Archives: Session Speakers

Junaid is an investor and entrepreneur.

As CEO of Salt Ventures, he has invested in startups that are disrupting retail, logistics, Fintech, agriculture, health and construction industries in KSA, Pakistan, UAE and beyond.

His latest venture is Caravan Media, is a digital first content platform aimed at building awareness about economic reform and opportunity in the MENA region.

In his previous roles, Junaid served as Managing Director of Careem, and as CEO of Elixir Securities and BMA Financial Services.

He holds a B.Sc in Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

For over 27 years, Shahbaz has been chasing ideas across continents, from Asia-Pacific to the U.S. to the Middle East, living and breathing creativity, design and digital innovation every step of the way. He has cut his teeth at some of the world’s most iconic agencies including JWT, Fallon, Carmichael Lynch, Interflow, Ogilvy, McCann, MRM, Promoseven 360, MullenLowe MENA, and Momentum, learning how to turn bold thinking into business results.

He has worked on global icons such as BMW, PepsiCo, Porsche, Harley-Davidson, Sony, Nike, Turkish Airlines, American Express, Shell, McDonald’s and Zespri to name a few. His ideas have been celebrated on the biggest creative stages including Cannes Lions, Clios, New York Festivals, Spikes Asia, One Show, Epica, The Webbys, and more.

After decades of steering brands within global networks, Shahbaz decided it was time to flip the script. Enter quote un quote, a global independent boutique agency he co-founded to chase fearless, collaborative, culture-led ideas that refuse to play it safe. Today, he is not just making campaigns, but creating impact and proving the most exciting stories are still unwritten

Hamza Jawaid is the co-founder of Bazaar Technologies, Pakistan’s leading e-commerce and financial services platform with operations across 10+ cities. Since launching in 2020, Bazaar has built a digital ecosystem that empowers consumers and businesses to access everyday low pricing across 30+ product categories with next day delivery and seamless payment solutions—all through a simple mobile app.

Under Hamza’s leadership, Bazaar has become one of Pakistan’s most well-funded startups, raising $100 million in funding to-date. The company continues to expand across e-commerce and digital payments, acquiring Keenu in 2025 to become Pakistan’s first integrated e-commerce and payments platform.

The company has also gained global recognition. In 2022, Bazaar became part of the yearly curriculum at Harvard Business School as a case study and was selected as the first startup from Pakistan to join the Endeavor global community.

Before founding Bazaar, Hamza studied at London School of Economics, then pursued consulting at McKinsey and Company in the Middle East, advising global companies on growth and digital transformation, particularly in retail and tech.

Khaled is a pragmatic business leader with a 30-year career in marketing, branding, public affairs and communications in Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa region.

He is currently the CEO and Founding Partner of Tough Love Advisors.

His career started in advertising and continued into international sales, marketing and branding in FMCG (B2C) and the food packaging industry (B2B), in companies such as The Coca-Cola Company and Tetra Pak.

Khaled is an internationally recognised keynote speaker and author (This Tickles Me and Made With Tough Love).

He is the Chairman and Board Member of The Marketing Society, UAE. He is also an active investor in technology, beverages, advisory, hospitality, sports marketing and banking.

Khaled has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University, Canada and has completed several executive leadership programmes at Ashridge in the UK, IMD in Switzerland and at Harvard Business School in the USA.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Khaled is a Canadian citizen who has lived in 15 countries and travelled to over 55 other countries. Since 2002 he calls Dubai home.

David’s career started at Saatchi & Saatchi as a graduate trainee, progressing through the agency world as Managing Partner at WCRS and then MD of Lowe Howard-Spink in London.

Moving to Atlanta he worked for the Coca-Cola Company as Global Director and VP of Advertising, before returning agency-side as President of BBDO Europe, and then as a main board director and CEO of Tempus Partners.

Following WPP’s purchase of Tempus, David set up Team Vodafone for the group. In 2004 he joined Vodafone as Global Director of Brand and Marketing Communications, progressing to become Global Brand Director in 2005 and CEO of VIML (Vodafone Ireland Marketing LTD) in 2008 based in Dublin. Returning to London, David joined Barclays in 2012 as MD of Brand, Reputation and Citizenship.

He stepped down as Chief Communications & Marketing Officer at RBS in 2020, a position he took up in July 2015. He was a member of the Bank’s executive committee and reported to Ross McEwan, the CEO. He led the rebranding of RBS to NatWest.

David was president of the World Federation of advertisers from 2015 to 2019, he is now President Emeritus of the WFA. Ex-Chair and council member of the MGGB, a fellow of the Marketing Society and a fellow of the IPA. Awarded the Lifetime achievement award by The Drum in 2020. Recognised in the Queens New Years Honour list in 2021 for his services to Marketing and Advertising , he was awarded an OBE.

He is a Consultant, Coach and Mentor.

Daniel Käfer is a seasoned business leader with a rich history in the tech industry. His career includes roles such as the Danish Country Head for Meta and Global Group Director of Digital Marketing at Ooredoo, an international Telco carrier chain across MENA and APAC.

He is the founder of Future Advice Ltd and associate of the platform mapping world innovation – www.supertrends.com. As an accomplished author, Daniel’s latest book is titled “Releasing the brakes on growth”, which focuses on innovation and business growth strategies. An active participant in the startup landscape, Daniel has also co-founded several entertainment tech companies.

Alex Brunori is a globally awarded and acknowledged Chief Creative Officer, a digital pioneer, a multi-disciplinary professional and a branding and marketing innovation evangelist. He is a TedX Speaker, a classic and contemporary singer and composer, visiting professor at the Middlesex University in Dubai, video director and meditation teacher.

He is currently obsessed with the possibilities of AI, especially AI art, constantly generating thousands of complex images – and now – videos with proprietary natural language prompts for Chat GPT, Bard, Midjourney 5 and Runway 2.

Mark created the very first digital consultancy for celebrities and for people in the public eye in 2003. He quickly became known as the go to digital guy for many Hollywood A-listers. After leading the digital transformation of more than a hundred entertainment brands and public personalities from Usher and Lady Gaga, through to Barack Obama and Buckingham Palace, Mark established a new company to apply this experience and to innovate in digital transformation for B2B brands, which was acquired by VICE Media in 2015.