Unfiltered Middle East Intelligence: Top Experts on AI, Energy, Money and More

When the Middle East shifts, the ripple effects reach boardrooms and balance sheets across the globe.

Escalating tensions in the region are disrupting global energy flows and redefining security risks, all while AI, digital finance and climate policy reshape how countries assert power and influence.

Read on to discover some of the world’s top minds on the forces shaping the Middle East and beyond – from the economic impact of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiatives and the global energy transition to cyber conflict, shifting alliances and AI’s growing role in regional power plays.

An Insider’s View of the Global Energy Landscape

Daniel Yergin is an internationally recognized authority on energy and the global economy, as well as an exceptional speaker who guides leaders on adaptable strategy in an uncertain geopolitical landscape. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power,” vice chairman of S&P Global, and chairman of CERAWeek, his latest book, “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations,” addresses trends that are driving us into the future, such as the emerging risks and opportunities from shifting global power balances between governments and markets.

Top AI Visionary in the Arabic World Helps Improve Investment Decisions and Society

Iyad Rahwan is director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, and a former MIT professor. He is a pioneering AI scholar, a global authority on human-machine collaboration, and an expert on how AI is reshaping our economy and society. Often called an Anthropologist of AI, Iyad has been named a top AI visionary in the Arabic world for how he helps leaders improve investment decisions and society by understanding the future impact of technology on humans, including generative AI, social media, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

How AI is Shaping the Future of Cities, Businesses and Individuals

Joseph M. Bradley, CEO of TONOMUS, the world’s leading cognitive technology company and a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s cutting-edge NOEM project, is a trailblazing thought leader who redefines what’s possible in the age of AI and digital transformation. With over 30 years of leadership experience in Silicon Valley and the Middle East, Joseph’s dynamic keynotes explore how AI is revolutionizing human identity, leadership, creativity and productivity, offering actionable insights and bold strategies for thriving in a rapidly changing world.

Visionary Tech Innovator and Transformational Leader

Paul Daugherty, recently retired from Accenture after nearly 40 years, was Accenture’s Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for over a decade, where he played a key role in the company’s own AI transformation to become a digital leader and enterprise global technology services firm. Actively sought out by boards, CEOs, and C-Suite leaders for his depth of experience, you’ll appreciate his approachable, down to earth demeanor as he explains the vocabulary, capabilities and use cases for agentic AI and autonomous AI systems.

Leading AI Innovation and Investment with a Human-First Approach

Rana el Kaliouby, Harvard Business School executive fellow and co-founder and managing partner at Blue Tulip Ventures, is an Egyptian American pioneering AI researcher and practitioner on a mission to humanize AI and tech before it dehumanizes us. With over two decades of experience in the AI field and a powerful personal story, Rana demonstrates how to develop an AI mindset that goes beyond automating tasks to increase innovation, accelerate decision-making and even generate top-line revenue growth. As an experienced AI investor, Rana is also in high demand to advise on tech investments, startups and build-or-buy scenarios.

How to Fail Well and Bounce Back Better

Amy Edmondson – Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School – is the world’s top expert on psychological safety, teaming and organizational learning. The bestselling author of “The Fearless Organization,” Amy’s latest book, “Right Kind of Wrong,” reveals the contrasting “failure cultures” in business and provides a fresh perspective on maximizing what we gain from mistakes of all kinds, as seen in this lively Chautauqua Institution presentation.

If Your Organization Moves Money Globally, You Need to Know About Crypto

Neha Narula is the director of the Digital Currency Initiative at the MIT Media Lab and a foremost authority on the impact of decentralized digital currencies, including Ethereum, Bitcoin and Solana, on the economy and business, especially in an era of shifting trust. Having collaborated extensively with the Bank of England and other major banks across the globe, Neha’s research has become a vital resource for central banks and financial institutions worldwide as they explore the potentials and challenges of national digital currencies, stablecoins and asset tokenization.

Build an Agile Mindset Into the Future of Economies, Tech and Sustainability

Mark Esposito, Ph.D., who splits his time between Boston, Geneva and Dubai, is a social scientist with appointments at Harvard Business School and Harvard University as well as the school’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and the Center for International Development. A multidisciplinary expert, Mark shows how to build an agile mindset and find incredible possibilities for the future, even in times of adversity and uncertainty.

Harness Emotional Agility to Break Through Business and Personal Challenges

Susan David, Ph.D., is an award-winning Harvard Medical School psychologist and one of the top management thinkers in the world. Author of the #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller “Emotional Agility,” Susan helps leaders and their teams understand how navigating our emotions shapes our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness. Susan empowers leaders to face the most pressing business challenges head-on without losing sight of their firm’s most important asset – its people.

Lead AI Transformation and Build Resilience in an Uncertain World

Nathan Furr, Ph.D., is a Professor of Strategy at INSEAD and one of the world’s foremost experts on AI and tech strategy as well as building resilience in times of uncertainty. A highly sought after advisor with a friendly, approachable style, Nathan’s clear-eyed strategies help leaders get onboard with testing AI tools, learning from those tests, and bringing their organizations forward during the transformation journey.

Enhancing Feelings of Connection in the Age of AI

Professor Elizabeth Dunn, a renowned expert in social connection at the University of British Columbia and co-author of “Happy Money,” has published groundbreaking research on the consequences of interacting with chatbots. An enthusiastic, engaging presenter, her research reveals that interacting with well-programmed chatbots can actually make people feel happier and more connected than interacting with humans. Her insights are vital for business leaders seeking to enhance customer engagement, buying experiences and employee satisfaction in a technology-driven world.

Global Futurist and Strategist Helps Organizations Define Their Destinies

Olaf Groth, Ph.D., is a renowned global futurist and strategist who empowers leaders to harness the transformative power of emerging technologies on worldwide economies and businesses. With over three decades of experience advising governments and multinationals including Chevron, GE and Volkswagen and in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Olaf is a captivating and energizing speaker whose innovative frameworks guide companies through digital and geopolitical shifts while fostering responsible and strategic growth in crucial domains including AI and cybersecurity.

Navigating the New Workplace By Engaging Employees

Mark Mortensen is the newly appointed associate dean of INSEAD’s Middle East campus in Abu Dhabi and co-creator of the Integrated Employee Value Proposition (iEVP). An experienced executive educator, he helps leaders address challenges related to organizational design, company culture and human dynamics as workplaces experience more virtuality and teams often no longer inhabit a single office. Read his suggestions for helping leaders recalculate the costs and benefits of generative AI in his latest HBR article.

The Power of Story to Shape Brands and Inspire Teams

Janine Zacharia is a Stanford University Department of Communication lecturer and world-renowned practitioner helping executives and high potential leaders become influential and inspiring through written and spoken word. A highly valued executive coach, skilled moderator and global journalist, her highly regarded foreign affairs reporting career focused on Israel and the Middle East. She also has held several top jobs in media, including Jerusalem bureau chief and Middle East correspondent for the Washington Post, State Department correspondent for Bloomberg News, and Washington bureau chief for the Jerusalem Post. Janine shines when she consults with leaders on how and when to talk the press and how to deliver the right message, especially during consequential events like product launches and crises.

Making Your Company and Your People Future-Ready

Selina Neri, Ph.D. is the CEO, Dean & co-founder of the Institute for Future Readiness, a senior fellow of the Center for Governance (Public Investment Fund) and a Professor of Leadership and Corporate Governance at Hult Ashridge Executive Education. A multidisciplinary “corporate-academic” who also served as dean of Hult International Business School’s Dubai campus, Selina helps both professionals and young people become and remain future-ready, helping them shift mindsets, cultivate resilience and build skills to navigate the future with confidence and be relevant in the future of work.

The Future of American Policy in the Gulf

Daniel Benaim is a seasoned foreign policy practitioner and strategic communicator who offers insights into the most critical foreign policy challenges of our time, with a focus on the Middle East and international strategic communications. Most recently serving as the top U.S. State Department official covering the Arabian Gulf, Daniel has taken part in a range of initiatives, including diplomacy to end regional wars, efforts to bring jailed Americans home safely, the evacuation of almost 100,000 Afghan allies through the Gulf, arms sales, semiconductor exports, commercial diplomacy, and competition with China in the Middle East. Having shaped and executed U.S. policy at the highest levels, from Gulf palaces to the Oval Office, Daniel brings deep expertise in topics ranging from the future of American policy in the Gulf to speechwriting, which he taught at the United Nations and New York University.

Rebuild Trust in Institutions to Unlock New Development Potential

Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Ph.D., is the faculty director of the Harvard Center for International Development and a professor of international finance and development at the Harvard Kennedy School. Fluent in Punjabi and Urdu, he’s an expert on how governments and businesses can invest in people first and foremost. Asim is the co- founder of the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan, a leading think tank, and the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, an award winning global FinTech that developed a psychometric approach to lending. Equipped with an international lens to working across borders and ideologies to build collaborative relationships, Asim helps leaders reinvent institutions to regain trust in the face of today’s evolving global challenges.

Frameworks that Will Propel Your Organization Into the AI-Powered Future

George Westerman is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, founder of the Global Opportunity Initiative, and internationally recognized for helping leaders make sense of fast-moving technology innovation. An award-winning author and compelling storyteller who cuts through tech hype to get down to what truly matters, his easy-to-follow frameworks provide leaders with an accessible understanding about the current state of AI and increase their confidence about making the right technology decisions for their organizations. He recently joined a major financial institution in Oman to discuss leveraging AI to support operational growth.

Leverage Innovation and Technology to Drive Growth During Uncertain Economic Times

Paul Romer, Ph.D. is a Nobel Laureate economist and a world-renowned authority on leveraging cutting-edge technologies and innovations to drive long-term profitability. A University Professor at Boston College, director of its Center for the Economics of Ideas and a former chief economist at The World Bank, his clear-headed prediction is that generative AI will follow the trajectory of self-driving cars – rapid initial progress that brings us close to the promised outcome, but hasn’t yet achieved its goal. A confident and engaging presenter, Paul uses real-world examples to show leaders how to reimagine everything from cities to free trade, improving living standards and job opportunities for populations around the world.

When leaders have expert guidance on important political and social issues affecting regions around the world, their organizations perform better both domestically and internationally. Stern Strategy Group connects you with renowned thought leaders whose insights, strategies and management frameworks help organizations fuel growth and disruptive innovation to better compete in a constantly changing world. Let us arrange for these esteemed experts to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting sessions, workshops and keynotes.