About the 20th Annual Regional Audit Conference

This Regional-class event has been attracting over 1,500 attendees annually. The UAE IAA Regional Conference showcases the best the profession has to offer and provides participants from around the world with an understanding of the latest developments in internal auditing. Today, the Regional Conference is the premier event for internal auditors who want to hear powerful keynote speakers and international presenters representing the global internal audit profession. Attendees are presented with a number of concurrent sessions on today’s current issues and trends, industry best practices seeking to address common challenges, and knowledge-sharing opportunities. The overall experience enhances professional development, provides engaging peer-to-peer networking, affords access to key service firms and vendors, and much more.

Internal auditors from all over the Middle East & MENA Region will converge on Dubai to gain new perspectives, insights, Knowledge, Networking and Leading practices relevant to all levels and industries. With the theme “Revolution & Transformation of IA” the 20th Regional Annual Audit Conference will deliver a program that delves into timely issues impacting the profession with the most updated challenges. On top of earning CPEs, you will have the opportunity to network with fellow auditors from other countries, share ideas, challenges and solutions, and hear from global leaders on topics that apply across the board.

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.

Apporva Yatindra

Head – Telecom and Automation Vertical, ANB

Chartered Accountant and CISA by qualification, is part of the leadership team of the Business Risk Management vertical at ANB and has more than 18 years of experience in internal audits, consulting & risk advisory services. He heads the Telecom vertical at ANB and services clients across 25+ countries in Middle East, SE Asia and Africa. He also leads ANB’s automation initiatives and is actively involved in development of the ‘Governance through Robotics’ platform.

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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Maryam Zaman

Partner, Head of Governance, Compliance, and Internal Audit for Financial Services, KPMG Lower Gulf

Maryam has over 17 years of Advisory experience with KPMG. Prior to joining KPMG Lower Gulf, Maryam had 4 years of experience in providing Internal Audit, Corporate Governance, Business Process Improvement, Valuation, and Structured Finance related advisory services in KPMG in the United States.

Relevant Experience:

• Maryam has led more than 100 Internal Audit projects for local UAE clients across multiple sectors including banking and financial services,  insurance, government entities, free zones, financial services, etc.
• She has conducted more than 50 comprehensive corporate governance reviews by benchmarking the CG framework with leading practices from developed markets as well as regulations including Central Bank Regulations, SCA regulations, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, King IV Code, UK CoCG and OECD Guidelines. She has managed various Corporate Governance assignments that have included developing CG manuals, Management Committee Charters, Code of Ethics, Company Secretary Policies and Procedures, Insider Trading Policies, Fraud Risk Management as well as Share Dealings Manual.
• She has conducted more than 10 Board Effectiveness Reviews in the UAE wherein she provided value-added insights on how Boards can enhance their structures, composition, operations, oversight over key control functions, and promote active participations amongst all board members.

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.

Mohammad Abu Dalo

Senior Director, SLC (Saudi Arabia)

Mohamed has over 17 years of experience in Risk Consulting Services and currently leads GRC solution in Saudi and Levant. He worked closely in various sectors such as; Public Sector, Financial Institutions, Oil and Gas, Healthcare, Real Estate Development in addition to the International Development Agencies including World Bank, IFC, UN, etc. Mohammad is joining us from KPMG Jordan where he spent his last 10 years after serving KPMG across the middle east including, Lebanon, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

Mohamed is an expert in Governance, Risk Management, Compliance (GRC), Internal Audit and Business Process Improvement. He led several projects for Corporate Governance Transformation including Board Composition, Capacity Building, Risk Management, Compliance and Internal Audit functions for multi sectoral companies including, banks, insurance, family businesses, etc.  Mohammad has also worked with regional regulators to assess the progress in achieving the mandates of Federal Reserve and FATF workforce.

Mohammad lead GRC solution across KPMG and he is also leading public finance and Transport along with other key sectors such as Public Financial Management and Municipalities as one of KPMG’s priority along with all regulatory entities.

In addition to the above, Mohamed led advisory functions in the last few years covering Jordan and Iraq. He contributed significantly for the awareness of KPMG brand in Iraq and the services KPMG can provide in Technology, Organizational Development and Restructuring, Feasibility Studies, Public Sector Transformation, Public – Private Partnerships, etc.

Hamdan Hamdan

Associate Director, Forensics, KPMG Lower Gulf Limited

Hamdan Hamdan, is an Associate Director for KPMG across the Lower Gulf, with 11 years of big four experience and has worked on many of the regions most pre-eminent investigation and dispute cases. Hamdan has worked on one of the largest private frauds in the world, where he provided a wide range litigation support to a team of lawyers and legal experts. Hamdan has experience conducting investigations on behalf of GCC regulators, board of directors, and internal audit teams. In addition, Hamdan has experience assisting government and private entities in developing and implementing their anti-fraud frameworks.

Fraud Risk Management Experience

• Hamdan has assisted a multiple federal entities in developing and implementing their anti-fraud frameworks as well as developing their internal investigation manuals. During these engagements he has conducted gap assessment based on global best practices and local federal minimum requirements, developed the necessary policies and procedures, and conducted anti-fraud training and awareness sessions to their internal audit teams and employees of the entities. In addition, he has assisted the entities in conducting their initial fraud risk assessments.
• Assisted clients in developing the fraud response protocols, including developing their investigations manuals, ToR for their Investigations Committees.
• Hamdan has assisted many other non federal entities in assessing and enhancing the anti-fraud frameworks to be in line with regulatory requirements as well as leading practices. This included reviewing their current policies, developing additional policies, conducting fraud risk assessments, implementing Hotline reporting channels and associated procedures, and developing and conducting awareness sessions. 

Investigations and dispute experience

• Assisted with the investigation of one of the largest alleged fraud cases in the Middle East. During the investigation he examined evidence, aided in the preparation of expert witness statements, supported legal disclosure review requirements, and provided a wide range of litigation and asset tracing support to a multinational team of lawyers and legal experts.
• Hamdan was part of team that was appointed to conduct an investigation into a private equity firm to review multiple funds and to determine the use of funds and to review the fund expenses. Findings were reported to local regulators as well as investors.
• Hamdan conducted an investigation into a large GCC investment bank that has gone into administration on behalf of a GCC regulator to review the flow of investor funds related to two of the banks infrastructure projects to determine if there was any indication of wrong doing /fraud by the parties involved

Fadi Al Shihabi

Head, Sustainability, KPMG KSA

Fadi has +22 years of professional experience in sustainability/ESG, decarbonization, circular economy and impact measurement across various sectors in the MENA region.

Fadi has a deep understanding to the ESG and its related risks and opportunities including strategy development, stakeholder engagement, materiality and maturity assessments, reporting, social & environmental impact measurements and assurance.

Fadi has a significant involvement in developing the ESG/Sustainability agenda in the MENA region via supporting both of public and private sectors in this area for the last 14 years. This is in addition to support the third sector and mega events.

Fadi has also been supporting regulators to further improve the reporting guidelines and frameworks like GRI, UNDP, KSA MEP. As well as deliver training courses and sessions.

Fadi has supported clients in various sector like financial sector, energy sector, telecom and media sector, mining sector, real estate & hospitality and retail sector.

Fadi has been working in Kuwait to support clients in their ESG journeys like KPC, KFH, KIPIC, PIC, Zain Telecom and others.

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.

Harris Anwar Matin

Director, Advisory, KPMG in Oman

TBA.

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.

Suleiman Gammoh

Associate Director, KPMG Lower Gulf Limited

Suleiman is a member of the Advisory practice. He has over 13 years of International experience in Technology and Cyber risk, IT advisory, IT Audit, Attestation services, ERP controls reviews, GRC Implementations and IT Risk Assurance. Suleiman has been involved in executing security reviews, ISAE 3402/ SSAE16 (SAS 70) audits, GRC Implementations and Information Risk Management assignments and has experience serving clients across Oil and Gas, Energy, Manufacturing, Banking, Trading and Hospitality sectors in the Middle east and Australia.

• Developed and enhanced the methodology used by the Global practice for auditing / reviewing ERP systems, particularly in relation to Security, and GRC
• Led an ISAE 3402 attestation engagement for a leading business process outsourcing service provider – KSA
• Led a SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 examination for controls relevant to trust principles Security, Confidentiality and Availability at one of the leading IT organization – Qatar
• Worked on an ISAE 3402 attestation engagement for a global bank providing various services – Australia
• Security risk assessments based on client defined assessment methodology adopted from ISO 27001 controls – Australia
• Led IT Security and business process review Internal Audit assignment for a major airline company – KSA
• Led various risk assessment and audit engagements Model Business Processes: Developed model business processes for Project Management Function. This included understanding the as-is process, identifying the gaps, benchmarking to the industry leading practices and developing fit to company processes and procedures with improved controls

Simon Crowther

Partner, Forensics, KPMG

Simon is a specialist in the prevention and detection of fraud and serious non-compliance, with a unique background as an accountant, lawyer, federal agent (police detective) and senior executive in government. Simon has over 20 years of professional experience across a broad range of clients.

Just prior to joining KPMG Lower Gulf, Simon was a Partner at another Big 4 Forensic Practice where he specialized in complex investigations, compliance and anti-fraud engagements across a broad spectrum of clients. in the UAE,

As a federal agent with the Australian Federal Police, Simon investigated a number of high profile fraud matters including HIH Insurance, Australia’s largest corporate collapse. As a senior leader at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission he led teams of lawyers, accountants and investigators examining civil and criminal breaches of the Corporations Act.

An experienced senior executive in the Australian government, Simon has overseen legal, compliance an investigation areas of large departments and has also held appointments as a regulator.

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).

Rami Wadie

Partner – MENA Region Risk Advisory Leader, RSM

Rami is a Partner and the RSM MENA Risk Advisory Leader, and a member of the RSM Global Risk Advisory Committee, with more than 26 years of experience in the region, serving organizations both public and private sector clients in a range of industries. Prior to joining RSM, Rami led the Risk Advisory services with Deloitte in Kuwait and Qatar, and was the Governance, Risk and Compliance regional leader, providing a wide range of risk advisory services including the design of enterprise-wide risk management frameworks, ethics programs, regulatory compliance frameworks, Internal Audit, governance frameworks development and assessments, and sustainability projects. He has strong Board presence, providing Board assessments, board trainings and awareness across the region. Rami started his career with Ernst & Young, then led the Internal Audit function to a multi-national entity across the MENA region.

During his career, Rami advised multinational and regional clients in various sectors including, Financial Services (Banking, Insurance, and EFM’s), Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pension Funds, Governmental and State-Owned Enterprises, leading a wide range of projects focusing on ERM, risk assessments, GRC, Ethics, regulatory compliance programs, internal audit, such as:

• Organization-wide GRC Framework design, development, and implementation
• ERM for a key financial institution in KSA
• Risk assessment and transformation for a major regulator in the region
• Risk Assessment for one of the largest global sovereign wealth funds
• Leading internal audit co-sourcing and QAR for a major regulator in the region
• Regulatory assessment for a major regional Bank in line with local regulations
• Board assessment for a major regional Telecommunications company
• Board of Directors Trainings to several organizations
• Code of Ethics to a multi-billion global oil company
• Compliance framework to a major transportation authority in the GCC
• Insurance regulations for a major Insurance Regulator in the GCC

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.

Phil Mennie

Data Privacy Leader, PwC Academy Middle East

Phil Mennie is PwC’s Middle East Data Privacy Leader and a partner in Digital Trust Partner. In this role he leads projects in cyber security, data privacy, data management and business continuity management across many industries. He has 15 years of experience helping clients manage all forms of technology and digital risk.  Outside of the Middle East he has worked or studied in Europe, the United States, Russia, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Phil is also a published author, having written a book in 2015 on digital and social media risk and governance for businesses.

His experience and expertise stem from a strong foundation in data analytics, programming and technology. He has led the development of a number of complex and bespoke IT systems, including secure systems in financial services, which help clients capture, manage and analyse operational and financial data.

Phil is also a regular keynote speaker at a variety of technology conferences around the world.

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.

Varun Verma

Director, Internal Audit and Financial Advisory (IAFA) Services

Varun has over 14 years of experience in financial, operational, and compliance audits, risk assessment and corporate governance services at Protiviti. He has advised clients across industry sectors, including sovereign wealth funds, asset management, private equity, government, aerospace, retail, hospitality, and manufacturing, extensively involved in various Internal Audit transformation exercises. He has also contributed to various Middle East publications related to Internal Audit.

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.