Past Speakers

Aakif Ahmad

Co-Founder & General Partner, Forest Light Capital

Aakif Ahmad is a General Partner of Forest Light Capital (FLC), an investment holding company that acquires and grows family-owned companies with a consistent track record of revenue and profits in main street industries. From 1996 to 2008, Mr. Ahmad worked at the Corporate Executive Board where he led B2B sales teams that generated over $100M in revenue and more than 4,000 new clients. He is a Co-Founder of Convergence, a nationally recognized 501c3 organization that facilitates cooperation among leading stakeholders on major policy issues. Mr. Ahmad has spoken at TEDx Washington, D.C., Brookings, Des Moines Committee on Foreign Relations and the Florida Network for Global Studies. Mr. Ahmad earned a B.A. from Yale University in Ethics, Politics and Economics, and M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management. He has served two terms as President of OPEN Washington DC.

Co-Founder & General Partner, Forest Light Capital

Aamir Chalisa

Managing Director, Futurity First Insurance Group

Aamir Chalisa is a Managing Director at the Oak Brook, IL branch of Futurity First Insurance Group (FFIG). He leads this branch with 50 agents; it was a leading Branch at Futurity in 2021. Aamir currently serves as the International Advisory Council Chairman for GAMA Global. With a successful record of accomplishment in growing diversity in corporate America, Aamir has 31 years of experience in the insurance and financial services industry. Aamir joined this Company in a Sales Vice President role managing 6 branches for FFIG. Previously he was a Vice President of Market Development and Diversity for Nationwide Financial Network (NFN), the affiliated retail distribution business of Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: NFS). He played a critical role in growing the NFN field force through various recruiting programs. He also worked closely with management and with the company’s multicultural marketing team to increase Nationwide’s presence in diverse markets. Before joining Nationwide, Aamir was in sales and management positions with Met Life, Prudential, and Mony/AXA. With each company, he was responsible for developing and managing an experienced diverse field force while increasing the business presence in the local Chicago Land communities.

Managing Director, Futurity First Insurance Group

Aater Suleman

Start-up Advisor & Investor

Aater Suleman, Ph.D. has spent over a decade working at the forefront of cloud technology. He is a recognized thought leader and a frequent speaker at events including AWS re:Invent, Dockercon, TechWell and O’Reilly. He is a Technology Council Contributor for Forbes. Dr. Suleman also holds a faculty position at the University of Texas at Austin.

Start-up Advisor & Investor

Abrar Hashmi

Consul General, Consulate General of Pakistan, Houston

Mr. Hashmi is a career diplomat and joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1999. Before joining as Consul General in Houston (November 2019), he held important assignments at Pakistan Missions Abroad including that in Kuwait, Lebanon, India Acting High Commissioner in Ottawa (Canada). At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Islamabad), Abrar served as Director General for Foreign Missions; crafted and implemented E-visa. Earlier, he was Director, India and Kashmir; he was Staff Officer to Special Secretary and also served as Dy. Director (Personnel). Academically, he holds twin Master in Public Policy and Diplomacy. He was a fellow on “fresh water diplomacy” at NPSIA, Carleton University Ottawa (Canada). He was also a resource person on fresh water dialogue under the Atlantic Council.

Consul General, Consulate General of Pakistan, Houston

Abu Bakar

Chief Information & Digital Officer, Summit Medical Group & CityMD

Abu Bakar is currently the Chief Information and Digital Officer for Summit Medical Group and CityMD, where he is responsible for strategy, governance and implementation of all technology and digital experiences. Abu has over 20 years of progressive career accomplishments with the last 10 years in the C-Suite As CIDO, he delivers business transformation through his innovative strategic vision. Abu’s expertise lies in his ability to build and empower high-performance IT teams in executing complex IT, Digital, Operations, Supply Chains, and E-Commerce projects. Prior to Summit CityMD, Abu was Chief Information Officer at Chobani, Barneys New York and vineyard vines where he set the vision and execute all technology initiatives. Abu has a proven record of partnering with corporate leaders to provide technology solutions with a high degree of customer satisfaction and success. Abu also sits on the board of several non-profits including OPEN New York, New Jersey Institute of Technology and to the Sales Force Customer Advisory Board, Abu frequently speaks at industry conferences globally. He holds a master’s degree in technology management from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Chief Information & Digital Officer, Summit Medical Group & CityMD

Akif Tarique

Global Head of Insurance Practice, Visionet Systems Inc.

Ali Asghar

Vice President Strategic Partnerships, Honeywell Aerospace

Ali is Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at Honeywell Aerospace, a business group within Honeywell International (NASDAQ: HON) with 2020 revenues of USD11.5 billion. He has more than 25 years’ experience in financial services and technology industries. Prior to Honeywell, he was Chief Financial Officer and Head of Space Underwriting at elseco Limited. elseco, headquartered in Dubai with offices in London, Paris and Washington DC, is a global leader in Space and Aviation insurance. Prior to elseco, Ali headed Lazard Middle East where he led a number of M&A and debt advisory mandates. Before Lazard, Ali worked at Mobile Satellite Ventures, specifically on their next generation hybrid satellite-terrestrial communications network and America Online as General Manager for the Wireless Broadband Group and Executive Director, Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Development. Started career at McKinsey & Co and worked at Morgan Stanley and Warburg Pincus. BA in Finance and BSc. in Computer Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania; MBA, Harvard Graduate School of Business School; AM in Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Member, Global Future Council for Space at the World Economic Forum; Board member, World Space Week.

Vice President Strategic Partnerships, Honeywell Aerospace

Ali Hussain

Co-Founder and Product Lead Vixul

Ali Hussain, shared Aater’s passion for using technology to save human creativity from mundanity. He was convinced by his friend to join Flux7 where he was the CTO and Co-founder. Where he led the engineering team. Over its journey, Flux7 received many accolades including being featured in Austin Fast 50, Best AWS Consulting Partner by Tech Target, Inc 5000, CRN 250.

Co-Founder and Product Lead Vixul

Ali Samir Oosman

Managing Director, Endeavor Pakistan

Passionate about early-stage venture and impact creation - Ali strongly believes in the transformaive power of entrepreneurship in disrupting legacy industries; positively impacting the lives of millions and driving economic growth. He has been an active participant in the Pakistani startup ecosystem since 2012, where he has built a strong network across the corporate, startup and VC landscape. Ali has worked closely with founders on investor readiness, actively supporting fund raising efforts and solving early growth/operational challenges. This has built a steady pipeline of deal flow and active engagements with important industry stakeholders. Additionally, Ali has held several leadership positions; working with cross-functional teams, launching new ventures and growing businesses across MENAP which includes healthcare, financial services, software, insurance, education, advisory services, IoT, digital mapping and food. Previously, Ali led strategic partnerships and deal flow for the global Microsoft for Startups Program (Founders Hub) across 10 countries in MENATP. In this capacity; he planned and executed the Microsoft GrowthX Accelerator program in a multi-year partnership with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO). He currently leads Endeavor Pakistan as Managing Director where he is tasked with establishing the global platform in-country in order support the growth of the entrepreneurship ecosystem and scale high-potential founders/business.

Managing Director, Endeavor Pakistan

Ambereen Mirza

President, OPEN Global

Ambereen Mirza, an entrepreneur, educationist, and international development executive is the President and Chief Executive Officer of OPEN Global, a nonprofit founded 25 years ago as the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America with just 7 Charter Members. Today it has blossomed into OPEN Global, one of the most powerful Pakistani diaspora networks of entrepreneurs and professionals across a diverse range of sectors worldwide. Ambereen first volunteered at OPEN’s $50K Business Plan Competition held in Boston in 2001. At the time, OPEN had its presence only in Boston! Over the past two decades, she created virtual hybrid and in-person programming, developed partnerships, raised sponsorship, and recruited members and volunteers. Ambereen holds a Master of International Public Policy degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a BA in International Relations and History from Tufts University. She has always been passionate about International Affairs and socio-economic development. After Tufts, Ambereen joined Morgan Stanley, where she acquired her Securities licenses and training in the financial services industry, along with client relationship skills that proved valuable to her consulting engagements and volunteer activities. She left Morgan Stanley to consult with entrepreneurs, investment publications, international development firms, and nonprofits. She has advised on business planning and fundraising strategies. Her clients have included J.E. Austen & Associates, who retained Ambereen to work with early-stage companies from the Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) sector at the International Business Development Center, an incubator in Cairo. Her work for nonprofits includes writing strategic plans, creating partnership agreements with Fortune 500 companies, and drafting fundraising proposals. Ambereen has built relationships and partnerships across multiple ecosystems, and has written on a range of topics, such as private equity investment in Pakistan for the Economist Intelligence Unit. Having worked in a number of roles within the international development sector, Ambereen has long championed social entrepreneurship as a method to address systemic problems in society. Her projects have spanned the healthcare, education, and financial inclusion sectors across MENA, Southeastern Europe, South and Central Asia, and the Caribbean. Boston GreenFest awarded her the 2019 Green Initiative Leadership Award for her work supporting natural disaster programs from Texas to Haiti all the way to Pakistan. Ambereen loves to mentor and teach. She taught undergraduate, graduate, and executive level courses on entrepreneurship, corporate citizenship, civic engagement, and business ethics, including "Innovative Social Enterprises” for Tisch College of Civic Life and the Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts University. Students learned how to write a business plan, an elevator pitch, and develop a fundraising strategy. While mentoring student entrepreneurs at Tufts, she mentored entrepreneurs at Root Cause, a nonprofit accelerator in Boston. During her term as OPEN Global President and CEO, Ambereen has further strengthened the OPEN brand, expanded its leadership team and geographic footprint, revived the tradition of the exclusive OPEN Global Charter Member retreat after a 4 year pause, and launched programs and initiatives, including its first virtual mini-MBA and a monthly book club.

President, OPEN Global

Aneela Haider

Regional Counsel, Sutherland Global Services

Aneela Haider is an experienced attorney, a business advisor, a mentor, and a mom of four. Aneela is certified in-house counsel by the Association of Corporate Counsels and is head of legal for the Middle East and North Africa region at Sutherland Global Services. She sits on the company’s board in Saudi Arabia. Aneela has 10+ years of onshore experiences in Saudi Arabia. She initiated a soft skills training program at Prince Sultan University School of Law (Riyadh) during her tenure at DLA Piper. She also lectured at the PSU School of Law on Women in Law. Other speaking engagements include digitizing legal departments and online cross-border team collaborations. She has contributed to Global Merger Control Handbook as an author on Saudi laws and is the country representative (Saudi Arabia) for the Association of Corporate Counsel - MENA Chapter. Aneela earned her BSc from Cornell University and her J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law. She is a winner of CALI and WIKINS awards. Aneela is admitted to Maryland State Bar.

Regional Counsel, Sutherland Global Services

Anusha Shahid

Co-Founder of OkayKer

Anusha started her journey with Pakistani startups in 2018 leading the expansion team for FindMyAdventure (now acquired by GoZayaan). The journey allowed her to understand how startups scale from idea to growth phase. At OkayKer, Anusha took on the challenge of leading and managing operations for a complex service industry. Anusha is also a Fulbright Scholar who studied Entrepreneurship from University of Rochester.

Co-Founder of OkayKer

Ashish Mathur

Co-founder and Executive Director of El Camino Health’s South Asian Heart Center

Ashish Mathur is the Co-founder and Executive Director of El Camino Health’s South Asian Heart Center since its inception in September 2006. He has created the Center’s vision and its mission reduce the high incidence of diabetes and heart attacks with culturally tailored, science-based, and lifestyle focused services. Developed with his guidance, the Center’s has become a unique resource for community members to evaluate and reduce their risk for chronic disease. The Center’s work has been recognized by the 21 th Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US House of Representatives, the California Legislative Assembly, and the Santa Clara County. Most recently the work of the Center has been cited and recommended in the AHA (American Heart Association)’s scientific statement on evaluating and treating cardiovascular risk in South Asians. Ashish has also created the Center’s STOP Diabetes program that has been given Full Plus recognition by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) as part of their National Diabetes Prevention Program. Ashish has been the successful founder and has worked at several Silicon Valley software startups including Selectica, Inc., Pure Software, Teknekron Communication Systems, Adaptive Technologies, Network Equipment Technologies, and Rolm Corporation. His completed B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay and a MS in Computer Science from University of Southern California.

Co-founder and Executive Director of El Camino Health’s South Asian Heart Center

Asjad Amin

CTO of OkayKer

Asjad has more than 8 years of experience, developing tech products for private and public entities including Sindh Education Foundation. He also built a customized inventory management software for autopart traders operating in Pakistan. Asjad also ran his own software house with clients from across the globe.

CTO of OkayKer

Azam Arastu

Former VP, The Boeing Company

Dr. Azam Arastu recently retired as a Senior Executive of The Boeing Company where he was a VP of one of the Boeing Space & Defense Systems divisions. Before that, he was Boeing’s chief engineer and program manager on several major space programs ofnational and international significance. He has over 35 years’ experience in Space & satellite systems, energy technologies and program management. His expertise is well recognized across the Aerospace industries in USA, Europe, Japan, Russia & Australia forwhich he received over 25 major awards from Boeing, NASA (including NASA’s highest award), Rockwell, AIAA, USAF, DARPA, Japanese space agency &European Space Agency. He is also Boeing Technical and AIAA Associate Fellow. Dr. Arastu had led several major, manned & un-manned, space programs related to human space exploration, interplanetary missions, satellite communications, earth observation, surveillance. Solar electric propulsion, space nuclear power, etc. He hand a pivotal role on International Space Station, Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, James Webb Telescope, future manned missions to Mars, major satellite constellations and numerous other satelliteprograms. He obtained his B.Sc., M.Sc. D.I.C & Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Control Theory from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, UK. He authored over 40 scientific and technical publications and co-authored two AIAA technical standards on spacecraft system design. Additionally, he is an Adjunct Professor at University of Southern California (USC) as well as UCLA teaching graduate level classes on Satellite Systems design and Space Power systems.

Former VP, The Boeing Company

Danish Munir

Founding Partner, GreyMatter Capital

Danish Munir is a healthcare entrepreneur and investor, and currently serves as Founding Partner at GreyMatter Capital, a VC firm dedicated to unlocking breakthrough progress in mental health and wellbeing. They believe we are in the early innings of a dramatic sea change, creating new opportunities and transforming a range of under-served $100B+ markets across behavioral healthcare, neurological disease, and broader consumer mental wellness. Danish also founded, and continues to serve on Investment Committee for Watershed Ventures, a VC firm that harnesses the power of entrepreneurs from non-traditional backgrounds to cause transformative change in industries that matter, including healthcare. Most recently, Danish served as CTO & Co-founder at Genoa Telepsychiatry and CIO at Optum. Danish and his partners founded 1DocWay in 2011 with a mission of increasing access to behavioral healthcare for the underserved. Over the course of 10 years, Danish and his partners led 1DocWay through incubation, venture financing, an exit /PE recap in 2015 and then another exit to Optum in 2018 as the largest provider of telepsychiatry services in the nation, currently serving over 250k+ Medicaid appointments per year. Previously Danish worked at Microsoft on improving online safety technologies (phishing, malware, spam and pornography content filtering) and Lehman Brothers (Algorithmic Equity Research and Valuation). He studied Computer Engineering and Finance at UPenn and Wharton respectively. Danish grew up in Karachi, and considers both Karachi and New York home. His interests include cutting edge developments in mental health and therapeutics, ultimate frisbee and live music. Danish serves on the board of Emgage, and previously on the board of Muppies.

Founding Partner, GreyMatter Capital

Dilawar Syed

Special Representative for Commercial & Business Affairs, State Department

Special Representative Dilawar Syed advances trade, commercial, and economic policies for America’s workers and the middle-class to help create well-paying jobs. Serving in the State Department, Special Representative Syed drives commercial diplomacy globally through commercial advocacy and creating a level-playing field for U.S. companies overseas. Syed has led bilateral engagements across the globe advocating for US private sector interests, fair trade practices, and inclusive economic growth. Syed draws from his experience as an entrepreneur and a public servant who has advocated for inclusive entrepreneurship at the federal and state level. In an entrepreneurial career spanning over two decades, Dilawar Syed has built global businesses that are driving a major impact across technology, healthcare, and business services. Most recently, Syed was CEO at Lumiata, a healthcare AI company. Previously, Syed was President at Freshworks where he helped scale the software company’s products to thousands of small and medium businesses. Freshworks went public in 2021. Earlier in his career, Syed was an executive at Yahoo! platforms and data division. Special Representative Syed has driven civic efforts at the federal and state level in addition to his global work in business and entrepreneurship. In the Obama Administration, Syed played an active role in promoting the State Department’s Global Entrepreneurship Program and connecting Silicon Valley innovators with emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems – from South Asia to the Middle East and Turkey. As the founding Chair of California Entrepreneurship Task Force with Governor Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development, Syed drove inclusive entrepreneurship bridging coastal regions with the state’s rural heartland and helped small businesses struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Syed also served on President Obama’s White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and chaired the White House Initiative on AAPIs’ Economic Growth Committee. In that role, he led the administration’s engagement with small businesses across the U.S. after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Syed served as a liaison with the Small Business Administration and the Department of Commerce on federal initiatives such as the President’s Export Council. Syed holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin.

Special Representative for Commercial & Business Affairs, State Department

Dr. Iffat Zafar Aga

Co-Founder and COO of Sehat Kahani

Dr. Iffat Zafar is the Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer for Sehat Kahani, a telemedicine startup based in Pakistan. She did her medicine from Ziauddin Medical University and did her MSC in Global E-Health from the University of Edinburgh. She is a Commonwealth scholar, She is the Finalist for the Being Edinburgh Award (2023), She is the Winner of Heroines of Healthcare Award given at the World Health Summit (2022),winner of Tie SIngapore Women’s Global Competition 2022, winner of GBH Health - FutureUnited Provocatour Award (2022), She is the recipient of the MIT Elevate Prize (2020), she is a Global Challenges Canada Innovator (2020-22) . She was featured by Microsoft in a documentary in 2023 as well as their Microsoft4Africa in 2020 for the women-led success stories in South Asia, GSMA Accelerator (2018-19), & a Good Fund Fellow 2017-18. Featured by Forbes for being the founding team of the 100 to watch companies from Asia (2022).

Co-Founder and COO of Sehat Kahani

Dr. Sara Saeed Khurram

Co-Founder and CEO of Sehat Kahani

Dr.Sara Saeed Khurram has over 8 years of experience in the field of Digital health care as the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Sehat Kahani is a widely used Digital Health Care platform in Pakistan with the vision to democratize health care access for all using technology and a committed network of doctors with the commitment to enable flexible work opportunities for female doctors otherwise facing socio-cultural barriers to practice.Sehat Kahani’s platform as available as an Mobile Application for the mass consumers and corporations and as e-clinics in low income communities. Sehat Kahani’s mobile application is used by 1M+ consumers, and 410+ corporates today. Sehat Kahani also has the largest network of 38 E-clinics nationwide. Over 1.1 M consultations have been conducted on the platform overall impacting 3.5 millions patients till date via consultations, counseling and health education.

Co-Founder and CEO of Sehat Kahani

Duriya Farooqui

Board Director, Intercontinental Hotels Group & Intercontinental Exchange

Duriya Farooqui is an accomplished executive known for leading complex operations, business transformation and innovation. She has served in a variety of leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer of the City of Atlanta and President of Supply Chain Innovation at Georgia Pacific. Farooqui is currently a Board Director of Intercontinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG) and Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE). She also serves on the board of the New York Stock Exchange and co-chairs the NYSE Board Advisory Council of CEOs, that is advancing diversity on boards. In addition, she is an executive coach with The Exco Group. Farooqui earned a B.A in Economics and Mathematics from Hampshire College, and a M.P.A in International Development from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Active in civic leadership, she is a Trustee of Agnes Scott College, a Commissioner of Atlanta Housing, and a member of The Carter Center Board of Councilors.

Board Director, Intercontinental Hotels Group & Intercontinental Exchange

Ehtisham Siddiqui

CEO of Closet

Heads Marketing, IT and Finance at Closet. He has a Bachelors in Computational Finance.

CEO of Closet

Eric Flachbart

Vice president, Byonyks

Eric Flachbart has been developing medical devices which move fluid into and out of human patients in the US for the last 30 years. The devices range from infusion pumps for various applications to a proof of concept of an amputated limb perfusion machine for the US military. His work ranged from inventing new technology such as developing and clearing through the FDA the first smart infusion pump which contained a downloadable drug library to building up company infrastructure to develop and commercialize medical devices in the US. Eric joined Byonyks in 2018 to help bring peritoneal dialysis to Pakistan. Now with the development well underway he has moved to Lahore Pakistan to aid in completing development and ensuring regulatory clearance in several market areas. The Byonyks APD machine is the 39th medical device Eric has worked on during his career.

Vice president, Byonyks

FAHIM SIDDIQUI

Executive VP & CIO, The Home Depot

Fahim Siddiqui is executive vice president (EVP) and chief information officer (CIO) of The Home Depot. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the company’s technology strategy, infrastructure and software development for The Home Depot’s more than 2,300 retail stores, supply chain facilities, store support centers and online systems. Prior to being named CIO, Fahim served as senior vice president of information technology. Fahim and his team focused on the development of innovative applications and solutions for the online, marketing, merchandising, data & analytics and supply chain functions. Using an agile approach and the latest in cloud-based engineering practices, the team enhanced the interconnected experience across the company for customers and associates. Since joining The Home Depot in 2018, Fahim has led the build of several transformational capabilities that are powering the One Home Depot strategy. This includes the rollout of a central platform of common services to deliver agility, consistency and efficiencies across the customer experience. Before coming to The Home Depot, Fahim spent more than three decades leading software development in the retail, energy and telecom sectors. Most recently, he was senior vice president/CIO – eCommerce & digital at Staples, where he led software teams responsible for the digital transformation of the enterprise. Previously he served in technology, product and engineering leadership roles at Vidyo, Intralinks, Sereniti (founder), K2 Software, MCI, Time Warner Telecom and Sprint. For his technical contributions, Fahim has been awarded 5 U.S. patents. Fahim actively gives back to the community by volunteering at Team Depot events and serving in leadership roles across Atlanta. He is on the Board of Directors at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra where he is a co-chair of their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) taskforce. For his contributions to DEI, the National Diversity Council recognized Fahim with its Technology Leadership Award in 2020. He also serves on the Carter Center’s Board of Councilors, was named to the Islamic Speaker Bureau’s Top 100 Georgia Muslims and received a commendation from the Georgia State Senate. Fahim also serves on the Alumni association governing board of the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He holds an executive MBA from Brown University and IE Business School and a master’s in computer science from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, where he was honored with the Alumni Achievement Award. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Iowa State University.

Executive VP & CIO, The Home Depot

Faisal Mushtaq

Board Member, CEO, ex Allscripts, ex Change Healthcare

Faisal as SVP & General Manager Clinical Networks, leads business lines focused on enabling clinical connectivity for Change Healthcare clients across various care settings. Most recently, Faisal was the President/CEO of Truveris Inc, a venture funded SaaS Healthcare IT company focused on managing pharmacy spend for Fortune 1000 and government entities. He successfully led significant up round of growth equity led by McKesson Ventures. Prior to Truveris, Faisal Mushtaq was SVP & General Manager for the Payer & Life Sciences business at Allscripts. This business focused on bringing innovative solutions across the entire healthcare value chain generating immediate value for providers and patients by leveraging Allscripts clinical data, adherence and education messaging infrastructure to enable improved clinical outcomes. He also oversaw the Payerpath RCM business. Faisal has been in the healthcare IT industry since 2000 and has extensive entrepreneurial business experience. He has led teams of all sizes, spanning many organizational areas including Portfolio Strategy, Sales, Business Development, Technology, Operations and Software Development. He currently serves as a board advisor for the CommonWell Health Alliance and is also a board observer for BEKHealth. Faisal earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has also completed Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Board Member, CEO, ex Allscripts, ex Change Healthcare

Faizaan Ghauri

Founder & CEO, WEOM

Faizaan Ghauri is the Founder and CEO of WEOM, a Metaverse for Humanity. Previously he was CEO at WRLD, a company transforming the future of the physical world through a virtual, decentralized, 3D platform to drive actionable real-world change. His work includes creating the first platform that lets artists, creators, and developers connect to redefine the future of the physical world with sustainable architecture, urban cities, and create positive movements. he has helped transition WRLD from C++ to Web, Mobile, VR, AR, and has established a 60K+ developer community since 2016. Prior to founding WRLD, he co-founded Itchy Fingerz Game Studio, and has served as Vice President of Strategy at Netsol Technologies, as well as Steering Committee member at NSPIRE, a business incubator for technology startups based in Pakistan. An MBA graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, he loves to write poetry, make rap and practice mindfulness.

Founder & CEO, WEOM

Farah Ali

Vice President, Technology Growth Strategy, Electronic Arts

Farah Ali is Vice President Technology Growth Strategy at Electronic Arts. Prior to joining EA, she served as co-founder and CTO at FreightWeb, a venture capital-backed logistics tech startup working to optimize partial truckloads. With a sustained focus on deep technical roles, Farah began her technical career as an engineer at Microsoft after graduating with a degree in Computer Science. She has held senior engineering leadership roles at Microsoft, eBay, and Electronic Arts. Her engineering experience is both deep and diverse: she has worked on everything from shrink-wrap products to online services, large-scale distributed systems, and machine learning & AI. Her passion for innovation, entrepreneurship, and learning has led her to be involved in the startup community through investing, advising, and board service. She is a board advisor at the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington, a technical advisor at Madrona Venture Labs, a Strategic Venture Advisor at Embedded Ventures, and is on the boards of several private companies and startups (Sofy, Aboveboard, Dalix, MoveIt). It is also this passion for learning and making an impact that has her teaching as an Affiliate Instructor at the University of Washington. Farah believes strongly in paying it forward and in making an impact by championing causes close to her heart. She is the founder and president of the non-profit One Good Act, an organization focused on empowering those living below the poverty line, and a co-founder of Pakistani Women in Computing, where she works as an advocate for underrepresented populations in STEM fields.

Vice President, Technology Growth Strategy, Electronic Arts

Farrukh Usman

Founder & CEO, Byonyks Medical Devices, Inc

Faruk Bhagani

Account Director, Salesforce CEO, Tech Sheck

Faruk is a Pakistani entrepreneur based in the US, with close ties to the Pakistani tech ecosystem. He has set up initiatives such as 3M Pakistan, as well as Founded OPEN SoCal, bridging the gap between Pakistan and its diaspora in Silicon Valley. Having worked at Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and Salesforce in the US, Faruk decided to establish Tech Sheck, a videocast that showcases the Pakistani tech start-up ecosystem, giving back to the Country and make note of the revolutionary boom taking place within the industry.

Account Director, Salesforce CEO, Tech Sheck

Gabe Torres

Co-Founder, Ricult

Gabe Torres is a Co-Founder of Ricult and serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. After completing his degree from MIT in Physics and Economics, he launched his career as a Market Maker, specializing in commodities and credit derivatives at SIG. Gabe later became a partner at Hard Eight, a proprietary trading firm in the US. After a few years, Gabe left the firm to shift his focus from trading to helping startups make better strategic decisions while supporting them both as an investor and an advisor.

Co-Founder, Ricult

Hafiz Haq

Strategy & Business Development Executive

Hafiz Haq is a Chairman of Professional Education Foundation. He has a 50 years of diverse business experience in Large corporations and Start up companies. Also a former Senior Vice President at Philips Electronics looking after their JVs and venture investments, founder of Success Creation International, a consultancy focused on helping start ups in commercializing their new technologies. He worked in Pakistan, Europe, Silicon Valley, Hong Kong and now lives in London and a former board member at 4 technology start ups and one JV in Japan, former Charter Member at TIE, Silicon Valley Chapter and OPEN-London. 13 years ago, he launched a social entrepreneurship project in Pakistan called Professional Education Foundation (PEF). It funds the education cost of those brilliant students who has obtained an admission in a professional college but can’t afford to pay their fees. Starting with 85 students in 2010, PEF educated 2200 students in 2022, thus becoming the largest private funder of professional education in Pakistan.

Strategy & Business Development Executive

Hamza Tauqeer

Co Founder & CEO

Health care leader & seasoned entrepreneur. Currently working towards transforming the health care journey of 220M+ Pakistanis through digital solutions.

Co Founder & CEO

Haris Ahmed

Founder & CEO of Pragmatium Consulting Group, Inc

Haris Ahmed is the Founder & CEO of Pragmatium Consulting Group, Inc, a global management advisory consultancy specializing at the intersection of strategy, organization, and leadership. He serves as a Trusted Advisor to many Boards and CEOs. Haris currently serves as the Chairman of OPEN Chicago and is an active community leader including mobilizing the Muslim and Pakistani- American community for civic engagement. Previously he has served on the Business Advisory Group for the Governor of Illinois and as an advisor to local Chambers of Commerce. Haris is a philanthropist and together with his wife Yasmin, administers the Yasmin and Haris Ahmed Giving Fund which directs funds to charitable organizations. Haris has an MBA (cum laude) from the University of Notre Dame with a focus on strategy and leadership and a BA in economics and politics from NYU.

Founder & CEO of Pragmatium Consulting Group, Inc

Hasnain Akber

Co-Founder of OkayKer

Hasnain has experience working for major tech startups in Pakistan including Careem and Daraz. Hasnain was part of the team that launched bikes in Pakistan and was responsible for reducing logistics cost for Daraz from 30% to 60%.

Co-Founder of OkayKer

Hassan Ahmed

OPEN Global Co-Founder

Prior to Sway Al, Dr. Ahmed served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Affirmed Networks, which was acquired by Microsoft in April 2020.Before founding Affirmed Networks in 2010, he was a senior advisor at Charles River Ventures. From 1998 to 2008, Dr. Ahmed served as Chairman and CEO of Sonus Networks. Prior to that time, he served in various executive roles at Ascend Communications, Cascade Communications and Analog Devices. Dr. Ahmedpreviously served as Associate Professor of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering and Associate Professor of Finance at Boston University. He also serves as a Director of Ciena. Dr. Ahmed holds a BSEE and MSAE from Carleton University and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

OPEN Global Co-Founder

Henna Inam

CEO, Transformational Leadership Inc, Author of Wired for Disruption

Henna Inam is an executive coach, global speaker and the author of the book Wired for Disruption. A 20-year veteran of Fortune 500 companies she has seen first-hand the pressures of leading in times of disruption. Her book details the five shifts in agility and 15 Agility Accelerators (tools and practices) to help activate our innate agility and be a force for good in times of disruption. Her neuroscience-based research shows that agility is already built into our DNA. In the book, she shares how these shifts are within our control and promote well-being to help us thrive in the future of work. Together, we can create workplaces and a world that work better for all.

CEO, Transformational Leadership Inc, Author of Wired for Disruption

Imran Husain

CEO, Celeritas and Techoryze Inc

Imran is the founder and CEO of Celeritas, a digital consulting firm that partners with Fortune 500 corporations and large public sector organizations on strategic projects in marketing communications, technology platforms, and learning solutions. Imran is a thought leader in digital and technology transformation for life sciences companies and routinely advises marketing executives on how to increase HCP engagement, expand patient education, and empower sales teams across therapeutic areas. Prior to launching Celeritas in 2010, Imran spent 15+ years in management consulting, leading teams in the US, Europe and Asia, and overseeing the delivery of business transformation initiatives in eBusiness, Financial Systems Architecture, Risk Management, and Operational Strategy. He is also the Founder/CEO of an EdTech startup called Techoryze, an expert-centric technology coaching platform, focused on solving technology problems and driving classroom technology integration for K-12 teachers globally. Imran is the current president of the Tri-State chapter of OPEN. And has served on the boards of multiple non-profits including the Association of Talent & Development, Jessie Isador PTA board, Human Development Foundation, Rotary Club (Karachi), and the Institute of Management Consultants USA. He lives in New York City with his wife and three kids.

CEO, Celeritas and Techoryze Inc

Imran Khan

OPEN Global Co-Founder

As an Avionics Engineer holding a Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a specialization in Digital Signal and Image Processing from UCSB, Imran Khan brings a wealth of expertise to FLARE's (Florida University's Applied Research and Engineering) Al/ML/DL/NLP Platform Solutions Area, where he currently serves as a leader. His professional journey includes significant contributions to cutting-edge technologies at renowned institutions such as Mercury Computer Research, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and Draper Laboratory. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a versatile skill set, designing innovative products for diverse markets, including communications, machine vision, video conferencing, imaging, and loT. In his role as the CEO and co-founder of Novatech LLC, he was dedicated to providing online education globally, focusing on the 'Practice of Engineering.' Notably, He was the inaugural President of OPEN, showcasing his commitment to fostering professional networks. Despite his demanding professional commitments, he makes time for personal interests, including a passion for golf. His multifaceted background and dedication to technological advancements underscore my commitment to driving innovation and making a positive impact in the field of engineering.

OPEN Global Co-Founder

Imran Qidwai

Technologist, Entrepreneur, Activist & Original OPEN Co-Founder

After a distinguished career in the computer industry, Imran is now active in the area of climate action as a Market Development Fellow at NECEC, a non-profit membership organization, where one of his activities is to enhance the adoption of Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) in the Northeast US. Imran is a technologist and entrepreneur, and one of the original founders of OPEN (Boston, March 1998). He co-founded MessageMachines, a mobile messaging startup, where he was VP of Engineering and which had a successful exit. He has worked at several startups in full-time or interim executive roles, and helped entrepreneurship initiatives in Egypt, Kosovo, Pakistan, and Serbia on USAID funded projects. He worked at other large & small public & private companies where he built and shipped many products and participated in the creation of industry transformative products for financial trading, SaaS and mobile messaging. His employers include Intel, Aepona (acquired by Intel), L1-ID (Idemia), NMS Communications (acquired MessageMachines), Lotus/IBM, Digital Equipment, Philips, and ICL. Imran has a BS EE from Peshawar University; EDE diploma from Philips International Institute, The Netherlands; and, MS in CICE from University of Michigan.

Technologist, Entrepreneur, Activist & Original OPEN Co-Founder

Jabran Niaz

CEO at Utopia Deals & Utopia Industries

Jabran Niaz is CEO at Utopia Deals, an e-commerce business in USA; also CEO at Utopia Industries, a manufacturer and exporter in Pakistan, the combined revenue of both companies is 650 million USD for Year 2022 Utopia Deals founded in 2011, it is top 2 seller at Amazon.com (overall), it sells consumer goods, providing household items majorly in the North America, UK and Europe. Its products are best sellers in 50+ product categories, its products are featured on dozens of publications including NY Times, Forbes, People magazine, Yahoo and Vogue it has sold up to 100 million units so far; almost every household in the US, Canada, UK and Europe has a Utopia Brand product. It owns dozens of patents, trademarks and copyright for its products, it manages warehouses of 800,000 Square feet in USA east coast, west coast, Canada, UK and Spain, it was awarded shipper of the year last year by Amazon. Entire team running the business is based in Karachi, Pakistan Utopia Industries started operation in 2020, in just 3 years it built total 2.5 million square feet of manufacturing facilities at 6 different locations, it is top 25 exporter of Pakistan, 10,000 people are working in its facilities, it is one of the most diversified manufacturing facility in the world, it is manufacturing Bed Sheets, Pillows, Blankets, Comforters, Quilts, Towels, Knit Garments, Knit Bedding, Mattress Protectors, Plastic Products, Nonstick Cookware, Cast Iron Cookware, Metal Racks, Personal Care Products, poly staple fiber, corrugated boxes, Tape, Zip, elastic and poly bags

CEO at Utopia Deals & Utopia Industries

JAMIL WYNE

Founder, Climate Tech Bootcamp

JAMIL WYNE is the founder of the Climate Tech Bootcamp, Co-Founder of Riffle Ventures, and a Co-Founder of the Oxford Climate Tech Initiatives at Said Business School. He is also working on a handful of climate tech/finance projects in MENA. Jamil and his team will be running a few sessions at COP focusing on climate tech and entrepreneurship. He teaches Climate Change and Systems Thinking at George Washington University, and holds an MBA from INSEAD and an MA in Economics and International Development from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Founder, Climate Tech Bootcamp

Javaid Iqbal

Chief Commercial Officer, STZA

Javaid Iqbal is the Chief Commercial Officer (Member & Executive Director) at the Special Technology Zones Authority of Government of Pakistan helping build the foundation of a tech enabled knowledge ecosystem in Pakistan. He spent the last two decades spearheading large-scale complex business and technology transformation efforts for global Fortune 500 conglomerates and federal, state and local governments across North America, Europe & Asia. He previously served as a Customer Engagement and Success Leader at Salesforce in the North American region and most recently as the CEO of TransformX, a global consultancy focusing on advisory and education in the digital transformation, customer experience, technology disruption and innovation space. Javaid started his career in the US based Strategic Technology Practice of EY and later moved on to the Financial Services practice of PwC where he led transformation efforts for banks at Wall Street. Javaid also speaks globally on Customer Centricity, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Digital Sales, and the Future of Work. In 2019, he was one of the 7 speakers invited by Google to speak on the ‘Future of Artificial Intelligence and Humanity’ and in 2001, he was named Global 200 CX Thought Leader by Engati. Javaid went to Purdue University for his undergraduate studies in Computer Information Systems Technologies and completed a masters degree in Communication Systems Strategy and Management from Northwestern University.

Chief Commercial Officer, STZA

Kalsoom Lakhani

Co-Founder & General Partners, i2i Ventures

Kalsoom Lakhani is the Co-Founder and General Partner at i2i Ventures, an early stage VC fund for Pakistan, and the Country's first female-founded VC fund. Prior to opening the doors at i2i Ventures in 2019, Kalsoom was the Founder of Invest2Innovate, i2i Ventures' sister entity, which she founded in 2011 to support and unleash the full potential of young entrepreneurs in growth markets like Pakistan. She has trained young entrepreneurs, changemakers and civil society leaders in Kosovo, Nepal, Cambodia, Ireland, Bangladesh, Ukraine & Kazakhstan, and has spoken at numerous venues, including the World Economic Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, U.S Chamber of Commerce & The U.S State Department.

Co-Founder & General Partners, i2i Ventures

Kanwal Bokharey

USAID/Pakistan\\\'s Senior Partnerships Advisor

Kanwal is USAID/Pakistan’s Senior Partnerships Advisor on private sector and diaspora engagement, digital technology, and innovation. She advises USAID on high level political economy matters. She has a vast experience of working at the policy, strategic, and operational levels at senior positions. She is a recipient of three international commonwealth awards; superior performance master trainer award in entrepreneurship development; and seventeen awards from USAID including the Global Private Sector Engagement Leader’s Award 2019. She holds a master’s degree in Public Administration with distinction from the University of Punjab. She did her fellowship in Leadership at the Universities of San Francisco, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz. She is an alumna of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education Program on Innovation for Economic Development. She is the Pakistani Chair of the Diversity Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Council of the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan.

USAID/Pakistan\\\'s Senior Partnerships Advisor

Kashif Zubair

CEO AMCOB

Kashif believes that everybody was born to achieve greatness. However, it is only through self-awareness that one can find their path and achieve their potential. Kashif’s passion has been helping individuals find the passion within in order to excel in their personal and professional lives. He helps transform mindsets into a “Think Like An Owner” philosophy allowing individuals to take the first step towards liberating themselves into taking action, controlling chaos, and challenging the status quo. Kashif is a seasoned professional and serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of work experience in key management positions. Kashif is a visionary entrepreneur, philanthropist, and peacemaker. Since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Kashif’s focus has changed to help Muslim community achieve their potential.

CEO AMCOB

Khan M. Siddiqui, MD

Chief Medical Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, Hyperfine

Dr. Siddiqui is a serial entrepreneur, a radiologist and currently the Chief Medical and Chief StrategyOfficer of Hyperfine, Inc. that has created the world’s first FDA 510(k) cleared, portable MRI scanner. Dr. Siddiqui took the company public in December 2021 via a SPAC process and listed on NASDAQ (HYPR). In addition, Dr. Siddiqui is founder and executive chairman of HOPPR, a data and deep learning as a service platform, enabling data liquidity to accelerate and scale AI application development. Prior to Hyperfine, Dr. Siddiqui founded higi, Inc. – a consumer health technology company – that was acquired by Babylon Health as part of a $4.2 Billion SPAC transaction recently and listed on NYSE (BBLN). Higi stations are deployed in over 12,000 locations globally with over 60 million patients on the platform and has virtual clinical care network in 50 states. Dr. Siddiqui holds dozens of patents for technology in areas of deep learning, AI, image processing, data visualization, MR imaging as well as secure patient information handling and health records. His focus has been to use the advances in technology – namely computing power, microelectronics, connectivity, big data, and AI to democratize technologies in healthcare to make solutions better, smaller, cheaper, and more accessible to clinicians and patients globally. Prior to founding higi, Dr. Siddiqui was a Physician Executive at Microsoft where he was responsible for platform engineering and AI for the health solutions group. His Microsoft legacy includes stimulating computer vision and machine learning research that led to the development of the regression forest algorithms, which became the foundation technology in the Xbox Kinect. Dr. Siddiqui was also responsible for developing Microsoft’s cloud (Azure) based medical imaging products and infrastructure. Prior to Microsoft, Dr. Siddiqui was Director of Center for Biomedical Imaging and Informatics at Johns Hopkins University, Program Director of Imaging Informatics and MRI Fellowship Programs at University of Maryland and the founding chair of American College of Radiology’s Imaging and Informatics Commission. He is a graduate of the Aga Khan University Medical College in Pakistan, completed his training in Medicine at New York University, Radiology training at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA, along with his fellowship in the Imaging Informatics at University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Siddiqui has published dozens of peer-reviewed papers and has given hundreds of invited talks. Dr. Siddiqui is member of board of directors as well as advisory boards of various startups around the world and sits on various national committees on health care and medical imaging. In his spare time, Dr. Siddiqui loves spending time with his family. He and his two sons can often be found exploring Chicago on bicycles in between painting and SCUBA diving.

Chief Medical Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, Hyperfine

Khurshid Qureshi

Founder and CEO, JaXeri Automotive

Dr. Khurshid A Qureshi is the founder of Pakistan’s first indigenous electric car ‘NUR-E’ and CEO of JaXeri Automotive, which has been established in Pakistan to develop and produce the electric car (EV) in 2025 The functional prototype of the NUR-E was unveiled on Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day 2022. The grand entry was very well received by the press, industry, financial institutions and the government. Dr. Qureshi is a visionary leader and a dreamer, determined to transform under-developed countries such as Pakistan into innovation driven economies. He is a big advocate of using innovation and indigenous product development to bring sustained economic prosperity in the underdeveloped countries. To pursue his mission, Dr. Qureshi, founded DICE Foundation - Distinguished Innovations, Collaboration & Entrepreneurship (www.dicefoundation.org), a US based non-profit organization in 2007. He along with a large team of expatriate professionals, has been working indefatigably to promote innovation in various fields Pakistan, for the last 15 years or so. To that end, DICE has established several innovation platforms in Pakistan integrating academia, industry, government and expatriates, in the fields of automotive, energy & water, health, textile, information & enabling technologies and agriculture and food sciences and creative arts & media. Dr. Qureshi is a strong believer and proponent of a need to address climate change challenges facing the whole world, through pragmatic initiatives such as EV project. Dr. Qureshi is a renowned technical leader in the automotive industry specializing in systems engineering for self-driving vehicles. Prior to JaXeri, he has worked for Changan Automotive R&D Center, Ford Motor company, and Dassault Systems as a leader on number of innovative projects. Dr Qureshi was inducted in Changan ‘Wall of Fame’ at the company head quarter in China as one of the 12 experts from across the world leading the technology development for the company. Dr. Qureshi has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor USA; MBA from Xavier University and is a graduate of NEDUET and IBA Karachi.

Founder and CEO, JaXeri Automotive

Laiba Amir

Head of sales and Operations Department

A people's person w/ prior customer care experience at Blush Company.

Head of sales and Operations Department

M. Salahuddin Khan

FOUNDER QMARKET and OPEN Global Co-Founder

Focus: Productization

FOUNDER QMARKET and OPEN Global Co-Founder

Maheen Nazim

Business Development, Kustom Manufacturing

Maheen Nazim is a young entrepreneur based in Toronto who is passionate about helping people. Maheen previously worked with the federal government and academic institutions to develop and implement policy. Currently, she is engaged with a healthcare start-up which aims to transform the industry through digitization and new technologies. Maheen specializes in business management, strategy development, and systems administration.

Business Development, Kustom Manufacturing

Mahmood Khan

CEO, Hevolution Foundation

Mahveen Azam

Program & Partnerships Manager, American University

Mahveen Azam serves as the Manager, Programs and Partnerships at American University's School of International Service and leads the Sister2Sister Exchange Program. She brings twenty years of combined experience in technology, communications, and international development. Mahveen is passionate about the empowerment of women through technology-focused workforce development. She has first-hand knowledge of issues that women face in STEM fields. During her time in Voice of America as a broadcast journalist, she covered various socio-economic, cultural, and security issues in Pakistan. She has a Bachelor's and Master's in Engineering plus a Master's in International Development from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

Program & Partnerships Manager, American University

Masood Khan

Pakistan\'s Ambassador to the United States

MUHAMMAD SHAHZAD

Chief Financial Officer, Relativity Space

Muhammad Shahzad currently serves as the CFO of Relativity Space, a vertically integrated technology platform that fuses 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and autonomous robotics to design, print, and fly entirely 3D-printed rockets with 100x fewer parts in less than 60 days. Under Muhammad’s leadership, Relativity raised approximately $1.2 billion in funding and scaled up to be the second most valuable private space company in the industry, backed by leading investors including Baillie Gifford, Blackrock, BOND, Coatue, Fidelity, General Catalyst, ICONIQ, Playground Global, Social Capital, Tiger Global, Tribe Capital, and Y Combinator. Muhammad brings more than 15 years of finance and capital markets experience, an extensive background in financial planning, operations, management, and strategy, as well as a deep knowledge of the technology industry. Prior to Relativity, he served as CFO of The Honest Company, where he partnered with the CEO and founder on strategy and day-to-day operations, led nearly $500 million of financing rounds across a broad spectrum of investors, and scaled the business profitably. Prior to The Honest Company, Muhammad was a Vice President in the Technology, Media & Telecom Investment Banking Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he covered a broad array of clients, advised on over $30 billion in financing and M&A transactions, and served as West Coast business unit manager, including responsibility for West Coast investment banking recruiting. Muhammad started his career at Accenture and Deutsche Bank and previously founded and exited his own startup. Muhammad is involved in various nonprofit boards, including the National Board of Trustees at March of Dimes, and serves as Chair of the Board at Developments in Literacy, among others. He is currently the President of OPEN SoCal. He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BSc in Economics cum laude from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Chief Financial Officer, Relativity Space

Naeem Zafar

Managing Director, Concordia Ventures

Naeem Zafar is a serial entrepreneur. Naeem has been advisor to and invested in over 20 companies (Luminar IPO in 2020) Electriphi bought by Ford in 2021) After graduating from Brown University with a degree in EE, Naeem moved to SV to join Quickturn (world’s first emulation system for chip design verification), IPO in 1994 & acquired by Cadence. Spent 10 years in marketing roles before becoming CEO at Veridicom, a pioneer in silicon fingerprint sensors (acquired by Apple). Naeem co-founded Bitzer Mobile enterprise security company acquired by Oracle. Authored five books and teaches at UC Berkeley & Northeastern University.

Managing Director, Concordia Ventures

Najeeb Ghauri

Founder & CEO, Netsol Technologies

Founder, Chairman and CEO of NETSOL Technologies Inc. Committed to innovation, technologically-driven, forward-thinking methodologies and identifying key market opportunities. Today, NETSOL stands as a leader in providing software and technology solutions to the global asset finance and leasing industry. With strategically located offices across the world, NETSOL serves a diverse global clientele, including bluechip and Fortune 500 organizations. The company has a large, highly skilled team worldwide, promoting a culture of inclusion and diversity.

Founder & CEO, Netsol Technologies

Najia Siddiqui

Founder, Adorn Online

Najia Siddiqui founded Adorn Online, a social enterprise, in 2010 and its mission is to increase access to markets for struggling artisans in rural and urban areas, with a special focus on women artisans. Adorn’s work builds on the traditional skills of these artisans and teaches them elements of design, quality control, replication and time management. Adorn is able to give them higher returns from the sales since the products are higher quality and custom-made and thus have a higher retail price than locally sold crafts. Our artisans are mainly in Khairpur, Sindh and the urban areas of Karachi. Adorn Online markets products through local and international exhibitions as well as online sales through Facebook, Instagram and our website. It is our hope that this work will help revive traditional crafts and allow these artisans to secure a good livelihood from these earnings. Najia Siddiqui has a BA, Political Science & Economics, Wellesley College and an Msc, University of London, Managing Rural Change. She has worked as a journalist and in the development sector in Pakistan for over 20 years. Najia has also recently started another venture, Jhalak, Bridal Heirlooms with a partner who is an artist. Jhalak showcases Pakistani creative talent through its focus on intricate, traditional hand embroidery on its customized range. Jhalak is a for-profit venture.

Founder, Adorn Online

NARJIS ALI

President & CEO, Sure Secure Solutions

Narjis Ali is a broadly skilled, innovative, experienced, successful, IT executive and PMI certified project manager with over thirty years of progressive experience in IT research and development, strategy consulting and negotiations, managing startups, cross-functional team building, optimizing business processes, and Change Management. Narjis is currently the President and CEO of Sure Secure Solutions, a company providing IT solutions, including Portfolio Management, Cloud Services, Cyber Security, Data Analytics and Content Management. She has led her company to provide exceptional services to multiple federal agencies including NASA, DoD, USDA, FEMA, SBA, CBP, USCIS and to commercial customers. She is a highly skilled manager and professional leader with deep experience in Management Consulting and Emerging Information Technologies. Narjis brings an extensive knowledge in all aspects of IT security with superior problem solving, team building, and cross-functional coordination skills. She is highly experienced in developing and managing IT security solutions in large government organizations with a wide variety of security products and emerging technologies used in the development and deployment of large- scale implementations. As an entrepreneur, Narjis Ali has always been very motivated, energetic, committed, focus driven and active in social and welfare activities too. She is extremely passionate about her work and has the unique ability to take ownership and make things happen. She is extremely people driven and deeply believes in “taking people that matter to places that matter”

President & CEO, Sure Secure Solutions

Nashit Naviwala

Co-Founder of OkayKer

Nashit started his startup journey right after graduating by building Delivery Chacha, first of its kind on demand delivery logistics provider. He joined Careem in 2017, when Careem acquired Delivery Chacha where he launched Bikes across 13 cities of Pakistan. He also has experience of working in family business that has been trading auto parts.

Co-Founder of OkayKer

Naveed Sherwani

Chairman, President, & CEO Rapid Silicon

Dr. Naveed Sherwani is a well-known semiconductor industry veteran with over 30 years of entrepreneurial, engineering, and management experience. He is widely recognized as an innovator and leader in the field of design automation of ASICs and microprocessors and the main driver of the strategic evangelization of RISC-V International. Naveed has founded or co-founded over eleven silicon companies and raised over $850M in over 15 funding rounds from marquee venture capital firms during the course of his career. While serving as President, CEO, or Chairman, Naveed has been recognized as the leader of the “Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company” a record five times by the GSA (Global Semiconductor Alliance, the premier semiconductor industry membership body). He now serves as Chairman of GS Group, aiming to drive the next wave of silicon innovation by enabling growth strategies for semiconductor companies. Naveed also serves as the Chair the Open Source FPGA Foundation and is a Charter Member of notable Silicon Valley business forums such as TiE and OPEN. Dr. Naveed both a PhD and master’s degree in Computer Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a BE degree at NED University in Karachi, Pakistan. Naveed has also authored several books and over 100 articles on various aspects of VLSI physical design automation and ASICs. To enable screen reader support, press Ctrl+Alt+Z To learn about keyboard shortcuts, press Ctrl+slash.

Chairman, President, & CEO Rapid Silicon

Omair Tariq

CEO & Founder, Cart.com

Raabia Siddiqui

Senior Principal, Slalom President OPEN Atlanta

Raabia Siddiqui is a Senior Consulting Executive who focuses primarily on building strategic relationships and delivery excellence. She is the OPEN Atlanta President and is focusing this year on rebuilding and re-energizing the Atlanta OPEN community. Raabia is also involved in the Atlanta Community and was previously the Women’s Director for WIT (Women in Technology) for her company, organizing events to empower young girls in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. With an entrepreneurial mindset, Raabia has started and supported several businesses in Education, Real Estate, and Retail. She considers herself a serial entrepreneur while maintaining her work and family obligations. Raabia is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler School of Business, and resides in Atlanta with her husband and four daughters.

Senior Principal, Slalom President OPEN Atlanta

Rabeel Warraich

Founder & CEO, Sarmayacar

Rabeel is the Founder and CEO of Sarmayacar, an early-stage VC firm focused on Pakistan. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with majors in Economics and Management Science, Rabeel started his career as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley in 2008 and later worked for the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) as Vice President of Private Equity (Direct Investments). In 2016, Rabeel had started investing his own savings in venture deals in Pakistan as part of a syndicate. Sighting a plethora of opportunities and a lack of institutionalized investing in this asset class, Rabeel made the move to Pakistan and set up the first fund of its nature dedicated to the Pakistani opportunity. In 2019, Sarmayacar’s first fund closed at $25m and included participation from local and foreign HNWIs, diaspora Pakistanis and DFIs such as the IFC. He is also the first Pakistan-focused Kauffman Fellow and also serves on the boards of a number of Sarmayacar investee companies including Bykea, OneLoad, and Revolving Games amongst others.

Founder & CEO, Sarmayacar

Raheel Bodla

Success Coach

Raheel Bodla is a Business Coach based in Silicon Valley. He coaches businesses and startups. Raheel completed his undergrad in Aerospace Engineering and served in Pakistan Air Force as a Squadron Leader He completed his Masters in Business Management from MIT At Tesla he led $250M Model-X Assembly Line Supply Chain Management As a Tesla supplier, he grew a startup company 4x from $4M to $16M. Raheel works with businesses, startups and executives.

Success Coach

Reshma Hyder

Chair of the board and interim CDO, ZenSpace

Reshma Hyder serves as Chair of the Board and interim CEO at www.zenspace.io , an on demand workspace solution in the hybrid work space. She completed her board term at Edvon Robotics recently which is an edtech startup in Pakistan. She has an extensive background in Finance with a former career in financial services industry as a licensed professional with New York Life. She is a Women & Youth initiative advisor and advocate for women in STEM. Reshma is a charter member at the OPENSV chapter and has been with Open since it’s inception. She confounded ocial enterprise NISA and several technology startups around lifestyle and edtech serving digital natives. Reshma has lived in the Bay Area for over 30 years and has lived through the semiconductor boom, the internet and real estate boom to being a part of several national community faith based organizations such as CAIR, ING, IMRC,etc. Reshma has been the longest serving executive board member at her local public school PTA spanning 23 years that has helped her serve in diverse board positions. She has also been the first female elected on the board of directors of a Bay Area masjid. She is a mother of 6 and mother in law of 3 and a proud grandma to two. She mentors Muslim youth on academic and career pathways as well as startup founders as strategic advisor and angel investor. As a technology advisor, Reshma continues executive educational programs and recently completed a data science and data visualization certificate from UC Berkeley. She holds a certificate in non profit and Govt accounting from USC, a BSC in Accounting and Finance from San Jose State and BSC I Biochemistry from Aligarh Muslim University, India.

Chair of the board and interim CDO, ZenSpace

Rosina Samadani

CEO, Oculogica

Dr. Rosina Samadani has 24 years of experience with medical device companies, including 7 years with McKinsey Company as a leader in their healthcare practice. This is her 4th startup. She has raised $11M+ from accredited investors, angel groups and venture capital, conducted multiple FDA interactions for disruptive, breakthrough diagnostics via the de novo and 510(k) pathways, led the procurement of $2.5M+ funding via Department of Defense, NIH and FDA contracts and grants, established successful relationships with major research centers and the Department of Defense, and authored multiple patents. Oculogica is the winner of the 2018 Angel Capital Association Luis Villalobos Award for Innovative Startup, and Dr. Samadani was awarded the 2019 NIMBLE Health Vanguard Award for entrepreneurship in healthcare and, along with her sister Dr. Uzma Samadani, to the 2020 Fast Company Most Creative People in Business list. Dr. Samadani has her BS and MS from MIT in Mechanical Engineering, and her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University.

CEO, Oculogica

Saleem Ahmad

Former Minister of State and Chairman, Privatization Commission of Pakistan

Saleem Ahmad is a former Minister of State and Chairman of Privatization Commission in Pakistan. He is a seasoned investor and investment banker with a track-record of success across multiple geographies, industries, capital structure and liquidity spectrum. His 25-year, $250 billion investment experience includes leadership and portfolio management roles within private equity, special situations and hedge funds anchored by Highbridge (JPMorgan), Tristan and Morgan Stanley in New York and London, and venture capital in Pakistan. His investment banking experience includes mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and financings in developed, frontier and emerging markets at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Citi in New York, Hong Kong and Pakistan. Saleem earned postgraduate degrees from Wharton UPENN (MBA, Finance & Entrepreneurial Management), where he was member of the Executive Council; London School of Economics (MSc, Accounting & Finance), where he was a Britannia Chevening Scholar and a member of the Court of Governors; and LUMS, where he was recipient of Vice Chancellor’s Achievement Award. Saleem has served as a board member of American Pakistan Foundation, OPEN NY and National Incubation Centers at LUMS Lahore and BUITEMS Quetta. He is passionate about entrepreneurship, microfinance, female empowerment, healthcare, literacy and skills development in Pakistan. He has keen interest in foreign policy and economic diplomacy having served as a Corporate Leader to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Former Minister of State and Chairman, Privatization Commission of Pakistan

Salman Akhtar

OPEN Global Co-Founder

Salman Akhtar is the Founder and co-CEO of Techlogix. He has led the company's growth as a methodology driven organization focused on delivering engineering excellence. He leads the Financial Services practice tor Techlogix and is also CEO of AdalFi, a digital lending fintech that spun out of Techlogix. Salman holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from MIT.

OPEN Global Co-Founder

SALMAN HAMEED

Founder & CEO, Kainaat Studios

Salman Hameed is the founder and CEO of the non-profit Kainaat Studios, that creates topical astronomy videos in Urdu for audiences in Pakistan (and broader South Asia). He is also Charles Taylor Chair and Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts. He holds a Ph.D. in astronomy and is a member of the Five College Astronomy Department (FCAD), but his research is inter-disciplinary and it focuses on analyzing how science interacts with society. Science communication is still his primary focus: Salman has a YouTube Channel (Kainaat Astronomy) for Urdu videos and a weekly astronomy segment in English for a radio station in Western Massachusetts. Through Kainaat Studios, he also produces astronomy content in Urdu specially aimed at kids in Pakistan. His writings have appeared in Dawn Magazine, Express Tribune, Science Magazine, and the Guardian.

Founder & CEO, Kainaat Studios

Salman Ravala, Esq

Attorney & Board Member, Scholarship America

M. Salman Ravala is an attorney, arbitrator, and mediator in New York City. He is the Founder of Dollar-A-Day Scholarship Fund, Member of the Advisory Council at Islamic Scholarship Fund, Member of the Board of Trustees at Scholarship America, and a Life Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation. He leads a variety of Access to Justice and Access to Higher Education initiatives around the United States and globally and teaches at New York Law School and Columbia University in the City of New York. Mr. Ravala previously served as the Ariane De Rothschild Fellow for Dialogue and Social Entrepreneurship, a program held in partnership with Columbia Business School and Cambridge University. Mr. Ravala has won numerous community service awards including the American Red Cross Distinguished Service Award as well as the President’s Call to Service Award. He frequently publishes and speaks at forums across the United States, including being invited to speak on the topic of faith-based social innovation at The White House. Mr. Ravala is a graduate of Syracuse University, College of Law, and Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs. He is admitted to practice with the Bar of New York, Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, and U.S. Court of International Trade.

Attorney & Board Member, Scholarship America

Samina Farid

Managing Director, Farid Ventures & Golden Seeds

Samina Farid is an experienced leader with a unique background that includes both a successful corporate career and entrepreneurial success in building a global energy technology firm. After 15 years of progressive experience serving oil & gas companies internationally and domestically, and as one of the top women in the industry, she founded her own company, Merrick Systems, and grew it to be the leader in oil & gas production software before selling it in 2014. Merrick software products for production field data capture and hydrocarbon accounting software are used by almost 50% of oil & gas wells in the US, and internationally. Samina mentors entrepreneurs and young business talent, advises startup and growing companies, and continues to serve the community on not-for-profit boards, especially those focused on education and women’s issues including her work with Houston Achievement Place (HAP), Young Women’s Preparatory Academy (YWCPA), Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the Orange Show Center for Visionary Arts, the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto County and the Advisory Board of Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights. Samina has received numerous awards and recognitions and, in 2018, was inducted into the Greater Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame for her business and community leadership. Samina earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Houston and is a 2018 Harvard University Advanced Leadership Fellow. She holds the title of Managing Director of Farid Ventures and also runs the Houston Chapter of Golden Seeds, an organization formed in 2005 in New York with over 300 members and 8 chapters in the US to pursue investment returns through the empowerment of women entrepreneurs and the people who invest in them.

Managing Director, Farid Ventures & Golden Seeds

Sarah Alam

Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer

Experienced Co-Founder at Tibbi; with a demonstrated history of working in the Hospital and health Care industry. Skilled in Medical Education, Medicine, Psychiatry, Healthcare, and Public Health. Strong business development professional with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - MBBS graduated in Medicine from King edward medical university.

Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer

Shafiq Khan

President and CEO of Teach the World Foundation

Shafiq Khan has been a digital transformation pioneer for over two decades, in particular in transforming the travel industry. He had the privilege of launching eTicketing in the airline industry, and online booking, both industry “ firsts”, at United Airlines in Chicago. He led the digital operations of United Airlines, US Airways/American Airlines and last at Marriott International, with digital sales at Marriott rising from ~$150 M to $15B during his tenure. His last corporate role, was running all of Marriott's revenue channels—digital and traditional--generating $30B annually as President of Marriott.com. Shafiq left the business world for the world of social impact by launching Teach the World Foundation to take digital transformation to education. Key objective was launching of global program to increase literacy in developing countries using eLearning. Born and raised in Pakistan. Has an economics degree from the Punjab University and an MBA from Harvard.

President and CEO of Teach the World Foundation

Shua Khan Arshad

Founder and Owner of LUWS Academy USA

Shua Khan Arshad is the visionary Founder and Owner of LUWS Academy USA, renowned for her transformative work as the creative force behind the enlightening podcast, "Light Up with Shua," dedicated to conscious living and parenting. In 2024, Shua K. Arshad will introduce an exploratory training course on Self-Healing & Transformation for individuals and organizations, positioning LUWS Academy as a leader in innovative programs. Certified in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), Values Over Violence, and distinguished Khalil Center & Salaam Islamic Center Mental Health First Response Certification Trainings, Shua brings a wealth of knowledge to her endeavors. Her diverse skill set encompasses roles as a Speaker/Panelist in schools, university, and worship houses of various denominations, Parent Coach, Instructor, Video and Audio Editor. A Reiki Master, Shua has practiced and taught Breathing/Pranayama exercises, and meditation for over 25 years. A practitioner of martial arts, achieved a First Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do from Marlboro, New Jersey. Currently, she is an avid practitioner of Tai Chi - Qigong. Shua has contributed to academia as an Adjunct Professor at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA, and held an honorary position as an Associate at the Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations for over 5 years. Her commitment to community service is evident through roles as an Executive Board Member of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM) and a five-year term as President of Groton Interfaith Council (GIC), with a decade-long membership. With a global perspective cultivated through living in Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Pakistan, and the United States, Shua advocates for intercultural and interfaith understanding. As a consultant for International Programs and Partnerships at Tufts University, MA, she contributed to fostering global collaboration. Shua's educational journey includes earning a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Media Studies from Rutgers State University and an M.A. in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, USA. Beyond entrepreneurship, Shua is a singer of Urdu ghazals and Sufi Kalam, dedicated healer, championing natural medicine, healthy cooking & lifestyles, and environmental preservation. Her holistic approach reflects a commitment to fostering well-being on personal, societal, and global levels.

Founder and Owner of LUWS Academy USA

Sidra Amin

Programs and Partnerships Lead, Invest2Innovate

Sidra Amin specializes in driving impact for startups. During her career, she has been a programs and partnerships expert and has forged strategic partnerships with global partners such as Meta, World Bank, Amazon, and more. She is passionate about crafting sustainable programs that create a ripple effect in the world of startups. Sidra’s expertise lies at the intersection of gender, technology, and entrepreneurship. She had supported over 700 entrepreneurs across the MENAP region in investment-readiness. As a cofounder of Daastan, she leveraged technology to promote literature, publishing over 200 books in print and onboarding 3000+ writers. She is also a community builder and has built multiple communities like Peshawar Book Club, Daastan's readers and writers' community, and Young Women Writers' Forum.

Programs and Partnerships Lead, Invest2Innovate

Somia Farid Silber

President, Edible Brands

Tahir Chaudhry

OPEN Global Co-Founder

Tahir Chaudhry is a seasoned entrepreneur and CEO, currently at the helm of Tenacity Medical, Inc. With a strong background in avionics and healthcare, Tahir's career spans remarkable achievements in various industries. Tahir's founded NeuroDyne Medical, an FDA registered medical device manufacturer, where he served as CEO. The groundbreaking technology developed by NeuroDyne caught the attention of Zynex Medical, Inc., leading to its acquisition in 2012 and the subsequent rebranding of the company as Tenacity. Before venturing into the medical field, Tahir made significant contributions in the avionics sector. As a Scientist and Systems Engineer, he designed the world's first Air Data System for Aerospatiale's Airbus A-300, utilizing ARINC 429 and MIL specs. Tahir's expertise extended to healthcare, where he designed the world's first laser system for cancer treatment during his tenure at GE Medical Systems. Furthermore, he served as a consultant for HP Medical and Tandem non-stop, fail-safe computing systems. Tahir's professional contributions encompass not only technological advancements but also the development of corporate infrastructures. He specializes in leveraging remote workers to design healthcare apps using Figma, Flutter, and Al technologies, leading to design of various healthcare systems. Additionally, Tahir has made notable contributions to electronic design, focusing on physiological sensors, software, and systems. Tahir holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Digital Systems, specializing in Neuro Networks that underpin modern Al technology.

OPEN Global Co-Founder

Taimur Rashid

Chief Business Officer at Redis

Taimur Rashid is Chief Business Officer at Redis, where he leads corporate strategy and emerging businesses. Prior to Redis, Taimur was VP/GM of Customer Success at Microsoft, where he led global customer success for Microsoft Azure, and helped build one of the largest cloud focused customer success organizations in the industry. Prior to Microsoft, he led global business and market development at Amazon Web Services (AWS) for 10 years where he was one of the founding members of the AWS Developer Relations team, and scaled the business to $25B in ARR. He holds a bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin. He is also an advisor and investor to early-stage startups. Bellevue is home for Taimur, where he lives with his wife and three boys.

Chief Business Officer at Redis

Tariq Farid

Founder & CEO of Edible

Tariq Khan

Founder & CEO, Global Diversity Marketing

Tariq Khan is a global sought-after recognized business leader who brings the combination of corporate leadership experience, entrepreneurial expertise along with academic learning. He has had a distinguished twenty-year corporate career and has held senior leadership roles for major global Fortune companies. In 2010, Tariq founded his company, Global Diversity Marketing (GDM) in New York. Tariq serves on the board of directors/advisors for leading non-profit organizations in the U.S. Tariq has equally impressive contributions in the nonprofit organizations in the U.S. He serves on the board of directors/advisors for the APIA Scholars (funded by Bill Gates Foundation); the Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), supported by 70+ U.S. Congress and Senate members; and Ascend, which is the largest Asian American professional network in the world. He is also the chairman of the board of trustees at the Stratford University in Falls Church, Virginia. Tariq is also an adjunct professor of marketing and leadership at New York University’s SPS graduate school. Tariq has been a faculty member at NYU since 2005. Tariq earned a bachelor’s degree in international marketing and advertising from Baruch College, New York; an MBA in marketing and management from St. John’s University, New York; and an Executive Management Certification from Babson College, Massachusetts. Tariq has spoken at major events around the world and shared stage with global CEOs, critical thinkers, and U.S. Presidents. Tariq has recently written a book; Leadership in Changing Times published by a leading U.S. publisher and will be taught at leading universities in the U.S. and around the world.

Founder & CEO, Global Diversity Marketing

Tauseef Chaudhry

Vice President, Stantec

Umber Ahmed

Founder & CEO, Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery

Umber grew up traveling around the world, belonging simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. Her family is from Pakistan and she grew up in a town in northern Michigan filled with first-generation Finns and Swedes. The magic of spices was first taught to her in Pakistan, where as a very young girl she learned that food had a language all its own. After studying genetics and business, Umber spent much of her career in finance. During her tenure as an investment banker, she was the subject of “Risk|Reward”, a critically acclaimed 2002 TriBeCa Film Festival-premiered documentary film about women on Wall Street. Umber is a founding Managing Director of a boutique investment advisory firm that specializes in business development throughout MENA, Europe and Asia. In this capacity, she works closely with sustainable food providers, emerging technologies, luxury brands and world-renowned chefs to expand their concepts globally. Continuing with this work, in 2014 Umber found with the creation of the bakery the perfect intersection of all her expertise. By combining her business acumen, science education, and cultural knowledge, she is creating a food story like no other. With four bakeries and more in the works, Umber is building the next great culinary experience with Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery. Umber and her work with Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery have been featured in myriad publications, including The New York Times, Vogue, Travel & Leisure, and more.

Founder & CEO, Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery

Uzma Samadani

Neurosurgeon, Founder, Oculogica

Uzma Samadani, MD PhD FACS FAANS is a private-practice neurosurgeon in Minneapolis MN and brain injury researcher at the University of Minnesota. She moved to Minneapolis in 2015 and was named to Minneapolis St-Paul Magazine’s “Top Doctors in Neurosurgery” lists in 2016 through 2019. In 2018 she was on the cover of the “Top Doctors” edition with the byline “The Doctor Will Save You Now.” In 2018 she also was awarded the “Courageous Woman in Healthcare” award by the Women’s Health Leadership Trust. Minnesota Monthly dubbed her a “Top Doctor in Minnesota” in 2018 and 2019. Dr. Samadani is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Minnesota with a graduate faculty appointment in Neuroscience. She is also an attending neurosurgeon at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center and founder of the neurodiagnostic start-up Oculogica Inc, which has developed the first baseline free concussion diagnostic cleared for marketing approval by the FDA. She holds multiple patents related to brain injury, its treatment and its consequences. She has been named one of the “Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company magazine. She is on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons Joint Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care and served as Scientific Program Chair for their meeting in conjunction with the National Neurotrauma Society from 2014-7. She also served as Chair of the Board of ThinkFirst Foundation from 2019 to 2021. She is past Chair of the Minnesota State Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Program and a Past-President of Women in Neurosurgery. She serves on the board of the G4 Alliance. She has received more than six million dollars in research grants from national and international competitive funding agencies to study diagnostics, risks, outcomes and treatments for brain injury. She has been funded by the United States Veterans Administration, Department of Defense, National Space and Biomedical Research Institute, Abbott Diagnostic Laboratories, American College of Surgeons, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Thrasher Research Fund, Integra, the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation and several other organizations.

Neurosurgeon, Founder, Oculogica

Wasif Rizvi

President, Habib University

Wasif Rizvi is the founding president of Habib University - Pakistan's premier liberal arts and science institution. He is an ardent advocate of higher education that provides a student-centric, interdisciplinary, and contexually grounded, intellectual experience to the youth. Habib University, under his leadership, has become a globally recognized and appreciated university with established collaborations with leading institutions - including University of California Berkely, Texas A&M University, Stanford University and University of Michigan. With innovative curriculum, diverse student body, accomplished faculty, collaborations with leading global academic institutions, award-winning campus design, Habib University is also the first ever community owned institution in Pakistan, providing need-blind admission to high-merit students from disenfranchised backgrounds. He holds twin graduates degrees from Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard School of Education. Prior to founding Habib University, Wasif was associated with the Agha Khan Education Services in Pakistanand spearheaded many development projects across Asia and Africa.

President, Habib University

Yamna Naveed Khan

SITA Advisor

Yamna is currently responsible for leading SITA’s Transformation and Innovation strategies for Middle East & Africa. She has also led the first FinTech Accelerator in KSA and has consulted startups and led teams with UAE and African govt entities on their digital strategies and innovation roadmaps. Prior to that, she founded employee benefits startup PerksPlus and ran programs for women-led businesses surrounding digital transformation and implementing social and digital strategies. Early in her career, Yamna gained some recognition by being featured in leading magazines as a young female founder, nominated as ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ by ArabianBusiness and as one of the ‘Top 50 Upcoming UAE Startups’ by Forbes Magazine. She graduated from CMU in 2013 with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

SITA Advisor

Zahra Shah

Expert Member, Technology Advisory Panel (TAP)

Zahra Shah serves as an Expert Member of the Technology Advisory Panel (TAP) at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) - U.K. privacy regulator. She is the Co-Founder, Non-Executive Director & Investor at Seers (privacy & consent management platform). She also serves as a Senior Board Advisor & Investment Committee at TeamUp Ventures (venture capital fund focused on tech ventures in the MENA region). She has a background in Management Consultancy with over a decade of experience at Accenture within the Financial Services – Capital Markets practice area. She helped global Investment Banking clients (e.g. Credit Suisse, UBS, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds Banking Group) on high-impact, strategic projects to achieve compliance with various regulatory requirements (e.g. KYC, AML, Basel 3, MiFID, Cross Border Sanctions etc.) through the application of innovative FinTech & RegTech solutions. She also serves as a Trustee of the British Pakistan Foundation, Board Advisor to TeamUp Angels, Co-Chair for TIE London Women and leads a Europe-wide female founders support group initiative as a Google female founder alumnus. She is a frequent speaker at global conferences on topics such as: child privacy, cybersecurity, privacy and compliance, technology, RegTech, FinTech, entrepreneurship, women in technology, women empowerment, rights of underrepresented communities etc. She has spoken at various global conferences including: FinCrime World Forum Global Conference, PrivSec Global Conference, London Tech Week, FinTech Week London, Google Women Techmakers European Conference, AMCOB Global Conference, Channel 5 Immigration Debate, Women Tech Quest Global Conference etc. She has served as a judge at the Entrepreneurs Collective London Pitch Competition and has also been featured in Sifted, eWEEK UK and Compliance Week for her contribution to the RegTech and FinTech sector as a female leader from an ethnic minority background. She has an MSc. Analysis, Design & Management of Information Systems and an MBA (Essentials Certification) both from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She recently completed the Financial Times Non- Executive Director Diploma.

Expert Member, Technology Advisory Panel (TAP)

Event Details

Event Details

Time

Speakers for this event

Aakif Ahmad

Aakif Ahmad

Aamir Chalisa

Aamir Chalisa

Aater Suleman

Aater Suleman

Abrar Hashmi

Abrar Hashmi

Abu Bakar

Abu Bakar

Akif Tarique

Akif Tarique

Ali Asghar

Ali Asghar

Ali Hussain

Ali Hussain

Ali Samir Oosman

Ali Samir Oosman

Ambereen Mirza

Ambereen Mirza

Aneela Haider

Aneela Haider

Anusha Shahid

Anusha Shahid

Ashish Mathur

Ashish Mathur

Asjad Amin

Asjad Amin

Azam Arastu

Azam Arastu

Danish Munir

Danish Munir

Dilawar Syed

Dilawar Syed

Dr. Iffat Zafar Aga

Dr. Iffat Zafar Aga

Dr. Sara Saeed Khurram

Dr. Sara Saeed Khurram

Duriya Farooqui

Duriya Farooqui

Ehtisham Siddiqui

Ehtisham Siddiqui

Eric Flachbart

Eric Flachbart

FAHIM SIDDIQUI

FAHIM SIDDIQUI

Faisal Mushtaq

Faisal Mushtaq

Faizaan Ghauri

Faizaan Ghauri

Farah Ali

Farah Ali

Farrukh Usman

Farrukh Usman

Faruk Bhagani

Faruk Bhagani

Gabe Torres

Gabe Torres

Hafiz Haq

Hafiz Haq

Hamza Tauqeer

Hamza Tauqeer

Haris Ahmed

Haris Ahmed

Hasnain Akber

Hasnain Akber

Hassan Ahmed

Hassan Ahmed

Henna Inam

Henna Inam

Imran Husain

Imran Husain

Imran Khan

Imran Khan

Imran Qidwai