Cloud & AI Senior Specialist — Microsoft, UAE

Turning enterprise data
into AI that ships.

Wagdy Ishac — 20+ years building and selling the AI and cloud transformations that Fortune 500 boards actually fund. Based in Dubai, working across EMEA.

Portrait of Wagdy Ishac
20+ Years in Enterprise AI & Cloud
$760M Cloud & Data Business Led, EMEA
Fortune 500 Engagements Architected & Closed
4 Sectors: FinServ, Retail, Utilities, Gov

Profile

Wagdy sits at the point where technical architecture meets the boardroom — building the business case, designing the platform, and staying in the room until the transformation lands.

Over two decades at Microsoft, Wagdy has moved from hands-on BI development to leading a $760M cloud data modernization business across EMEA, advising CxOs at Fortune 500 companies on AI-ready infrastructure, agentic AI use cases, and the data platforms underneath them. He translates complex AI capability into measurable ROI — and holds the trust of technical and business decision-makers alike.

Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Email
wagdy@outlook.com
Phone
+971-555-367-913
Site
www.wagdy.ai
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/wagdyishac

Expertise

Where strategy and architecture meet

Leadership & Strategy

Cloud Transformation Leadership CDO / CTO Advisory Sales Strategy Data Monetization AI/ML Implementation Cloud Economics Territory Planning C-Level Stakeholder Engagement Partner Ecosystem Management Cross-Functional Team Leadership

Data & AI Competencies

AI Business Case Development Agentic AI Use-Cases End-to-End Data-to-AI Architecture HPC & Simulation Design Talent Development Enterprise Data Architecture Data Platform Modernization Cloud Migration Strategy Advanced Analytics Use-Cases Responsible AI Frameworks

Experience

Twenty-two years, one employer, six mandates

2025 —
Present

Microsoft UAE

Cloud & AI Senior Specialist — Financial Services

  • Leads AI sales strategy and customer value proposition for Cloud & AI across the financial services sector, partnering directly with technical and business decision-makers.
  • Acts as trusted advisor to C-suite executives on digital transformation, identifying AI/ML use cases with measurable business outcomes.
  • Drives adoption of generative and agentic AI solutions, and shapes product roadmap through direct customer feedback.
2021 —
2025

Microsoft Global Customer Solutions

Regional Lead — Data Modernization, EMEA

Led Microsoft's $760M cloud data modernization business across EMEA

  • Advised CxOs of top strategic accounts on AI-ready infrastructure via Azure modernization, migration, and enterprise-scale analytics.
  • Directed cloud architecture across Fortune 500 engagements — Azure SQL, Synapse, Lakehouse, Databricks, and OpenAI.
  • Built the TCO/ROI cases behind migrations off Oracle, Teradata, and SQL Server.
  • Built reusable modernization frameworks used across Retail, BFSI, Government, and Telco.
2018 —
2021

Microsoft Digital Transformation Partnerships

Lead Architect — Data & AI, EMEA

Acting Deal CDO for $50M+ strategic cloud partnerships

  • Architected end-to-end Data & AI platforms — ingestion, governance, modeling, ML, and visualization.
  • Ran executive workshops with CIOs and CDOs to define cloud roadmaps and AI/ML initiatives.
  • Introduced the "Data Adoption Framework," now institutionalized for legacy-to-intelligent-platform transitions.
2015 —
2018

Microsoft Services

Senior Architect — Data Insights, EMEA CTO Office

  • Led pre-sales and delivery of enterprise BI, advanced analytics, and AI initiatives on Azure and hybrid cloud.
  • Delivered Azure ML, cognitive services, Power BI, and real-time analytics implementations end to end.
2010 —
2015

Microsoft Center of Expertise

Technology Solutions Professional — SQL & BI, MEA

  • Regional SQL Server lead across MEA — proof-of-concepts, architecture reviews, training enablement.
  • Delivered BI and enterprise data warehouse solutions across Public Sector, Banking, and Healthcare.
2004 —
2010

LINKdotNET Gulf Region

Senior Solutions Developer — BI & Portal Development

  • Designed BI portals, dashboards, and workflow solutions using SharePoint, SSRS, BizTalk, and .NET.
  • Delivered pre-sales demos and prototypes supporting enterprise-wide BI rollouts.

Credentials

Education & certifications

Cairo University

B.Sc. Computer Science

GPA 3.5 — Certificate of Honor from Minister Dr. Tarek Kamel for ICT project excellence

Faculty of Computers & Information
Microsoft Certified

Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Certification
Microsoft Certified

Azure AI Engineer Associate

Certification
Microsoft Certified

Azure Data Engineer Associate

Certification
Ministry of ICT, Egypt

Certificate of Owner

Awarded by Minister Dr. Tarek Kamel for the ICT Egypt project

Achievement

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