Mario Foster
Mario Foster is the Group Chief Information Officer at Al Ghurair Group. The Group is one of the UAE's oldest and most respected family conglomerates with a diverse portfolio of businesses. An accomplished and multiple award-winning Chief Information Officer, Digital Transformation Officer and Chief Information Security Officer, Mario joined Al Ghurair Group in January 2023. His responsibilities include leading the Group IT organisation, evaluating and restructuring the existing IT Operating Model, and setting strategic plans to take the Group's IT function to the next level.
Mario has won multiple awards, including Top 10 CIOs by the well-respected CIO Middle East Magazine, Best CIO Award, Best MENA CISO Award, and the CIO Catalyst Award for the MENA Region for Real Estate & Construction Industry for the fifth year in a row. He was also selected by ITP publishing house as one of the Top 20 Technology Leaders for the MENA Region in 2017. Mario holds the CRISC, CISM, CISSP, RSA Eng., MCSE, CCNA certifications, and is a Gold Member of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) since February 2007. He sits on the Advisory Board for the Cloud MENA Annual Conference, the National Advisory Council of the College of Technological Innovation at Zayed University, and multiple other industry councils.