Attendees Guide

At a glance

Everything you need for the day

One day, three programme tracks, a companies’ booth area and plenty of time to connect. Organized by ZAKA at Beirut Digital District.

Doors open: 09:00; Registration at the Main Stage, BDD 1280. Opening Ceremony at 10:00.
Workshops: 11:00; Two tracks open at 11:00 - Technical (BDD 1075 Rooftop) and Non-Technical (BDD 1227-B – LGF).
Lunch & Networking: 13:00; Until 14:00, in Beirut Digital District.
Networking & Happy Hour: 16:00; Until 18:00 - close the day together.

Venue & access

Here’s where it all happens

Drag the map to spin it around, hover or tap a building to see what happens there, and use the buttons to zoom.

Isometric map of Beirut Digital District with the festival buildings highlighted: BDD 1280 Main Stage, BDD 1227-B LGF non-technical workshops, BDD 1243 ZAKA Base, the Piazza companies booth and BDD 1075 Rooftop technical workshops.

Drag to rotate · scroll on the map to zoom

Main StageBDD 1280Opening Ceremony, panel discussions, company talks and the FUN Challenge Final Ceremony. Doors open and registration starts here at 09:00.
Non-Technical WorkshopsBDD 1227-B – LGFNon-technical workshop track. Opens at 11:00.
ZAKA BaseBDD 1243 · -1ZAKA’s main office.
Companies BoothGarden PiazzaMeet the festival’s partner companies. Open 11:00 – 16:00.
Technical WorkshopsBDD 1075 · RooftopTechnical workshop track. Opens at 11:00.

Official festival map, supplied by ZAKA.

Full schedule

Saturday, September 19

Pick a track. Main Stage sessions run back-to-back at BDD 1280; workshops open at 11:00.

09:00Doors & registrationBDD 1280
10:00Opening CeremonyMain Stage
11:00Workshops openBoth tracks
13:00Lunch & NetworkingUntil 14:00
14:00FUN Challenge FinalMain Stage
16:00Networking & Happy HourUntil 18:00

09:00– 10:00Registration
Doors Open & Registration
Main Stage · BDD 1280
10:00– 10:30Ceremony
Opening Ceremony

Larissa Abi Nakhle, Co-founder & Head of Partnerships, ZAKAKim Mouawad, Chief Growth Officer, Beirut Digital DistrictNour Fayad, Program Leader, Minister of State for Information Technology and AI
Main Stage · BDD 1280
10:30– 11:15Panel
Building and Scaling AI-Powered Companies

Elias Boustani, Chief AI Officer, Zeal ModeratorAlexi Akl, SVP of Solution Delivery, AboardGeorges El Khoury, Founder & CEO, JournableOmar Hmaissy, Chief Product Officer, Toters
Main Stage · BDD 1280
11:15– 11:30Talk
Using AI to Turn Climate Data into Decisions

Moustafa Wehbe, Lead Engineer, Aboard (formerly Speedlane)
Main Stage · BDD 1280
11:30– 11:40Talk
When you hear the name maids.cc, what do you think we do?

Manouella Helou, Head of People & CC Customer Service, maids.cc
Main Stage · BDD 1280
11:40– 11:50Talk
The Intelligence Behind Every Order

Toufic Khoury, Product Director, Platform and Fresh, Toters
Main Stage · BDD 1280
11:50– 12:00Talk
Bringing AI to Every Classroom

Dalia Raydan, Head of AI Programs & Strategic Delivery, SEEDS by ZAKA
Main Stage · BDD 1280
12:00– 12:45Panel
Getting Your Team to Actually Use AI

Tarek Hoteit, Founder, Arabtronics ModeratorTarek Ayna, Founder & CEO, EdgebotMaya Ali, AI Transformation Lead, maids.ccWes Ezzeddine, Co-founder, AI Safety UAE
Main Stage · BDD 1280
12:45– 12:55Talk
AIXplore: Building the Roadmap to an AI-Enabled Enterprise

Karim Raad, Sales and Product Manager, Softflow
Main Stage · BDD 1280
12:55– 13:05Talk
Next-Generation Hiring: AI Talent Matching

Elie Jean Azzi, Technical Lead, Integral
Main Stage · BDD 1280
13:05– 13:10Talk
Introduction to Forward MENA

Marwan Atallah, Executive Director, Forward MENA
Main Stage · BDD 1280
13:10– 13:20Talk
Your AI Career Doesn’t Grow Alone

Larissa Abi Nakhle, Co-founder & Head of Partnerships, ZAKA
Main Stage · BDD 1280
13:00– 14:00Networking
Lunch & Networking
Beirut Digital District · all tracks pause
14:00– 16:00Ceremony
FUN Challenge Final Ceremony
ZAKA × NXT by AM BANK

Ms. Larissa Abi Nakhle, Co-founder & Head of Partnerships, ZAKADr. Nahla Khaddage Bou-Diab, Chief Executive Officer, AM Bank
Main Stage · BDD 1280
16:00– 18:00Networking
Networking & Happy Hour
All tracks pause

Good to know

Make the most of the day

Registration

Start at BDD 1280

Doors open at 09:00 at the Main Stage building. The Opening Ceremony begins at 10:00.

Companies Booth

Garden Piazza, 11:00 – 16:00

Meet the partner companies at their booths in the Garden Piazza.

Workshops

Two tracks from 11:00

Technical at BDD 1075 Rooftop · Non-Technical at BDD 1227-B – LGF. Sessions run 1–2 hours.

Lunch

13:00 – 14:00

Lunch & Networking in Beirut Digital District - all tracks pause.

Networking & Happy Hour

16:00 – 18:00

The day closes with networking and a happy hour. Stay and connect.

Getting around

Several buildings, one district

Sessions are spread across BDD buildings - use the map above to find each one. ZAKA’s main office is at BDD 1243 · -1.

Official partners

With thanks to our partners

See you on September 19

Lebanon, Let’s Talk AI · Beirut Digital District · 9:00 – 18:00

Lebanon,Let’s Talk AI

Everything you need for the day

Here’s where it all happens

Saturday, September 19

Doors Open & Registration

Opening Ceremony

Building and Scaling AI-Powered Companies

Using AI to Turn Climate Data into Decisions

When you hear the name maids.cc, what do you think we do?

The Intelligence Behind Every Order

Bringing AI to Every Classroom

Getting Your Team to Actually Use AI

AIXplore: Building the Roadmap to an AI-Enabled Enterprise

Next-Generation Hiring: AI Talent Matching

Introduction to Forward MENA

Your AI Career Doesn’t Grow Alone

Lunch & Networking

FUN Challenge Final Ceremony

Networking & Happy Hour

Beyond the Chat Box: The Tool-Calling Loop

Lunch & Networking

Software Engineering with AI: From Agentic Coding to Production-Ready Development

Networking & Happy Hour

AI for Architects: From Design to Construction

Classroom Management Through the Lens of AI

Lunch & Networking

AI for PM: AI Can Build Anything. What Should You Build?

Build with AI Using Lovable - No Coding Required

Networking & Happy Hour

Make the most of the day

Start at BDD 1280

Garden Piazza, 11:00 – 16:00

Two tracks from 11:00

13:00 – 14:00

16:00 – 18:00

Several buildings, one district

With thanks to our partners

See you on September 19