Omar Christidis
Incumbents in the Middle East are no longer being disrupted only by Silicon Valley. The threat now comes from regionally funded, regulator-aware digital challengers that understand local payments, language and consumer behaviour better than any global entrant. Most regional boards still treat innovation as a corporate venturing line item, not as an operating decision about where the business will compete in five years.
Omar Christidis is the founder and CEO of Arabnet and a decade-long architect of the MENA digital ecosystem who helps corporates, investors and policymakers read where regional technology, capital and consumer behaviour are heading next.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Omar Christidis
- He has spent a decade mapping the MENA digital economy at a depth no global consultancy replicates: 30+ Arabnet conferences, 15+ original research reports and direct visibility into more than 650 regional startups.
- He sits inside the deal flow as Partner and Board Member at Flat6Labs Beirut, so his read on what is actually getting funded in the region is operational, not commentary.
- His advisory work with the Middle East Institute’s Strategic Foresights Program and the Aspen Institute UK gives him a policy-grade frame on technology that translates well to boards weighing geopolitical exposure alongside digital strategy.
- He is one of the few speakers who can hold a serious technology conversation in both English and Arabic for a regional C-suite audience, with the Yale and Booz analytical pedigree to back it up.
Biography highlights
- Founder and CEO of Arabnet, the MENA-focused digital events, media and research company, founded in Beirut in 2009.
- Partner and Board Member, Flat6Labs Beirut, a $20m accelerator with 33 investments in Lebanese startups.
- Advisory Board Member, Strategic Foresights Program, Middle East Institute, Washington DC.
- Faculty Member and Moderator, Aspen Institute UK.
- BA and MBA, Yale University; former consultant at Booz & Co. MENA.
- Named Global Finance Magazine Top Innovator for the Middle East (2018); featured in Forbes, CNN, CNBC Arabia and Sky News Arabia.
Biography
The MENA digital economy is no longer an emerging-market footnote. Over the past decade it has produced unicorns, regulatory frameworks for fintech and e-commerce, and a regional venture industry that now writes cheques large enough to keep founders at home. Few people have shaped that shift more practically than the founder of Arabnet.
Arabnet was launched in Beirut in 2009, after Omar Christidis left a role in private wealth management in New York during the financial crisis and a stint at Booz & Co. in the MENA. The company has since organised more than thirty regional tech conferences, published over fifteen original research reports on the Arab digital ecosystem, and supported 650+ startups, becoming the standing forum where founders, corporates and investors meet.
His credibility is built on access, not opinion. As Partner and Board Member at Flat6Labs Beirut, a $20m accelerator with 33 Lebanese investments, he sees what is being funded. As an Advisory Board Member of the Middle East Institute’s Strategic Foresights Program in Washington and a Faculty Member at Aspen Institute UK, he sees how regional technology decisions are being read in policy circles.
The result is a speaker who can tell a Gulf board what the next wave of digital challengers actually looks like, where capital is moving, and which corporate innovation playbooks travel and which do not. Global Finance Magazine named him Top Innovator for the Middle East in 2018; the World Economic Forum named Arabnet a Top 100 Arab World Startup the year before.
Key speaking topics
- MENA digital economy and startup ecosystem
- Corporate innovation strategy
- Digital disruption and emerging business models
- Tech investment and venture capital in the Arab world
- Future of media and advertising
- Fourth industrial revolution
- Banking and fintech in the Middle East
Ideal for
- Boards and C-suites of regional incumbents in banking, telco, media and retail facing digital challengers
- Global corporates entering or scaling in MENA who need a regional read on customer behaviour and competitive risk
- Investors, family offices and sovereign funds allocating to MENA technology and venture
- Government and policy audiences shaping digital, fintech and innovation regulation in the region
Audience outcomes
- A current, named view of where MENA digital capital is flowing and which sub-sectors are concentrating
- A working frame for distinguishing genuine regional disruptors from imported business models that will not survive local conditions
- Specific examples of how incumbents in banking, retail and media have responded to digital challengers in MENA, and what worked
- A sharper read on how Gulf and Levant regulators are shaping the operating environment for technology businesses
Videos
Testimonials
Fees
| EUR | GBP | USD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Country | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Asia Pacific | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Europe | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Middle East & Africa | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| South America | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| United Kingdom | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| US East Coast | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| US West Coast | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Virtual | Please enquire | Please enquire | Please enquire |