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.

Abdulqader Obaid Ali

Chairman of the Board of Governors

UAE Internal Auditors Association

Previous Engagements and Experiences

Chief of Internal Audit for Dubai World Group, the holding company that manages a number of world-class companies such as DP World-UAE Region, Economic Zones World (EZW), Dry Docks World, Nakheel and Istithmar, from August 2005 until October 2014. In this role, he reported initially to the Chairman and then directly to the Audit and Risk Committee of Dubai World on Audit & Fraud related issues covering Dubai World. During his tenure beside Auditing, as a Certified Fraud Examiner he led around 500 fraud cases dealing with different agencies, including special cases in USA and Interpol.

Dubai Aluminum Company (DUBAL) heading various Departments (IT, Quality, Human Recourses).  He was involved in Quality Assurance, developing and maintaining ISO standards and certifications and the application for the Dubai Quality Award and chairing the DUBAL Suggestion Program. While serving as the Manager of Organization Development, Abdulqader was responsible for Recruitment and Training and Succession Planning.

Noteworthy Achievements

• Winner of the prestigious Kano Medal Excellence Catalyst for the year 2011 and Ideas UK Fellowship Award 2012.
• Founder of Ideas Arabia and assessor for Ideas America.
• First UAE National recipient of the prestigious Wilfred Thesiger Award, where master’s degree Scholarship was awarded to him.
• Member of the Jury for the Dubai Quality Award and SKEA, Shaikh Khalifa Excellent Award.
• Awarded the Qualification in Internal Audit Leadership (QIAL) in 2014, which falls under the umbrella of the Institute of Internal Auditors.
• Certified Fraud Examiner from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in the USA and has a Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA) from IIA

 Abdulqader holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering Technology from Arizona State University, U.S.A. and a Master of Science in Technology Management from Stirling University, Scotland, U.K. He has successfully completed “The International General Management Program for Executive Development” conducted by International Institute of Management Development (IMD), Switzerland.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi

Chief Executive Officer at Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company)

TBA

Anthony J. Pugliese

President and CEO – Ther IIA Global- KPMG Lower Gulf Limited

Anthony J. Pugliese is President and CEO of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the internal audit profession’s most widely recognized advocate, educator, and provider of standards, guidance, and certifications.

Over a career spanning more than 30 years, Pugliese has been a strategic, hands-on leader who has directed expansions into major global markets, pioneered innovative educational initiatives aimed at enhancing members’ professional growth, overseen the internal audit function of a major organization, and re-shaped cultural norms toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusiveness (DE&I). As CEO of The IIA, he drives the vision and management of a global professional association that represents more than 230,000 members, 164 chapters, and 115 affiliates in nearly 200 countries and territories.

His focus is on enhancing membership services, creating new approaches to learning and competency development programs, global advocacy, and enhancing the value of internal audit, particularly in its role of addressing organizational risks and opportunities. He is helping both The IIA and the internal audit profession evolve for the future through projects to modernize professional standards and certifications. He spearheaded the groundbreaking “Internal Audit: Vision 2035 – Creating Our Future Together” project, which aims to identify what the internal audit profession will look like – and should look like – in 2035 and create a roadmap to help the profession achieve that vision.

Brad J. Monterio

Executive Vice President, Member Competency & Learning

The IIA, Global Headquarters.

Brad Monterio is the global Executive Vice President, Member Competency & Learning, for the Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA). In this role, Monterio is responsible for portfolio strategy, product management/development, product delivery, learning technologies, instructional design, education partnerships, learning competency frameworks, and innovation for IIA professional learning products and services globally. He also leads the Commercial and Affinity Partnerships team that manages licensing, resellers, channel partners, sponsors and advertising for the IIA.

Prior to this role, Monterio was Chief Learning Officer for the California Society of CPAs (CalCPA and the CalCPA Education Foundation) where he led similar efforts for the largest state CPA society in the US (with more than 45,000 members).  Monterio was previously Managing Director of Colcomgroup, Inc., a strategy, marketing and advisory services firm based in New York.  In that role for more than 25 years, he counseled organizations on growing market share, opening new markets, developing new revenue streams and driving market adoption, and his focus was on the auditing, accounting, financial services and technology sectors. Clients included corporations, professional associations, standard setters, accountancy bodies, technology vendors, consulting firms and others.

Monterio has been working in the global sustainability movement for more than 15 years focusing on reporting frameworks, standards and technologies to help companies understand new reporting paradigms and changing information needs of the market, particularly with non-financial and ESG information. He is currently the IIA voting representative to the Integrated Reporting & Connectivity Council (IRCC), now part of the IFRS Foundation.  IRCC was formerly the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and has merged with SASB to form the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF) prior to its merger with the IFRS Foundation.

Monterio is also a former investment banker specializing in private placements and capital introduction for start-ups, and served in marketing and product development positions at Chase Manhattan Bank in international private banking, investment product development and retail banking. 

Monterio recently completed his 12^th year as a Global Director on the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) Board and has served as a member of the Board’s Governance, Planning & Development, Volunteer Leadership, Global Markets and Nominating Committees. He was also the IMA’s former voting representative to the IIRC. He is a recent past member of the IMA Sustainable Business Management Committee, and chair emeritus of the IMA Diversity & Inclusion Committee as well as the Technology Solutions & Practices (TS&P) Committee.  Previously, he served as chair of the IMA XBRL Committee and helped to transition this to the current Technology Committee. He was also a member of the IFAC Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAO) group representing the IMA.

Monterio served as a Board Member of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) for 6 years, an association for professionals certified in actuarial science in the property & casualty insurance sectors. He is a former vice chair of the XBRL International Best Practices Board, a global body responsible for driving adoption of the structured data/XBRL technical standard and promulgating best practices around its implementation and use. Monterio is a current member of the ACCA Technology Global Forum. He co-chaired the ICAEW Natural Capital Accounting Structured Data Task Force to explore the feasibility of a structured data/XBRL strategy for the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS). 

He is a current member of the Thomson Reuters Foundation Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board, and sits on the UCLA Extension Internal Audit Advisory Board. Monterio is past co-chair of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) XBRL Feasibility Task Force, a former Organizational Stakeholder of GRI and previous member of the Carbon Disclosure Project’s XBRL Taxonomy Working Group. 

Monterio regularly speaks/writes/blogs on technology, corporate disclosure, data governance, integrated reporting, ESG/sustainability, XBRL and interactive data, DE&I, marketing and communications issues. 

He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Dartmouth College in 1988, speaks French and is an avid traveler.

For more information, please visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradmonterio.

J. Michael Peppers

Chief Audit Executive for The University of Texas System

J. Michael Peppers is Chief Audit Executive for The University of Texas System. He oversees the internal audit function of more than 100 professional staff for a university system that provides education, health care, and research at fourteen academic and health institutions. It has over 243,000 students and an annual operating budget of more than $25 billion. Over a 35-year career that began in public accounting, Mike has led progressive internal audit activities at major not-for-profit organizations in higher education and health care. He has held numerous volunteer board and leadership positions. He is currently The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) representative on the Board of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) and the Immediate Past Chairman of the IIA International Internal Audit Standards Board (Chairman 2020-23). He was on the IIA Global Board of Directors, having served as Global Chairman for 2017‑18 and the IIA North American Board (Chairman 2012-13). Mike was inducted into the IIA American Hall of Distinguished Audit Practitioners and was a recipient of the IIA Victor Z. Brink Award for Distinguished Service and the Association of College and University Auditors Outstanding Professional Contributions Award. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy from the University of South Florida.

Sally-Anne Pitt

Chair of the Global Board, 2023-24

Sally-Anne Pitt is the 2023–24 Chair of the Global Board of Directors of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and has been a Director on the Global Board for the past five years.

Sally-Anne established Pitt Group in 2003 to provide audit and assurance services to the public sector, civil society, and corporate organizations. She has 30 years of leadership experience in operational, service delivery, and consulting roles and is globally recognized as an expert in quality assurance.

She is the author of Internal Audit Quality: Developing a Quality Assurance and Improvement Program. She has helped more than 100 organizations in various countries build their audit and assurance capabilities, including BHP, Telstra, the Australian Department of Defence, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Toyota Finance, and Services Australia.

Sally-Anne is an excellent communicator with extensive experience in cross-cultural environments. She has facilitated numerous global training workshops with audit and assurance professionals and has presented at international conferences in Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Norway, the U.S., Australia, the U.K., Ghana, and the UAE.

Sally-Anne is a Professional Fellow of the Institute of Internal Auditors – Australia, a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and a Certified Government Auditing Professional (CGAP). She has a Bachelor of Applied Science degree, a Master of Public Policy degree, and has completed post-graduate business studies at the Darden Business School, University of Virginia (U.S.).

She is the Chair of the Tertiary Education Qualifications and Standards Authority (TEQSA) Audit and Risk Committee and, until 2022, was a member of the Lifeblood (Red Cross) Advisory Committee and Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry Ethics Committee. She is a former Director of IIA-Australia, Chair of The IIA’s Global Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee and has been a member of IIA global committees since 2008.

Richard Chambers

Senior Internal Audit Advisor, Auditboard

Richard F. Chambers, CIA, CRMA, and CFE is founder of The Audit Trail Academy and serves as Senior Internal Audit Advisor for AuditBoard – the leading cloud-based platform transforming how enterprises manage risk. Chambers also serves as a non-executive director on the Board of Directors of SWAP Internal Audit Services in the UK, the overseas Dean of China’s Nanjing Audit University, and on UNICEF’s Audit Advisory Committee.

Prior to his retirement in 2021, Chambers served for more than 12 years as president and CEO of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the global professional association and standard-setting body for internal auditors. He has more than four decades of internal audit experience including service as national practice leader in Internal Audit Advisory Services at PwC; inspector general of the U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority; deputy inspector general of the U.S. Postal Service; and director of the U.S. Army Worldwide Internal Review Organization at the Pentagon.

Chambers is a globally recognized blogger and an award-winning author, writing The Speed of Risk: Lessons Learned on the Audit Trail, 2^nd Edition (2019), Trusted Advisors: Key Attributes of Outstanding Internal Auditors (2017); and Lessons Learned on the Audit Trail (2014). His fourth book, Agents of Change: Internal Auditors in an Era of Disruption was released in March 2021.

John Gill

President, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

John Gill is the President of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). He also serves as an advisory member to the ACFE Board of Regents.

Gill began his career at the ACFE in 1995 as its first general counsel. He then created, and was the first director of, the ACFE’s research and publications department. His most recent position was Chief Training Officer where he oversaw all of the ACFE’s training activities.

In 2006, he developed the CFE Exam Review Course and has taught that class on six continents. He has also conducted training for Fortune 50 companies; federal, state, and local government agencies; and professional organizations across the globe.
Gill graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor’s Degree in English, and he earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law.
Prior to working for the ACFE, Mr. Gill was an attorney in the Austin, Texas office of the law firm of Bragg, Smithers and Curry, where he was involved with civil fraud, insurance, and deceptive trade practices cases.

Gill is a co-author of The Fraud Examiners Manual. He is the former publisher of Fraud Magazine and is a contributor to the magazine.

Mr. Gill is a member of the Austin Chapter of ACFE, Phi Beta Kappa, and the State Bar of Texas.

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.

Kamal Fayek Azer Yacoub

General Manager, Head of Audit Quality Assurance and Follow-Up, Banque Misr

25+ years of experience in Egyptian and Gulf banks in the field of Governance, Risk Management, Control, Internal Audit & Audit Quality assurance.

Career Path:

Sept.’96: Started Audit Career at “Egyptian American Bank”, as a Retail and Corporate Credit Auditor.

Sept. 2000: Moved to KSA to work as Head Of Credit Policy Review, Risk Management Division / National Commercial Bank.

Nov. 2007: Moved to UAE to work as AVP Senior Audit Manager, Union National Bank, Abu Dhabi.

July 2009: Head of Audit Quality Assurance, ADIB/Egypt.

Oct. 2020 till date: Head of Audit Quality Assurance and Follow-up, Banque Misr.

Professional Certifications:

2009: Professional Banking Credit Risk Management, 6 Sigma Consulting Firm

2014: Certified Quality Auditor “CQA”/American Society for Quality

2017: Certified in Control Self-Assessment “CCSA”/Institute of Internal Auditors

Major Achievements:

NCB/KSA: Project Manager for the Risk Management Sector transformation Project including Risk Architecture, new policies and procedures, revamp the structure, automation and scoring of credit approval, & early warning signs system, in line with Basel accord and in cooperation with Mckinsey Consulting Firm.

ADIB/Egypt: contributed in the transformation of the audit Sector after acquiring National Bank for Development, supported the Sector to fully adhere with the IPPF and international best practices.

Banque Misr: contributed in the progress of the audit function, launching new policies and procedures manuals, adoption of Risk Based Audit and Value-Based Audit approaches, uplifting the audit team skills about best international practices and IIA standards and guidelines.

Mohamed Yehia Ahmed

Chief Audit Executive, Banque Misr

Mr. Mohamed Yehia brings more than 23 years of professional experience in internal and external auditing. Before joining Banque Misr, Mr. Yehia was the Chief Internal Auditor and the Audit and Risk Review Division Head at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank – Egypt. Having displayed continuous efforts and success, he was assigned additional responsibilities and chaired the Board of Directors of the ADIB “End of Service Fund”.

Before serving at ADIB, Mr. Mohamed has joined KPMG-Hazem Hassan as a Senior Audit Manager (Financial Sector and Contracting). He has demonstrated significant professional experience working for various prominent institutions. 

He has also strengthened his professional development through continuous academic and professional training. He is a CPA, CIA, CISA, CFIP & MBA holder. Further, his expertise spans over different segments, including auditing Financial Statements, Fraud Investigations, Cross-Border Audit Reviews, Quality Assurance, IT, Information Security, Corporate and Retail Credit Risk, Operations, Subsidiaries, Compliance, and Corporate Governance, in addition to conducting Financial Due Diligence (Valuation) for Financial Institutions for Mergers and Acquisitions. He has a well-established track record of experience in strengthening the Corporate Internal Control Systems, Risk Management Framework, and Corporate Governance.

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.

Joanne Traice

Group Chief Internal Auditor, DP World

Joanne is the Group Chief Internal Auditor at DP World, where she has been an integral part of the organization since 2007. In her current role, she holds the responsibility of leading various critical teams, including Business Audit, Technology Audit, Fraud Risk Services, Enterprise Risk Management, Business Resilience and Digital Assurance Solutions, overseeing a talented group of over 60 risk experts.

Joanne collaborates closely with the global Executive Leadership team, providing invaluable independent risk insights, support, and assurance to bolster robust risk management, governance, and control practices across the company’s extensive global portfolio.

As an advocate for diversity and inclusion, Joanne serves as DP World’s Executive Sponsor for Women and holds the esteemed position of Chair on DP World’s Women’s Council, where she actively works to drive gender balance initiatives throughout the organization.

With a career spanning over 25 years, Joanne’s expertise covers diverse regions, including Europe, the Middle East & Africa, the Sub-Continent, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. Prior to joining DP World, she spent nearly a decade with PwC, working in both the UK and UAE, providing her expertise in assurance services to numerous multinational companies.

Joanne is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) and holds the title of Authorized Training Principal for the ICAEW’s ACA qualification. In recognition of her leadership in the field, she was honored with the Qualification in Internal Audit Leadership from the Institute of Internal Auditors in 2014.

Lara Habib Chamat

Conference Moderator

Lara embarked on her professional journey as a research analyst in Blom Bank, one of Lebanon’s largest banks, and worked there for 3 years. She subsequently transitioned to CNBC Arabiya where she presented the main business programs for two years.

In 2006, Lara joined Al-Arabiya News Channel as the presenter and producer of “Aswaq al-Kuwait”, a weekly program delving into sensitive topics in the Kuwaiti market. Simultaneously, she reported daily on the stock market and significant economic developments.

In 2008, She moved back to Dubai to present “Aswaq al-Arabiya” programs, the flagship business bulletins that follow the daily performance of Arab and international stock markets. The program routinely features conversations with influential decision-makers and esteemed CEOs from leading corporations.

During her work, Lara covered several high-profile conferences including the annual WEF meetings in Davos, the IMF-World Bank meetings, G20 meetings, among others.  

Her extensive portfolio of interviews encompasses conversations with distinguished figures within the local and international business sphere, such as ECB Governor Christine Lagarde, IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva, former World Bank Presidents Robert Zoellick and James Wolfenson, former Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, Saudi finance minister Mohamed al-Jadaan and Emaar Chairman Mohammed Al-Abbar.

Lara is of Lebanese origin and holds an MBA from the Lebanese American University (LAU), in Beirut. She speaks Arabic, English and French.

Abbas Ali Muhammad

Deputy Chief Internal Auditor, Bank Dhofar Oman

Mr. Abbas is currently leading Internal Audit at Bank Dhofar, Oman. He is an Internal Audit Professional with great success story of more than 22 years having led operational, financial, and business internal audits, conducted numerous high value fraud investigations and Bank Examinations. Also worked with credit rating agency, banking and non-banking financial institutions. Mr. Abbas has won multiple organizational excellence and performance awards for his team. Mr. Abbas has great Passion for Internal Audit transformation, and ability to build relations and partnerships that help positive contributions by internal audit in improving organizational processes and embrace internal, external and global emerging issues. He frequently speaks at sessions organized by the IIA and other professional Chapters in Oman.

Mr. Abbas has Master in Business Administration, and he holds multiple designations like Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS), Certified Forensic Expert. He also has a certificate in Islamic banking and holds Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) designation.

Apoorva 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.

Jason Davies

Chief Internal Audit Officer

Jason Davies is a member of the C-Suite and as CIAO reports directly to the NEOM Audit Committee.

Jason joined NEOM in August 2020 and established the Internal Audit Function and Whistleblowing programme for NEOM. He is responsible for the provision of Internal Audit Services to the NEOM Group, its subsidiaries and Joint-Ventures. Jason oversees the NEOM Whistleblowing programme and all related investigations.

Jason is a people centred leader, he has established talent development programmes within NEOM Internal Audit that are recognized in KSA and at an international level. NEOM Internal Audit is now the established hub for data analytics expertise and capability development in NEOM.

As a start-up NEOM Internal Audit was shortlisted for two awards at the IIA 2023 Awards – “Best Apprentice” and  “Innovation in Learning & Development” – related to wellbeing and resilicence work. NEOM was highly commended in the second category, both awards were won by Lloyds Banking Group.

Jason joined NEOM from Tesco PLC one of the worlds leading retailers and customer data businesses. He was Chief Audit and Risk Officer at Tesco for seven years. He oversaw SFO investigation work at
Tesco and was core member of the Tesco culture reset and corporate renewal programme. He developed culture assurance and investigation centers of excellence.

Jason has served as a NED at the General Dental Council, Sue Ryder (a healthcare charity) and as a Trustee of Tesco Pension Scheme – the largest private pension scheme in the UK. Jason sat on the Investment Committee which governed an in-house fund management business with
c.18$bn in assets under management.

Jason became a partner at Deloitte in 2006. He has Bachelors Degree in Politics, an MBA and is currently studying for an MSc in Psychodynamic Theory in Organisations at the world reTavistock
Clinic.

He has lived, worked and studied in Zambia, the Middle East, Chile, USA, UK and Russia. He also has extensive experience in China, Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Hatem Dowidar

Group Chief Executive Officer, e& (Etisalat)

Hatem Dowidar is the Group CEO of e&. He joined the Group in September 2015 as Group Chief Operating Officer and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer, International in March 2016. Ever since he took the company’s helm, Dowidar has spearheaded several ground-breaking strategic programmes that propelled the company’s business growth to new heights across the 16 markets where it operates. As the company transformed into a global technology and investment group in February 2022, and despite the ever-changing business landscape, his astute brand stewardship has been the foundation for enhancing e&’s brand equity, enhancing employee experience, and adding value to stakeholders. Today, e&’s portfolio of brands is among the most valuable in the region standing tall in global rankings. Dowidar also has been ranked 22nd in the Global Brand Guardians Index (BGI), up from 79th place in 2022, to become the first in the Brand Guardianship Index (BGI) Telecoms Ranking and the first CEO from the Middle East and Africa region to top the index. Under his guidance, the company is also recognised as the most valuable publicly-traded company and, according to Forbes, also the most valuable listed telecommunications service provider in the GCC region. A highly skilled strategist and visionary, Dowidar has been instrumental in ushering in a new phase of strategic partnerships and key collaborations with global industry leaders such as Microsoft and Meta that will digitally empower societies. 

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.