Abdullah Alshamsi is Assistant Undersecretary, Industry Growth, at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MOIAT).

Abdulla has numerous professional achievements during his career, such as establishing Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, leading negotiations and finalization of a US$ 350 bln acquisition transaction in Russia, managing Shell Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical assets in the Middle East.

Prior to joining MOIAT, Alshamsi held the position of Senior Vice President of Upstream Projects at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and at Mubadala Investment Company, he held the position of Investment manager leading merger and acquisition transactions related to oil and gas in addition to working in Strategy and Asset Management at Shell where he held several positions in engineering and economic analysis in Netherlands, Britain and Sultanate of Oman.
Through his accumulated experience in the public and private sectors, Alshamsi will lead a package of programs, policies and initiatives to support and enable the growth of the national industry, enhance its contribution to the national economy, diversify the economy, and increase local content.

Alshamsi is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds a Master’s degree of Public Administration in Economics and Economic policies from Columbia University in New York and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University in Canada.

Salem Bafaraj is the Vice President, In-Country Value & Market Development at Commercial & In-Country Value Directorate in ADNOC with responsibility for Leading the Market development and Execution of In-Country Value (ICV) Strategy in ADNOC.

With over 19 years of experience in Oil & Gas industry, Salem started his career journey in ADNOC Drilling Company. Over the years, he has held multifaceted responsibilities in the area of supply chain strategic planning, stakeholders management, budgeting and financial planning, engineering, Information Technology, projects management, and transformation programs. He particularly focused in driving efficiency, improving business excellence & agility thus making it fit for future.

Salem is a holder of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from UAE University, as well as a degree in Master of Business Administration from Abu Dhabi University with Distinction. He also holds credited certifications in supply chain and Information technology.

Courtney Sader is General Counsel for Raytheon Emirates ltd. and Raytheon Saudi Arabia where she serves as a member of the leadership team for both companies and is responsible for managing all legal matters including prime and subcontractor procurements, offsets and other transactions, corporate governance, joint ventures, human resources, and anti-corruption compliance.

Suman Jacob is currently the Head of Procurement at Accenture for Middle East and Africa.

He has 25+ years of experience in sourcing, category management, contract negotiations along with other aspects of supply chain management. Before Accenture he has worked in various industries, such as Manufacturing, Printing, Marine Trading, Retail, Construction & Technology.

At Accenture he is leading a team of sourcing professionals supporting sourcing process across various categories & commodities for internal & client facing opportunities.

Natalia Rudenko is a Senior Manager with the Local Content Program Advisory practice at Protiviti Member Firm for the Middle East Region. Based in Abu Dhabi, she brings over nine years of experience in finance, project management, risk and regulation, delivering on major change management programs and business analysis engagements for senior executives and board members across industries in the UAE and Europe.

Natalia is managing the In-Country Value (ICV) and Electricity Tariff Incentive Program (ETIP) certifications for UAE companies. Over the last three years, she has led initiatives for building the firm’s capabilities in Local Content Program advisory facets, focusing on the clients’ needs and delivering value through exceptional work. Natalia has been responsible for certifying more than 1000+ suppliers.

Graduated in 2014 as part of NYUAD's inaugural class with a degree in Economics (Finance Concentration). Worked in management consulting for 3 years, The Hashemite Royal Court for one year, and at NYU Abu Dhabi as a fundraiser close to 4 years.

Dr. Deeb is a highly experienced business executive and global leader in economic development and trade. He has worked in over 25 countries from Africa, Central Asia to the Middle East. Over the last 20 years, he has focused on helping companies and governments increase local employment, diversify economies, attract new investment, and develop SMEs, while reducing cost and realizing a positive return on investment. He has worked in several sectors ranging from chemicals, oil and gas, to food, and agriculture, IT, and defense. He has led the most successful Value Add programs in oil and gas, including the BP Enterprise Development and Training program in Baku, iktva in Saudi Arabia and supported the execution of ICV in UAE. Prior to joining T&M Associates, he held several positions in DuPont and Honeywell. He holds several patents and received his PhD from Texas A&M University in Chemistry.

Kim is Managing Partner, O2K Limited. A proven business development executive, Kim has over 35 years’ experience with international business development, specializing in the Middle East and North Africa. Kim’s clients have included globally recognized companies in defense, aviation, security, telecommunications, hospitality, retail, healthcare, education, energy industries as well as professional advisory service providers.
Kim’s understanding of the needs and difficulties of companies seeking to do business in the Middle East and North Africa spans over 30 years and is widely respected. An inspirational and motivating leader, she is a board member of AmCham Abu Dhabi and served as President and member of the Board of Directors for the American Business Group of Abu Dhabi, for over 8 years.
She is Chairperson of the Programs Committee and Defense and Aerospace Offsets Subcommittee. She also served as President of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and was a Director on the Board of Directors for over a decade.

Kim believes that Inspiration is the most important element for driving economic growth, technical innovation, and leadership development. She is Executive Producer and Host of “Inspiration Tuesdays”, streaming on ROKU and Fire TV, featuring guests from around the world that are an inspiration to their industries, colleagues, and communities.

She holds a BSc Operations Engineering degree from North Carolina State University and was the first female
manufacturing engineer employed by Volvo Bus Company in 1983 as well as BMY Combat Systems, now a BAE Systems company, in 1986. She is married to Clark Hjelseth, US Army Special Forces Retired, and has a son, Kyle Schwartz, a US Army
Aviator serving OCONUS.

Francesca Gori is the Regional Director of Legal Services at Accenture for Compliance, Operations, Regulatory and Employment law. She leads a team of approximately 40 in-house talented lawyers across Middle East, Africa and ASIA PACIFIC, and is also the General counsel for Accenture in Middle East.

Throughout her career, she gained extensive experience in major international law firms providing support to multinational companies. During her 18-year tenure with Accenture, Francesca has been part of several global project implementation initiatives, as well as the set-up of new operations and legal entities across the Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia and Latin America regions.

Francesca holds a Law degree from L.U.I.S.S. Guido Carli University in Rome, Italy, and has a strong background in Compliance, Employment Law, Immigration and Corporate law, Data Privacy, and Regulatory matters across EMEA. She lives in Dubai with her son Leonardo of 13 years old and enjoys spending time with her family.