With 20 years of international legal experience, Paul provides counsel to clients in relation to their most complex and challenging IT and digital transformation programs.      

As Co-Chair of DLA Piper’s Global Technology & Sourcing practice, Paul is committed to supporting clients to achieve their organizational objectives. Paul is also a member of DLA Piper’s Change Council which is responsible for fostering radical change and innovation at the firm, and building on the firm’s recognition by the FT as one of the world’s top 10 firms for innovation.       

In recognition of this work, Paul and his team are ranked Band 1 in both leading legal directories, Chambers Global and Legal 500.   

Paul completed his INSEAD Executive MBA in December 2019 (on the Dean’s List with Distinction), with a focus on the design and implementation of strategies and new business models that leverage new and emerging technologies to provide a superior sustainable competitive advantage.  

Mark O'Conor has over 20 years’ experience of helping public and private sector clients with all aspects of IT law, particularly cloud and digital transformation, public procurement and outsourcing.

Mark is the Global Co-Chair for the Technology Sector, co-chairs the firm’s AI Group, was previously UK Managing Partner and is the Vice President of the Society for Computers and Law.

Mark advises companies and governments on digital transformation, agile development, open source, AI and cloud computing legal challenges. He has been involved in drafting and negotiating cloud computing contracts on both the provider and customer side.

In 2021, Mark assisted the UK’s Ministry of Defence on the conclusion of a new five year GBP460 million contract with Boeing Defence UK, extending existing arrangements for a logistics system critical to UK Armed Forces operations worldwide.

As a member of DLA Piper’s International Tech&Sourcing group, Mark was heavily involved in the development of AI Scorebox, a practical tool aimed to help organisations measure and understand their AI maturity, that launched in December 2021.

Fares comes into the role with a wealth of experience, most recently he was a Director for Media Partnerships at META with a global remit leading the News team across Growth Markets (APAC, LATAM, MEA). In this role he worked on some of the most sensitive issues facing the company including the Australian IP regulation, Afghanistan and Middle East unrest and Brazilian elections and regulation to mention a few. During his tenure, he managed to bring cohesion and synergy to a newly established region. At the end of his tenure, in addition to managing challenging regulatory situations, revenues from News for Growth markets became the highest of any other region globally. Prior to his global role, Fares was running the Media Partnerships team in MEA where he had great impact. Most notably, Fares built a case for MENA to be one of four play-to-win video markets for Facebook, securing funding of $45 million over 3 years for content from the region. MENA today is the leading play-to-win market for Facebook in terms of ROI. He also played an active role in the design and kick-off of the 1Africa initiative and was key in securing funding and resources for SSA. Fares has been and remains a very active member of the MEA leadership team. He is one of the executive sponsors of our D&I initiative and he is a respected leader with an established track record. Fares’ appointment is also a great internal growth and 1MBG story, showcasing the opportunities and mobility between the newly formed union of partnership and GBG. The diversity in our expertise and background is a key part of our culture and success. Prior to Facebook, Fares was leading digital business development and distribution for MBC Group (largest media group in MENA). During his tenure he was able to grow the business by over 4X in 5 years and lead the expansion of the largest Arabic VOD in the world (Shahid). Prior to MBC, Fares spent over a decade in management consulting both in the region and the US working across a wide variety of industries and companies. Fares is also an entrepreneur at heart having started, funded and exited several startups both in the region and the US. He continues to be a very active advisor and investor in the startup scene, guiding some of the most exciting startups and VCs in the region. Fares completed his studies in the US and holds an undergraduate degree in Bio Technology (Cum Laude), a Master’s degree in Information Systems (Cum Laude) and an MBA with an emphasis in entrepreneurship and Finance (Highest Distinction). Fares is fluent in English, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese. Fares has lived and worked in the US, Europe, Africa and South America and for the past 10 years has been based in Dubai where he still currently resides with his wife and 2 kids.

Ali Hashemi is the Co-Founder of meta[bolic] and Glucare.Health and an investor in early-stage ventures at the intersection of health and techno¬logy, with a particular focus on the application of deep learning and complex algorithms to solve challenging problems in healthcare. Ali was previ¬ously the founder of Amana Healthcare, the benchmark and fastest growing continum-of-care hospital platform in the Middle East, acquired by Mubadala Healthcare in 2018 in what was among the largest deals in regional healthcare M&A. Ali previously founded and led the Middle East Healthcare Practice at Booz & Company, based out of Dubai.

Prior to joining Booz&Co, Ali was a member of the Healthcare Practice and the Private Equity Practice at Bain & Company, based in New York City. Ali studied Medicine and received his MBA concurrently from McGill University. He received a B.S.E. with Distinction from Duke University with a dual major in BioMedical Engineering and Religion and a minor in Chemistry.

Khalifa Al Hajeri is a Principal currently working in Mubadala’s Ventures and Growth platform Prior to that, Khalifa has worked in private equity at Mubadala with focus areas covering the Metals and Mining space, as well as Food and Agribusiness. Khalifa completed his education in Toronto, Canada and most recently, an MBA at IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.

Saba leads the firm’s MENA Trade Marks practice, and specialises in trade mark and design matters across in the Middle East and North Africa region, managing worldwide IP portfolios and handling disputes for both regional and international clients (including many of the biggest and most well-known brands in the world). Her clients span numerous sectors including consumer goods and retail, life sciences, aviation, energy and natural resources, education and hospitality.

Saba has extensive experience in both contentious and non-contentious matters, such as acting for clients in opposition and cancellation actions, advising clients on infringement and enforcement matters, filing and prosecuting local, region-wide (MENA) and overseas trade mark applications, conducting clearance searches and devising trade mark filing strategies.

Saba also advises on copyright and domain name issues including through Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) actions and is bilingual in Arabic and English.

Experienced CF professional with global experience gained at J.P. Morgan, Tata Group, EY, and PwC. Ayan specializes in TMT M&A and has advised corporates / private equities on a variety of transactions over a career spanning 16+ years, including the last 8+ years in ME.

Leo Batalov advises on corporate finance transactions, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital transactions, private equity transactions and general corporate matters, focusing on the technology and emerging growth sectors.

• Managing Director - Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority [VARA] and Vice Chairperson - Executive Board
• Executive Vice President [EVP] - Corporate Office, Dubai World Trade Centre [DWTC]
• Co-Chair - Bunyan Knights of the Capacity-Building Hub, University Leadership Council

• Deepa Raja Carbon is the Managing Director and Vice Chairperson of the newly established Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority [VARA], her mandate covers creation, enablement and scale-up of the first-of-its-kind global Virtual Asset ecosystem, as an ‘interoperable’ standard for a future ‘autonomous and decentralised’ economy, assuring strong investor and market risk guard-rails for cross-border transposability.
• In tandem, Deepa holds the position of EVP Corporate Office at the Dubai World Trade Centre [DWTC], managing Corporate Strategy and Real Estate Commercial.
• Ms. Raja Carbon’s functional responsibilities across the portfolio span [i] economic policy and sector-specific strategy; [ii] investment and commercial value enablement; [iii] regulatory policy and legal governance - economic and market risk assurance; [iv] corporate business/ sector-specific performance management; and [v] brand and reputation management - driving mandated GDP targets.
• Additionally, she is the Economy and Policy Advisor to Economic Strategy Sector at the Dubai Government’s Department of Economy and Tourism [DET]. Responsible for enabling Dubai’s economic growth – the sector targets accelerated GDP and Productivity across the future economy, and sustainable contribution from recovering sectors, with core focus on Tourism in line with city aspirations to deliver 25 million tourists by 2025.
• As a leadership team member involved in the Dubai Expo 2020 from bid through core asset development phases, she is currently enabling the legacy transformation of this landmark global event for the UAE.
• With nearly 20 years experience in driving transformational growth programmes, Deepa started her career as a Strategy Consultant with Booz and Company’s North American management consulting practice spanning multi-sectoral clients across the Americas, Europe and Asia.
• Her initiation to the business environment was through special assignments for the World Bank and UNDP based out of Kenya and South Africa; and she continues to service social enterprise in her capacity as co-chair of Bunyan Knights for UAE next-generation leadership development

John leads the Capgemini Digital Transformation practice within Middle East. John has spent last eight years within the Middle East, and his expertise ranges across Digital, from outlining Business Transformation Digital Banking and Strategy through to defining customer journeys, driving customer adoption, innovation and implementing new technologies to deliver transformation.

Anthony Day has experience of some of the most complex and business critical IT, technology driven and outsourcing projects globally. His particular experience is in high value, multi country transformation projects, including, a variety of outsourcing, off-shoring, systems implementation, data centre and cloud based transactions.

Member of the International Executive Committee

Jean-Pierre (JP) Douglas-Henry has over 30 years' experience of advising clients in more than 45 countries on regulatory matters, compliance and disputes. As Managing Director for Sustainability and Resilience, he sits on the Executive Committee of the international firm and has responsibility for environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, innovation and resilience. JP has broad experience of advising on sustainability and ESG issues. He strongly believes that lawyers need to innovate and think "outside of the box" in order to solve problems and leverage opportunities, and that good governance is the foundation of resilience in a fast-moving and ever-changing commercial, political and social context.

JP has decades of experience advising clients on governance, regulatory and compliance issues, representing them in high stakes disputes, and advising on risk management and strategic issues. He has particular knowledge of the financial services and energy and natural resources industries, and has acted for a range of banks, energy and natural resources companies, governments and state-owned enterprises. He has particular experience in complex cross-border matters and class actions or collective redress representation.

JP co-chaired DLA Piper’s Litigation and Regulatory group for five years, overseeing one of the world’s largest compliance, regulatory and disputes practices. His current role, as the Managing Director responsible for Sustainability and Resilience, reflects the evolution of his practice to include a focus on sustainability and ESG, and oversight of the firm’s award-winning Radical Change programme which provides innovative legal and non-legal products and solutions for clients.

Over the years, JP has acted for a number of governments, often in a post-conflict zone context or following civil society engagement, to bring about change and assist with reform, recovery and reconstruction programmes. JP co-led the team that provided pro bono support to the UK and Egyptian Governments as Presidents of COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 and COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh in 2022

• Serial entrepreneur and angel investor;
• 15 years in FoodTech, Retail and Horeca experience;
• 4 years in Dubai, UAE;
• 15 successful projects, 3 successful start-ups in the UAE:
  • Syrve Middle East: 500 clients (including Carrefour and Papa John's);
  • UAE RC: 7000 restaurant members;
  • Geco: 150,000 transactions per month.

Gualtiero Dragotti has over 25 years of experience of handling IP matters, with a focus on patents and the protection of innovation, particularly in the mechanical, chemical, fashion and sports equipment industries.

Gualtiero advises leading Italian and international clients on various non contentious and contentious IP cases, including some of the key patent litigation issues in Italy.

Gualtiero is admitted to the Supreme Court in Italy.He served as a Juridical Expert for the Anti-Counterfeiting National Council, appointed by the Ministry of the Economic Development.

Gualtiero has been teaching IP at the faculty of Chemistry - University of Milan as appointed Professor for over 10 years.

He was appointed as a member of the Research Project on Biotechnology under the patronage of the University of Modena and Luiss – Guido Carli International University, with the sponsorship of MIUR.

Gualtiero is a member of the Standing Committee on the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court of AIPPI - International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property.

He regularly speaks at seminars and conferences organized by universities and IP concerned groups.

As Global Growth Strategy and Change Lead, Mac works closely with Avanade’s Chief Growth Officer on Avanade’s global strategic priorities which will drive the company’s transformation and accelerated growth. In addition, Mac drives the activation of Avanade’s global five-year strategy and Growth Markets’ Strategic Priorities across Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

Prior to his current role, Mac was Avanade’s Australia General Manager, where he led a team of more than 500 professionals focused on the Microsoft ecosystem and passionate for making a genuine human impact. Under his leadership, Mac led the Australia team to deliver consistent double-digit growth and won their first-ever Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award in 2020. To support employees’ needs in all aspects of their lives and ensure they feel cared for, Mac and his team introduced the Gender Transition Leave Benefit, enhanced Parental Leave, and No Meeting Fridays, among other programs and initiatives. Avanade received the WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) citation three years in a row and was recognized in TechDiversity’s 2020 Hall of Fame.

Throughout his career at Avanade, Mac has served in various leadership positions including General Manager for Western and Central Canada, Malaysia Country Manager, Australia Chief Technology Officer, and Canberra Capability Lead.

Mac holds a Masters in Business and Technology from the University of South Wales. Mac has lived in Australia, Malaysia, Canada – and is currently based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with his wife and three daughters.

Rabih is Managing Partner & Chief Exit Officer with Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP, www.mevp.com), one of the leading Technology VC asset managers in MENA. MEVP is an institutional asset manager regulated by both DFSA and ADGM. Rabih has extensive experience in venture capital, private equity and advisory, having executed more than USD5 billion in transactions and raised more than USD2 billion in capital.

Previously, Rabih was CEO of DIC Emerging Markets, in charge of the investment portfolio in MENA, Turkey, Asia and Latin America. DIC is the international investment arm of the Dubai–based conglomerate Dubai Holding.

In New York, Rabih was a founding member of the Media & Telecom Group with Banc of America Securities, focusing on M&A, where he led broad financial advisory and restructuring services for several major corporations. He also worked for Prudential Securities as an Equity Research Analyst covering the Oilfield Services & Equipment sector.

In San Francisco, Rabih was a Senior Engineering Manager with URS Corporation, the world’s largest engineering design firm, where he developed new service offerings for the Technology, Biotech and Energy sectors.

Rabih received his MBA from Columbia University and his MS in Structural Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He also received a Bachelor of Engineering with Distinction from the American University of Beirut.

Sameera Kimatrai is a senior financial services regulatory lawyer with experience in the digital assets sector. She completed her Bachelors Degree at the University of Cambridge before completing her law degree in London at the University of Law. Prior to joining Binance, Sameera worked at two magic circle law firms as a financial services regulatory lawyer. Sameera is currently leading Binance’s regulatory efforts in the Middle East and Africa.

“Regulating AI through thorough legal frameworks, policies and resolutions boosts sustainable technology and development of the AI industry. In an ever-evolving field, legislation ensuring a high-level of cybersecurity and reduced vulnerabilities in digital products ensures the success of our data-driven products in the regional and international energy market.”

Magdalena Konig is a key member of AIQ’s executive leadership team. As the General Counsel at AIQ, she is responsible for the oversight of the Legal, Governance and Compliance department including business structure and operations. She is part of the team that brought AIQ into fruition, drawing on her vast international experience as an advisor to public and private organizations.

Magdalena specializes in the legal framework of IT integration and implementation, strategic IT and business process outsourcing, cloud services, data management, licensing and support agreements. She holds a postgraduate degree in law, and was accepted as a member of the Law Society of England and Wales in September 2021 upon completion of her training at Shoosmiths LLP, where she was a member of the Commercial, Technology and Outsourcing Team specializing in ICT and outsourcing projects.

With Careem since 2020, Stephen has a vision to use technology to transform the region. He  brings his skillset in platform architecture, management, cloud security, solution architecture, and agile methodologies to lead the way forward and make the digital transformation happen.

Leader, visionary and tech-centric, - Born and raised in South Africa, Stephen has led an ambitious career over the years. Before moving to Dubai, Stephen lived in various places across the globe, spending time in Morocco, Cyprus, France, Vietnam, Singapore, South Africa, and now the UAE. Graduating from Rhodes University with a Bachelor of Science in computer science and biochemistry, he then went on to attend the executive leadership program at Harvard Business School.

Stephen boasts a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Throughout his career, Stephen has worked with leading companies such as Grab, IBM, Xerox, and Sun Microsystems, holding over 20 patents across various fields of IT.  The most recent 6 years have seen him specialize in the industry of  ride-hailing and superapps.

Stephen spends his time with his wife and three children, and enjoys playing squash, kitesurfing and paragliding.

Ewa Kurowska-Tober focuses her practice on advising on matters related to IT, telecommunications and advanced technologies law. She also advises companies from the telecoms and media sectors on M&A and private equity transactions.

Ewa advises clients from highly regulated industries, combining her experience in commercial contracts with an in-depth knowledge of regulatory matters.

She advises leading media and technology companies on IT and internet law, cloud computing, e-commerce, broadcasting and distribution contracts, as well as on licensing agreements and agreements for the implementation and maintenance of IT systems.

Ewa has considerable experience in data protection law, advising on large-scale global privacy compliance programs, cross-border data transfers, data security polices and whistle-blowing. She also focuses on IP law, with a focus on copyrights, trademarks, unfair competition and advertising law.

Ewa is a legal expert of the Polish Bank Association with respect to data protection and GDPR, and a lecturer at New Technologies Law Studies at the Institute of Law Studies at Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN).

Mona is a senior corporate lawyer with a broad range of experience working in the hospitality, asset management and IT sectors for Middle Eastern, APAC and American clients. Mona’s experience includes provision of structuring advice, drafting, negotiating and reviewing transaction documents (NDAs, LOIs, SPAs, SHAs, JVAs etc) and supervising due diligence.

Henson Orser has been a senior executive in financial services for over thirty years. Most recently Henson was President and Acting CEO of Komainu, next generation custodian for digital assets. Komainu is a collaboration between Nomura, Coinshares and Ledger. As such, he helped hire a senior management team including a COO, CTO, Head of Finance and Head of Strategy; worked on navigating Komainu’s regulatory position including VASP registrations in London and Dublin, as well as an MVP license in Dubai; and successfully raised a Series A funding round led by Brevan Howard, Galaxy Digital and NOIA. Prior to that, he was a senior executive for Nomura Securities and was a member of both the Wholesale Executive Committee as well as the Global Markets Executive Committee. Prior to Nomura, Henson held a number of senior roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland in the Global Markets Division, including Co-Head USD Rates and San Francisco Branch Manager. Henson also has been on the Board of both Autism Speaks as well as The Winston Preparatory School. He graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Economics and Political Science.

Priya is the Founder and Managing Partner of Foster Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm with a focus on B2B Enterprise SaaS. Foster Ventures focuses on cross-border startups to innovate and build products for the global customers from emerging markets including India, Vietnam, Saudi and UAE. As an Operator and a GTM expert, Priya works with cross-border companies, entrepreneurs with product market fit, international market entry advice and introductions. Prior to this role, Priya was with BoldCap, BetterCloud, Coupa, Intel Security and LogiGear Corporation leading various strategic operational roles with a focus on Product Strategy, Customer Strategy & Adoption and Customer Success. She is also an active mentor and part of the core team NA at SaaSBOOMi with a focus on enabling and empowering cross-border founders. Priya holds a Global Executive M.B.A degree from INSEAD and a B.S degree from Bangalore University.

For more than 50 years, Mike has represented both startup entrepreneurs and industry leaders in telephony, wireless, international, and Internet issues. He has handled hundreds of telecommunications transactions, ranging from small deals to five of the largest telecom mergers in history, including T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint. He has engaged in virtually all aspects of telephony issues resulting from the Telecommunications Act of 1996. He also advises clients on broadcast mergers and issues, including one of the largest TV transactions of all time.

Mike is highly experienced in spectrum allocation and wireless policy issues for both service providers and manufacturers. He is experienced in the full range of advocacy venues important to telecom decision making. Businesses turn to him when they are facing investigations of compliance forfeiture proceedings.

Mike has been internationally recognized throughout his distinguished career. He is singled out as a "Leading Lawyer" by Chambers USA, which has noted that clients praise him as "a highly experienced regulatory lawyer and an exceptionally creative master strategist”, "one of the lions of the practice," and as someone who "knows more about the FCC, both at a procedural and substantive level, than any lawyer in the USA." The Legal 500 US hails his influence in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and public policy matters; notes Mike “is adept in wireless policy and spectrum allocation, and has cleared some of the biggest transactions in the industry”; and clients told this directory that the "knowledgeable, well-connected" Mike is "an encyclopedia on telecom law" whose "savvy and awareness of legal and political issues make him a real asset to the practice,'' "unbeatable if you're looking for guidance on an FCC issue.

With respect to global telecom, Mike is managing market access and regulatory compliance for companies going global in over 30 countries around the world.  He also has been active in the deployment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, including service on FCC advisory committees with respect to identification and tracking systems.

Edward "Smitty" Smith is a well-known and highly respected former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) official.

He focuses his practice on telecommunications matters and advises clients on the full range of issues in the wireless and satellite sectors, including spectrum policy, auctions, regulatory actions, equipment approvals, rulemakings and enforcement.

Kristi Swartz is an experienced fintech lawyer and has been instrumental in developing Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem. As the leading fintech partner at DLA Piper, she advises clients on an array of matters including structuring, licensing, and corporate governance. She also provides advice in respect to digital assets, stablecoins, payments/alternative payments, and the licensing and development of equity crowdfunding, robo advisory and the running of compliant crypto exchanges to name just a few.

Kristi has practiced in Hong Kong for over 20 years. With a background in regulatory compliance, she is committed to bringing new concepts to market. Recognised as an industry leader, she is known for championing client with a client describing her as a “fintech superman”. The Legal 500, Regulatory 2021 comments that “Kristi has in-depth knowledge and is commercially orientated. She offers the most pragmatic solutions to clients and is an expert in her field. Her understanding of the commercial and evolving industry allows her to provide the most suitable advice to clients”.

Kristi cares deeply about our community and sits on the board of directors of the Faith In Love Foundation Limited (a Hong Kong registered charity) and Global Women Connect Limited (a Hong Kong registered charity), as well as being a founding member of the 30% Club’s Hong Kong chapter. Kristi also serves on The Women’s Foundation’s Fundraising Committee and is an active Ambassador.

Scott Thiel is the founder and entrepreneur-in-residence of TOKO, an enterprise-grade tokenisation engine and digital asset management platform. Scott advises clients around the world on all aspects of tokenisation and its application in digital capital markets; and was responsible for helping TOKO to structure the first debt tokenisation transaction in Asia.

Scott was formerly Asia Head of DLA Piper's Global Technology and FinTech sector initiative; and was a leader within DLA Piper's recently launched "Blockchain and Digital Assets" practice group. He is also the firm's representative on the Hedera Hashgraph Governing Council – a next generation public distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure through which DLA Piper is hosting a node. Scott is also a non-executive director of the Blockchain Think Lab, Hedera Hashgraph, and the HBAR Foundation.

In March 2022, Scott supported DLA Piper with TOKO service offerings and has successfully helped to secure the appointment as the exclusive legal service provider for the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory DLA Piper

Authority (VARA), an authority that is linked to the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) and responsible for licensing and regulating the sector across Dubai's mainland and the free zone territories.

For their work on TOKO, Scott and DLA Piper have been the recipient of industry awards and recognition, including:

• Scott Thiel ranked by Chambers & Partners Fintech Guide 2022 (Band 2)
• Scott Thiel ranked by Chambers & Partners, TMT, Greater China Region 2022 (Band 1)
• DLA Piper ranked by The Legal 500, TMT, Hong Kong 2022 (Tier 2)
• Scott Thiel recognised as a "Leading Individual for TMT", The Legal 500, Hong Kong 2022
• DLA Piper ranked by The Legal 500, Fintech, China (Foreign Firms) 2022 (Tier 2)
• DLA Piper recognised as "Most Innovative Lawyers", Financial Times, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

Rami Zayat represents a broad range of clients from start-ups to mature publicly traded companies, government entities, IT companies, investment companies and private equity firms.

Rami has a broad practice and has extensive experience advising clients across a range of industries in connection with local and cross-border commercial contracts, general IT and services contracts, intellectual property, and corporate matters including private equity and mergers and acquisitions.

Rami also has a focus on non-contentious, IT projects, with particular experience in the delivery of large-scale outsourcings and managed services transactions.