Agenda

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.