Mehdi Ajana is the Head of Strategy at Nabat, where he is responsible for growth. Prior to joining Nabat, Mehdi focused on creating new ventures at VentureOne, including SteerAI, an autonomous mobility venture that transforms industrial vehicles into autonomous transport units serving the logistics and defense sectors.

Mehdi brings over a decade of expertise in strategic consulting, project management, and the commercialization of advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, and climate tech.

Previously, he worked in the Executive Chairman’s Office at EDGE, designing and executing strategic initiatives related to technology commercialization, strategic partnerships, and learning and innovation programs. He spearheaded the launch of the EDGE Learning and Education Factory and established an intrapreneurship program for over 5,000 employees.

Mehdi actively contributes to educational impact through his leadership in innovation programs at Educ'Ride, a youth-led NGO designed to empower Moroccan youth to drive systemic change in the education system.

He holds a master’s degree in business from Korea University and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon in France.

Amine Marrakchi is a Strategic Projects Specialist at VentureOne focusing on Nabat. In this role, he supports strategic planning, cross-functional initiatives, and operational execution as Nabat scales its ecosystem restoration technologies across global markets.

Hi background combines rigorous analytical skills with hands-on experience in technology venture creation and strategic execution. Prior to focusing on Nabat, Amine contributed to the launch of SteerAI, an autonomous mobility company transforming industrial vehicles into autonomous transport solutions for logistics and defense. He previously worked as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he advised clients in various areas including marketing, sales and pricing as well as healthcare.

Amine holds a Master in Strategic Management from HEC Paris and a Bachelor in Mathematics and Computer Science Applied to the Humanities from the Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University in France.

Nada is the Operations Manager at Nabat, where she leads large-scale restoration initiatives including Nabat’s mangrove rehabilitation programs. Her approach goes beyond planting to consider the full ecological function of habitats addressing biodiversity, water quality and long-term sustainability. She works closely with scientists, engineers, policymakers, and local communities to deliver solutions that are both environmentally sound and socially inclusive.

With a background in marine biology and environmental consultancy, Nada has built a career dedicated to restoring coastal ecosystems and aligning development with ecological resilience. Previously, Nada worked as an environmental advisor in Egypt, where she consulted on environmental impact assessments and urban planning projects. Her ability to translate scientific knowledge into actionable plans has positioned her as a key link between field research and technology deployment.

Nada holds master’s degrees from University of Aberdeen in Scotland, Pierre and Marie Curie University in France, University of Bremen in Germany, and Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.

Asgar is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Engineer at Nabat, where he is responsible for leading drone operations to support large-scale ecosystem restoration. He manages all technical aspects of UAV operations, from drone mapping and payload integration to precision seeding missions and aerial monitoring.

With over 14 years of experience in unmanned aerial systems, Asgar brings hands- on expertise in designing, building, and operating custom drone platforms across agriculture, security, and environmental sectors. Prior to Nabat, Asgar was a senior flight engineer at AiFi Technologies and an assistant manager at TATA Advanced Systems Limited. During his career, he’s developed modular airframes, integrated custom payloads, and led teams through mission planning and on-site execution.

Asgar is driven by a commitment to sustainability and innovation, and his approach focused on engineering precision ensures that each drone mission delivers reliable, data-driven results.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Anna University Chennai in India.

Stevie Van-De-Peer is Flight Operations Manager at Nabat, where he oversees the planning, execution, and safety compliance of all drone-based restoration missions. He leads large-scale aerial missions that support mangrove and arid land restoration, helping to scale up drone seeding operations in remote and sensitive ecosystems.

With more than a decade of experience in military and commercial aviation, Stevie brings deep expertise in airspace coordination, risk management, and complex flight operations. A former British Army serviceman with 12 years of operational leadership, Stevie transitioned into the drone sector to apply his aviation discipline to environmental innovation.

Since transitioning into the drone industry, Stevie has led complex aerial operations across the UAE and in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, working with both multi-rotor and fixed- wing remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) platforms. In every project, Stevie combines military precision with a strong focus on safety, efficiency, and environmental impact

Jennifer Simonjan is a Research Director at the Technology Innovation Institute, where she leads the Networked Robotics Research Group and is responsible for ensuring a science-driven approach that bridges innovation and ecology and supports large-scale ecosystem restoration. She also leads the technology development for Nabat’s drone-based restoration of mangrove ecosystems, combining her passion for robotics, sustainability, and scientific innovation.

Jennifer’s recent work has spanned various agri-tech domains, from crop monitoring and flexible indoor sensing to large-scale ecosystem mapping. Prior to joining TII and Nabat, she co-founded PiktID, a company focused on AI for image editing, and has held different positions as researcher and scientist.

Jennifer holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Klagenfurt in Austria, where she focused on distributed and self-organizing sensor networks. She continued her research as a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the U.S., specializing in wireless communication and networking.

Taha Ghaznavi is the Chief Product Officer at Nabat, where he leads the product and technology strategy for nature-based climate solutions powered by AI, robotics, and geospatial systems. He oversees the development of autonomous environmental systems that monitor, restore, and manage ecosystems with high precision and impact.

Prior to joining Nabat, he has held senior executive roles at several high-growth technology companies. He served as CEO of CropX Europe and global senior vice president of product and marketing at CropX, a leader in precision agronomy. He was also the vice president of Product at Infarm, a vertical farming company. He has founded two startups and achieved successful exits, each valued at over $200 million.

With over 25 years of international experience, Taha has shaped enterprise-grade platforms across precision agriculture, geographic information systems, Internet of Things, and autonomous robotics. His expertise lies in building integrated hardware- software platforms, driving product-market fit, and scaling innovation from research to commercialization.

Taha holds a Bachelor of Computer Science and Philosophy from McMaster University in Canada.

Michal Barcis is Lead Researcher and Robotics Engineer at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) focused on autonomous UAV systems, multi-robot coordination, and intelligent aerial platforms. He’s a key contributor to Nabat’s development of intelligent aerial systems for ecosystem restoration.

His experience includes leading deployments of UAV swarms for complex applications such as search and rescue, environmental monitoring, and GPS-denied navigation. Prior to joining TII, he worked as a Senior Scientist at Alpen_adria Universität and worked as a Python developer in the biggest Python software house in Europe. He also served at the University of Wroclaw as a researcher and programmers’ team leader.

Michal has earned international recognition through multiple robotics competition wins in both aerial and ground categories and throughout his career, he consistently focuses on translating cutting-edge robotics research into operational systems. Michal holds a PhD in Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering from Universität Klagenfurt and a Master of Computer Science from University of Wroclaw.