Panels

Sovereignty through Open Source AI: Perspectives, Challenges, Enablers, and Benefits.

Leveraging open-source AI models for sovereign AI is a key strategy because it provides transparency, auditability, and full control over the underlying technology. This approach allows governments and enterprises to customize models to local values, languages, and regulations while fostering innovation through shared community research. Sovereign AI with open-source models aims to balance technological autonomy with global collaboration, ensuring security, trust, and long-term resilience in national AI ecosystems. This panel will discuss some important questions on this topic showcasing the role of Open SOurce AI in securing a sovreign AI eco-system.

Dr. Chaouki Kasmi is the Chief Innovation Officer at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), is a cutting-edge UAE-based scientific research center. In his role, Dr. Kasmi spearheads the development and implementation of productization and industrialization strategies while overseeing the innovation pipeline, and forges key partnerships to harness new technologies and ideas. Previously Chief Researcher of the Directed Energy Research Center, Dr. Kasmi was responsible for building advanced research capabilities in the domains of high energy physics, electromagnetic technologies, innovative radar and sensing systems, laser technologies, and acoustic devices – from fundamental physics and theoretical problems to experimental physics. Under his leadership, the center has delivered strategic technologies to partners and clients. Specializing in unintentional and intentional electromagnetic interference, detection systems, device testing, statistical electromagnetics, computational electromagnetics, and signal processing, Dr. Kasmi has co-authored more than 200 scientific papers. He also is an Associate Electromagnetics Scientist and Researcher at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Helmut Schmidt University / University of the German Federal Armed Forces. As part of his international scientific activities, he is Vice President for the Commission E – French Section and Vice Chair of the International Commission E of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI).

Prior to joining TII, Dr. Kasmi worked as Director of the Mobile and Telecommunication Lab at DarkMatter, a cyber-security leader based in the UAE. He built DarkMatter’s entire telecommunication security function from the ground up. Before that, he was Deputy Head of the Wireless Security Lab at the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI). His earlier positions with the Agency included Head of Research and Electromagnetic Security Researcher. Among his responsibilities were research coordination, project advisory services, and team management.

Dr. Kasmi has been recognized as a High-Power Electromagnetics (HPEM) Life Fellow by the SUMMA Foundation and has received two Young Scientist Awards from URSI. He also features in the Samsung and Sony Hall of Fame for reporting security flaws in smart TVs and smartphones.

Dr. Kasmi holds a PhD in Electronics from Pierre and Marie Curie University, a Master of Science in Engineering in Embedded Systems from Grandes Ecoles d’Ingénieurs (ESEO), and an MSc in Microelectronics from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) de Rennes, all based in France

Dr. Victor Juan Mateu leads the research and development of cryptographic solutions in the cryptographic research center at TII.

His extensive expertise in applied cryptography spans among different areas such as secure protocol design, cryptographic engineering, security architecture for embedded systems, design of electronic voting solutions, zero knowledge proofs, and quantum resistant cryptography.

Dr. Mateu has written multiple conference papers, open-source IEEE and Elsevier journal papers and book chapters. Moreover, he has also actively contributed several open-source projects supporting cryptographic libraries and its integration in company products for international companies.

Dr. Abed Benaichouche is a visionary entrepreneur, technologist, and AI expert with deep expertise in industrial AI, big data analytics, and applied mathematics. His career spans leading AI programs for global organizations including Total Energies, ANDRA, and the French Geological Survey, giving him a unique understanding of how AI transforms complex industries.

He played a pivotal role at G42, where he co-founded AIQ, the ADNOC–G42 joint venture that achieved unicorn status in just three years. As CTO, he led large engineering and data science teams, built the UAE’s first commercial supercomputer, developed patented AI technologies for oil and gas, and delivered industry-scale AI applications.

In 2022, he co-founded Open Innovation AI, an MIT-spun applied-AI venture focused on democratizing AI through a low-code industrial AI development studio that accelerates application creation by 20x. Dr. Abed also serves as a strategic advisor to several venture capital firms and family offices, guiding investment decisions across AI and emerging technologies.

At Open Innovation AI, his work continues to shape the future of AI adoption, making advanced intelligence accessible, scalable, and impactful across industries.

Khalifa Alkaabi is a Cybersecurity Consultant at Help AG, specializing in advising government clients on strengthening national-level cyber resilience. His work focuses on advanced threat defense, incident readiness, and guiding entities through the implementation of modern security frameworks and technologies.

Prior to his current role, he served as a SOC Manager at aeCERT, where he led incident response operations, digital forensics, and threat monitoring for critical environments across the UAE. His experience managing large-scale cybersecurity operations gives him a deep, practical understanding of real-world threats and the complexities of protecting national infrastructure.

Combining operational expertise with strategic advisory, he brings a unique perspective to modern cybersecurity challenges and is committed to advancing cyber maturity across the government sector.