Aadil Rashid Khan
Principal Consultant, Advisory Mobility - Middle East and Africa, Frost & Sullivan
Aadil Rashid Khan is a seasoned value creator, innovator, and strategist with over 16 years of experience in driving excellence within the mobility industry. With a track record of working alongside global and regional clients, Aadil has honed his focus on pivotal growth areas, successfully bringing business ideas to fruition. Currently, he holds the position of Principal Consultant in the Advisory Practice of Frost & Sullivan's Mobility Practice for the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
Aadil has been a key member of the Frost & Sullivan Middle East Mobility Team for the past 11 years. Specializing as a Saudi Arabia expert, he has provided invaluable support to various stakeholders in the mobility industry, guiding them through their growth journeys in the country. Aadil's expertise spans a wide spectrum, encompassing greenfield project planning, feasibility planning, revenue optimization, network efficiency management, and change management. He has participated in multiple private and government ventures to achieve the Vision 2030 targets, advising clients on the most optimized growth and route-to-market strategies. With hands-on experience in setting up manufacturing units globally and launching mobility products in diverse geographical markets, Aadil is positioned perfectly to stimulate innovative thinking and drive product penetration in upcoming manufacturing hubs like Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed Jarallah Almalki
Automotive Segment Director at Ministry of Investment
Before that, he was serving as an Analyst and then Manager in the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) leading the Automotive segment, including being deal-lead and negotiator in multiple projects in the Automotive.
Mr. Almalki received various training courses including on-job-training at Baker Huges-GE HQ in Houston, Texas.
Mr. Almalki holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, the United States.
Abdullah Bin Shamlan
Founder & CEO, Speero
Abdullah Bin Shamlan, the visionary founder of Speero, has transformed Saudi Arabia's automotive aftersales landscape with the largest tech ecosystem for repair shops and spare parts consumers. In just 5 years since its inception, Speero has grown to serve over 1 million users and onboarded more than 450 automotive businesses onto its platform. Abdullah's expertise in building online marketplaces has positioned him as a trailblazer in the sector, driving efficiency and excellence. As a keynote speaker at the Automechanica Conference in Riyadh, his insights shape the future of automotive technology. Abdullah's dedication to empowering consumers and businesses alike cements his legacy as a driving force behind Saudi Arabia's online automotive evolution
Albert Naim
Executive Director - Master Planning, Diriyah Company
Albert Naim is distinguished Urban designer with a focused multi-disciplinary layered approach for creating vibrant, sustainable and inclusive cities as well as developments.
Albert’s career of more than 20 years, started with bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Faculty of Fine Arts developing a strong appreciation of built environment impact on communities in addition to a solid agenda of arts and culture.
As Executive Director of Masterplanning in Diriyah Gate Development Company, Albert leads a team of different disciplines that enables the creation of successful developments as well efficient administrative regular monitoring and updates to multiple master plans, all in parallel to design evolution, construction, and operational stages.
Albert’s leadership style combines data driven decision-making with community engagement, resulting in comprehensive master plans. Disciplines under his leaderships covers Urban design, planning, smart cities, safety and security, sustainability, environment, landscape and public realm.
Albert’s projects across the middle east covered different scales and levels of complexity, such as Palm Jumeirah, Saadiyat Island, Bani Yas South Wathba revitalization, Bastakeya, Diriyah Gate to name few. The developments vary between Gega scale, cultural or environmental focused all centred around creating a balanced human focused community.
Eng. Aftab Ahmed
Chief Advisor - Automotive Cluster, National Industrial Development Centre
Mr. Aftab Ahmed is Chief Advisor, Automotive Sector, National Industrial Development Center (NIDC), under Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources.
Eng. Mr. Aftab Ahmed joined the National Industrial Development Center (NIDC) in July 2019 after more than 30 years of #Automotive Experience in Engineering, Finance and Purchasing & Supply Chain at General Motors and Ford Motor Company, Detroit, USA. He is leading the Automotive Cluster team with other members as Chief Advisor.
Eng. Mr. Aftab Ahmed started his career at Ford Motor Company, Detroit, USA as Senior Product Engineer in 1989. He joined General Motors in 1993 as an engineer and worked in several disciplines of Engineering as Manager Product Engineering. In 1998, he moved to Brazil for leading a joint venture Pickup Truck project between GM & Isuzu in the Engineering Department. He moved back to the USA in 2001 and launched the Midsize Pickup Truck Program.
Eng. Mr. Aftab’s focus at Industrial Cluster has been on the business development and negotiation of several projects with global automotive OEM and suppliers for local manufacturing in KSA.
Eng. Mr. Aftab holds MBA degree in Finance & Management from University of Detroit, Detroit, USA and Masters of Mechanical Engineering degree from Wayne State University, Detroit, USA.
Andreas Florou
Group Head of Mobility, Red Sea Global
Andreas Flourou is a highly accomplished senior executive. He currently leads Mobility Operations for Red Sea Global (RSG), a closed joint stock company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. In this role, Andreas is responsible for overseeing all mobility strategy and operations (Land, Sea, and Air) for The Red Sea, AMAALA, and other projects, exceptional, regenerative tourism destinations that aim to set new standards in sustainable development and put Saudi Arabia on the global tourism map.
Andreas has an impressive track record of success, having played a pivotal role in shaping and delivering the strategy of RSG. During his first three years with the company, he was responsible for all corporate functions and set-up of the company and its operations, in addition, he handled all COVID-19-related matters throughout the pandemic.
Before joining RSG, Andreas served in 3 international executive search firms, where he led the growth and operations for the Middle East based in Dubai, UAE. Previously, he spent four years with Signature Group, a private equity business, creating the advisory business with a focus on renewable energy and advanced technology advising on over USD 100 million of mandates and transactions.
Andreas' extensive experience also includes two successful businesses in the UK, leading commercial and technology projects, and heading sales, operations, and delivery teams. He holds an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Hospitality Management & Operations from the London Metropolitan University in the UK.
Andreas is a widely respected leader, with a reputation for his exceptional leadership and delivery in fast-paced, dynamic growth companies. His expertise in corporate structuring, strategy, and operations combined with his experience in the hospitality industry make him a valuable asset to the RSG team, helping to shape the future of sustainable tourism in Saudi Arabia.
Abhay Bhargava
Associate Partner & Regional Leader– Energy & Environment, Frost & Sullivan
Abhay is a business expansion specialist with thought leadership across the Energy, Sustainability, and Buildings sectors – specializing in the core themes of digitalization, sustainability, geographic expansion, and localization. Holding 22 years of global experience across diversified industries, Abhay has extensive experience in the Middle East region, across Energy, Environment, Manufacturing, Managed Services & Industrial Automation.
He specializes in advisory and enablement, especially around strategy development, investment promotion, localization strategies, & mega trends, and has developed his experience by working across government organizations, multinationals, family groups & conglomerates, and specialized companies.
Abhay’s knowledge leadership is reflected not just in his speaking engagements but also in how he has been invited to actively participate as a jury member for a number of prestigious awards in the Middle East region - ADIPEC (Oil and Gas) and MESIA (Solar) - and in how his opinions on the industry have been frequently quoted in leading media publications across the Middle East.
Arda Arslan
Vice President - Mobility Aftermarket, Türkiye & Middle East, Bosch
Arda Arslan has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and began his active career in 2006 as a product manager for Bosch Automotive Aftermarket Division in London, UK until 2008. Then, he was appointed as the senior product manager of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket headquarters in Germany having global business unit responsibility until 2012. From year 2012-2020, he held important responsibilities within Bosch Group in Marketing, Sales functions such as Sales Project Leader and Country Sales Director. As of January 2020, Arslan is the Regional Vice President of Bosch Mobility Aftermarket Division covering 17 countries including Middle East Region.
In his current role, Arslan is responsible for the business division serving Sales, Marketing, After Sales Support, Supply Chain Management and Bosch Car Service chains which is the largest independent vehicle repair service chain worldwide with more than 15,000 workshops globally.
Arvind CJ
Partner, Roland Berger
Arvind is a Partner in Roland Berger's Dubai office and leads the Automotive practice in the Middle East. He has of over 15 years of work experience in Automotive, both in consulting and industry.
He extensively advised with Saudi clients on strategy development for the EV value chain as well as set-up of local operations, from EV manufacturing to EV charging and EV parts localization.
Arvind holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering
Badr Hanbazaza
Senior Director – Community Relations, ROSHN Group
Over 18 years of extensive Property, Community, and Fixed Assets experience, Customer Operations, and Customer Experience Leader with Management skills in Managing startup Companies, Projects, and Functions in Real Estate Development.
Extensive experience in Molding Community Charges, Service charges modeling, Setting up Master Community declarations in line with related governmental legislations.
Setting up the framework of Home Owners Associations and management, Using advanced technologies to engage residents and owners within a new development.
Certified trainer with experience in transferring knowledge and training on Real Estate specialized programs.
Farid Sfeir
Training Manager, Tiqani Inc.
Farid is a tri-linguist, pro-active, hands-on training consultant with experience in sales, service, parts, and technical fields whether that being in a traditional face to face, on the job coaching, or virtual classroom environments.
His passion in the auto industry pushed him into starting a career in the business in 2005. Starting as a maintenance technician, Farid pursued his development to become a master technician in vehicle systems, and later a training and development specialist.
Hesham Ahmed Mehani
Technical Office Director, O2ProFormance
Hesham Ahmed Mehani is a Mechanical Power Engineer with a proven track record in the Automotive After Sales industry, showcasing expertise in both academic and practical realms of modern automotive engineering and management. With a Bachelor's degree from the Higher Technological Institute and ongoing enrollment in the Pre-Master of Science program at Cairo University, Mehani possesses a solid foundation in mechanical engineering, supplemented by hands-on experience and continuous learning. His professional strengths lie in project management across various fields, demonstrating proficiency in overseeing service and industrial projects with finesse.
Mehani's technical prowess in the automotive domain is extensive and diverse. He is adept at utilizing a wide array of automotive diagnostic tools, including specialized equipment for electronic key programming and A/C maintenance machines. His familiarity with diagnostic tools for various automotive brands underscores his comprehensive understanding of modern vehicle systems. Moreover, Mehani has made significant contributions to the industry through his frequent participation in publications aimed at educating the public on car preventive maintenance, further establishing himself as a thought leader in the field.
In addition to his technical acumen, Mehani has held key managerial and training roles, demonstrating strong leadership and communication skills. As a Technical and Customer Service Manager at the Automotive Technology and Engineering Center, he oversaw technical evaluations, repairs, and staff training, contributing to the center's operational efficiency and success. His role as a Senior Automotive Trainer underscores his commitment to knowledge dissemination, designing and delivering training curriculums on advanced automotive technology. With a solid foundation in engineering, extensive practical experience, and a passion for continuous learning and development, Mehani stands out as a multifaceted professional poised to make enduring contributions to the automotive industry.
Currently, Hesham holds the title of Technical Office Director in O2ProFormance company in KSA.
Eng. Ibrahim Al-Rahbi
Conformity Specialist Engineer and Quality Team Leader, GCC Standardization Organization
- Quality Team Leader in GSO
- Has +10 years of experience in tyre and motorcycle regulations
- Tyre Technical Expert and Quality Assessor in Gulf Accreditation Center (GAG)
- Risk Manager in ISO 30000 from PECB
- Lead Auditor in Quality Management System (ISO 9001) from IRCA
- Lead Auditor in Environmental Management System (ISO 14001) from PECB
- Lead Auditor in Occupational health and safety Management System (ISO 45001) from PECB
- Lead Auditor in General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories (ISO 17025) from BSI
- Trainer in different fields: GSO technical regulations of tyre &motorcycle and Management Systems
- Team Leader of Market tyre Surveillance Project in GSO for 2024 & 2025
James Luxbacher
Chief Business Development Officer, SIXT KSA
James Luxbacher is the Managing Director of the Riyadh-based Samara Land Transportation Services and Sixt KSA since April 2021. He has aggressively increased the company's fleet size and launched the Sixt Rental Brand in a strategic expansion across KSA.
Before joining Samara Land Transportation Services and Sixt KSA, he served as the General Manager of the Avis United Arab Emirates LLC Dubai, where he successfully managed operations through the COVID-19 crisis. He has also held various senior positions at the USA-based Hertz Corporation, working across multiple corporate and operational functions.
When it comes to implementing and managing first-rate mobility operations in the North American and Middle Eastern markets, Luxbacher is an accomplished business leader with more than 18 years of experience. He is skilled at leading cross-functional teams, vendors, and suppliers, and he has a proven track record of increasing revenue, controlling costs, streamlining operations, and building a high-performing team.
Luxbacher has maintained a leadership position in the market throughout his career with active development of many of the industry firsts. In North America, he oversaw the addition of first-production electric vehicles to rental fleets, introduced new industry ancillary products, and re-engineered vehicle reconditioning processes. He continued market leadership in the Middle East by joining with startups to introduce new mobility offerings, including CAFU, eKar, and Udrive in the UAE. In KSA, Luxbacher has helped position the Sixt brand as the largest owner of electric vehicles in the Kingdom and he has secured strategic partnerships with many of the Giga projects to introduce cutting-edge mobility services.
James Luxbacher holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economic Management from Ohio Wesleyan University and is Six Sigma Green Belt Certified, QMS ISO 9001.
Mark Carson
Director - Customer Experience & Quality, Africa, Middle East Pacific, Renault
Mark Carson is Director of Customer Experience and Quality for Renault Africa, Middle East Pacific covering 60 countries and has based in the Dubai Office for the past 13 years responsible for product quality, customer experience.
Having successfully completed his automotive and engineering degree Mark joined Renault UK. Prior to moving to the Middle East, he was responsible for Network Field Quality and Government Liaison and was actively involved in the introduction of Renault’s Electric Vehicle program into the UK market. Upon moving to the region, he undertook the responsibility of the Electric Vehicle durability testing program to ensure all products were fit for market introduction in the Middle East.
With acceleration of electrification globally, Renault are introducing new products in all markets. It is important to ensure the ecosystem and infrastructure is available and suitable for new vehicles to deliver products that customers are completely satisfied with. It is imperative we develop Eco Systems to support the growth of Electric Mobility linking consumers digitally and developing systems which stretches beyond just travel.
Mark is a founder member of the C.E.B.C, Future Mobility Club and is fully committed to Future Mobility which will reshape the automotive industry and the way we provide new and existing services to our customers and the challenges this presents us with.
Mohammed Abuazzah
Chief Public Relation Officer, Ceer Motors
Mohammed Abuazzah leads the corporate communications and public relations function for Ceer.
A Saudi national from Al Madinah Al Monawarah, Mohammed has over 17 years of executive and advisory experience in leading national strategic initiatives, brand marketing, and corporate communications for both government and private sector organizations in Saudi Arabia and globally. These include Saudi Vision 2030, the Saudi Ministry of Investment, INVEST SAUDI, the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning, the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, and Knowledge Economic City Company.
Abuazzah holds a Masters of Science degree in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University, and a BBA in Management Information Systems from UBT. In addition, he has several executive certifications from Oxford, Stanford, MIT, and the Manhattan Film Academy in executive leadership development, creative transformation, innovation, experience management, and filmmaking.
Mark Notkin
Chief Innovation Officer, Petromin Corporation and Head of Electromin
Visionary leader with 20+ years of continuous development of core competencies and overcoming challenges. Recognized for performance, resilience, and ambition, responsible for numerous tasks within wholesale, retail, and manufacturer management, channel development, and strategy development. One of Mr. Mark’s key strengths is distinct communication skills that enables him to adapt to various situations and diverse personalities, including demanding interlocutors. Mr. Mark is open to new ideas and opportunities while approaching challenges with flexibility and a structured working method.
As the Chief Innovation Officer at Petromin in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), and the Head of Electromin, which is a leading Saudi multi-national ecosystem for advanced mobility and automotive services and solutions, Mr. Marks’s main responsibility is to focus on newness, improvement and spread of ideas or technologies across the company’s business verticals.
Mohammed Almusawa
AlSharif Group Holding, Head Of E-Mobility
Mohammed is a highly energetic business and engineering oriented calibre. With experience and passion towards strategic business growth and expansion for start ups & SMEs in new emerging markets. Mohammed thrives to perform exceptionally to deliver shareholders visions and objectives with numbers and foots on the ground.
Currently, leading the E-Mobility's transformation in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, building the largest E-Mobility infrastructure across the region. Establishing partnerships with various stakeholders "Public & Private sectors" and leading an amazingly talented team to achieve the targets & objectives in making the e-mobility's change happening in the kingdom.
Prachi Satoskar
Commercial Director, Gfk
Prachi is the Commercial Leader for GfK in KSA and brings over 14 years of Market Research experience to the table, She has worked with multiple international clients driving value through the right solution for the client. She brings in her market knowledge of Middle East and especially KSA to answer the Key business questions thruoght B2B or B2C research. She has been instrumental in developing the Automotive Panel research for GfK across MENA region.
Quin Garcia
Managing Director, Autotech Ventures
Quin Garcia is founder and managing director of Autotech Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm with more than $500M under management and a mission to solve the world’s ground transport challenges with technology. He has spent most of his career supporting mobility entrepreneurs by investing in and advising them on business development, recruitment, fundraising, and competitive differentiation. The 50+ mobility startups that Quin has been involved with since 2007 have grown to over $20B in valuation.
Under Quin’s leadership, Autotech has raised three funds consisting of 40+ portfolio companies and realized cumulative exits at tens of billions in market value.
Robin Joffe
Partner & Managing Director, Middle East, Africa & South Asia, Frost & Sullivan
Robin Joffe has an extensive international business experience in market entry across Asia, the United States, and Europe, with his strong forte in Sales and Channel Management, Strategy Mapping, and Business Transformation. Having expertise across sectors such as Information & Communication Technology, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals and Financial Services, Robin advises clients on geographical expansion and business transformation growth. Robin is currently a Partner & Managing Director in Frost & Sullivan of its Middle East operations, overseeing business growth and management of the firm. He has presented at many conferences globally. He holds an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School, Northwestern University, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong SAR.
Saad Alhatem
Director General of Standards Department, Saudi Standards Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO)
Saad has experience in setting standards for over 20 years. Through this period, he has engaged with stakeholders (public, private, academia, etcetera.) to create balanced standards to empower business and economic activities. Moreover, he engages at the regional level heavily as chair and member of different technical committees in GSO, ADSMO and SMIIC. At international stage, he also worked in several activities in ISO (as a member of TCs & WGs e.g. DEVCO).
Sandeep Surana
Managing Director, Tasaru Mobility Investment
Sandeep is a seasoned Gulf veteran having worked with sovereign wealth funds and family offices across Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, where he set up a family office with diversified investment allocation, and established both the investment team and the research, monitoring and evaluation process.
He has been in his key role with TASARU since March 2023, bringing almost 20 years of investment experience in private equity, funds, equities, fixed income and commodities, with a successful track record in business development across sectors including transportation, automotive, healthcare, technology, oil and gas, real estate and education.
Sarang Sambare
Senior Director - Industry Solutions, Syncron
Sarang is the Senior Director of Industry Solutions at Syncron. His background of global sales and strategy includes leadership roles in the service supply chain and field service management sectors. He’s spent the last 18 years guiding OEMs through their digital transformation journey and developing differentiated service delivery models.
Smriti Priya
Senior Project Manager, Roland Berger
Smriti is a Senior Project Manager in Roland Berger's Dubai office and is a key member of Roland Berger’s automotive practice in Middle East.
She brings more than 10 years of industry and consulting experience. She has 6 years of work experience in automotive consulting space across India, South East Asia and Middle East markets.
She extensively advised with global automotive clients including OEMs, suppliers and aftermarket players. She has worked with leading Indian automotive suppliers and aftermarket players on growth strategies, due diligences and mergers and acquisition. In the middle east region, she has led projects with automotive distributors and Saudi clients on automotive investment plan, EV manufacturing localization, EV charging infrastructure and automotive ecosystem development strategy.
Smriti holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering.
Stefan Schnitzler
Director Spare Parts Sales & Marketing, Juffali Commercial Vehicles
Goal-oriented executive with 20+ years of leadership and operations experience at executive levels within the consultancy and industry business mainly automotive, automotive related industry and manufacturing.
Holding the current position as a Director of Spare Parts Sales & Marketing for the sole distributor of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles in Saudi Arabia (Juffali Commercial Vehicles). The responsibility includes besides the main brand Mercedes-Benz truck, bus, and van also the Daimler Truck AG brand FUSO Truck & Bus. Before Stefan joined Juffali Commercial Vehicles he was a Management Consultant at Mercedes-Benz Consulting.
Talha Aziz
Head of Strategy, Atlantic Grease & Lubricant FZC
Talha is a chemical engineer, highly accomplished professional with a proven lubricants additives R & D, manufacturing and market development track record. Over the course of his successful career more than a decade, he has consistently driven business growth and expanded market presence in key regions like Africa, MENA, Europe, South Asia & East.
Currently as a head of strategy position at Chempol is dedicated to driving the company's expansion and establishing a strong presence in the additives market. His extensive technical expertise and deep industry knowledge have enabled him to successfully enter new markets in various regions.
This combination of practical experience and academic knowledge positions as a highly capable and reliable professional in the lubricant additive industry.
Vishal Pandey
Director, Glasgow Research & Consulting
Vishal is a Dubai based Market Entry & Insights advisor who has lived and worked in the UK, India and across the Middle East. Previously as a research lead with Deloitte Consulting’s Dubai offices, he was part of a team responsible for strategy and operations assignments across the Middle East and North Africa region. Vishal has been involved in over 750 research + market entry engagements mostly across MENA and South Asia region in his career spanning 18 years across a diverse set of industries.
He is a leading MENA focused Market Entry & Go-To-Market Strategy Specialist. He has been numerously interviewed on the subject. He contributes frequently to several regional and global publications in the areas of growth & market insights, tourism, policy, retail and real estate. He is also often invited to be a speaker at key Middle East and South Asian foreign investment, innovation, growth strategy and retail industry conferences. He is currently on the UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts.
Vishal holds an MSc in Real Estate and Regeneration from the University of Glasgow, a UNWTO Themis degree in Tourism and International Cooperation for Development from The George Washington University and a Degree in Hotel Management.
He currently drives the Automotive Intelligence & Tracking Hub (AITH), a Glasgow Consulting Group Initiative. AITH, under his guidance, offers regional market intelligence, thought leadership, and insights, revolutionizing the Middle East and Africa sector.
Zaid Al Nabolsy
E-Mobility Business Manager - EV chargers Infrastructure, ABB
Zaid is a seasoned e-mobility professional with over 12 years of experience in sales, business development, and a strong technical background. They have a proven track record of success within the e-mobility sector, leveraging their techno-commercial expertise to drive growth and forge strategic partnerships. Also he is passionate about accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation and brings a results-oriented approach to leading e-mobility business initiatives.