Speakers

Darine El Sabbagh is currently serving as General Manager of E-commerce and OmniChannel at FACES (Chalhoub Group). Darine El Sabbagh is an accomplished, results-driven, innovative global marketing leader and revenue generation strategist, leveraging extensive experience to drive
business success.

Darine has a proven track record of delivering success across a multitude of diverse industries and business segments, including eCommerce, technology, beauty and cosmetics, retail, insurance, banking, online trading, advertising, PR, and F&B.

Darine is experienced in leading business strategies and planning efforts that drive growth and enable scalability, serving as an influential and engaging executive advisor. As a trusted resource and subject matter expert, Darine has been invited to participate and present at leading global industry engagements, including as a speaker, panelist, and moderator. Additionally, Darine has authored several publications on digital strategies and the tech startup space.

A seasoned marketing leader with over 10 years of experience driving brand growth and customer engagement across digital and traditional channels. With a strong background in retail and e-commerce, Ahmed has led high-impact campaigns, launched successful go-to-market strategies, and helped brands scale through data-driven, omnichannel marketing. His expertise lies in bridging creative vision with performance-focused execution in today’s fast-evolving commerce landscape.

Alisher Ziyaev is a strategic retail and marketing leader with over 16 years of experience driving brand growth and transforming shopper experiences across the Middle East.

He currently leads the retail media practice at Union Coop, the UAE’s largest consumer cooperative, where he is building the function from the ground up to unlock and deliver measurable value to brand partners. Prior to this, Alisher was instrumental in launching the retail media network at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, driving growth through cross-functional alignment of data, marketing, commercial, and operations teams. Earlier, he led trade marketing for Bosch and Beko in the UAE, and held commercial marketing roles in FMCG distribution and consulting, providing a comprehensive perspective across the retail value chain.

Known for a shopper-first mindset, collaborative leadership, and a strong ability to convert insights into action, Alisher is dedicated to creating value for customers, brands, and retailers. He excels at the intersection of innovation and execution, helping businesses adapt and thrive in a dynamic retail landscape.

Tayab serves as the GM of Ads at Careem in the UAE, where he manages Careem’s advertising business. His role focuses on generating revenue through different ad formats within the Careem ecosystem, including in-app ads across services like rides, groceries, and food delivery. Tayab works closely with advertisers to create targeted campaigns aimed at reaching Careem’s diverse, global customer base whilst optimising user experience.

Before joining Careem, Tayab worked at Ocado Group in the UK and MAF Carrefour UAE where he was the architect of the retail media and monetisation business. Specialising in retail media and monetisation, he has worked with six retailers across the globe. Prior to this Tayab worked in venture capital and tech scale ups at Rocket Internet. Tayab earned a Master’s degree in Technology Entrepreneurship from University College London (UCL) and a Bachelor’s in Business Management from King’s College London (KCL).

Outside of work, Tayab considers London home when the weather is pleasant. His favorite Careem services are Careem Food and Groceries.

Rahul Krishnan is the Regional Head of eCommerce Performance Marketing at Beiersdorf for Emerging Markets. He drives digital transformation through full-funnel strategies, retail media capability building, and innovation-led test-and-learn frameworks. Prior to Beiersdorf, he led the Home Delivery business at Burger King India, forging strategic partnerships with Swiggy and Zomato to deliver triple-digit growth. He also brings experience from Purplle.com, one of India’s leading beauty e-retailers, where he led analytics and CRM, and began his career in strategy consulting with Cognizant Business Consulting.

Harish Pandey is a seasoned digital and programmatic strategist with over 15 years of experience in retail media, publisher monetization, ad-tech, and audience profiling. As the Head of Revenues – Retail Media at Landmark Group, he leads efforts to drive revenue growth by leveraging the group’s extensive online and offline retail presence, shaping one of the fastest-growing retail media networks in the region.
With leadership roles at Khaleej Times, Times Group, and Network18, Harish has successfully built and scaled digital monetization strategies, forged strategic partnerships, and driven ad-tech innovation across diverse markets. His expertise spans retail media monetization, publisher’s programmatic and digital monetization, ad-tech, SSP & DSP partnerships, first-party data activation, and omnichannel monetization. Passionate about the future of retail media evolution, programmatic, in-store digital integrations, Harish continues to explore new ways for brands and retailers to create measurable impact through data-driven advertising.

Mazen is a seasoned leader with extensive global experience in marketing and digital transformation, now based in Dubai. Currently the Head of Performance Product, building Retail Media for the group, he spearheads the strategic expansion of Retail Media Network (RMN) offerings, forging key partnerships with Landmark Exclusive, MAF/Carrefour, and Al Shaya. His focus is on building advanced RMN capabilities to drive significant value for clients.
Prior to this, Mazen was an Advisor/Director at Techombank in Vietnam, responsible for Integrated Marketing, Digital, Measurement, and Transformation. He also served as the Global Head of Performance Marketing for Borzo delivery in Amsterdam and Global Head of Digital Media & Martech for Frieslandcampina, leading large international teams. His expertise spans media, Martech, CRM, Affiliate, Website/SEO, and innovation, overseeing global digital strategies and transformations.
He is an active member of several industry bodies, holds numerous certifications, and has won digital awards. Beyond his professional achievements, Mazen is a world marathoner and Guinness World Record holder, having completed over 90 full marathons.

Sally Gomaa currently serves as Regional Head of Marketing for MENA region for Infant Formula Milk & 1st Diet at Danone. With over 15 years in marketing, in multinational FMCGs, consumer healthcare, and pharmaceutical corporates Sally has built her career across leading multinational companies including Danone, Sanofi consumer health care, HERO, and GSK managing both global, regional & local brands.
At Danone, Sally develops regional brand strategies and manages growth initiatives across MENA markets, managing 11 different countries across MENA. Previously at Sanofi Consumer Health Care, Sally led the Allergy & cough OTC portfolio, successfully positioning key brands as market leaders. Besides her previous experience At HERO, & GSK.
Sally Holds a Bachelor degree in Pharmaceutical science & started off her career as a medical rep, worked in marketing & advertising agencies as well & then shifted her career to marketing.

Kareem joined talabat’s Grocery and Retail business in 2020,at the peak of COVID-19, as talabat was expanding its grocery business to meet growing customer demand. Since 2021, he has led the Retail Media side of the business, which he helped launch and grow across all eight markets where talabat operates. Kareem brings over 10 years of experience in digital, along with a background in sales and business development. He holds an Engineering degree from Concordia University in Montreal and also completed a year of design studies in Italy.

With 15 years of experience in the marketing industry, Rasha has worked across the MENA region, leading initiatives across diverse sectors including e-commerce, automotive, travel, government, luxury, retail, FMCG, CPG, hospitality, telecommunications, financial services, and entertainment.

Driven by a passion to evolve the marketing landscape, Rasha aims to inspire brands to rethink their strategies in ways that drive stronger business outcomes. She remains committed to continuously learning, thinking creatively, and delivering impactful results.

Dom was the very first person leading programmatic out of home for JCDecaux in the UK almost ten years ago and is now pioneering the development of this data driven, flexible channel in the Middle East . Dom is also the founding member of the prOOH Practitioners Social Club, bringing programmatic out of home professionals together. His role at JCDecaux Middle East, as Director of Programmatic, sees him partner with technical, strategic, and commercial teams at some of the world’s largest brands, agencies, and AdTech companies to create pDOOH campaigns that deliver real-world results. In April 2025 JCDecaux launched JCDecaux Play+, the first regional programmatic out of home offering in the Middle East covering Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The offer includes world leading, travel retail data partnerships bringing DOOH firmly into the region’s digital retail media ecosystem.

Sagarika Nayak is an outcome-focused CX Leader with a dedicated 15-year journey marked by an unyielding passion for optimising Customer Experience. With a track record of leading impactful customer delight initiatives, she excels in fostering collaboration across cross-functional teams to achieve overarching organisational success.

Saurabh Shukla is a seasoned digital advertising leader with over a decade of experience in building scalable adtech solutions across the eCommerce and Publishing ecosystem. Currently serving as Head of Adtech at Landmark Group, he leads the Ad tech charter for the group’s Retail Media Division – Landmark reach in the Middle East. At Landmark Group, he is driving the evolution of a full-stack retail media offering, built on first-party data, contextual relevance, and performance-focused advertising.

Saurabh has a proven track record of combining technology and commerce to unlock new monetization opportunities and deliver incremental revenue across digital platforms. His expertise spans ad monetization, audience strategy, programmatic, and product development — helping organizations simplify the advertising journey and drive business growth.

Alisha Malik, an eCommerce specialist with 10 years of experience spanning across brands and eRetailers, has driven top line growth and profitable market expansion, while also successfully launching new product categories. She excels in leading the digital path to purchase with a strong bias for innovation in digital solutions to drive the customer experience and enhance business results.

Prashant is an accomplished leader with over 15 years of global experience in building businesses and leading cross-functional teams. As the Director of Shopping, Grocery, and Dark Stores at Deliveroo, he is responsible for managing the performance of three strategically crucial departments that are currently undergoing rapid expansion. Additionally, Prashant is an integral part of Deliveroo’s Middle East Leadership team, where he contributes to shaping the overall strategic vision, key partner relationships, and enhancing Deliveroo’s customer value proposition. 

Before joining Deliveroo, Prashant gained extensive experience across the UK, Europe, Americas, and Asia, leading high-growth tech startups and revitalizing major businesses. He held a C-level position at the high-growth grocery and retail startup Bother and held various global leadership roles at the multinational corporation The Kraft Heinz Company. His background also includes roles in Private Equity Investing and Strategy Consulting at Elevation Capital and Bain & Company. 

Prashant holds an MBA from the London Business School and currently resides in Dubai with his wife, son, and dog.

Marketing manager with solid experience of work in FMCG and Retail across traditional trade and e-commerce retail.

Chirag Galundia currently Heads the Commerce for Practice for MENA at Publicis Groupe based in Dubai. He comes with 14+ years of experience in the Indian E-Commerce and Digital space having worked with companies such as Wavemaker, GroupM, Aviva India and Snapdeal leading roles across commerce media, category management, strategic alliances, etc.

With ten years of experience in Digital Marketing, I’ve honed my focus on the retail vertical. As a Business Partnership Manager at TikTok, I’ve dedicated my efforts to amplifying the presence of retailers on the platform. My focus revolves around creating a distinctive voice for brands within the TikTok community, fostering stronger brand integration through community commerce.

My passion lies in harnessing TikTok as a powerhouse for retail brands, providing a genuine platform for them to connect authentically with their audience. At TikTok, our relentless pursuit involves exploring and implementing cutting-edge strategies tailored to the platform’s unique dynamics. The goal is not just for brands to exist on the platform but to thrive in its vibrant ecosystem.

Shriram is a retail technology professional who holds Double Masters in areas of Strategy, Digital transformation, Marketing and a bachelors in technology. He is an Alma Mater of IE Business School, Madrid and has done consulting projects for Major retailers around the world. He is involved with brands in developing their digital journey and strategy. He has an extensive knowledge of Omnichannel planning and 15 years of experience encompassing the entire gamut of Retail commerciality and digitally transforming the business to make it relevant for the current generation customers.

Zeeshan comes with solid experience of fourteen years in the technology industry. In his career, he has had the opportunity to work with a diverse set of organizations including Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Apollo Telecom, Metis International, Dubizzle group.

At Pizza Hut, Zeeshan is responsible for developing and executing the Digital strategy that aligns with global QSR priorities for the TAG & MEP regions.

Zeeshan holds an MBA degree from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan, where he had the chance to dive deep into Project Management and Management of Information Technology. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Windsor, Canada.

Tariq Ziyad is a marketing and customer experience professional with an MBA focused on customer loyalty and CX in high-end retail. With over 13 years of experience, he specializes in CRM, loyalty, and omnichannel engagement across diverse retail landscapes.

Tariq is known for designing data-led strategies that connect insight with execution, driving customer retention, lifetime value, and brand affinity. His background combines deep knowledge in digital transformation, behavioral marketing, and performance-driven customer programs.

Faheem is the Head of Growth at Chalhoub Group. Digital & growth leader with 15 years of experience in eCommerce & Omnichannel retail businesses.