Asif Mehdi
Chief Executive Officer
Asif brings a wealth of Telecom, Public Safety and IT experience in developing and managing solutions globally. He was head of Business Development for Motorola Solutions Middle East and Central Asia regions, creating new markets for the company’s Broadband products and solutions for use in Government and Public Safety.
He spent more than 25 years at Nokia and Motorola leading Research & Development teams to create cutting edge solutions in Telecom. His career has spanned the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia, with a five year expatriate assignment in Japan to launch a nationwide network.
Asif earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from DePaul University specializing in Finance and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology.
Chris Peri
President & CIO
Chris has international experience in leading creative products and solutions for Retail, e-Commerce, Telecommunication, Information Technology, Education and Healthcare industries. He has organized and led global development centers with great success in APAC, Europe and Americas, where he was also responsible for complex Systems Integration and Sales Engineering.
He has mastered the art of managing large scale multi-site programs using traditional and SAFe Agile methodologies. He has deep skills in IT Governance, Quality Control, Enterprise Architecture, Engineering and Service Management practices with knowledge of Mainframe, Unix/Linux and Distributed Environments. He prefers to be a Social Arts practitioner – envision and execute as a Scientist – precision.
Chris holds a PhD in Macro Social Systems and a Post-Doctorate from University of Chicago. He also holds a Master’s in Computer Science and Master’s in Divinity from Loyola University.
Zubair Ahmed
Board of Director & Advisory Lead for Banking Fintech
Zubair has successfully led Regional Banking technology transformation as CIO, Transformation Director and General Manager in the Gulf region. A Harvard Alumni, with over 28 years of IT & Financial industry experience, he enjoys interacting with customers and engaging businesses in strategic use of technology.
He excels in enterprise transformation, having led and produced compelling results in creating business innovation at the grassroots of organizations. As Chairman of UAE Banking Federation IT Committee, Zubair led the technology agenda for banks, enabling collaborations and advisory with banking regulators.
In the Fintech space, Zubair has served as a mentor and coach in several initiatives internationally. As a regular contributor to publications, he has authored articles on harmonious coexistence of Fintech and Banks, which have been published in magazines such as CIO Applications, The Fintech Times (UK), and PayExpo, etc. His accomplishments include Advisory to Fintech programs in EMEA region such as Dubai International Financial Center Fintech Hive and Abu Dhabi Capital Market Innovation Hub. He has been actively involved with Mentor Africa and New Zealand startups’ programs, to promote international collaboration.
Paul Bengtson
Senior Advisory Board Member
Paul is an enterprise software sales leader with Global and Multi-industry experience in Digital Transformation. The combination of his technical background and sales expertise enables him to identify partners and solutions to drive the modernization of legacy IT environments to the Cloud.
He has a proven ability to work collaboratively and communicate with all levels within organizations to gain trust and deliver results. He is motivated by the challenge of finding creative solutions to difficult problems and meeting the unique needs of customers migrating to the cloud.
His expertise to drive business development partnerships, and expand the market penetration will play an important role in today’s challenging eco-system of emergent technologies for organizational transformation.
Salim Zahoor
Managing Director – EMEA
Salim has successfully launched many business operations in Europe, Middle East and Asia for large multinational companies. His international experience with a focus on operational excellence has been instrumental in establishing profitable subsidiaries in FMCG, Trading, Manufacturing, Fintech, Real Estate & Construction and Technology industries.
He established a track record of creating and implementing programs and long term business strategies aimed at company growth. As a board member, he provides critical advise in aiding businesses for strategic growth through acquisitions and seamless integration in the region.
Salim holds an MBA from the prestigious Loyola University of Chicago and a Bachelors Degree from Bombay University.
