Interviews
“Africa’s energy future will be shaped by smarter integration of automation, digitalization, and efficient power systems to drive reliable and sustainable growth.”
Omar Khalifa is a Sales and Business Development professional with 18 years of experience across the energy and oil & gas sectors in Africa. His experience spans power generation, transmission & distribution, industrial combined heat and power applications, sustainable energy, Artificial Lift solutions for upstream oil & gas, and LV/MV Variable Speed Drives for industrial and ESP applications. Throughout his career, he has focused on strategic growth, market expansion, OEM/EPC partnerships, and customer relationship management across Africa.
Accelerating Robotics Adoption in the Middle East: Trends, Challenges, and the Role of Industrial Partnerships
I am Ehab Alotaibi, a robotics and automation professional based in Dubai, UAE, working across the Middle East region. My experience focuses on supporting manufacturers, system integrators, and industrial partners in identifying practical automation opportunities and implementing robotic solutions across applications such as welding, palletizing, material handling, and other industrial processes. I also work closely with system integrators and ecosystem partners, whose role is essential in translating technology into complete, reliable, and scalable solutions. Their application expertise, local market knowledge, engineering capabilities, and after-sales support are key factors in helping customers adopt robotics successfully and achieve measurable long-term value.
“Don’t measure AI by its cost—measure it by the price you keep paying for inefficiency every day it isn’t deployed.”
Welinton dos Santos is the Technical Vice President of SINDECON-SP, an Economist, Accountant, Coordinator of the Artificial Intelligence Forum of CORECON-SP-Brazil, Writer, International Cities Specialist, Artificial Intelligence Specialist, and CEO of INOVA CONT AI.
“GITEX AI Asia is where Asia’s digital ambition meets global opportunity—turning innovation into real-world impact at scale”.
Christopher McCuin is Managing Director for Southeast Asia for GITEX AI ASIA where he leads the expansion of the globally renowned GITEX technology events portfolio across Asia. Based in Singapore, he drives the launch and growth of international platforms connecting governments, investors, startups and global tech leaders. With over two decades in the exhibitions industry, he specialises in strategic partnerships and scaling large-scale events, building high-impact platforms that accelerate innovation, collaboration and digital transformation across Asia.
“Industrial UX fails when it tries to simplify reality. It succeeds when it helps humans operate within it.”
Madhav Marripati is a Lead UI/UX Designer at Schreiber Foods with 13+ years of experience in enterprise and industrial design. He is a former Head of UI/UX at HCLTech and is recognized among India’s Top 30 Elite UI/UX Designers. Madhav specializes in building scalable, data-driven platforms across manufacturing and agriculture, delivering measurable business impact through design.
“The future of energy isn’t just generated in grids—it’s driven by data-led decisions.”
Rajat Jain is an Electrical Engineer with 8+ years of experience in the power and utilities sector, including roles at WBSEDCL, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), and MPPGCL. At WBSEDCL, his role extended beyond supervising electrical infrastructure to working extensively with SAP-ERP systems, managing billing, revenue collection, and capital project cost estimation—transforming operational data into actionable insights. He is currently transitioning into data and business analytics, with a focus on energy analytics and data-driven decision-making. He is also a McKinsey Forward Program alumnus.
"The future of tank level measurement lies not in adding complexity, but in engineering simplicity that delivers reliability, safety, and intelligence in one device."
Dr. Parimal M. Joshi is a seasoned business leader with over 30 years of experience across India, the Middle East, Africa, and North America. Currently Vice President of Sales at Potence Controls, he specializes in simplifying complex sales and engineering challenges, aligning technical solutions with customer needs, and building long-term partnerships across industries such as Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Water, and Power. He is also known for using insightful cartoons to communicate business concepts with clarity and impact.
“Brazil’s neoindustrialization is not a return to the past - it is a strategic leap toward a more complex, innovative, and sustainable economy where productivity, resilience, and inclusion move forward together.”
Haroldo da Silva is a Brazilian economist, lawyer, and economic consultant with a PhD from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo and a Master’s degree from Universidade Federal do Paraná. Recognized as Economist of the Year in 2024 by CIESP, he advises leading industrial associations and serves as an elected council member at CORECON-SP. A university professor and author of The Neoliberal Illusion of Industry, he specializes in industrial policy, competitiveness, and strategic economic analysis, contributing to public policy debates and institutional forums across Brazil and internationally.
“The future factory won’t be fully autonomous because humans disappear—it will be autonomous because human engineering judgment is finally scaled by AI, physics, and real-time data, not replaced by them.”
Varun Chebbi is an Industrial AI and Digital Twin researcher with over six years of experience spanning startups, industrial consulting, and academia. His work focuses on predictive maintenance, smart manufacturing, and Industry 4.0 systems. Holding a master’s degree in simulation and system design, he develops AI-driven digital twins for rotary machinery, integrating physics-based models, data analytics, and edge AI to build intelligent, resilient industrial systems.
"The future of manufacturing belongs to those who fuse intelligence with empathy - where automation empowers people and sustainability drives progress."
Ms. Ferrero has held the role of Chief Marketing & Solutions Portfolio Officer at Comau since 2023. With close to 20 years of international, multi-industry experience, she is specialized in Strategy, Marketing and Business Development, in addition to having a strong background as a sales manager. Ms. Ferrero also has extensive experience working with companies undertaking deep business transformation cycles. Having started her career in Italdesign Giugiaro, she was a Key Account Manager for Tesco Go before joining Pininfarina in 2010 and Comau in 2018 as the Global Head of Business Development, Marketing and Digital Innovation for Comau’s Powertrain Business Unit. From 2021 until rejoining Comau in 2023, Ms. Ferrero served as the Head of Strategy and Strategic Marketing at Baker Hughes. In this capacity, she contributed to the strategic positioning and long range plan development of its newly created business entity IET (Industrial Energy Technology), working closely with gas, digital and clean technologies. A certified engineer, Ms. Ferrero is a member of Comau’s DEI Committee and serves on the Board of Directors of Automha, SpA. She holds a Master Degree in Management Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and speaks 6 languages.