The 19th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, held under the theme ‘Tech Intelligence Beyond Mobility’ from 10–11 December 2025 in Dubai, UAE, once again established itself as a landmark gathering for global VIP ICT leaders, policymakers, and innovators to explore the future of connectivity, artificial intelligence, cloud innovation, infrastructure evolution, and digital transformation.
Over two days, the event successfully combined strategic vision, technical depth, and collaborative dialogue, reinforcing Telecom Review’s role as a premier platform shaping the global digital landscape.
Toni Eid, Founder of Telecom Review Group and CEO of Trace Media International, highlighted: “This year is very important as we are celebrating the 21st anniversary of our company. At the same time, we are running the 19th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit and the 16th edition of the Telecom Review Excellence and Merit Awards.”
Day 1: Leadership, AI, and Strategic Vision
The summit opened with the official opening keynote by H.E. Eng. Mohammed Al Ramsi, Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications Sector at the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), who highlighted the UAE’s roadmap for intelligent digital ecosystems, emphasizing trust, innovation, and the strategic use of AI as a catalyst for economic and social progress.
Toni Eid, Founder of Telecom Review Group, engaged in two C-level fireside chats with Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of du, and Timur Turlov, Board Member CEO, Freedom Holding Corp., exploring leadership, transformation, and the expanding role of service providers in enabling national digital agendas.
Strategic insights continued during an exclusive fireside chat featuring industry veterans Mohamed Omran, Previous Chairman and CEO of Etisalat and Present Chairman of RAK Bank, and Osman Sultan, Previous Founding CEO of du (UAE) and Mobinil (Egypt) and Co-Founder & Chairman of Convrz AI, reflecting on the past, present, and future of telecom. The fireside chat with Salam’s CBO, Abdullah AlKhorami, explored how building real partnerships with hyperscalers and integrating artificial intelligence are helping Salam achieve next-level digital innovation.
The Telecom Leaders’ Panel (Session 1) delved into the demands of an AI-driven society, exploring trust in AI-assisted decision-making, automation, and strategic priorities leading into 2026. Panelists included Dr. Kairat Kelimbetov, Member of the Board of Directors, Freedom Holding Corp; Jaroslaw Mikos, CEO, Comarch; Mikhail Gerchuk, CEO Telecom, Power International Holding; Vasyl Latsanych, Head of Telecom, NEQSOL Holding and Chairman of Vodafone Ukraine; Mikko Lavanti, SVP Middle East and Africa Mobile Networks & CEO, Nokia RHQ; and Mounir Ladki, Co-Founder, President, and CTO, Mycom, moderated by Ivan Skenderoski, CEO, Salience Consulting.
Subsequent keynotes by Barry Hou, VP, Huawei Carrier Marketing Dept.; Karim Benkirane, CCO, du; Prem Kania, VP of Service Providers EMEA, Cisco; and Danial Mausoof, VP Technology & Solutions MEA, Mobile Networks, Nokia, addressed the commercial and technological evolution of service providers, highlighting how AI and cloud innovation are reshaping operations and customer engagement.
One of the highlights was the ‘Pioneering 5G-Advanced Experience Monetization in GCC’ panel, moderated by Telecom Review Group, which explored how GCC operators are unlocking new revenue streams and customer experiences through advanced connectivity and AI integration. Panelists included Essa Haidar, CTO, Ooredoo Kuwait; Jawad Abbassi, Head of MENA, GSMA; Ayman Magdy Abousenna, Vice President/Mobile Data Core & Services, e& UAE; Qadri Al Ahdal, Director, Core Network Planning, Infra Technology Planning, du; Dr. Ali Al Hashmi, General Manager of Infrastructure Planning and Design, Omantel; and David Li, Chief Expert of Strategy Marketing, Huawei.
The afternoon sessions included an AWS-powered panel—‘Unleashing AI & Cloud Innovation’—which explored hyperconnected growth, cloud-native transformation, agentic AI, and intelligent operations evolution. Robin Harwani, Head of Telco Industry Solutions, AWS, gave the opening keynote and was accompanied by Abhishek Malhotra, SVP & Global Business Head of Network Services, Tech Mahindra; Dr. Ayman El Nashar, Vice President of Technology Strategy, Architecture, and Innovation at e& UAE; Hesham Galal, Agentforce Lead, Salesforce Middle East; Paulo Reis, Executive Director, Middle East, Celfocus; and Mohamed Bakry, Director of Solutions Engineering, Cisco Service Provider, META. The session was moderated by Moataz Moustafa, Telco BD & GTM Leader, MEA, AWS. The panel highlighted the transformation of telcos from connectivity providers into digital ecosystem orchestrators.
The ‘AI in Everything’ panel examined AI’s transformative impact across education, healthcare, telecom, retail, manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics, featuring Dr. Mike Short, Chairman, AWTG; Tarek Jundi, CEO, Ankabut; Rob Beswick, Managing Director, Virgin Mobile UAE; Cristina Bueti, Counsellor on Al-Powered Virtual Worlds and Smart Sustainable Cities, ITU; Rania Halimeh, Managing Director, The Learning Initiative; May Li, VP ICT Solution Marketing, Huawei Middle East and Central Asia; and Zhang Meng, Vice President, President of e& Global Account, ZTE. The session was moderated by Rana Hajir, Advisory and Professional services, UKIMESA, HPE.
Meanwhile, the ‘Potion for the Right Infrastructure Deployment’ panel gathered Elie Hanna, CEO, Tampnet; Valentin Polozenko, CTO, Tele2 Kazakhstan; Rashid Alahmedi, COO, InfraX; Nurettin Cetinkaya, Network Infrastructure CTO, Middle East, Nokia; and Hazem Hassan, Regional Sales Director, Tejas Networks to uncover how operators and ecosystem players can build smarter, more efficient, and more future-ready networks. The panel was moderated by Ivan Skenderoski, CEO, Salience Consulting.
Day 1 concluded with the ‘Women in ICT’ panel, where Claudette McGowan, CEO, Protexxa; Chen Zhiping (Summer), Vice President, General Manager of Branding and Public Relations, ZTE; Dr. Linda Kassem, Digital & Public Policy Consultant and International Trade Lawyer; and Iulia Ivan, Founder, Beyond Business promoted diversity and inclusion in leadership, under the moderation of Shroug Ganawa, Senior Analyst, Africa, GSMA.
The ‘Wholesale Trilogy’ panel featured Ana Nakashidze, CEO, AzerTelecom; Obaid Rahman, Group CEO, TNS; Kevin Vachon, Chief Operating Officer, Mplify; Anup Gupta, President, SAARC Region, APTelecom; and Mohammad Naji, Senior Director Carrier Business Support, International Wholesale, du, who explored subsea, subnet, and satellite infrastructure convergence, under the moderation of Georges Jaber, Vice President Wholesales and Business Development, Salam.
Closing notes were delivered by Telecom Review Group’s CMO, Issam Eid, and CCO, Mohammed Ershad, followed by a networking reception and certification ceremony for sponsors and partners.
Day 2: Regulation, Execution, and Next-Generation Infrastructure
Day 2 commenced with opening remarks from Toni Eid and the official keynote by Eng. Saif Bin Ghelaita, Executive Director, Technology Development Affairs, TDRA, emphasizing AI governance, regulatory readiness, and drivers for sustainable digital transformation.
The ‘Shaping the Future of AI with Regulations’ panel brought together John Omo, Secretary General, African Telecommunications Union; Cristina Bueti, Counsellor on AI-Powered Virtual Worlds and Smart Sustainable Cities, ITU; Dr. Linda Kassem, Digital & Public Policy Consultant and International Trade Lawyer; and Dr. Ammar Hamadien, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Salience Consulting. The session was moderated by Christine Ziadeh, Group Director of Content, Telecom Review Group.
The Telecom Leaders’ Panel (Session 2) featured Aleksandr Babichev, CEO, Tele2 Kazakhstan; Tarek Jundi, CEO, Ankabut; Elie Hanna, CEO, Tampnet; and Zayan Sadek, Managing Director, MEA-T Service Providers, Cisco, who discussed AI regulations and leadership accountability, new ROI frameworks, partnerships, and national vision alignment. The panel was moderated by Georges Dabaghi, Vice President, Head of Sales MEA and APAC, MediaKind.
Technology leadership was further showcased by Saleem Al Blooshi, CTO of du, who highlighted the need for resilient networks, intelligent infrastructure, and autonomous systems. In a fireside chat, Comarch’s CEO, Jarosław Mikos, discussed execution, operational efficiency, and cross-industry collaboration. Zain Kuwait’s CEO, Nawaf Al Gharabally, also reiterated the company’s human-centric approach to digital transformation.
The second day explored more timely topics with industry experts. The ‘New Infrastructure Era’ panel featured Ashley Woodbridge, CTO META, Lenovo; Dr. Mahmoud Sherif, Head of Innovation & Technico Business Development, du; Raed Aoude, Regional Director, MEA & CIS, ANDREW; Sabah AlKubaisy, Associate Partner, Salience Consulting; Stelios Savvides, CTO, Vodafone Ventures; Roque Lozano, SVP Network Infrastructure for MEA, Nokia, who emphasized AI-driven hybrid networks, public-private collaboration, agentic AI, and sustainable connectivity, under the moderation of Jessica Bayley, Assistant Content Director, Telecom Review Group.
The ‘10GIGA GCC with 5G-Advanced’ panel, moderated by Christine Ziadeh, Group Director of Content, Telecom Review Group, highlighted U6G commercialization, ultra-fast broadband monetization, and regulatory enablers. The panelists included Nadia Brahmi, Technology Director, GSMA; Bushra Alyas, Sr. Manager/Mobile Access Network, e&; Ahmed AlShal, Director Access Network Development & Solutions Design, du; Drazen Colnar, Senior ICT Solution Architect, Huawei Middle East and Central Asia; Mohamed Samir, VP Middle East, Mobile Networks, Nokia; Zoran Lazarevic, CTO, Ericsson Middle East and Africa; Dr. Ali Said Shinoon Al Hashmi, General Manager Networks, Omantel; Kewen Wang, DGM for Global Marketing & Business Development; Director of ME Region, Tozed Kangwei Tech Co., Ltd.; and Izhar Ahmad, Director Industry Affairs & Communication, SAMENA Telecommunications Council.
Optical network evolution was spotlighted in a keynote delivered by Kageshima Hideo, Director, NEC Open Optical Transport Network Solutions.
The ‘Cybersecurity Under the Spotlight’ panel delved into data privacy and federated learning, featuring Charbel Sarkis, Director, Systems Engineering, Fortinet; Dr. Ibrahim Gedeon, Executive Director, GuardianSafetyNet; Kyle Murray, Dean, Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University; Nizar Wafa, Identity and Data Protection Lead, Middle East and North Africa, Cisco; and Samer Gheissah, du Account Executive, Mobile Networks MEA, Nokia. The panel was moderated by Manuel Gallo, Director of Cyber Security, NEC.
The afternoon sessions also touched on ‘AI Beyond the Hype,’ bringing together Dimitris Lioulias, Chief Strategy & Al Officer, du; Szymon Uczciwek, VP Business Growth & Strategy, MEA, Comarch; Yasmine Rifai, Public Sector Al & Digital Transformation Expert; David Erlich, Director Business Consulting, Sofrecom; and Kenan Jarah, Senior Product Manager – AlOPs, Mycom, under the moderation of Ahmed Riad, Senior Director, Strategy and Industry Development, Huawei.
Fintech was reframed as a telco growth pillar in a session featuring Johannes Hummer, CEO, Freedom Telecom International; Edgard Tawk, CEO and Co-Founder, Eurisko; Eamon Tian, VP, Digital Operation Transformation Domain ME&CA Region, Huawei; and Sedat Kesik, General Manager (Acting), du Pay. Dr. Ammar Hamadien, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Salience Consulting, moderated the session.
Hyperscaler-powered cloud-native architectures concluded the proceedings, with discourse bolstered by Denis Bernaert, CEO, Verticloud; Mohamed Hamouda, Regional Telco Head, NEC GCC; Ejaz Sial, AWS Technologist 6G and AIML; and Manish Kansal, MEA Head of Core Networks, Nokia. The panel was moderated by Hernan Munoz, Technical Practice Head, Salience Consulting, and highlighted how AI and cloud innovation are reshaping service delivery, network management, and monetization strategies.
Telecom Review Excellence Awards 2025
TRS 2025 culminated with the Telecom Review Excellence Awards, celebrating organizations and leaders driving innovation, operational excellence, and strategic growth. The awards recognized outstanding contributions across multiple categories, from AI and 5G deployment to cybersecurity, fintech, and infrastructure innovation, reflecting the Summit’s commitment to benchmarking industry achievement and rewarding transformative initiatives. The Gala Dinner provided a platform for networking, partnership building, and recognition of excellence across the global ICT ecosystem.
Telecom Review Excellence Awards 2025 Winners
Sponsors and Partners
TRS 2025 was proudly supported by a host of industry-leading sponsors, whose partnership enriched the Summit experience. Their participation underscored the collaborative ecosystem approach that defines TRS, bridging technology innovation, commercial strategy, and operational excellence.
A Summit of Strategic Impact
Over two days, guided by Tech Intelligence Beyond Mobility, TRS 2025 successfully advanced critical industry conversations, offering a 360-degree perspective on AI, 5G-Advanced, cloud innovation, infrastructure, and leadership, among other topics. By bringing together policymakers, operators, innovators, and investors, the Summit strengthened global networks, fostered cross-industry collaboration, and set the stage for actionable growth strategies across the ICT landscape.
With record participation, in-depth sessions, and high-profile recognition through its Excellence Awards, TRS 2025 reinforced Telecom Review’s reputation as a trusted platform for shaping a smarter, more connected, and inclusive digital future.
