Wesam Lootah

Wesam Lootah is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Smart Dubai Government Establishment,
the technology arm of Smart Dubai office; the government entity entrusted with Dubai’s city-wide
smart transformation envisioned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice
President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Wesam has more than 20 years of strategic leadership experience during which he has leveraged
Information Technology to create innovative new channels and a world-class Smart Government
infrastructure to improve the quality of public services for citizens, residents, visitors and
businesses alike, in Dubai.
Since becoming CEO in 2014, in record time Wesam has managed to transform technology from
being the backbone of Smart Dubai initiative to become a true enabler of digital transformation,
with a focus on humanizing technology to influence life’s experiences. He pioneered Smart Dubai
strategy and plans related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), and has the distinction of launching the
first AI Lab in the Middle East and North Africa region, in addition to launching hundreds of
initiatives and more than 1,000 smart services.
Whilst spearheading initiatives at Smart Dubai Government Establishment, Wesam has led several
breakthroughs in the field of Smart Cities as an early adopter – one such technology being
Blockchain. Under his stewardship, the Dubai Blockchain Strategy won several awards and
recognitions at both regional and global level. The highlight among all these awards is the City
Project Award – bestowed at the Smart Cities Expo & World Congress 2017, standing tall amongst
against 308 other projects from 58 countries.
Prior to his current role, Wesam was the Vice President of Information Technology at World Trade
Centre where he led the transformation of IT through a number of initiatives. In the past, he has
also served as the Director of Information Technology at Emaar Properties, during which he led the
global rollout of sales automation and ERP across Emaar’s subsidiaries in Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and Canada. Before that, as the Head of Application Services from 2002 to 2007, Wesam
led the implementation of unified business process and ERP across Dubai Government entities.
Wesam holds a master’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State
University and a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University. Wesam is also an author with
published research in the field of Computer Security and is a renowned speaker on smart cities and
digital transformation at top events.