About the 21st Annual Regional Audit Conference

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Sustainability are becoming increasingly important topics in the business world. Internal auditors play a critical role in assessing and evaluating an organization’s adherence to ESG and sustainability principles. Internal auditors can ensure that a company’s operations and practices align with these principles by assessing the effectiveness of risk management and internal controls related to ESG and sustainability.

They can also provide assurance that the organization is reporting on its ESG and sustainability performance accurately and transparently. Additionally, internal auditors can help an organization identify and mitigate potential reputational risks associated with ESG and sustainability. Overall, the internal audit profession can contribute to the advancement of ESG and sustainability by promoting accountability and good governance within organizations.

Indumon Das

Founder & Managing Director

An entrepreneur and an award-winning helmsman of Beinex Consulting – the group constituting six firms spread across three continents – Indumon Das has end-to-end experience in architecting, guiding, leading, and implementing solutions in Analytics, AI, and Machine Learning for the spheres of GRC, Risk & Audit Transformation as well as Digital Transformation.

He is a product champion for Auraa – Augmented Risk and Audit Analytics – a unique single platform solution for Integrated Risk Management, Governance, Audit, Compliance, and Analytics functions that streamlines risk and audit verticals for enterprises worldwide.

A thought leader who regularly interacts and inspires the next generation of promising entrepreneurs and problem solvers, Indumon is a regular invitee to premier industry-defining forums marking tectonic shifts in times. He finds himself deeply engaged in productive conversations in those arenas with visionaries who strive for permanent positive change.

Paul Gascoigne

Director & Founder, K10 Vision

After qualifying with Arthur Andersen and spending several years in their consulting practice, Paul went on to found and grow a very successful audit technology software company which was purchased by a UK PLC in 2018.  This has led Paul to work with audit teams in every corner of the planet and from virtually every industry.  It is with what is now over 20 years’ experience in the field of Audit Management Software that Paul spends time around the world speaking on the role of technology in this arena, as well as leading his latest venture K10 Vision which has been formed to bring the very latest technologies to the desktops and tablets of auditors worldwide.

Firas Haddad

Partner, Internal Audit, Risk & Compliance – KPMG Lower Gulf Limited

Firas has over 20 years of audit and business advisory experience. Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a member in the Institute of Internal Auditors and in the Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

Relevant Experience:

• Firas has worked extensively in the development, design, and had led a range of risk advisory services to clients in the UAE with primary focus on Government and State Owned Entities. The scope of services provided ranges from Internal Audit Advisory work related to setting up internal audit departments, complete outsourcing and co-sourcing with in-house internal audit departments and other Business Control and Enterprise Risk Solutions.
• He has managed a portfolio of finance process outsourcing contracts with clients in various industries including: Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Media and Trading. Tasks included the following:
• Supervision of the engagement personnel,
• Proper understanding of the internal   controls implemented by the client and identifying the related risks and weaknesses, to help in developing internal policies and procedures to mitigate the identified risks

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Ala’ Abu Naba’a

Partner, Procapita Management Consulting Co.

Ala’ Abu Naba’a is a Partner at Procapita Management Consulting Co. based in Kuwait, and he is responsible for providing governance, internal audit & Risk Management advisory services. He has experience since 1998 in Corporate Governance, Risk Management, Internal and External Audit and Finance Management in MENA Region in big investment banking, contracting, and manufacturing companies. He started his career as an external auditor in one of the big four auditing companies.

Ala’ currently serves and has served as a board and board’s committee member in multiple for-profit and non -profit organizations in GCC.

Ala’ Holds master’s degree in accounting and holds some professional certification designations from USA & UK. Ala’ participated and led many consulting engagements and conducted many public and in-house training courses in Internal Controls, Risk Management, Governance, Internal Audit, Accounting, in addition to Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), & Certified Management Accountant (CMA) preparation courses, and spoke in many professional conferences, seminars, and workshops in Arab countries and United States.

Ala’ is active in social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Telegram). He established and managing the Internal Auditor Facebook page which followed by tens of thousands followers. Ala’ participated in establishing the Arabic Council for Measuring & Managing Social Impact (Social Value Arabia), Jordan Internal Audit Association (IIA – Jordan Chapter), and Kuwait Internal Auditors Association (IIA – Kuwait Chapter).

Siddharth Behal

Partner, Head Governance, Risk and Compliance Services, KPMG Lower Gulf

Siddharth is a Partner in the Advisory practice of KPMG Lower Gulf with a particular focus on the consumer markets, retail, ecommerce, hospitality, logistics, media and IT/ITS sectors. His current leadership role entails assisting clients in their risk management and internal control assessment initiatives. Siddharth has been with KPMG for over 14 years and has over 20 years of overall work experience.  He is a Chartered Accountant from India as well has done his CPA from USA.

His clients have included Unilever, Castrol, Colgate, Novartis, Emaar, RTA, Union Coop, Miral, Meeras, Reliance Retail, Shoppers Stop, Flipkart, Ebay, Blue Dart Express, Aramex, Mattel Toys, Walt Disney, Sony Television, Hexaware Technologies, WNS Holdings, Dubai Tourism, Bateel, Cravia, Agthia Group, ESI, Strata, ITC, ADNOC, Emirates Steel etc.

Representative Client Experience

• Siddharth leads multiple engagements for clients in Internal Audit, Model Business Processes, Enterprise Risk Management, ICOFR, Process reengineering, COSO implementation and other Risk Advisory services.
• Siddharth’s portfolio of clients in UAE includes EMAAR (Enterprise Risk Management across hospitality, malls and properties), Meraas Holding & Miral (Standard Operating Procedures), Bateel (Risk Assessment, Internal Audit, Delegation of Authority), Union Coop & Planet Pharmacies (Internal Audit), Intigral (ICOFR implementation), DTCM (ERM), ADNOC, Agthia, NPCC, Strata, Emirates Steel (COSO implementation, SOPs), Modern Bakery (IA, DOA & SOPs), Novartis, Colgate (Dealer reviews) etc.
• Siddharth has worked expensively in rolling out the legal compliance solution in India and is leading the same in UAE.

Shantosh Sridhar

Director – Analytics & Digital Transformation

Beinex

• Certified Analytics and Business Intelligence professional with 10+ years of  experience in designing and implementing enterprise-scale Analytics solutions, across Billion $ Business houses.
• Worked with several leading brands in the Middle East to setup Audit and Risk Analytics practices, tailor made for the organization’s Assurance needs.
• A regular speaker and seasoned trainer in the space of Audit and Risk Analytics.
• Experienced in deploying global BI solutions in Power BI across multiple Business conglomerates.
• Implemented enterprise BI and Analytics solutions for industry leading brands p across domains including Finance, Accounting, Internal Audit and Supply Chain & Logistics
• Have implemented fully automated BI solutions and advanced analytics solutions including Predictive Modelling and Digital Boardroom solutions
• Specialised in comprehensive project management – requirement gathering, data modelling, product design, dashboard development and final implementation
• Expert in designing and delivering customised Power BI trainings to catalyse enterprise BI adoption
• Trained more than 200 users in using Data Analytics and Business Intelligence to achieve Audit Analytics and Continuous Audit
• Seasoned professional in all phases of BI system development life cycle: from business analysis to data warehouse (DW) development and complete corporate performance management system implementation.

Volkan Pekince

Group Chief Internal Audit, Dubai Islamic Bank

​A dynamic executive-level Audit and Risk professional with significant international banking experience and an illustrious career adorning several positions in Auditing and Risk Management.

Extensive experience working in different regions, jurisdictions and cultures having held executive positions in multinational organizations such as Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC Bank Plc, and National Commercial Bank in KSA, allowed him to work in 13 different countries. 22 years of experience, spanning in multiple countries and dimensions encompassing strategic, operational and project delivery aspects, enabled a holistic view to sustainable, agile and adaptable approach to the challenging and emerging business needs.

Led diverse and global teams of located in various countries, and achieved the desired results through change, revitalization and accelerated growth. Excels in matrix and hierarchical structures, highly capable of forging strong relationships with all components of the organisation from C level executives to Board level Committees.

Recognised as a trusted partner by the executive management in supporting the organisation to achieve its objectives with a proven ability to translate complex and technical issues into plain business language, which is invaluable in gaining senior business management buy-in and support.

Expertise in conducting organizational diagnostics through a systematic assurance approach focusing on the targeted corporate priorities; creating aligned and integrated plans to deliver end-to-end solutions upholding efficiency and agility while maintaining sound internal controls to achieve enhanced and effective risk management, control and governance frameworks.

Walid Shukri

Board Member & Chairman of Board Committees

Walid Shukri went to King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor’s Degree from the School of Industrial Management (with honors). He also holds a CPA License from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. He was also awarded the Governor’s Award of Academic Excellence.

After graduating from College in 1989, Walid joined the Deloitte Firm in Saudi Arabia and then relocated to Deloitte U.S.A. in 1993. In 1995 he returned to Saudi Arabia and had direct responsibility for various clients in the Oil and Gas ( Saudi Aramco )Mining (Ma’aden) Petrochemical, Construction Engineering and Manufacturing industry. In 1999, Walid became a partner with AlJuraid/PWC. In 2003, he was selected by PWC global to work on a poverty alleviation project with the United Nations in Moldova. In 2006, Walid became the Managing Partner of PWC Saudi Arabian practice and was part of the PWC Middle East Leadership Team based in Dubai. In 2010, he sold his interest in AlJuraid /PWC Saudi Arabia. In 2011, Walid became an advisor to the Ernst & Young, Oil and Gas Centre of Excellence in Bahrain.

Walid has served various accounting and audit setting committees at the Institute of Internal Auditors, Institute of Management Accountants and regularly speaks at Corporate Governance Forums. Walid was a former instructor and regularly speaks at the MBA classes at King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals.

In 2012, Walid developed a Hotel in Madinah. In addition, in 2016 he established “Afaq Cold Storage” company in Jeddah and Manarat Jeddah Investment Company in 2019.

Walid currently serves and has served as a board member and chairman of various board committees of various companies. The companies are in various stages of maturity, ranging from family businesses to being listed on the stock exchange and global companies. The companies span various industries, i.e. Minning Construction and Engineering, Hospitality, Utilities, oil, and Gas ,Agriculture,Manufacturing, Consumer Electronics, Digital Business,Recycling and Real Estate.

Mahendra Khiani

Associate Director, KPMG

Mahendra is an Associate Director within the GRCS practice in KPMG; and has 12 years of experience in risk Consulting. He is a Chartered Accountant from India and holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management.

He has led efforts on building the IA data analytics team at GRCS as well as K-RISSE (KPMG Risk Integrated Strategy Simulated Enabler) Framework Model which integrates and transforms ERM from siloed risk driven approach to a holistic risk management program.

Mahendra has lead internal audit, ADAA regulation no. 1 implementation and testing, internal financial control implementation and testing, enterprise risk management implementation and designing of SOPs (policies and procedures) engagement teams across clients in various sectors and geographies.

Abhishek Bhattacharyya

Partner, KPMG Lower Gulf Limited

Abhisek Bhattacharyya, Partner leads the IT Internal Audit and IT Attestation Services for KPMG, Lower Gulf. In addition, Abhisek is the business and quality leader for IT External Audit service offering for KPMG Lower Gulf & Saudi Levant. He and his team of 60 bright, enthusiastic and techno-functional resources provide assurance and audit services around technology & digital risks affecting financial statements and business operations.

Abhisek is a Chartered Accountant, CISA, Certified Fintech with several years of experience in IT risk & controls, IT Audit, technology & business risk advisory, enterprise resource planning, governance, risk management and compliance management technology implementation and IT assurance. He has worked with Big 4 firms and technology companies in UK, Canada, India and Middle East. Abhisek has developed practices and service offerings, recruited and mentored large technology audit and assurance teams during his career of 20 years.

Ian Ross

Director of Financial Crime and Risk

• ‘Listed expert’: Cour pénale internationale (The International Criminal Court of Justice (‘ICC’) The Hague.
• Accredited Counter Fraud Specialist
• Certified Mediator (IMI)
• Fellow: Chartered Management Institute

Ian Ross has 30 years’ experience in risk management and financial crime investigation and prevention.  Supporting governments, audit authorities and regulators, national banks, specialist financial intermediaries, multi-national corporate entities, and international law enforcement.

Training: with a lively and engaging training style with excellent interpersonal skills, Ian has delivered fraud and ranges of ‘AML’ risk management training in 20 countries, with over 1000 hours of training.

Ian holds a PhD in International Law and a Masters’ Degree in Counter Fraud and Corruption Studies.

Published author of 3 books:

•  Exposing Fraud, Skills, Process, and Practicalities (Wiley, 2015)
• Superar el narcisismo y heurística. Entrevista investigativa de defraudadores corporativos (Overcoming narcissism and heuristics. Investigative interviewing of Corporate fraudsters) 2019 (ISBN: 978-958-8993-39-3)
• ‘CC1’ The Investigations’ Toolkit (2019).

Michael Fucilli

Ex- Vice Chair of the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Board of Directors

Michael J. Fucilli (CIA, QIAL, CRMA, CGAP, CFE), is the CAE for a large Public Sector company with Revenues in excess of $15 billion. Mike has over 35 years of internal auditing experience that includes Financial Services, Public Sector, Inventory Management, Technology & SOX Reporting. Mike has an audit staff of 85 professionals and is on the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Research Foundation Board of Directors. He was recently on the IIA North American Board and Global Board. Mike is also an Adjunct Professor for Pace University where he teaches the IIA Learning System for the Certified Internal Auditor Exam.

Indumon Das

Founder & Managing Director, Beinex

An entrepreneur and an award-winning helmsman of Beinex Consulting – the group constituting six firms spread across three continents – Indumon Das has end-to-end experience in architecting, guiding, leading, and implementing solutions in Analytics, AI, and Machine Learning for the spheres of GRC, Risk & Audit Transformation as well as Digital Transformation.

He is a product champion for Auraa – Augmented Risk and Audit Analytics – a unique single platform solution for Integrated Risk Management, Governance, Audit, Compliance, and Analytics functions that streamlines risk and audit verticals for enterprises worldwide.

A thought leader who regularly interacts and inspires the next generation of promising entrepreneurs and problem solvers, Indumon is a regular invitee to premier industry-defining forums marking tectonic shifts in times. He finds himself deeply engaged in productive conversations in those arenas with visionaries who strive for permanent positive change.

Vijay Malhotra

Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee at DP World

Vijay Malhotra is the Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee at DP World, Chairman of the Board at DP World Financial Services Ltd, Member of Group Excom and Group Audit and Risk Committee at Jashanmal Group, Senior Advisor at FTI Consulting.

Previous appointments include Chairman of KPMG Lower Gulf network. Mr. Malhotra was one of the most senior and respected KPMG partnersin KPMG’s global network and continues to be regularly consulted on various complex issues.

Mr. Malhotra is also on the Board of Governors of Indian Business and
Professional Council (IBPC), Dubai.
As Chairman and CEO of KPMG Lower Gulf (UAE and Oman), he drove the growth of the practice for more than 30 years and the firm now comprises of more than 65 Partners and over 1500 staff housed in seven offices across the UAE and Oman.

During his tenure at KPMG as Executive Chairman, Mr. Malhotra has held the Chairman’s position for KPMG – Middle East and South Asia (MESA), Executive Chairman – KPMG India, Board Member KPMG Europe Middle East Africa, Member of KPMG International Human Resources Executive Committee, among other leadership roles.

Mr. Malhotra founded the KPMG India practice in 1993, was actively involved in the leadership of the practice from 1993 to 2008, including acting as Executive Chairman, and was instrumental in growing the business to a market leadership position.

Professional and industry experience Mr. Malhotra is esteemed for his extensive experience in providing strategic and financial advice to the leadership of regional Sovereign Wealth Funds, Private Equity firms and large Family-owned conglomerates. In addition, Mr. Malhotra provides counsel to various heads of government entities on a wide array of policy issues.

Throughout his professional career, Mr. Malhotra has been involved in some of the most prominent crossborder transactions, financial restructuring exercises, and strategic reviews of companies in the Middle East region.

A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Mr. Malhotra was named as one of the top 10 Indian Executives in the Arab World by Forbes in 2017

Dr. Nashwa Joy Saleh

Senior Policy Advisor, CNED

Dr. Nashwa Joy Saleh is a Senior Policy Advisor, CNED, educator and published author. She has more than 25 years of experience across global EM with a special focus on EMEA, holding various senior policy, equity, debt and capital markets roles with a number of international
organizations and regulatory bodies. Her track record spanned mandates with USAID, EBRD, AfDB, Central Bank of Egypt, S&P Global and KPMG Corporate Finance. She is the founder of BAST Ratings (www.bastratings.com), and BAST Analytics UK Ltd (www.bastanalytics.com)
aspiring to become the first premium provider of MSME data analytics in EMEA.

She has covered financial markets & institutions across a number of Global EM and frontier markets including: Brazil, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen and a number of Sub-Saharan African markets: Sudan, Ivory Coast, Togo, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, and South Africa.

As an educator, Dr. Saleh is an Associate Professor of Finance & Fintech at Kingston Business School in London and has held several senior affiliations previously with Cranfield University, ESCP Europe, De Montfort University, Cambridge University & The American University in Cairo.

She is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, FHEA, Chevening Scholar, receiving her PhD in Finance from Bayes Business School in London, MSc in Finance from London Business School, and obtained her BA in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo (AUC). She is a CFA charter holder, member of the UK CFA Society and Chartered Management Accountant (CMA) by the US Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). She also holds a CFA certification in ESG Investing and is a Certified Company Director from the UK Institute of Directors (IoD ). Some of her board roles include non-executive director & board member, chair of the audit committee at Sandah Microfinance (founded by KfW &
AAIB) and NED at EBE Factors (subsidiary of the Egyptian Export Development Bank of Egypt).

She published a book in 2010 entitled An Anatomy of the Financial Crisis, Blowing
Tumbleweed. She speaks French, English and Arabic. In 2023, Dr Saleh was selected for the highly regarded UK Innovate Finance ‘Women in FinTech Powerlist 2022’, among only 17 women in the ‘Industry and Knowledge Champions’ category. The Powerlist shines a light on some of those making a difference in FinTech globally​.

Anil Bhandari

Chief Mentor, ANB

Anil is an inspired innovator, technologist and thought leader in Information Risk Management, Fraud and Forensic and IT Security.

Anil Bhandari has been the Past President of The Institute of Internal Auditor, India and is on the Board of ISACA, India Growth Task Force. He was an elected Central Council member of ICAI and therein he Chaired the Digital Transformation Group, Chairman of Internal Audit Standards Board and Vice-Chair of Financial Reporting Review Board.

Anil has assessed the Reserve Bank Of India’s, Internal Audit Department as the lead assessor for the highly acclaimed Internal Audit Quality Assessment Review of IIA, Inc further he has also assisted the Inspection department of RBI in its quest to implement the Risk Based Internal Audit and Enterprise Risk Function at RBI. He has been nominated by the ICAI on the working committee jointly with IRDA for establishing best practices in controls for the Investment Risk Management Systems Audit. Anil Bhandari also plays a thought leadership role in TRAI, SEBI etc.

Anil is a chartered accountant by profession; He started his career as a management consultant, serving in many sectors which ranged from engineering to commodities and from healthcare to IT/ITES. Besides, he also led several M&A and Due Diligence teams on behalf of clients spanning several industry verticals, especially in the EU region. For last one and a half decade, he has been successfully mentoring ANB, a leading Risk Advisory consulting firm.

He is also an ardent speaker. He can talk in length about innovation, and technologies, particularly related to information technology security and risk management.

Anil is now an early investor in high-growth technologies. As an investor and mentor he works in tandem with an array of early-stage technology companies which focus on mitigating new generation risk.

In his spare time, he particularly enjoys reading up on the Internet of Things, and IT security.

Dr. Hashem Stietiya

Director of Research & Development

Dr. Hashem Stietiya is the Director of Research & Development Head of Environmental Consulting at Bee’ah’s Consultancy, Research & Innovation (CRI) business unit. Over his 23 years of experience, he has demonstrated his passion for reducing environmental pollution and promoting a healthier environment.

In his career as an environmental consultant and a university professor, Dr. Stietiya has worked as an industry expert in more than 12 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. His core areas of expertise include Environmental Contamination, Air Emissions Monitoring, and Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment. His rich expertise also extends to Environmental Auditing, HSSE Regulations in the Middle East and North Africa, Environmental Impact Assessments, Environmental Monitoring, Plans, etc.

As a veteran environmentalist and researcher, Dr. Stietiya’s key scientific articles include investigations into environmental problems and attempts to find sustainable solutions. His experience in environmental management in the Middle East makes him instrumental to the process of understanding the needs of clients at Bee’ah, and accomplishing them through scientifically established methodologies.

Before starting his career at Bee’ah, Dr. Stietiya held a variety of leadership and senior technical roles at environmental consultancy companies across the region, during which time he managed and supported a team of professionals to carry out a vast array of innovative assignments. His in-depth experience and resourceful know-how in environmental consultancy has led him to spearhead major projects in the past and present. Some of these affluent projects include Soil Survey Classification and Land Use Specification (2001 – 2005), Industrial Water Vulnerability Assessment for global beverage plants in the Middle East (2010-2013), HSSE Regulatory Program for Middle East (2010-2014), Relative Accuracy Test Audits for oil and gas companies (2014-2016), Marine Remediation of Drilling Slurry Spillage in Arabian Gulf seawater (2014), and others.

Hashem Stietiya holds a PhD Degree in Environmental Soil Chemistry from Louisiana State University. He has written and co-authored numerous books & articles on varied subjects related to environmental topics including soil atlas, nano particles, sludge/metals, soil remediation and many more. In 2012, the University of Jordan honoured him with the ‘Distinguished Researchers Award’. His work as a visiting scientist at the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences at Louisiana State University – USA has also been highly commended.

Tejas Jobanputra

Associate Director, ANB

TBA

Madian Al-Hajji

Director, Internal Audit, Mubadala Investment Company

Over 20 years of experience in audit, governance, risk management, internal controls and compliance, including US-based and regional experience. Before relocating to the UAE in 2009, I had a global internal audit management role with a large US-based publicly listed multi-national company with a strong global footprint. I was responsible for managing a global team located in the US, EU and Asia.

Joined the Mubadala Investment Company in 2009, a global sovereign investor with a $243 billion business that spans six continents with interests across multiple sectors and asset classes. Managed assurance and advisory activities across the Mubadala global portfolio platform.

Key responsibilities

• Managed the Mubadala Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee (ARCC) material and communication, Internal Audit methodology and relevant charters.
• Established and managed the Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement (QA&CI) function for the Internal Audit division from the ground up (2012).
• Internal Audit Business Partner for the Mubadala Energy, Mubadala Petroleum and Petrochemicals platform and recently the UAE Investments platform, a large diversified portfolio which includes different asset classes in the energy (conventional and clean), healthcare, industry and ICT sectors.
• Managing the Internship, HASAAD and Maseeraty programs for the Mubadala Group Internal Audit Division which are aimed at developing the next generation of UAE national leaders.
• Mubadala Ethics & Compliance Champion and former member of the Mubadala Corporate Compliance Council.
• Member of the Mubadala Mentorship program.
• GE-certified Trainer for the Foundations of Leadership program.

Mohamed Hafez

Associate Director, Internal Audit and Risk Advisory, Protiviti (Middle East)

Mohammed is Associate Director in Internal Audit and Risk Advisory practice at Protiviti (Middle East) and is responsible for providing internal audit services in the UAE and across GCC countries.

Mohammed has more than 14 years of experience in the field of internal auditing, internal control and governance, and he is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and holds a Certificate in Controls Self-Assessment (CCSA).

Mohammed has presented several workshops related to risk assessment, internal auditing, governance, internal control and sustainability for many government and private entities in the United Arab Emirates. He also participated with the Institute of Internal Auditors in Hassad Training Program to develop various professional skills for UAE national and professionals.

Fady Sameh

Associate Director, Protiviti (Middle East)

Fady is a seasoned Risk advisory professional, with over 12 years of experience across UAE and the GCC region in areas related to Risk Advisory Services focusing on Enterprise Risk Management, in his role as an  Associate Director in Protiviti (Middle East) practice, Fady has lead teams of risk advisory professionals to help his clients in various industries through providing a wide array of solutions falling under Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), including maturity assessments, ERM program activation, developing ERM frameworks and governance models, Risk appetite setting and creating automated dashboards for continuous monitoring of risk management activities. He also worked with various entities in enhancing their risk management culture through delivering workshops and training sessions.

Fady holds various qualifications such as Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certification in control self-assessment (CCSA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certification in Risk and Information system controls (CRISC).

Nirma Varma

Director, ANB

Nirma Varma mentors the Information Risk Management segment of a leading advisory firm, wherein during the last 20 years she has acquired substantial knowledge in the areas related to Information Risk Management, Technology Audit, Cyber Security, Governance, Risk and Compliance, Data Privacy. Thanks to her in-depth experience of assessing risks for data centers, networks, varied technology platforms and core IT processes, Nirma has helped large enterprises in consulting/implementing cutting edge solutions in Cyber Security and the best practices for critical IS functions. She has led teams in various engagements for IRM consulting, reviews, audit, training etc., for large Banking, Telecom, Insurance, Mutual Funds and Other Financial Services companies.

Nirma is now an early investor in promising ideas and innovations through her production company “The Little Blue House”. In her personal capacity Nirma devotes her time to philanthropic activities through her family foundation that focuses on child welfare and also actively volunteers with a NGO that supports various causes on a monthly basis. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, creating and collecting different forms of art.

Abir Machaco

Associate Director, IA and Business Risk, Protiviti Middle East

Abir Machaco, a Certified Internal Auditor, has an excess of 14 years of combined experience in internal audit, risk management, and management consulting crossing both public and private sectors. Abir is currently an Associate Director in the Internal Audit and Business Risk practice at Protiviti (Middle East) and is responsible for the delivery of Business Risk and Internal Audit Services to clients within the UAE and Gulf Region. She spent most of her professional experience in managing relevant projects for a wide portfolio of Government and semi-government clients within the UAE covering several industries such as Real Estate, Projects, Hospitality, Media, Education, Government regulatory agencies, and Financial Services.

Abir’s skills include provide advise and recommendations around ways of improving the effectiveness of internal audit, governance, and compliance. she works with clients in implementing new techniques to add value to audit engagements and keep the Audit Committees well informed through transparent communications.

Abir has previously delivered a workshop session on next Generation audit during the 8^th CAE-UAE conference, 2019.

Maurits Le Poole

Head of Sales EMEA & APAC regions, Empowered Systems

Maurits Le Poole has more than two decades of experience working with highly regulated customers across the 3 Lines of Defence. His specialisation is enterprise risk management including workflow solutions for internal audit, model risk-, compliance-, operational risk-, operational resilience and business continuity management, SOX Compliance, Regulatory change and Policy Management as well as Vendor Risk Management. Originally Dutch, he lives in the United Kingdom with his wife and three sons. He enjoys fly-fishing and likes a good history book.

Capt. Mohammed Almarri

Acting Director, Internal Audit Department, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs

TBA

Ahmad AlJanaahi

Director of Internal Audit Office, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs

Vision-driven Certified Internal Auditor with career-long record of fraud investigation and audit management success for leading organizations. Offering around 8 years of expertise in Auditing and fraud investigation with a various Nature of Entities. Improvement-focused thought leader with a proven reputation in evaluating Risk management, internal controls, and Governance.

Niraj Mathur

Managing Director, Security and Privacy, Protiviti Middle East

Niraj is a specialist in Security Consulting field with more than 20 years of experience – locally and globally. He brings with him the rich experience of successfully managing large and complex projects in the region. His primary skills includes Security Strategy, Security Architecture, Security Automation and Security Operations. Niraj has assisted many large clients across the Banking, Telecom, Healthcare, Energy and Utilities, Enterprises and Public sectors in the area of compliance, risk management, technology evaluations, implementations, managed security services and formulating security roadmaps.

He has been a public speaker at multiple forums for security frameworks, approach to predictive security, threat landscape, security blueprints, mitigating risk, cloud security at GISEC, ISACA, Meet ICT, Kuwait DC, Oman Cert, IIA events. Niraj has written many articles and white papers such as  “State of Security in the Gulf” in 2017, “Role of Security in Digital Transformation” in 2019 and “Raising the bar in cybersecurity” in 2021.

Jamal Almahamid

CEO, Palmira Software House

TBA

Elias Hanna

GRC Consultant, Diligent and ZeeDimension

An industry expert who has implemented the HighBond Data-Driven GRC software in various organizations across the Middle East.

Dimitrious Petropolous

Cyber Security Professional, KPMG Lower Gulf Limited

Dimitrios has 30 years of hands-on information security experience gained working in enterprise InfoSec groups and consulting, service and solution providers. He has delivered projects for banking, capital markets and insurance institutions as well as telecom organisations, oil & gas enterprises and government agencies in over 20 countries.

Giridhar L.S.

CEO, Robotech Solutions

Giridhar served as Director for Ernst & Young before joining as the CEO of Robotech solutions with 22 years of experience.

Giridhar is a Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and a certified Information Systems Auditor, with more than 15 years of experience in Information Systems, Security and Accounting engagements with Ernst and Young. Giridhar was involved as an ERP implementation consultant for small and medium business enterprises prior to joining Ernst & Young.

Giridhar has contributed in various ERP integrity, application controls review and information systems audit related engagements in the banking / finance, manufacturing, industrial, insurance and oil / gas industries. His experience spans in the areas of  external audit, internal audit, IS/IT audit, IS security reviews, SOX404 implementation, developing Business Continuity Plans, IT Due Diligence, Data Analytics using Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs) RPA, data visualization and business process reviews.

Giridhar has been leading the MENA innovation projects in the areas of RPA and custom analytics. He Independently managed the Information Systems Audit of major clients (Banks, Insurance and multinationals) with complex IT environment.

Giridhar also has experience in training an offshore team on DA audits from creation to delivery. In the process achieving cost savings and gross margin improvements.

Semih Kumluk, PhD

Digital Training Manager, PwC Academy Middle East

Semih is the Digital Training Manager here at PwC’s Academy Middle East. He is a well-versed professional with work experience spanning over 12 years in FMCG, Telecommunications and Consultancy. He has the unique combination of business and data analytics skills; with his experience in different parts of the business he is able to analyze and interpret all kinds of business data effectively. He has delivered many trainings on Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Design Thinking, Branding, Project Management and other subjects in his areas of expertise as a trainer and won the Instructor of The Year award by CertNexus in 2021. His core expertise lie in Business Management, Data Analytics and Strategy. Semih is a strong advocate of emerging technologies and digitalization, remains actively involved in discussions around the early adaptation of these technologies and aspires to inspire others to improve their knowledge, he is delivering Keynote sessions in international conferences like LEAP, GITEX Technology Week, GISEC, FinTech Surge, AI Masters, Strata Data Conference, Telco AI Summit, World Class IT Transformation and Artificial Intelligence to increase the awareness of senior executives on these topics. He successfully launched and delivered the 1st ever Artificial Intelligence certification programme across the Middle East and also secured the 1st runner-up position in PwC’s global AI competition.

Anique Hakkin

Sales Engineer, Middle East & Africa, Alteryx

Anique works as part of the Sales Engineering team at Alteryx. Anique helps drive business and analytical transformations within organizations in various sectors. With a strong focus on product, as well as working with Alteryx customers and partners, Anique is passionate about connecting the right people to the right technology to make data accessible and meaningful.

Gavin Aspden

Regional Director for Professional Development, PwC Academy Middle East

Gavin is the Regional Director for Professional Development at PwC’s Academy Middle East. He oversees the development of executive education, leadership development programmes, training and development methodologies and technical and behavioral evaluation, analysis and assessment for the Academies in the region. He has delivered training programmes to over 25,000 students and delegates from over 3,500 organisations around the world during his twenty five years as an upskilling specialist.

Gavin has designed and delivered training programmes in executive development, leadership and succession planning and progression, financial reporting, external and internal audit, assurance, business and financial risk, management information, across the Gulf region. He has created assessment methodologies and conducted competency evaluations across all levels of organisations and is an expert in the development of learning journeys for individuals and organisations. Developing and motivating others is Gavin’s passion and he has sought opportunities, throughout his career, to develop others.

Anas Sultan

Regional Director, PwC Academy Middle East

Anas is a Regional Director at PwC’s Academy Middle East. He oversees the development of executive education and training for Academies in the region and has delivered multiple training programmes in Internal Audit, Corporate Governance and Risk Management. For the past five years, Anas was leading the Corporate Governance for one of the largest Islamic Banks in the world and has over 15 years of experience in establishing Internal Audit and Corporate Governance functions for multiple organizations with the Public and Private sectors.

Anas has led the full inception of Corporate Governance and Internal Audit functions for many highly recognized local and International organizations, alongside some of the major ministers and public sector entities in KSA.

Dr Khalid Al-Faddagh

Member of PIF Board Risk Committee

Dr. Khalid is the former Saudi Aramco Chief Audit Executive and Board Audit Committee Secretary, who retired in summer of 2015 after 32 years of diverse career. Since then he has been serving as an independent member of several Boards and Sub-Committees, such as, Board level assignments at, Vision Invest and First Health Cluster, and Chairman/member of Audit, Risk and Compliance Committees at Saudi Tabreed, SABIC, STC (Telecom), ACWA Power, Bupa Arabia, SPIMACO (Pharmaceutical) and most recently Board Risk Committee member at the Public Investment Fund, PIF

Dr. Khalid is a Mechanical Engineer with a PhD from the Imperial College, London University. He also attended an Executive Program at Harvard Business School and others on Leadership, Finance and Corporate Governance.

Dabeer Rasul

Partner – Risk Assurance, PwC

Dabeer is a partner in the Risk practice of PwC Middle East with 22 years of experience in internal audit, risk management, compliance, corporate governance and technology risk advisory. He is a Fellow Member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Information Systems Auditor. He has worked within both public and private sectors across the Middle East ranging from local to international organisations.

He has been helping clients with their assurance requirements relating to technology and data. He also been instrumental in driving the digitization and data analytics initiatives within internal audit, risk and compliance.

Dabeer has been member and chair of the various Audit Committees as well as served on various Investment and Executive Committees.

Neda Farzin

Associate – Governance, Risk and Compliance Services, KPMG

Neda is a qualified compliance and legal professional with 15+ years of experience in the areas of securities litigation, white collar crime investigation, regulatory compliance and financial crime compliance. She provides a proactive regional compliance support on all the relevant aspects of forming a compliance framework and establishing a compliance culture for multinational companies that is consistent with international standards.

• Neda conducted a control gap analysis of the compliance management, AML Controls and client onboarding/KYC of a financial institution in Abu Dhabi. Assisted in remediating the key gaps identified to ensure compliance with applicable regulatory requirement.
• Neda worked with a FX brokerage firm in conducting a gap analysis of their compliance framework and provided recommendation regarding required AML controls that must be implemented in order to be compliant with regulatory requirements.
• Neda worked with the MLRO of Global Private Banking (GPB) in advising and providing pro-active regional compliance support in the DIFC and MENA Region to ensure business is conducted in accordance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, codes, standards within Regulatory Compliance.
• Neda drafted a comprehensive Compliance Manual (AML, Sanctions, Anti-bribery and corruption, employee conduct, cross-border activities).
• Neda managed a high volume litigation practice. Performed research, legal analysis, drafted corporate legal documents including bilateral and syndicated loans, letters of credit,
• Neda was involved in secondary financing, escrow agreements, inter-credit agreements, distressed debt, and shareholder agreements in compliance with global banking laws.