5th December 2023 | Dubai

Mohsen Ahmad oversees Dubai South’s entire Logistics District as its chief executive officer. Having set up its free zone and established the Dubai Logistics Corridor, which connects Jebel Ali Port with Al Maktoum International Airport via a single, custom-bonded zone, Mohsen leads the overall execution of the district’s operations, manages its financial planning, and is responsible for setting the district’s strategic directions and goals. He was also instrumental in laying the groundwork for future developments to ensure the district’s sustainable growth.

Anticipating the rapid growth of e-commerce and witnessing the growing number of international and regional movers in Dubai, Mohsen championed the development of EZDubai, a purpose built e-commerce hub that supports the growth of the sector through state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure within the Logistics District. Additionally, as an industry veteran, he played an instrumental role in developing Dubai’s overall e-commerce strategy to consolidate the emirate’s position as a hub for global e-commerce.  

Mohsen joined Dubai South in 2008 following more than twelve years’ experience in the supply chains and logistics sector, having held management posts at Al Futtaim Logistics and tenure as head of inbound logistics at Dubai Aluminum Company (DUBAL).

He had set his sights early on a career in supply chain and logistics, with a bachelor’s degree in logistics and transportation from the University of Tennessee, USA and a Master of Science in logistics and supply chain management from Cranfield University School of Management, United Kingdom. 

He is currently a fellow member and was previously the secretary general of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transportation (CILT), UAE.

Tariq Al Falahi is the Chief Executive Officer of RailDirect, a seasoned executive with over two decades of experience, and brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership in managing high-profile government projects in the UAE.

In his current role, Tariq focuses on leading the development of the company’s long and short-term strategies, overseeing and managing overall operations, and fostering stakeholder engagement to drive long-term revenue growth. Beyond this, Tariq plays a pivotal role in achieving RailDirect’s vision of offering a reliable and sustainable cross-border freight solution.

Prior to RailDirect, Tariq served as the Commercial Director at Etihad Rail, where he was responsible for implementing commercial strategies aligning with the company’s business goals, identifying opportunities for growth, and ensuring that stakeholder and customer needs are met.

Over the course of his career, Tariq spent more than 10 years at the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), formerly the Department of Transport (DoT). During his time there, Tariq was part of the Freight Planning and Strategy Division where he developed the Abu Dhabi Freight Master plan for regulations and policies relating to freight transport, established and managed the Abu Dhabi Logistics Committee, and oversaw the development of the Abu Dhabi Capital Plan. Following DoT’s transition to DMT, he joined the Developers Affairs and Real Estate Promotion Division where he led ESCROW account digitization and legislation development and enhanced collaboration with private sector leaders to cultivate real estate growth.

Tariq holds a Bachelor of Science in Operations Management from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Operations Management.

Mike Bhaskaran is the Group Chief Operating Officer, Digital Technology for DP World. He is responsible for driving the digital transformation of all parts of our value chain globally and operates all aspects of our technology presence, driving global business process improvement and systems implementation.

Mike has valuable experience in Blockchain, e-commerce technology, and driving innovative digital capabilities in complex supply chains at scale. Mike started his career within Engineering before moving into Distribution Operations and Supply Chain at Dell Computer Corporation. Prior to joining DP World, Mike was the Chief Supply Chain Officer at Staples Inc.

Before that he worked various other global organizations including Amazon, The Gap Inc, Starbucks Corporation and Beyond the Rack Inc, where he was responsible for all technology infrastructure and software development efforts.

Mike has a Masters in Industrial Technology & Engineering from Utah State University in the USA and an MBA from Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University in the USA. 

Phil Brown is the Director of the Metabolic Research Institute the non-profit, research entity of Metabolic. Metabolic is an impact-driven organisation whereby Phil's role is on the one hand to strategically shepherd Metabolic’s research program along an impact-driven theory of change. And, on the other to foster strategic partnerships with research partners and funders to research systemic transition pathways. The aim is to accelerate large-scale holistic innovation to transition global ecosystem’s to sustainable practices. Phil has been the Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at Circularise and remains a strategic advisor. Whereby he supports Circularise’s partners to integrate circular oriented innovation strategies and helped to translate blockchain capabilities into decision-making processes for developing Digital Product Passports (DPPs). Phil holds a PhD in Collaborative Circular Oriented Innovation from Delft University of Technology and has previously held multiple positions focused on Circular Economy Innovation. Phil’s key areas of interest and expertise include circular economy, collaborative innovation networks, Circular Design and Business Model strategies, supply chain management, and digital transition & solutions.

In 2022, Mary de Wysocki was named the first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer of Cisco. In this role, she leads the company’s sustainability strategy; oversees its progress toward public environmental goals; and helps Cisco drive long-term value for the business, its value chain, and the planet. With nearly twenty years of experience leading various corporate social responsibility (CSR), education, and sustainability initiatives at Cisco, Mary plays an integral role in executing the company's purpose to Power an Inclusive Future for All. She draws on her diverse background in legal training, strategic consulting, and on-the-ground program management to help Cisco invest in impact-driven programs that enable social change and reimagine how technology and sustainability interact with the corporate world. Mary is also a Trustee of the Cisco Foundation and Harambeans, a member of the World Economic Forum, and a Board Member and Vice Chair of MIND Research.

Sara Jackson, a dual national of the UK and South Africa, has worked in various roles for Nestlé SA for 3 decades, 2 of which were based in the GCC. Her experience includes senior business and executive leadership roles in regions across Africa, Middle East and Asia. During this time, she was instrumental in leading and supporting greenfield projects including establishing manufacturing facilities in new markets, business restructuring, new market entries and the integration of a major acquisition. 

On leaving the corporate world in 2019, Sara established her own consultancy, Green Ethics FZ LLC, and is now managing the CIRCLE Coalition, a public private partnership, focused on developing a closed loop economic model for recycling post-consumer packaging waste. Recently licensed as the Circular Packaging Association, the CIRCLE Coalition, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, comprises multinational and regional brand owners including Unilever, Nestlé, Pepsico, Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, and the Agthia Group as well as the Gulf Bottled Water Association. The petrochemical and packaging industry is represented by Dow, BASF, Borouge and Tetra Pak, the Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association as well as the hospitality and retail sector represented by Majid Al Futtaim and Emirates Fast Foods. Participating NGO’s include Emirates Nature – WWF. The work of the CIRCLE Coalition includes initiatives to support the development of the Circular Economy in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Sara has since been appointed to the Policy Committee of the Circular Economy Council in the UAE. She has participated in several initiatives, together with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technologies to define policies to support the development of the Circular Economy in the UAE. In Saudi Arabia, Sara has supported the establishment of the KSA Packaging Working Group under the Federation of Saudi Chambers and is engaged in developing initiatives between the National Centre of Waste Management and leading Saudi industry leaders. 

Sara is a qualified ORSC practitioner and has completed the Certificate Courses in Circular Economy from the Technical University of Delft and the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. 

Faisal Karamat is part of the leadership team at Qatar Airways and heads six departments at the cargo division of the airline - global customer service, claims, business intelligence, automation, CRM and e-initiatives.

He is responsible for defining the overall channel distribution strategy and driving innovation within Qatar Airways Cargo by digitalising the entire customer journey, both for internal and external customers. Faisal is also a key participant in the sustainability initiatives within Qatar Airways Cargo and contributes to the carrier’s sustainability programme, WeQare – built on the four core pillars of culture, economy, environment and society.

With more than 17 years of industry experience, he has a proven track record of developing the potential of diverse teams, strategic planning, business development and high impact communication strategies. He is deeply committed to serving others through collaborative partnerships and a shared vision of continuous innovation.

He started his career at Accenture with a focus on digitalising the postal services for Canada Post. Then moved on to Blackberry and Samuel Son & Co, for over 10 years in total where he took on the roles of establishing a Centre of Excellence (COE) around customer experience and analytics. This finally led to him joining the Qatar Airways Group back in 2016 where he led the CRM department for personalising the experience of the passengers as they progress on their travel experience. Since 2018, he has been part of Qatar Airways Cargo where he heads the Customer Experience department.

Faisal is a Canadian national and holds a Degree in Computer Science. He is a proud father to four daughters.

Justin is the Managing Director for Global Sustainability at Google Cloud. He leads Google Cloud’s portfolio of sustainability solutions and helps customers drive business and sustainability goals through technology. Justin joined Google after 14 years as a Managing Director at Accenture where he was a founder of their commercial sustainability services in 2008 working for companies like. Unilever, GSK, Vodafone, Barclays, Anglo American and Centrica. He has spent 25 years in corporate sustainability including 22 years in strategy consulting focused on sustainability as a driver of growth and business transformation. He is a board advisor to the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment and Drift Energy and a non-executive of the UK National Parks partnership. He is a sailor, boxer, clean tech investor and lives in the UK with his wife and three daughters.

Marcus LeMaster is a senior supply chain professional with over 30 years of global, cross-functional leadership experience spanning both supply chain and technology.  Marcus is in the global logistics transformation organization at Schneider Electric and leads the development and delivery of the company’s logistics sustainability strategy, with a primary focus on decarbonization of the company’s global freight transportation.

Marcus joined Schneider Electric in 2014 and is based in Singapore.  He has an educational background in Economics, IT, and Supply Chain with an MSc in Logistics & Supply Chain Management from Cranfield University in the UK.  He holds a chartered Professional Logistician designation from The Logistic Institute Canada.