Speakers 2026

Amir Ben-Gacem

Co-founder and CEO - SOLECRYPT

Amir is the co-founder and CEO of SOLECRYPT, a UK based company specialised in sustainable digital infrastructure. He has spent more than two decades in investment banking in the city of London, holding senior positions at major financial institutions including BNP Paribas, HSBC Global Markets, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse where he was head of international Emerging Markets sales. 

Mourad Younes

VP MEA Schneider Electric.

Cloud & Services Provider Segment Leader MEA at Schneider Electric, based in Dubai, leading data center and energy efficiency solutions for cloud, colocation, and telecom providers across the region.

Naren Shankar

Co-Founder Hosted.ai, GPUaaS.com, Packet.ai | Entrepreneur

Naren Shankar is an accomplished entrepreneur, leader and public speaker in the technology industry. He is passionate about growing and scaling businesses and has successfully enabled three tech startup company exits (to Accenture, Akamai and Virtuozzo). He has also led large businesses at VMware, NVidia, NetApp and Expedia.
 
He is the co-founder of multiple VC backed AI infrastructure startups. He resides with his wife and daughter in San Jose.

 

Dr Ayotunde Coker (FBCS, FIOD)

Chief Executive Officer - Open Access Data Centres (OADC)

His distinguished international career of 28 years based in the UK, included roles as Senior Management Consultant Cap Gemini UK, CEO eMCSaatchi, Digital Services Director Egg Bank the first European Internet Bank, Global Applications Director BP, Chief Technology Officer UK Criminal Justice, Group IT Director, UK Ministry of Justice. In 2007, he was Chair of the UK Government Enterprise Architecture Board.

Amine Benchekroun

VP Secure Power & Data Centers - Schneider Electric

Amine Benchekroun is VP of Secure Power & Data Centers at Schneider Electric, where he leads all operations across North-West Africa, Central Africa, and the Islands for the global digital energy giant. A recognized expert in Green Data Intelligence, he accelerates the transition toward high-performance, sustainable data centers that are AI-ready.

Francisco Carvalho

VP Sales and Business Development - Blackwall

Francisco is a seasoned Biz Dev and Sales professional with over 15 years of experience in the Hosting Industry. He has helped numerous brands over-achieve their sales and revenue goals, building performant global teams. Currently, VP of Business Development and Sales at Balckwall, making the internet a safer place.

Filip Borcov

IT Superman - Site.pro

Filip Borcov is an IT-superman with 20 years of experience. He is also a professional traveller who has visited 120+ countries around the world. Filip and his team are developing two products — AI-powered website builder (leading white label solution) and an accounting ERP system worldwide. He's the main voice behind Site.pro's philosophy — to make all operations instant and provide clients with convenient tools for business growth.

Dr Fouad ben Nasr Omri

Serial AI entrepreneur & CEO

Dr Fouad ben Nasr Omri is a serial Tech-entrepreneur with focus on AI ventures. Before, Fouad was responsible for the product engineering of AI-infused applications at scale at QiO. Managing a global team of engineers to develop AI expertise that provides our customers and partners...

Amir Ben-Gacem

Partner - Record Digital

Amir Ben-Gacem is a Partner at Record Digital, overseeing the digital infrastructure initiatives of Record Financial Group, a UK fund manager with some $87bn in AUM. He has spent more than two decades in investment banking in the city of London, holding senior positions at major financial institutions including BNP Paribas, HSBC Global Markets and Morgan Stanley. Most recently, he was head of international Emerging Markets sales at Credit Suisse Securities. Amir has a wide range of expertise and is specialised in emerging and frontier fixed income products both cash and derivatives. He now focuses on new technologies and renewable energy. Outside of his professional life, Amir is Vice President and Executive Board member of the International Trail Runners Association. He is also a TedX and a COP28 guest speaker and a proactive business angel. Academically, Amir holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and computer science, as well as a master’s degree in Financial Markets from Paris Dauphine University.

Filip Borcov

IT Superman - Site.pro

Filip Borcov is IT-superman with 20 years practice, mostly working on Site.pro website builder (leading white label solution). Team and Filip spread Product mindset & Growth hacking methodology online and offline (GH.lt). Filip Borcov is a professional traveller who has visited 120+ countries around the world: Borcov.com/Travel.

Tolu Awoyinfa

Managing Director at Argentil Capital Partners (UK)

Tolullope leads advisory and capital raising for infrastructure financings across Africa, with a strong focus on digital infrastructure.

She has around 15 years of experience in corporate finance, capital raising, and M&A, covering data centres, fibre networks, and traditional infrastructure. Prior to ACP UK, she held senior investment banking roles at a global bank, specializing in data centre senior debt financings across Europe.

Lisa Marie Lang

Partnership Manager at Groundbreaker

Lisa Lang is Partnership Manager at Groundbreaker Talents, a non-profit organization based in Cologne and Kampala, focused on building Africa’s next generation of female tech talent for the global digital economy.

Zied El Air

Lawyer & Data Protection Officier

A legal professional who brings invaluable expertise to the constantly evolving legal field. With a solid academic background and extensive practical experience, he provides strategic legal advice to companies operating in all business sectors, possessing in-depth knowledge of IT-related...

Zied El Air

Lawyer & Data Protection Officier

Lawyer at the Court of Cassation: Lawyer of the Tunisian Bar Association since 2004.

CNIL-certified Data Protection Officer since 2022.

Lawyer : member of the Paris Bar since 2022.

A legal professional who brings invaluable expertise to the constantly evolving legal field. With a solid academic background and extensive practical experience, he provides strategic legal advice to companies operating in all business sectors, possessing in-depth knowledge of IT-related laws and regulations.

Dr Fouad ben Nasr Omri

Serial AI entrepreneur & CEO

Dr Fouad ben Nasr Omri is a serial Tech-entrepreneur with focus on AI ventures. Before, Fouad was responsible for the product engineering of AI-infused applications at scale at QiO. Managing a global team of engineers to develop AI expertise that provides our customers and partners with self-learning applications that are not limited by static slices of point-in-time views but become smarter with each deployment.
Fouad holds a PhD in computer science and applied mathematics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. He was a Lecturer and Senior Researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, specialising in Statistical Modelling, Machine Learning, Big Data, Predictive Analytics, Deep Learning and Reinforcement Learning.

Matija Jekovec

COO and Co-Founder of DHH 

Publicly listed company on the Italian Stock Exchange that consolidates web hosting and cloud service providers across the Mediterranean region. DHH operates multiple well-known brands in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, and Switzerland, including Domovanje, Domenca, TopHost, and Artera.

Edwin-Alexander Kuss

Director Global Sales - Hystax

MBA in Economics, 26 years in sales, the last 12 years in IT. Sold a broad variety from IP transit/upstream over CDN (Content Delivery Network) and Manages Services to Software. 

Since 2018 working with Hystax as a Sales Director Global. Hystax is a US Software Developing company that offers Live Cloud Migration, DR, Backup, Cloud Cost Management, FinOps & MLOps. 

Edwin-Alexander Kuss

Director Global Sales

MBA in Economics, 26 years in sales, the last 12 years in IT. Sold a broad variety from IP transit/upstream over CDN (Content Delivery Network) and Manages Services to Software. 

Since 2018 working with Hystax as a Sales Director Global. Hystax is a US Software Developing company that offers Live Cloud Migration, DR, Backup, Cloud Cost Management, FinOps & MLOps. 

In case you need to add some private stuff: Married, 4 kids, 3 grandchildren (so far).

Dutch, grown up in Germany, now living in Frankfurt, Germany. 

Hobbies: Reading, travelling, fighting sports (Black Belt Taekwondo, Muay Thai Coach)

Walid Bouzouita

Fondateur Ab-audit.com

Walid Bouzouita is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ab Audit, a consulting firm specializing in IT Governance, Cybersecurity Audit, Risk Management, and Digital Transformation. He has 25+ years of experience across sectors including banking, insurance, telecom, automotive, and agri-food.

Walid is an international speaker and accredited trainer in COBIT, CISA, and ISO standards, working with major institutions across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Lyes Zahaf 

Co-founder & General Manager – SHABAKET & INGEFIBER

Lyes Zahaf is a seasoned architect and digital infrastructure expert with over two decades of experience in datacenter architecture, IT infrastructure, telecommunications, and urban landscaping. 

Marthijs van den Ham

Alliance Manager & Infrastructure Consultant – MDCS.AI
 
Born raised and living in the Netherlands. Having over 35 years of experience in the IT world, starting in a technical role and gradually moving into technical sales. Since 2023, part of the MDCS.AI team as an Infrastructure Consultant, with an increased focus on the role of Alliance Manager.

Francisco Carvalho

VP Sales and Business Development, BotGuard

Francisco is a seasoned Biz Dev and Sales professional with over 15 years of experience in the Hosting Industry. He has helped numerous brands over-achieve their sales and revenue goals, building performant global teams. Currently, VP of Business Development and Sales at Botguard, making the internet a safer place.

Sami Saadaoui

Head of Technical Infrastructure at American Express for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

With over 16 years of experience in the Telecom sector, Banking, and Financial Services, Sami brings a wealth of expertise in technical infrastructure development, large-scale project management, and technological innovation, with a notable focus on critical infrastructure development and optimization in the region.

He holds an MBA from the American University of Bahrain and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the National Engineering School of Carthage (ENI Carthage). .

Sami has played an important role in major projects, contributing significantly to the development of multiple data centers, Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), and other connectivity initiatives in the MENA region. His passion for technological innovation, strategy, and digital transformation drives him to remain at the forefront of industry trends and address the region’s technological and infrastructure challenges.

Dedicated to teamwork, innovation, and operational excellence, Sami is also actively involved in various professional associations within the technology sector. He is a sought-after keynote speaker at numerous conferences and technological events, he’s continually expanding his professional network and sharing his valuable expertise with the community.

Dusan Stojicevic

Marketing Director for Eastern Europe at Gransy.

Mr. Stojičević has been a member of the Board of Governors of the The Serbian National Register of Internet Domain Names (RNIDS) from 2011 - 2016 and was Chairman of the Board of Governors (2013-2016). He was also the coordinator or member of several Registries Working Groups (2011-2016). He was directly involved in launching Serbia's IDN ccTLD. Currently (2023), he is serving in the Board of Governors in RNIDS as vice-chair.

At ICANN community, he was the Chairman of Cyrillic Generation Panel (LGR) and he was vice-chair of Universal Acceptance Steering Group.

From 2014 - 2017, he was a member of the Executive Committee of SEEDIG (South Eastern European Dialogue on Internet Governance) and from 2015-2017 a member of the Program Committee of RIPE SEE meetings.

He has a background in editing and was the Editor-in-Chief of the computer magazine, "Svet kompjutera", which is the oldest computer magazine from the countries of the former Yugoslavia. He started as a contributing author in the magazine in 1987, became a section editor in 2003, and Editor-In-Chief in 2005. Dušan Stojičević studied Electronic Engineering and is a member of the Serbian Society of Engineers.

Mohamed Radhouane Machta

Sales Manager of North & Central Africa – Uptime Institute

Mohamed Radhouane Machta Is Sales Manager of North & Central Africa for Uptime Institute.

In this role, he manages the business development and sales in his region supporting the datacenter industry by spreading the knowledge of Uptime processes and services.

Ahmed Zaïri

Founder and Principal - Alpha Yaz Advisory 

Ahmed Zairi is the Founder of Alpha Yaz Advisory, an investment and finance advisory firm serving private sector companies and institutional investors across MENA and Africa. With over 16 years of experience in managing transactions across emerging markets, he specializes in fundraising and transaction advisory, delivering high-impact projects across the infrastructure, manufacturing, and agribusiness sectors. 

Samy Fodil

Founder and CEO - Taubyte

An open source full stack workspace for humans and machines that rethinks how software is built, tested, and deployed on owned infrastructure. A PhD trained software engineer, Techstars alum, and leader with over two decades of experience, he previously worked at Meta (Facebook) on large scale data and platform systems.

Dr. Amina Messedi

Co-Founder - AuroraIQ

Dr. Amina Mseddi is Co-Founder of AuroraIQ, a company specializing in open source and cloud services. She was a Professor and Program Director at the Mediterranean Institute of Technology (MedTech). She earned her Master's and PhD degrees in Computer Science from the University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM) and her engineering degree from INSAT. Her research focuses on cloud and edge computing, and AI, with applications in autonomous smart systems.

Aymen Frikha

Co-Founder - AuroraIQ

Aymen,  is a Principal Field Cloud Engineer at Canonical Ltd., specializing in cloud computing and open-source technologies. He has a Master of Science and an MBA, with extensive experience in designing and deploying cloud solutions. Aymen is passionate about innovation, automation, and optimizing cloud infrastructure for enterprises.

 

Fatma Khlif

Architect, Data Center Specialist, Founder - CanDo Design & Consulting

Fatma Khlif is an experienced architect and data center specialist with over 22 years of expertise in telecommunications infrastructure, fiber optics, and mission-critical facilities. She has been at the forefront of data center design, deployment, and project management, leading key initiatives across Tunisia.