Speaker profile

Waleid Ibrahim

Vice President, Global Information Technology - Middle East & Africa
Marriott International

A leader in Information Technology with extensive hospitality industry experience that spans across Europe, Middle East and Africa and ranging from luxury to the select service segments. Able to leverage 25+ years of hospitality technology and infrastructure expertise to drive business objectives and internal & external customer satisfaction results. Strong experience in management at the global and enterprise levels with the ability to provide strategic and tactical direction and support to executive and IT senior leadership. Expertise in IT strategy development, identification and adoption of new technology solutions for evolving business needs, and strong IT organization design skills. Strong experience in hotel group acquisitions and IT integrations, overseeing new build hotel infrastructure design & deployment, preparation and management of corporate administrative budgets, IT security & risk management, and technology life cycle management. Excellent interpersonal skills; able to communicate and collaborate effectively with individuals at all levels of the organization.

Responsible for formulating the strategic direction, implementation, and management of all technology solutions and support for 300 operating and pipeline hotels across MEA; represented by 45,000 rooms and 280 above and on-property IT associates. Oversight of the continent’s information technology infrastructure including on-property operations, security & compliance, shared service centers, customer facing technologies, new opening development, and above property office support. Member of Marriott International’s Information Technology Senior Leadership team that guides the company’s global IT strategy, initiatives, brand standards, and regulatory and compliance efforts.

Waleid holds over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He started his career with Marriott International in 1997 as Director of Hotel Technology for The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai, before taking on the role of Area Systems Manager for The Ritz-Carlton portfolio across the Middle East.