Archives: Speakers

Riad Bsaibes is the President and CEO of AMANA Investments. Prior to that, he served for 15 years with Amana Contracting Group leading up to the position of COO. Prior to AMANA, Mr. Bsaibes held various managerial and operational positions with Corning Incorporated and Schlumberger Oilfield Services.    Mr. Bsaibes holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering M.I.T. (1991) and an MBA from the Harvard Business School (2001).    He is the Vice Chairman of the MIT Educational Council for the Southern Gulf and served as the Director on the global board of Harvard Alumni Association (USA).  Mr. Bsaibes is also on the Advisory Board of The Harvard Club of the UAE, the board of the MIT Club of the UAE and the Advisory Board of the AUS Civil Engineering Dept. Mr. Bsaibes is an active member of the YPO and Endeavor global organizations and a jurist on the MIT Business Plan Competition for the Pan-Arab Region.

Naveed is an ex-investment banker and private equity professional with over with over 14 years of hands-on experience focused on project finance, private equity Investments, public private partnerships and public sector projects budgeting. In his current role he is leading the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Program at the Department of Finance for the Government of Dubai. In this capacity Naveed is responsible for devising the Strategy and Policy for Dubai Government’s PPP program, assists procuring entities to identify PPP Projects and provide Financial and Technical Advisory for structuring and implementing PPP Projects. Naveed has been part of the Dubai Government since 2011 and has successfully delivered multiple projects pertaining to different sectors such as: public transport, road infrastructure, green energy, social development, healthcare facilities and utilities.

Martin Baerschmidt brings 30 years of worldwide experience from Australia, Southeast Asia and the GCC to the practice. He has worked with some of the most prestigious firms in leading positions, and the knowledge gathered from these years of delivering high-end projects is integral to the way EDGE does business. In the past 25 years in Dubai since 1997, Martin has been a Director at RMJM and a Design Manager at HOK, NORR and Hyder. He has worked on projects such as ADNEC Capital Gate, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Emirates Towers before starting the firm in 2009.   In 2022, EDGE is undertaking key projects such as the new Masdar Headquarters project (The Link) in Abu Dhabi and the waterfront Crystal Residences in Mamzar Park for Eagle Hills. At a smaller scale, EDGE is collaborating with Rockwell Group on the new NOBU Restaurant at Atlantis the Palm, due to open in November 2022.

With more than thirty-five years’ experience in the industry, twenty of which spent with ALEC Engineering & Contracting, Kez Taylor is the Chief Executive Officer, one of the Middle East’s largest main contractors. Having developed and grown the business to include a series of successful subsidiaries, such as ALEC Energy, ALEC FITOUT and LINQ Modular, ALEC’s turn over currently exceeds $1.3bn and includes several of the UAE’s most ambitious projects including over twenty Expo 2020 pavilions and One Za’abeel, the world’s largest cantilevered building. An honours degree graduate from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, Kez’s career has overseen the delivery of more than 100 challenging projects in UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Mauritius, Zambia and Ethiopia including airports, retail, hospitality and high-rise, while leading a community of over 11,000 highly skilled personnel.

John Shenton is Chair of the Dubai Hub for the CIOB and Regional Contract Manager – GCC for Averda. John is a Chartered Construction Manager and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators with fourteen years of experience in the UK and EMEA in the management of prime contracts, subcontracts, and consultancy service agreements for the development of built assets. John holds a Master of Laws from Paris-Descartes and Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, a Master of Business Engineering from Stuttgart, and various professional memberships. The University of Stuttgart published John’s research into the cross-border finance of infrastructure projects in 2019. John volunteers his spare time to mentor candidates seeking to achieve chartered status through the CIOB’s ‘Professional Review’ process.

Dr. Spanos is a consultant, professional engineer, and sustainability expert with 20 years of experience. As a KEO Director of Sustainability & Environmental Services, he provides professional consultancy and strategy-related services to government institutions, investment funds, developers, architects, and contractors.

Since 2013, he is based in the Gulf region and works closely with world-event organizers and developers of future global destinations. His primary interest is in the implementation of added commercial value through client-focused sustainability, ESG, and Climate Change related decisions in the early stages of development. He is currently delivering organization-wide scale strategies to some of the signature clients in the region.

Dr. Spanos’ experience includes the development of sustainable real-estate assets and urban development programs in MENA, the UK, Europe, and Africa. He has provided consultancy and advisory services for the development of projects within the commercial, education, healthcare, hospitality, leisure, master planning, mixed-use, renewable energy, regeneration, residential, and sports sectors. He is also actively supporting academic research, regional Green Building Councils, and international professional bodies.

Kairnial, a market leader in France and Europe, specialises in mobility solutions and management of site-based processes for Construction and Real Estate in 2D and BIM. It is now part of Thinkproject, the European SaaS leader in Construction Intelligence.   Hervé is in charge of the international expansion of Kairnial since October 2019. He has over 30 years sales and management experience with software and SaaS vendors and was previously for 10 years with Aconex (now Oracle) as General Manager EMEA, after holding senior management positions with   BEA Systems, Invention Machine Corp and PTC. He is 58 and holds an Engineering degree in Physics (INSA, Lyon).

Francis Alfred is the Managing Director of Sobha Realty, an international luxury real estate developer that specializes in premium residential apartments, townhouses, and villas.   A forward-looking leader with vast experience in the field, Francis has played diverse roles and led the company’s business operations across India and the UAE for two decades before he was appointed Managing Director of Sobha’s Middle East operations in 2016.   Spearheading some of Sobha Realty’s most outstanding achievements, he is responsible for overseeing the company’s strategic global expansion and diversification while managing, monitoring, and master planning the design and delivery of several real estate projects.   His hands-on leadership style has been instrumental in ensuring the timely delivery of projects that meet the highest standards of quality and excellence. Under his watch, Sobha has witnessed achievements and milestones that have catapulted the company into the ranks of leading real estate developers in the UAE today.   An expert in the contemporary and innovative construction style, Franics pay keen attention on digitalization to propel Sobha and the real estate industry forward. Gravitating towards Contech and Proptech, Francis supports the rollout of next-generation technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and data analytics.   He also advocates for lean manufacturing and business processes, as well as led the implementation of Sobha’s backward integration model in the region. This has resulted in the vertical integrations of the company’s manufacturing and services.   An enthusiastic reader, Francis is self-reflective and informed and loves intellectual discussions. He encourages collaboration and critical thinking among team members to achieve shared goals.   Francis, a civil engineer, also holds a technology degree from India’s Annamalai University.