Digital Innovation Triumphs at the 6th CXO50 Awards

The sixth edition of the CXO50 Awards celebrated the top executives driving digital innovation in today’s rapidly evolving landscape.

The theme of this year’s event was “Digital Innovation,” reflecting the unstoppable wave of technological advancement sweeping across every sector. In this digital age, innovation isn’t just a choice – it’s a necessity for survival and success.

The conference commenced with a keynote session by Sebastian Samuel, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at AW Rostamani, who presented on ‘Getting Ready for the Future’. He shared insights on how to prepare for the future in this software-driven and AI-driven world.

He advocated a three-fold approach: “First, embrace a Franchise Model for IT, urging collaboration between business and IT, emphasizing shared responsibility and customised solutions. Second, adopt a mindset of a creative explorer, encouraging innovation, value addition, and a shift from ownership to usership. Lastly, transform from a CIO to a CVO, focusing on revenue acceleration and establishing a new IT operating model with innovative mindsets and technologies.”

Somy Varghese, Head of Digital Transformation and Technology at a leading retail company, gave the next keynote presentation. In an inspiring message, she urged the audience to empower one another and embrace diversity. Her message to women in the industry resonated: “Advocate for yourself and create your own story,” fostering a spirit of empowerment and self-determination for women in technology.

The panel discussion on ‘Strategies for thriving in the era of digital disruption’ featured industry experts such as: Shadi Khuffash, Sr. Sales Director South Middle East at Fortinet; Raed Abd El-Rahman, Regional Channel Manager at Bitdefender; Samer Semaan, Channel and Alliances Manager Middle East and Emerging Africa at Pure Storage; and Shaheen APM, Solutions Manager-Middle East & Africa at Allied Telesis.

The panel emphasized the inevitability of disruption. Acknowledging infrastructure as pivotal, they advocated cybersecurity as crucial for digital transformation, urging leaders to enable change, foster agility, and embrace emerging technologies like IoT, Blockchain, and Edge computing. Cautioning against weaponising AI, they hailed Data Analytics as the hottest trend, emphasizing cross-collaboration and cultural transformation for success.

The event concluded with the awards ceremony, where visionary leaders who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, creativity, and resilience in leveraging digital technologies to transform their organisations and industries were recognised.

See below for the complete list of CXO 50 Award winners: