Speakers

Head of Programmatic at W Group’s Hypermedia, Dylan brings nearly two decades of digital media expertise, with the majority of his career dedicated to programmatic. He has worked and partnered with leading agencies and technology platforms across London, Europe, the Nordics and MENA, overseeing some of the world’s leading brands and their programmatic execution while building high-performing teams that delivered measurable growth.

Dylan’s career spans senior leadership roles such as Head of Programmatic at Publicis Groupe MENA, where he led strategy and operations for agencies including Starcom, Zenith, Spark Foundry, Leo Burnett and Digitas, managing over 200 clients across multiple verticals. He also served as Regional Commercial Director at Yazle Global, driving digital innovation and omni-channel strategies across the MENA region, and as Sales Director at Sizmek, growing SaaS adoption among agencies and direct clients across Europe and the Middle East.

Having built a strong track record of collaborating with global clients, big 6 holding groups, and boutique independent agencies, Dylan now brings his experience to Hypermedia. In his new role, he will lead the strategy and evolution of programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH), helping brands and agencies unlock its full potential through real-time targeting, advanced measurement and data-driven delivery.

Sakshi Arora is a Senior Manager at Noon Ads, leading non-endemic advertising and agency partnerships. With 9 years of experience in advertising and marketing, she specializes in business development and enabling brand launches on retail media platforms. She plays a key role in educating and empowering agency partners to work collaboratively, and has worked across categories including Banking, Travel, Insurance, Automotive, CPG, Media & Entertainment, Crypto and Fashion to drive growth through innovative, data-led solutions.

Hans Christensen is the Vice President and Manager of Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (Dtec), the MENA region’s largest tech startup hub, an initiative of Dubai Silicon Oasis. Hans has spent the past decade leading Dtec, supporting 2,300 startups and currently hosting 1,000 ventures from over 75 countries, developing a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem with focuses including mobility, robotics, AI, cybersecurity, and more. Prior to Dtec, he ran Siemens’ tech nCubator and founded three startups, raising $10m in venture capital. He holds a BSc from Bentley University and an MBA from Hult University.

Hammad Benjelloun CEO and co-Founder of AiOO is a seasoned tech entrepreneur and innovator in the digital advertising space. With a background in finance and technology, Hammad has been instrumental in developing AI-driven solutions that address challenges in the evolving digital advertising landscape for the last two decades.

Oliver (Oli, currently serving as the Commercial Director MENA) brings over 20 years of rich experience in the advertising ecosystem and has been instrumental in driving growth and fostering innovation in data collaboration between retailers and CPGs.

Before stepping into this role, Oliver served as the Head of CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) at LiveRamp for a number of years, where he delivered LiveRamp’s global CPG proposition. His leadership and knack for becoming a thought leader in the CPG retail space have allowed him to forge relationships with global giants like Kellanova, Mars, AbInBev, PepsiCo, and many others.

Oliver has also been a prominent voice in the industry, speaking as a subject matter expert at various Retail Roundtable events, and sharing the stage with leading organizations such as IAB and at DMEXCO in Koln. Additionally, he hosts a podcast featuring industry professionals from the AdTech/MarTech space and the CPG industry, named www.notquite90seconds.com, showcasing his depth of knowledge and passion for the field.

Oliver’s mission is to bring innovation and drive transformation data collaboration opportunities in the MENA region through the use of PET (Privacy Enhancing Technology) to enable data collaboration at scale for retail media.

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.

Daniel Young is the Managing Director of InMotion, Choueiri Group’s specialist programmatic and outcome-based solutions provider. With 17+ years of global experience across New Zealand, London, and Dubai, he has driven digital transformation for brands including The Weather Channel, VEVO, and AOL. A data-driven strategist, Daniel is recognized for turning analytics and innovation into measurable growth and impact.

Raoul Zenon is General Manager at Flywheel MENA, where he helps global and regional brands unlock growth through retail media, digital infrastructure, and go-to-market excellence across the GCC.

With over 15 years of international leadership experience, Raoul has built commerce ecosystems for companies like L’Oréal, Mondelez, Pfizer, and Expedia across EMEA and APAC.
His track record spans healthcare, consumer goods, and travel – consistently guiding brands through complex digital transformations and market expansions.

Now based in Dubai, Raoul focuses on the next frontier of commerce in MENA: how retail media, predictive AI, and omnichannel strategies can turn digital complexity into commercial clarity.

At the intersection of brand, platform, and agency, Raoul brings a unique perspective on how organizations can scale faster, localize smarter, and build future-ready commerce systems in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies

With over 20 years of experience in media strategy and planning, I am currently serving as the Regional Media Director at Mars, driving impactful campaigns & transformation across the Middle East, Africa, and Global Emerging Markets. Expertise includes media planning, strategic leadership, and cross-regional market alignment. Passionate about fostering collaborative efforts to enhance brand growth and communication impact.
Dedicated to aligning innovative strategies with organizational goals to deliver meaningful results and advance Mars’ mission globally.

Senior Executive with over 25 years’ experience in multiple markets throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa. Successful in scaling & leading high growth businesses, leading change initiatives, developing strong client and industry partnerships and nurturing talent within teams. Led commercial monetisation launch of Instagram across MENA. Keynote Speaker at conferences and events across the region and contributor to media industry opinion pieces. Currently leading the IAB MENA Digital Industry Association. Based in London and Dubai. Open to other locations.

Amit Nanani is a senior retail leader with 28+ years of experience across lifestyle, consumer tech, and telecom sectors in the GCC and India. He has driven growth, omni-channel transformation, and commerce media innovation for brands like Samsung, Dyson, Sony and Bharti Airtel.

Currently based in Muscat, Amit specializes in data-led retail strategies, in-store monetization, and building future-ready commerce ecosystems. He holds an MBA from Manchester Business School.

Seasoned professional in Digital, & Marketing Analytics with decades of experience across diverse industry verticals, including Fortune 500 financial organizations, media companies, retail, and eCommerce.
In the dynamic confluence of retail, data, and marketing, currently focusing on the Retail Media program including its inception, program management, market research, Strategy, and execution.

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.

Arpit is the Director of Product for Growth and Monetisation at Careem. He leads customer experience and growth initiatives, overseeing the customer journey across activation, engagement, cross-sell, and retention. He also manages the monetisation of customer experiences, connecting Careem users with partners to drive mutual growth. Arpit currently manages a team of six and is passionate about using ads as a growth engine to benefit both customers and partners.
With a background in Computer Science Engineering and an MBA, Arpit’s career spans roles at Grab in Singapore, Inmobi in India, and BCG in India. One of his proudest accomplishments is building an ads platform at Grab into a business unit worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Born in Delhi, with time spent in Bangalore and Singapore, Arpit is customer-focused, passionate, and analytical. He values Careem’s culture of ownership and risk-taking and enjoys working with a team that inspires him every day. His favorite services at Careem are Careem Food and DineOut.

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.

Gagandeep has rich and diverse leadership experience spanning multiple geographies EMEA and Asia Pacific across industries like Retail, FMCG, Telecom, BFSI, Fintech & Consulting.

Worked with Global Brands like Vodafone, EY, Unilever, Network International, Landmark Group and e& in various capacities and rolls.

Currently helping e& build enfuse ground up which is an all-encompassing ecosystem enabling data collaboration, monetization, Adtech, Martech, media commerce and AI driven use cases.

A key accomplishment has been building the first of its kind CTV and Retail Media collaboration in the MENA region.

He has also built Data Science & Analytics practices from scratch for entities like Landmark, Metlife, Network and media entertainment division at e& life.

He is quite passionate and always on the look out for Innovative technologies and partnerships in the area of Adtech, martech and AI.

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.

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.

Tayab is a thought leader in Retail Media and Monetisation. He recently led Careem Ads and previously consulted multiple global grocery retailers ranging from Sobeys in Canada to Ocado Retail in the UK. Prior to that Tayab built up the Retail Media business at MAF Carrefour. Before the advent of Retail Media, Tayab led Media for Equity at Europe’s leading media group. Earlier in his career he built tech ventures in APAC at Rocket Internet. He was educated at UCL, King’s College London and Victoria College Jersey.

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.

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.

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.

Jayalakshmi Swaminathan is a Retail Media & GTM leader with 10 years of global experience in ecommerce and advertising. A former Amazonian, she has driven marketplace growth and digital innovation across EMEA and North America. She is passionate about shaping the future of retail media in MENA and frequently engages in industry conversations on marketing and technology.