Friday 27th September - Evening

7.00 pm: Meet at a secret location for an immersive art experience to start the weekend and network with other creatives and like-hearted attendees.

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Saturday 28th September - Morning

9.00am: Registration and arrivals at In5 Media, Production City, Dubai

9:15am: Creative Confidence & the Power of Islamic Art by Qasim Arif - Qasim will be sharing his journey of the past two decades from a self taught graphic designer to visual artist and sculptor. The challenges and obstacles of being an artist grounded in faith in the West. And lessons on confidence and power of art through stories of exemplars in Islamic history.

10.00am: Biomimicry: How to solve problems through Allah’s design - be inspired by Al-Musawwir with Heba Essa, Maram Othman and Fatima Abunasrah - The team will explore how Biomimicry aligns with Islamic teachings, drawing from the Qur'an and the divine attributes المصور, الخبير, and الحكيم. Participants will engage in a workshop using Biomimicry to discover how faith-inspired observation can lead to sustainable solutions through nature.

11:30am: Continuum Spark Award regional pitches - The best visionary organisations from the 2024 Continuum Spark Awards present their groundbreaking initiatives to a panel of esteemed judges, vying for the coveted place at the GMW Summit finals.

1.00pm: Lunch and Dhuhr Prayer

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Saturday 28th September - Afternoon

2.00pm: Designing products that aren’t spam in the AI age with Saad Ansari - In a world dominated by algorithms and short-term incentives, it’s easy to create products that lack substance. This workshop encourages participants to 1) think of a big idea or problem, 2) consider and research illustrative case studies, and 3) apply the learned principles to their initial ideas. By focusing on the big picture, we’ll ideate new solutions that help people with real problems, prioritizing long-term value over fleeting trends.

3.30pm: Asar Prayer

4.00pm: Ethical marketing with barakah: faith-based growth strategies with Ziad Itani - In this session, we will explore how ethical marketing grounded in faith can drive sustainable business growth. Discover actionable strategies that prioritize integrity, trust, and social responsibility, while aligning with core spiritual values. Learn how to implement these principles to build authentic connections with your audiences, increase customer loyalty, and foster resilient long-term success. This presentation will offer practical insights into balancing profitability with purpose, ensuring your brand thrives in today’s competitive landscape without compromising its values.

4.45pm: Creative technologies: Demo and AMA panel on Generative AI, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) with Arslan Javed - founder of Musavir.ai and AR expert, Hasan Shah - Chief Growth Officer at Atomic Digital Design

5.30pm: Closing session and announcement of the Spark Award regional winners

6.00pm: Maghrib Prayer

7.30pm: Spark Award Dinner at a rooftop restaurant offering unparalleled 360 degree views over the entire city

Visual Arts, Sculptor and Art Curator

Qasim is a visual artist, sculptor and art curator. Under his moniker ILLM he creates art reflecting on his life as a Third Culture Muslim Kid, focussing on Islam and Pop Culture. His art has been exhibited in London, The Hague, Berlin and Dubai. He co-curated the successful ‘Spiritual Urgency’ exhibition for Stedelijk Museum Schiedam on spirituality today. The past 15 years he has worked with brands such as: Nike, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Disney and Red Bull.

Senior Architect, Interior Designer & Biomimicry Practitioner

Maram is a LEED-certified architect, interior designer, and entrepreneur with an MS in Biomimicry. She combines Islamic teachings with nature-inspired design to create sustainable, livable spaces. Having worked on projects like Green Riyadh and Al Ula's Rocks Resort, Maram is dedicated to harmonizing human creations with the natural world for a more sustainable future.

Strategic Advisor, Ministry of Hajj & Umrah

Saad advocates for combining technology and public interest tools to help people at scale. He currently serves as strategy advisor at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. He’s also been a partner at Dash VC, led AI across high growth startups like Jasper, and served in the Obama Admin. He’s taught public policy at UChicago, cofounded Fawakih, and last summer collaborated with his three kids (11, 7, 4) to make up a board game.

Co-Founder at Musavir.AI

Arslan is a Creative Technologist, Co-Founder of Musavir.AI (an AI Image Generation company) and Graana.com (one of the biggest property portals in Pakistan), with groundbreaking initiatives in AI, AR, VR, and Proptech. He established South Asia's first 3D Projection Mapping company, Artec FMT, and has been recognized with international awards. His ventures span across AI for image generation, real estate and online education, continuously pushing technological boundaries in various industries.

Co-founder, Barakah Agency

Ziad is the co-founder of Barakah Agency, an ethical marketing firm focused on faith-driven growth strategies in today’s evolving competitive landscape. With over 9 years of experience in digital marketing and a passion for creating impact through responsible practices, Ziad aims to help businesses grow while staying true to their core values. His work emphasizes trust, resilience, authenticity, and transparency, ensuring that clients can thrive ethically and sustainably, regardless of market challenges. Ziad’s passion lies in helping brands achieve long-term success with integrity and purpose.

Senior Fellow for GMW Nework

Salma is a seasoned learning & development professional with a marketing background and experience across start-ups, SMEs, and corporate environments in the EMEA region. As an ambassador for the GMW Network, Salma contributes to community-building initiatives and plays a pivotal role in shaping thought leadership within the network. She is dedicated to fostering collaboration, promoting growth, and empowering individuals and organisations to achieve their true potential.

Sustainable & Renewable Energy Engineer, MS. Biomimicry

Heba has extensive practical experience in solar photovoltaic system design, implementation, and operations. Possesses a Master's degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University, specializing in innovative biomimetic solutions for sustainability and engineering challenges. She has experience in communicating Biomimicry to public audience, high school and university students, and field experts in design and architecture. She is passionate about advancing renewable energy technologies and promoting ecological stewardship through creative and sustainable solutions.

Architect and Biomimic

Fatima is from Jordan and is situated in Saudi Arabia. She holds a BSc. in Architecture from Girne American University in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus. She possesses a biomimicry master's degree from Arizona State University. She respects and considers both people and nature together in her designs. As she is passionate about biomimicry, she believes biomimicry would create architecture that provides serenity and sustainability for human and non-human users within a healthy and clean environment. She has joined many biomimicry projects in different industries like architecture, engineering, and product design.

Chief Growth Officer, Atomic Digital Design

Hasan is an industry-leading Augmented / Mixed reality expert, pioneering augmented experiences (AX) at Atomic, where he leads growth across multiple markets. Having led production for Snap Inc across MENA in the past, Hasan’s experiences span across multiple verticals & clients including: Saudi Tourism, Emirates Airlines, Dior, Amazon Prime & many others.

Izani Zainal is an AI enthusiast, academic, and explorer in digital design, with a journey that began in architecture before transitioning to computer animation and filmmaking. As a Senior Lecturer at Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi and founder of AI4Life, he has been at the forefront of generative AI training in Malaysia, empowering creatives and businesses to harness its potential from the start. With a Ph.D. in Digital Heritage and over 50 publications, Izani combines academic depth with practical innovation, pushing the boundaries of AI in filmmaking, education, and design. His work spans both academia and industry, where he mentors and leads research into the transformative power of AI in creative processes.