About Us

Shaheena Mohamed is a senior policy advisor with over 20 years of experience in a variety of areas including national competitiveness, sustainability, business environments, and emerging technologies. She brings rich experience in regional and global policy, having worked for the Emirates Competitiveness Council in the UAE Prime Minister's Office, the World Bank Group, the UN Capital Development Fund, implementing public and private sector projects. She has a passion for leveraging innovation systems to drive organizational agility and transformation. Shaheena has won an international award for her work in implementing a high-impact model for innovation in the public sector.

Amin Tejpar is a dynamic leader with expertise in capacity building, future readiness, and systems thinking. With over 20 years of experience in education and capacity-building, Amin has developed a keen understanding of fostering a culture of continuous learning.  Amin excels in designing and implementing comprehensive initiatives and programmes that foster innovation and development. His strategic mindset, combined with a deep understanding of complex systems, enables him to navigate the ever-evolving landscape and equip teams with the skills and mindset necessary to thrive in the future.

Nouf al Falasi, a strategic leader with 20+ years of experience in the UAE government, excels in streamlining planning processes, fostering business-friendly environments, and driving innovation. As a sought-after speaker and trainer, she specializes in areas of public policy, strategic planning, impact evaluation and customer satisfaction. Nouf actively contributes to think-tanks and international forums, including the World Economic Forum and the Global Agenda Summit.

Dr Ijaz Ahmad Rauf, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, boasts over 30 years of experience in optimization, innovation, engineering, and research with expertise spanning from nanotechnology to machine learning. Dr Rauf has a track record of implementing process improvement strategies that have resulted in substantial savings for companies.  A renowned physicist, Dr Rauf has won two gold medal awards for academic achievements, has written over 100 scientific publications, and is the inventor of the Grain Boundary Engineering Process, which has received international recognition.

​Jason Uppal, the principal architect at WhiteSparrow Labs, is a distinguished practitioner in Enterprise Architecture (EA) with over two decades of experience driving digital transformation in private and public sectors. His expertise spans a comprehensive range of EA frameworks, metamodels, modelling languages, and tools. Jason's insightful leadership, contributions to policy documents, and industry benchmarks make him a trusted innovator advancing the indispensable discipline of EA in today's ever-evolving technological landscape.

​Zena Cox, leveraging her 15+ years of leadership and as the Operations Director of Ideas UK, excels in cultivating innovative environments and fostering growth within organizations. With qualifications in Prince 2 and Black Belt Sigma, she strengthens innovation systems and ideas systems in the UK, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Her extensive public and private sector experience enables her to align organizations' strategic obejctives and nurture innovation talent within the organizations.

​Dr Karim Keshavjee is the Program Director – Health Informatics (MHI) at the University of Toronto. He is a distinguished and widely-published scientist, professor and a leader in predictive analytics and systems-based thinking. With a focus on knowledge translation—from bench to patients—Dr Keshavjee's thought leadership drives transformative health solutionsin Canada and internationally. He architected Canada’s Primary Care Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CPCSSN). As of mid-2023, CPCSSN is leveraging data from 1500 physicians across Canada, making health data securely available for medical research.

Dr. Armin Darvishzadeh brings together skills in healthcare, informatics, and strategy with a focus on structured data, data analytics, and next-generation EMR,  His expertise in data management, interoperability, privacy, and standards, along with his business acumen, enable data-driven decisions across a variety of projects and industries. Dr Darvishzadeh promotes stakeholder participation and regularly produces results of industry excellence and innovation using a strategic approach influenced by Lean Six Sigma.

Safdar Rashid has over 30 years of experience in business development. He specializes in creating 'ecosystems of opportunity,'connecting people, ideas, and cutting-edge technologies to create value. Safdar provides a distinctive regional perspective by fusing his business savvy with a wealth of knowledge about the UAE and GCC, and a deep engagement with its culture and history. He incorporates this rich understanding of the region into his approach to business development strategies.