| 7:15 AM – 8:20 AM |
Leaders’ Networking Breakfast |
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| 8:20 AM – 8:30 AM |
Special Inaugural Plenary
Welcome Address - Conference Chairperson
VIP Leadership Remarks
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Solveig Nicklos
Managing Director, X.0 Advisory
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| 8:30 AM – 9:20 AM |
Headline Panel: Re-Architecting the Workforce for the AI-Driven Enterprise
AI transformation can only deliver sustainable value when organisations address the human layer alongside technology. This panel will explore how workforce structures, roles, skills, operating models and leadership behaviours need to evolve as AI becomes embedded across the enterprise. Leaders will discuss productivity, workforce planning, culture, employee capability, human-AI collaboration and change management, with a focus on building organisations that can adopt AI effectively while maintaining trust, engagement and performance.
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Moderator
Andrew Al ZeinMiddle East Energy & Natural Resources Leader, Marsh People Solutions
Panelists
Ali Abu HaliqaExecutive Director, Human Capital & Deputy Chief Corporate Support Officer, Mubadala
Abdulla Mohamed Al HosaniDirector, Corporate Human Resources & Administration, Dolphin Energy
Saeed Al MehairiEVP, People & Culture and General Services, TAQA Water Solutions
Deepti ThakreHR Director, Weatherford
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| 9:20 AM – 9:50 AM |
Strategic Keynote: Re-Architecting the Organization: From Hierarchies to Intelligent Operating Systems |
TBC |
| 9:50 AM – 10:10 AM |
Strategic Partner Keynote |
TBC |
| 10:10 AM – 10:55 AM |
Workforce Panel: Designing Skills-Based Workforce Systems for Agility, Forecasting & Fluid Talent Deployment
As workforce demands become more dynamic and unpredictable, traditional headcount-based planning is no longer sufficient. This session explores how organisations can transition to capability- and skills-based workforce models, enabling greater agility, accurate forecasting, and fluid talent deployment. The discussion will focus on aligning workforce planning with evolving business needs, strengthening internal mobility, identifying critical skills and capability gaps, and creating adaptive workforce systems that can respond to changing operational and market realities.
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Moderator
Fizza SabirPrincipal People & Culture Advisor / HR Head of Section, DNV
Panelists
Faisal AlKatheeriGeneral Program Section Head, Department of Government Enablement - UAE
Mohammed AldossaryHead of HR, Saudi Arabia & Bahrain, Halliburton
Hamood RashdiHead of Workforce & Organizational Design PDO
Sarah TabetHead of HR, Middle East & Africa, Siemens Energy
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| 10:55 AM – 11:20 AM |
Networking Break |
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| 11:20 AM – 11:50 AM |
Deep Dive Dialogue: Why Transformation Breaks – Culture, Leadership & The Human Side of AI
Most transformation efforts don’t fail because of technology, they fail because organisations are not designed to adopt and absorb change at scale. This deep-dive dialogue brings together senior leaders to unpack the real barriers to transformation, from cultural resistance and frontline adoption challenges to misaligned leadership and fragmented change efforts. The conversation will explore how organisations can align workforce, leadership, and intelligent systems, drive behavioural change in operational environments, and build change frameworks that translate effectively into execution and measurable outcomes.
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Moderator
Vanessa WelchFounder & Managing Director, V3
Panelists
Solveig NicklosManaging Director, X.0 Advisory
Hassan Al BarwaniFormer Digital & IT Director, PDO
Ildiko HarasziDirector of Business Change & Engagement, TAQA Water Solutions
Umer BhatHead of People & Culture, RAK Gas
Arun MadeswaranSenior Manager - AI & Datat, Etihad We
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| 11:50 AM – 12:35 PM |
Signature Showcase: AI & Workforce in Energy Operations: From Decision Support to Autonomous Execution (3 Use Cases & Case Studies × 15 mins)
Showcase 1: Execution in Action – Why Domain Expertise Decides Who Builds with AI and Who Just Buys It
Showcase 2: We Called it: How our Leadership Program Prepared the Leaders for the Actual Scenario We are Living Today
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Mohammad AbdelrahmanHead of AI Agentic Engineering & Transformation, SERGAS Group
Amal SaadManaging Director, Wide Impact
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| 12:40 PM – 13:40 PM |
Lunch and Networking |
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| 13:40 PM – 14:25 PM |
Executive Strategy Panel: From Workforce Strategy to Workforce Intelligence – Enabling Real-Time, Adaptive Enterprises
As organisations move beyond static workforce planning, the next frontier is building intelligent, adaptive workforce systems that can respond in real time to operational and business demands. This opening panel sets the tone for Day 2 by exploring how enterprises are shifting from traditional workforce strategy to dynamic, data-informed decision-making, where workforce, operations, and intelligence systems are increasingly integrated. The discussion will focus on how organisations can scale decision-making, enable greater responsiveness, and transition from rigid workforce structures to adaptive execution models—unlocking greater speed, precision, agility, and performance at enterprise scale.
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Panelists
Zardasht Kamal BanayVP, Organizational Development & Transformation, Galfar Engineering & Contracting SAOG
Jennifer KuschHead of Human Resources ISD, Descon
Nancy Zakharia OhanessianLeadership Coach and Senior Talent & Organizational Development Manager, McDermott
Prasanth NairSenior Manager, Etihad Development Company
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| 14:25 PM – 15:10 PM |
Framework Panel: Data Foundations to Decision Advantage – Enabling Enterprise-Scale Workforce Execution
As organisations scale transformation, competitive advantage is no longer defined by data alone—but by the ability to translate data into timely, high-quality decisions across the enterprise. This panel explores how energy companies are building robust data foundations and governance frameworks, while enabling advanced planning, forecasting, and scenario modelling to support workforce and operational decisions at scale. The discussion will focus on how to align data infrastructure, decision layers, and workforce execution, ensuring that insights are not just generated—but embedded into real-world actions, risk management, and performance outcomes.
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Panelists
Muhammad HamadaHead of Governance, Business Processes and QHSE, ENGIE
Vanessa WelchManaging Director, V3
Nikita RajhansHead of People & Culture, Yellow Door Energy
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| 15:10 PM – 15:35 PM |
Key Talk: Cultivating a Culture of Change – A Strategic Journey Towards Building Future-Ready Organisations |
Varatha Rajan Krishnamoorthy
Group Head, Human Resources, Petrofac (Qatar) WLL
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| 15:35 PM – 16:05 PM |
Fireside Chat: Can Your Workforce Learn Fast Enough to Keep Up with AI?
As AI adoption accelerates across industries, the biggest challenge is no longer the technology itself, but the workforce’s ability to adapt, learn, and evolve at the pace of technological change. This fireside chat will explore whether organisations are building the skills, leadership capabilities, learning cultures, and talent strategies required to successfully navigate the AI era. The conversation will also examine how organisations can accelerate reskilling and upskilling, create a culture of continuous learning, and prepare employees for changing roles and new ways of working alongside AI.
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Guest
Reem KendeelDirector, Leadership Development, ACWA
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| 16:05 PM – 16:50 PM |
Ecosystem Panel: From Workforce Experience to Talent Ecosystems – Driving Productivity, Performance & Scale
As workforce models evolve, organisations must go beyond internal experience design to build high-performance systems that connect productivity, talent, and external ecosystems. This session explores how enterprises can optimise workforce experience and performance while extending capabilities through academia, gig models, and strategic talent pipelines, with a focus on measuring workforce impact and ROI, integrating internal and external talent, and creating scalable workforce systems that support long-term growth, transformation, and execution in dynamic energy environments.
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Panelist
Fizza SabirPrincipal People & Culture Advisor / HR Head of Section, DNV
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| 16:50 PM onwards |
High Tea, Networking & B2B Meetings (Running Concurrently) |
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| 17:20 PM – 17:50 PM |
Closing Roundtable: The Collective – Defining the Next Phase of Energy Workforce Execution |
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