Dr. Lana El Chaar is currently the VP of Talent Management & Talent Acquisition at ACWA Power. Her main role is to grow talents, design and implement programs to develop and retain highly skilled employees, empower women in leadership roles and develop ACWA Power future leaders.  Prior to this role, Dr. Lana was the Vice President (VP) of the Center of Excellence at NOMAC. She led the implementation of a strategic transformation portfolio to drive operational efficiencies, whilst supporting NOMAC’s and ACWA Power’s growth aspirations. In that current role, Dr. Lana and her team provided support in terms of engineering subject matter expertise, digitalization, benchmarking, innovation, lessons learned and integrated management systems that enabled NOMAC Operations Excellence.

Prior to NOMAC, Dr. Lana held several key roles at General Electric Power Services, both globally and locally. She led the global digital services team for GE power customers and served as VP in the GE digital customer success organization, focusing on power, oil and gas, and manufacturing. She successfully implemented GE’s first Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solution in the MEA region, enhancing energy efficiency. Before entering the industrial sector, Dr. Lana was deeply involved in academia, serving as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Education and conducting research on renewable energy, particularly solar and wind integration into education.

Mike is a senior human capital leader with over 25 years of global experience driving organisational transformation and talent excellence across Banking, Investment and Financial Services. As Head of the People and Performance Practice at AcuityX, he partners with organisations across the GCC to design and deliver world-class people strategies. Previously, he led Human Capital at Lunate, playing a pivotal role in the successful integration of ADQ, ADG and Chimera. His career spans HR roles at institutions including ADIA, ADQ, Russell Investments and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He brings deep expertise in succession planning, performance, reward and leadership development, combining global insight with local execution to unlock human potential and drive sustainable growth.

Jill has over 20 years of HR experience working with government entities and multinationals including Abu Dhabi Department of Government Enablement (DGE) and PwC, of which 13 has been in the Middle East.  She has built and led HR functions (including Strategic Workforce Planning, L&D, and Rewards), has delivered complex HR transformation programs, and has lead HR teams as a Business Partner and Strategic Advisor.  

Ewan is a strategic technology and transformation leader in Financial Services, with deep experience as CIO, CTO and CDO. He works with banks to deliver group-wide digital and generative AI transformation programmes and is external faculty at the London Institute of Banking & Finance and Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance, delivering executive education on AI, FinTech and Open Banking. Formerly Group Chief Transformation Officer at Sohar International Bank and Group Chief Digital Officer at Nordea, he has led large-scale digital, technology and cultural change across the UK, Europe and the Middle East, with a strong background in software engineering, start-ups and venture investment.

Jo is a Hult Professor, Harvard Business Impact Senior Faculty, and a leading voice on intercultural strength, leadership development and AI-enabled learning across public and private sectors. With 20 years of c-suite experience spanning five continents – from Silicon Valley to Saudi Arabia – she advises governments, F500 companies, and boards on talent strategy, transformation, and leadership at scale.

As former Chief Learning Officer at Majid Al Futtaim and Head of Learning at Meta, Jo has designed and delivered learning strategies for 50,000+ employees globally.  

Jo is a trained actor and now sought-after keynote speaker on culture, leadership, AI disruption, and organizational transformation. Her work bridges academic rigor with practical impact – whether coaching executives, advising governments on policy, or teaching at Harvard. She holds an MBA-F from Oxford, and is a CLO100 board director, Global Policy Network Advisor, ICF and Gallup Strengths Coach, and accredited mediator.

An award-winning leadership development practitioner with a proven track record of driving organizational excellence, Darius serves as the Senior Executive Programs Manager at Saudi Aramco. Bringing a sophisticated blend of businese acumen and field-tested management experience to the HR landscape, Darius specializes in transformational leadership and the design of high-impact development initiatives for global leaders. Armed with a Transformational Leadership MBA,  Project Management Professional, as well as, certifications in Internal Consulting, Instructional Design and Change Management he excels at translating complex corporate strategies into scalable leadership frameworks that foster a mature learning culture with value creation, psychological safety, intentionality, and operational resilience. At this conference, he shares his unique insights to using AI to impact leadership development events.

Kristofor is a Talent and Learning Executive with 25 years of Digital HR product experience including professional services consulting, corporate learning and development, servicing and employee experience (UX) across a range of industries, countries and cultures. Successfully delivers the vision, architecture and implementation of award-winning solutions that drive business results and behavioural outcomes in large, global workforces. Experience with Fortune 500 companies including Accenture, HP, Avaya, Microsoft, Verizon, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase.

Reed has been working in HR roles, including L&D, HRBP and Talent Management for over 30 years, across a number of global Blue Chip organisations. He left the UK in 2014 to move to a role based in Abu Dhabi. Across 3 senior roles in leading UAE organisations he has had responsibility for Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Internal Mobility, Performance Management, Learning and Development, Assessment, Succession Planning and Executive team Development. He’s currently focused on supporting the development and execution of the L&D strategy at the UAE’s leading Bank.

Tom is a Senior Director Client Success at Mercer. Prior to joining Mercer, Tom was a Managing Director for PwC advising international organizations on driving value through effective people and culture strategies. He has years of experience in project management, team facilitation, (team) coaching, (cultural) transformation, diversity & inclusion and leadership development. He has designed, implemented and rolled out leadership assessments and development centers up to C-suite level for top Fortune 100 clients and public sector clients in more than 30 countries. Tom also holds extensive international experience having lived and worked in Belgium, UAE, Lebanon, France, UK, and US and is passionate about fostering sustainable business practices.

John Whelan is a Director at Corporate Research Forum. Formerly UK HR Director of BAE Systems, the FTSE 100 defence, security, and aerospace company, John’s experience and strengths lie in business and HR Transformation, Organisation Development and Employee Relations. Prior to joining BAE, he held a variety of HR roles in engineering, technology and manufacturing businesses across the telecommunications and semi-conductor industries including Matra-Marconi Space where he was HR Director for the UK and, latterly, Group HRD.