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SUGMEA Live: Bringing Symposium Insights to the Middle East

November 19th, 2025 | 6:00 PM GST SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, UAE

Join us for SUGMEA live at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi as we dive into the highlights of Sitecore Symposium 2025 through a Middle Eastern lens. Hear regional experts unpack keynotes, announcements, and success stories shaping the future of digital experience.

Discover how leading brands are embracing Sitecore's composable architecture, AI-powered personalization, and innovative digital strategies. Walk away with practical insights to accelerate smarter, connected experiences in the Third Wave of the Internet.

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SITECORE USER GROUP

MIDDLE EAST

SUGMEA is a Sitecore User Group focused on bringing the Sitecore community together across the whole of the Middle East & Africa. This group is about networking, learning and engaging with anything Sitecore.

Previous events

Why attend?

Sitecore User Group Middle East aims to bring together and provide a perfect platform to gain knowledge, network with fellow Sitecore professionals and most importantly, learn how Sitecore can deliver results for your organisation. SUGMEA will take place across the Middle East & Africa.

AWESOME TOPICS

SITECORE EXPERTS

LOCAL & GLOBAL SPEAKERS

Agenda

  • calendar Add to Calendar 11/19/2025 6:00:00 PM 11/19/2025 9:00:00 PM GMT+04:00
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6:00 pm - 6:15 pm

Open Registration

6:15 pm - 6:30 pm

Opening Remarks

Speakers: Dharmesh Harji

6:30 pm - 6:50 pm

Bringing Intelligence to Experience: Exploring SitecoreAI in Action

Speakers: Atif Unar

6:50 pm - 7:10 pm

Engage, Inspire, Convert: How Yas Island Bridges Content and Commerce with Sitecore

Speakers: Edward Stott

7:10 pm - 7:30 pm

AI Meets Experience: AI-Driven Search, Personalization & SitecoreAI Essentials

Speakers: Nimit Patel , Nilesh Thakkar

7:30 pm - 7:40 pm

Coffee/Canapé Break

7:40 pm - 8:00 pm

Sitecore Symposium 2025: What’s Changing for Architects & Delivery Teams in the MEA Region

Speakers: Ahmed Harb

8:00 pm - 8:15 pm

Live Q&A panel

Speakers: Hirrah Anwar , Atif Unar , Nimit Patel , Ahmed Harb , Joseph Bou Raad

8:15 pm - 8:30 pm

Closing Remarks & Networking

  • calendar Add to Calendar 11/19/2025 6:00:00 PM 11/19/2025 9:00:00 PM GMT+04:00
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Dharmesh Harji

Regional Marketing Director (MEIA) - Horizontal Digital

Dharmesh is now 3 years into his tenure at Horizontal and is responsible for driving the Marketing Strategy across the Middle East & India. He is passionate about Customer Experience and how technology plays a crucial part in enabling brands to reach exceptional levels of CX which helps drive competitive advantage. In 2022, Dharmesh achieved his first Sitecore MVP title and is a proud member and supporter of the SUGMEA.

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Atif Unar

Principal Solutions Consultant - Sitecore

Atif Unar is the Principal Solutions Consultant at Sitecore, with nearly a decade at the company and over 20 years of experience in Australia’s digital and technology landscape. He’s passionate about helping organizations across travel, hospitality, and government harness data, content, and technology to create exceptional digital experiences that connect and inspire.

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Nimit Patel

Regional Sitecore Practice Lead - Horizontal Digital

A multi-year Sitecore MVP and former Sitecorian, Nilesh is 15-year Sitecore veteran. He is a Technical Solution Architect and Pre-Sales Consultant crafting the best suitable solutions for clients and advising organizations on digital transformation, helping them achieve real business value from their marketing technology.

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Hirrah Anwar

Senior Director, Digital Strategy - Horizontal Digital

Hirrah is a digital transformation leader with 10+ years of experience driving customer experience, service design, and innovation across enterprise and startup ecosystems. She leads the Strategy & Experience Design division at Horizontal across EMEA, partnering with clients across multiple industries, including retail, hospitality, healthcare, financial services, utilities, travel and tourism, and government, to accelerate growth through service design, product strategy, and digital experience platforms like Sitecore.

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Edward Stott

Delivery Director - Horizontal Digital

Edward Stott is a Delivery Director at Horizontal Digital, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With extensive experience in digital strategy, business analysis, and project delivery, he has led complex digital transformation initiatives across technology, property development, and hospitality. Edward has a proven track record of helping clients optimize digital experiences, leveraging design systems, AI, and frontend development to drive impactful results.

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Ahmed Harb

Technical Director - Omnia

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Nilesh Thakkar

Presales Solution Architect - Horizontal Digital

A multi-year Sitecore MVP and former Sitecorian, Nilesh is 15-year Sitecore veteran. He is a Technical Solution Architect and Pre-Sales Consultant crafting the best suitable solutions for clients and advising organizations on digital transformation, helping them achieve real business value from their marketing technology.

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Joseph Bou Raad

Country Manager KSA - Horizontal Digital

Joseph is a seasoned channel and sales professional with deep experience and knowledge in technology selling across the Gulf region. He is passionate about helping organizations embark on their digital transformation journey while offering the best in the market experience for both their internal and external customers.

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George Smith

Regional Managing Director (MEIA) - Horizontal Digital

George Smith is Horizontal’s Managing Director, EMEA. Having worked with some of the largest brands and governments in the world, he now helps businesses build a competitive advantage through digital transformation. George is also a Sitecore Strategy MVP and an experienced agency leader who has worked on some of the world’s largest Sitecore implementations. Having tripled his previous agency’s revenue and expanded its clientele in just four years, George brings a reputation for success matched only by his passion for well-crafted code and client service. He is also an author, rugby player, and former politician.

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Lalit Kamboj

Senior Sitecore Architect - Assurex Middle East

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Dharmesh Harji

Regional Marketing Director (MEIA) - Horizontal Digital

Dharmesh is now 3 years into his tenure at Horizontal and is responsible for driving the Marketing Strategy across the Middle East & India. He is passionate about Customer Experience and how technology plays a crucial part in enabling brands to reach exceptional levels of CX which helps drive competitive advantage. In 2022, Dharmesh achieved his first Sitecore MVP title and is a proud member and supporter of the SUGMEA.

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Duaa Abu Gharbieh

Senior Sitecore Consultant - Switch

Duaa is a Senior Sitecore Consultant, working remotely from Jordan at Switch (Sitecore Platinum Partner) based in Australia. This is her 5th time winning the Sitecore MVP title. She has experience of over 14 years in the Software Development Industry and Sitecore expert for the past 8 years. One of the Women of the Sitecore Group Leadership team and one of the organization committee for SUGJO (Sitecore User Group Jordan)

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Joseph Bou Raad

Country Manager KSA - Horizontal Digital

Joseph is a seasoned channel and sales professional with deep experience and knowledge in technology selling across the Gulf region. He is passionate about helping organizations embark on their digital transformation journey while offering the best in the market experience for both their internal and external customers.

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Shahla Matar

Chief Executive Officer - Tanasuk Technologies

Connecting global agencies with Sitecore talent as Chief Executive Officer at Tanasuk Technologies.

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Abdullah Zaher

Principle Solutions Consultant - Sitecore

Abdullah Comes with 15 years of experience in supporting customers in the MEA and East Europe regions on Martech, Adtech, and Customer experience projects, working for different organizations like Oracle and Sitecore to help organizations use technology to delight their customers through a consistent, omnichannel journey and drive business results.

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Sandeep Pote

Senior Commerce Architect - Assurex Limited

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Arvind Gehlot

Sr. Technology Lead - Horizontal Digital

Arvind have more than 17 years of IT experience and played various roles throughout his career, starting from Developer, Project Manager, Solution Architect, and now as a Technology lead for Horizontal. Exploring Sitecore experience platform for 7 years now and covered almost all areas of implementation for enterprise applications. His technical background and keenness to work on the latest technology always kept him on his feet.

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Ishraq Al Fataftah

Founder & CTO - ApplezTech

Ishraq Al Fataftah is the founder & CTO at ApplezTech, a digital customer experience agency based in Amman, Jordan. Ishraq has played the roles of digital consultant, technology evangelist, solution architect, and technical director during her 16 years in the industry. Community speaker, organizer, sponsor, and 6X Sitecore MVP, Ishraq enjoys bridging the gap between marketing, businesses, and technology and all challenges in between.

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Jeremy Davis

Sitecore MVP and Solutions Architect - UNRVLD

Jeremy is a developer and architect for Delete/Kagool in the UK, who’s been blogging and speaking about Sitecore since 2014. You can read what he’s thinking about at jermdavis.wordpress.com, where there’s usually a post every two weeks or so.

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Khushboo Sorthiya

Associate Tech Lead - Horizontal Digital

Khushboo works as a Associate Tech Lead at Horizontal. She is a Certified Developer with 6 years of experience working on Sitecore. She is a blogger, who shares her technical knowledge with others at https://sitecorecorner.wordpress.com/.

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Mohammad Abu-Jaffal

Technical Director - Nemetos Tanasuk

Mohammad Abujaffal is a Technical Director at Nemetos Tanasuk, with 13 years of experience in Software Development using Microsoft technologies. Mohammad has developed and led a team of Sitecore developers to deliver Enterprise Level Sitecore Solutions for local and international clients. His focus is to bring the best practices when developing Sitecore solutions both on-premise and on the Cloud.

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Nelson Jesudos

Solution Architect - Horizontal Digital

Sitecore Senior Solution Architect and Technology MVP 2024 having around overall 16+ years of experience in Microsoft technologies and around 12 years in Sitecore, Certified with Sitecore 10 .Net developer certification, Sitecore XP 8 Website Development for .Net developer, Sitecore Order Cloud, Sitecore CDP, Sitecore Personalize, Coveo for Sitecore 4 Cloud Certified Developer, Microsoft Azure Administrator, Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, and ITIL Foundation.

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Nilesh Thakkar

Presales Solution Architect - Horizontal Digital

A multi-year Sitecore MVP and former Sitecorian, Nilesh is 15-year Sitecore veteran. He is a Technical Solution Architect and Pre-Sales Consultant crafting the best suitable solutions for clients and advising organizations on digital transformation, helping them achieve real business value from their marketing technology.

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Peter Clisby

Regional Sitecore Architect - Valtech

Dedicated Sitecore developer having worked with 7 Sitecore focussed agencies, 4 gold and 2 platinum partners. Passionate about analytics and reporting on personalisation as well as other website user exposure/behaviour.

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Issy Stephen

Optimisation Executive at Sagittarius

PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS

With the first in-person Sitecore symposium happening in two years, our lineup of speakers are excited to share with you Sitecore's leading news and announcements from the conference! Hear executive keynotes and get to know Sitecore's new transformative digital solutions announced at the main event. Tune in for highlights on the exciting experience success stories, industry thought leadership and demo sessions. Learn how to use Sitecore in 2023 to connect intelligently and meet your customers with authentic experiences at every touchpoint along their journey.

Venue

Burj al Arab Dubai

Al Azure Meeting Room

SeaWorld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Sponsors

sitecoreHorizontalsitecoreSitecore