running. Start with the basics. Make sure your PCs and servers are all up to date and patched. Make sure you have up-to-date virus and malware checks in place. Then, embrace good practices and educate others across your team.

Tip 1 - Be skeptical

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Know the warning signs for phishing, social engineering and other scams and err on the side of caution. Don’t click on unknown links, open unexpected or suspicious attachments or provide information to someone you don’t know or weren’t expecting to hear from.

Tip 2 - Use Strong Passwords and Passphrases

Longer is stronger. Leverage passphrases to help create long passwords that are easy to remember, but hard for others to guess.

Tip 3 - Slow down

Slow down and avoid making simple mistakes. Be cautious of auto-completion in emails so you don’t send sensitive information to the wrong person. Don’t accidentally ‘reply all’ when you only intended to send information to one person on the thread.

Tip 4 - Beware of Malware

Viruses, computer worms and Trojans can hide in legitimate looking websites, free software packages online and phishing emails. Ensure you have an anti-malware program enabled and kept updated.

Tip 5 - Stay Secure on the Go

Security doesn’t stop just when you leave the office. Be aware of your surroundings. Don’t talk about sensitive information, like banking details or medical information, in a location where others can hear you. Keep your device screens hard for others to see - consider a privacy screen when possible.

Tip 6 - Know Your Data. Protect It.

You cannot protect your most sensitive information if you don’t know what information you have. Inventory your organization’s information. Classify it based on its sensitivity level. Protect the information according to that sensitivity level.

Tip 7 - Limit Access

You may hire the most trustworthy people to work for you, but that doesn’t mean they all need access to your most sensitive information. Provide access on a need-to-know basis. This helps protect confidentiality, but also reduces the impact if someone’s access is compromised. Use multi-factor authentication when given the option to minimize the damage that can be caused if someone steals your passwords.

Ensure you have an anti-malware program enabled and kept updated.

Tip 8 - Stay Secure Online

If you understand that the internet contains scams and threats around most corners, then you can help to spot when something doesn’t seem right and steer clear. Use and require secure networks - if the WiFi you are using is not encrypted, ensure you are using a VPN or other layer of protection.

Tip 9 - Be Security Aware. Report.

Even with all the best intentions, sometimes the cyber criminals will win a battle. It is important that your organization has a defined incident reporting and response plan, so that your security team is promptly notified if there is a risk of compromise. The sooner your team knows about it, the sooner they can protect against it. Communicate your preferred method of incident reporting frequently so your employees have no doubt about how to contact you.

Tip 10 - If You Can Connect It, Protect It.

As the perimeter of your business infrastructure becomes blurred with cloud services and personal devices being used for work (BYOD), you need to ensure your corporate policies are inclusive to require that any device used for work that can connect to the internet is required to be protected. This may be antimalware software, strong passwords or access controls.

Tip 11 – Back up Your Data

You can have a best-in-class security program and still find yourself in a situation where your data can no longer be accessed or trusted. Regularly backing up your data in 3 different locations on 2 different media with 1 copy being offsite, 1 copy being offline, air-gapped or immutable and 0 errors with recovery verification (Veeam’s 3-2-1-1-0 rule), allows you to quickly restore your data with minimal downtime and keep your business running.

Tip 12 - Train Your Users // Be a Security Learner

Cybercriminals are constantly changing their tactics as they learn about what protections are being put in place. Your organization’s people can either be your weakest link or your greatest asset. Put emphasis in teaching your people about how they can be part of your human firewall, and they can become an extension of your security team.

MOHAMAD RIZK Regional Director, Middle East & CIS, Veeam Software.

Sue Quense, Marco Mueller, Rob McGreevy, Iju Raj join AVEVA’s leadership team

AVEVA further strengthened its leadership team announcing four new senior executive roles as the company drives forward its new business model.

The news follows the announcement in March of the company’s new Chief Executive Officer Caspar Herzberg, who took over the top job at AVEVA from Peter Herweck, now its chairperson. Herweck officially started as CEO of parent company Schneider Electric in May.

Sue Quense, currently AVEVA’s Senior Vice President of Americas, takes on the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer. Quense, based in Philadelphia, USA, has spent more than three decades in software roles. She was a driving force at OSIsoft, which merged with AVEVA in 2021 to meet the expanding industrial intelligence of global enterprises and accelerate the evolution of the connected industrial economy.

Marco Mueller, a long-time technology industry, joins AVEVA as Chief Marketing Officer and will be based in London, UK. He was formerly Senior Vice President Global Demand Marketing at ServiceNow, a cloud computing platform company headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley, for two and half years.

Vector Capital announces Dave Donatelli as CEO of Riverbed

Vector Capital, a private equity firm specialising in transformational investments in established technology businesses, announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Riverbed Technology. In connection with the close of the transaction, Dave Donatelli has been named Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Dan Smoot, who previously served as CEO, will continue to support the Company on a transitional basis.

Donatelli previously served as the Executive Vice President of the Cloud Business Group at Oracle Corporation. Earlier, Donatelli served as Executive Vice President of the Enterprise Group at Hewlett-Packard the $30 billion division and overseeing storage, server, networking, and converged infrastructure solutions.

He began his career at EMC Corporation, serving in multiple roles, most recently as President of the EMC Storage Division. He most recently served as the lead independent director at MarkLogic, a data management and data integration solutions provider and Vector Capital portfolio company.

Global business transformation agency Valtech announced appointment of Adam Cukrowski as its new Regional Managing Director for Middle East and North Africa, MENA region. With this strategic move, Valtech aims to leverage Adam’s extensive regional and industry experience to propel its growth and solidify its position as the business transformation agency in MENA.

Adam brings two decades of experience accelerating digital maturity for major companies, including Emirates, Du, Abu Dhabi Airport, King Abdullah Financial District, ROSHN, Riyad Bank, and Ooredoo.

As the new Regional Managing Director, Adam will focus on driving innovation, fostering strategic partnerships, and ensuring Valtech MENA remains at the forefront of digital excellence.

The agency will continue to provide end-to-end digital solutions, leverage emerging technologies, and deliver creative thinking that enables clients to achieve their business transformation goals. His wealth of knowledge, digital expertise, and deep understanding of the unique business transformation challenges and opportunities in MENA will help lead Valtech MENA into the next phase of its evolution.

Valtech appoints Adam Cukrowski as Regional Managing Director for MENA

Milestone Systems, a provider of open-platform video management software, is pleased to announce appointment of Morten Illum as its new Chief Revenue Officer, CRO.

Morten Illum brings experience and a strong record in channel sales across various regions. His leadership in driving transformation, coupled with his deep knowledge of the tech industry, makes him an invaluable addition to the Milestone team. Morten has consistently demonstrated his ability to drive revenue growth, forge strategic partnerships, and build high-performing sales teams.

For the past eight years, Morten Illum has spearheaded the growth of HPE Aruba, a Hewlett-Packard Enterprise company, doubling its business within a five-year period. Morten Illum will start at Milestone Systems in August.

Milestone Systems is a provider of open platform video management software; technology that helps the world see how to ensure safety, protect assets, and increase business efficiency. Milestone enables an open platform community that drives collaboration and innovation in the development and use of network video technology, with reliable and scalable solutions that are proven in more than 500,000 installations worldwide.

Siroui Mushegian moves from BlackLine to Barracuda Networks as CIO

Barracuda Networks announced Siroui Mushegian as its new Chief Information Officer, CIO. Mushegian brings more than twenty years of executive and IT leadership experience to Barracuda and has successfully built strong operational environments that eliminate technology silos and deliver measurable business outcomes.

Mushegian joins Barracuda most recently from BlackLine where she was responsible for all aspects of BlackLine’s internal corporate IT. Before BlackLine, Mushegian held executive IT leadership roles at WNET New York Public Media, NBA, Ralph Lauren, and Time.

Epicor announced Vaibhav Vohra has been appointed Chief Product and Technology Officer. With this move, the Product Development and Product Management teams will be unified under Vohra, further enabling Epicor to deliver customer-centric SaaS solutions and continued innovation through AI, automation, and design.

This transition comes after a collaborative succession planning effort alongside Bill Wilson, who over the past year has served as Chief Technology Officer the Product Development organisation, delivering best-in-class, industry-focused technologies for Epicor customers. Wilson will continue serving as a technical advisor for all products and overseeing key customer initiatives, including the retail product teams.

Morten Illum moves from HPE Aruba to Milestone Systems as Chief Revenue Officer

Epicor appoints Vaibhav Vohra as Chief Product and Technology Officer

Qualys appoints Dino DiMarino as Chief Revenue Officer

Qualys announced Dino DiMarino has been appointed as Chief Revenue Officer. In this role, Dino will be responsible for the global sales and partner organisations along with all aspects of revenue performance focusing on delivering sustainable customer value and business outcomes.

Dino brings over 20 years of experience go-to-market teams within cybersecurity and information technology companies. Most recently, he served as the CRO for Snyk, an industry in developer security, where he was responsible for all customer-facing go-to-market functions.

Prior to Snyk, Dino held various positions at Mimecast including CRO. Earlier in his career, Dino had senior go to market positions at EMC and RSA Security spanning more than 12 years. Dino has a degree in business administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada.

Usman Javaid, Hriday Ravindranath elevated into Orange Business’ executive team

Orange Business bolstered its executive management team with the appointment of executives, tapping extensive IT experience and innovative mindsets to further strengthen and deliver positive digital experiences.

Usman Javaid has been named Chief Products and Marketing Officer. Javaid brings a strong product management, technology, and innovation background, bundled with a broad knowledge of the enterprise market, from both the telco and digital worlds. He will be responsible for the company’s strategic value propositions, business lines, products portfolio, digital and strategic enablers, as well as overseeing global communications and marketing teams.

Trellix appoints John Morgan as XDR General Manager

Trellix announced the appointment of John Morgan as XDR General Manager. He joins forces with Trellix veteran Gareth Maclachlan, Network and Collaboration Security General Manager. Each focused on the growth of their portfolios, they share a common goal of delivering the most value to Trellix customers in adopting the full Trellix cybersecurity suite. Both positions report directly to Trellix CEO Bryan Palma.

John Morgan brings 20 years of success in creating high-performing teams and industry-leading cybersecurity products. He has proven success across cybersecurity, mobile applications, and SaaS internet services. Morgan served as the CEO of cybersecurity company Confluera, the General Manager of Security at F5, and the VP of Product and Ecosystems at MobileIron.

Morgan’s success in creating business growth stems from a customer-first culture, operational excellence, and proven long-term strategies that meet short-term goals.

Previously Managing Director of Professional Services Delivery at Amazon Web Services, AWS, Javaid has more than 20 years of experience centred around building innovative technology products and driving large-scale business transformation. He will be based in the UK.

Hriday Ravindranath has been named Chief Technology and Information Officer, CTIO. Ravindranath is enthusiastic about technology, change, and disrupting markets, while being an ardent champion for sustainability in business. He was selected as a Young Global Leader, part of the World Economic Forum, a dynamic community of exceptional people with the vision, courage, and influence to drive positive change in the world.

Previously the Chief Product and Digital Officer at BT Global, Ravindranath will leverage his extensive digital skills as CTIO, responsible for driving internal transformation toward cloud computing and software utilisation, while also enhancing industrialisation, digitisation, and profitability of our multi-service offerings. He will be based in India.

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