PAST EVENTS RECAP

On May 31st, over 50 members of the LA/OC Lebanese tech community gathered for an exciting afternoon of learning and networking at Creator Space LA for LebNet’s “Navigating the Startup Journey” panel discussion.

The event featured an exceptional panel of founders and technical leaders who shared real-world insights into launching and scaling startups, offering attendees valuable lessons from their personal journeys in the startup ecosystem.

Panelists:

• Romeo Elias – Founder and Chairman, Intellect
• Neal El-jor – Co-Founder, Elle Consulting
• Paris Hajali Jr. – Founder, XP3R
• Ryaan Sayegh – CTO, Hollo.ai; Serial Founder
• Moderated by: Henry Khalife – CEO, GW Apps

Agenda Highlights & Key Takeaways

Founding Stories & Early Lessons

Each founder shared the motivation behind their ventures, what pushed them to take the leap, and their approach to finding the right co-founders. The conversation emphasized resilience, clarity of purpose, and the importance of partnerships in the early days.

Product Development & Technical Leadership

Panelists discussed building MVPs, managing product delays, and the strategic thinking required in early hiring decisions. They highlighted how technical leaders shape team culture and product direction from the outset.

Customer Discovery & Early Growth

From landing the first customer to adapting based on early feedback, panelists offered actionable tips for identifying core users and refining product-market fit.

Leadership, Culture & Team Building

Discussions around founder conflict, leadership styles, and managing team dynamics struck a chord—especially for women founders and leaders navigating underrepresented spaces in tech.

Fundraising & Scaling

Panelists addressed the timing and strategy behind fundraising, shedding light on investor expectations, common misconceptions, and navigating the current funding landscape.

Opportunities in Startups

For those exploring startup careers, the panel underscored the value of adaptability, curiosity, and aligning with mission-driven companies.

Audience Engagement & Reflections

The event closed with an engaging Q&A and final reflections from the panelists, who shared what they wish they had known when starting out, and what continues to motivate them on their entrepreneurial paths.

“It’s not just about building a startup—it’s about building something that lasts, inspires, and makes an impact.”

A big thank you to Ryaan Sayegh for graciously hosting us in Santa Monica, and to our incredible panelists — Romeo Elias, Neal El-jor, Paris Hajali Jr., Ryaan Sayegh, and moderator Henry Khalife — for sharing their wisdom, experiences, and time with our community.

The strong turnout and energy in the room reflect a growing and engaged network of Lebanese professionals in Southern California.

We look forward to many more events like this. Stay tuned!

On Wednesday, May 21, the LebNet Bay Area community came together for an in-person social and networking evening in Mountain View. While the event was initially capped at 20 attendees, it drew an amazing turnout of 35 Lebanese professionals in tech.

The crowd spanned from seasoned professionals to students, making for a dynamic mix of perspectives and conversations. Whether reconnecting with familiar faces or meeting new members, attendees enjoyed the relaxed setting, engaging dialogue, and the opportunity to build meaningful relationships.

A huge thank you to everyone who came out and contributed to the positive energy, and to the organizers who made this evening possible.

We’re excited to keep the momentum going! Stay tuned for more Bay Area events soon!

Click below to access the photo gallery!

On May 21, LebNet hosted a virtual workshop led by Pierre Khawand on the art of impactful storytelling, and more than 60 participants tuned in to engage and learn.

In today’s fast-moving world, it’s not just what you say — it’s how you tell it.

This dynamic session offered practical strategies to:

• Craft stories that move people and inspire action
• Capture executive attention with clarity and impact
• Turn dry facts into compelling narratives
• Leverage next-gen tools like ChatGPT, Miro, and modern presentation platforms

Participants walked away with a storytelling toolkit to elevate their communication, making it sharper, smarter, and more unforgettable.

Watch the full session recording here.

Pierre has generously offered additional resources for those interested in deepening their practice:

• Pierre’s Office Hours
• Online portal (slides and design brief sample)
• Complimentary Seat in Mindfulness Program:
• • Mindfulness Meditation to Reduce Stress & Anxiety @Work (7-week program)
  • Wednesdays, July 16 to Aug 27, 2025, 8:30 am to 9:15 am Pacific Time
  • Sessions are recorded so if you miss some sessions, you can stay up-to-date

About Pierre Khawand: Pierre is a seasoned leader with over two decades of experience in the software industry, combining innovation, strategic management, and mindfulness practices. He is the founder of People-OnTheGo and the creator of the Hello Mindful app. His educational background includes a Bachelor's from the American University of Beirut, a Master's from the University of Michigan, and Executive Education from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Outside of his professional endeavors, Pierre finds balance through mindful hikes, Tai Chi, and Argentine Tango.

On May 5, LebNet hosted its first dual-city event, drawing around 60 attendees in Montreal and Toronto for a lively, cross-city conversation on one of the most exciting frontiers in emerging technology: Agentic AI: AI systems that can make decisions, set goals, and act independently. This groundbreaking format brought together two inspiring AI leaders, each live from their respective cities, to explore the true potential and pressing challenges of this next-generation technology.

The event kicked off with Fadwa Mohanna, Founder and CEO of ONE37 in Toronto, who tackled the evolution of AI toward Agentic AI—autonomous systems that plan, reason, and act to achieve goals without constant human input. Unlike generative AI, which focuses on content creation, agentic AI integrates logic, memory, and external tools for real-world task execution. A key emerging component is the Model 

Context Protocol (MCP): a framework that enables AI agents to access and interact with external systems and data sources in real time. MCP enhances multi-domain functionality and contextual awareness, making agentic AI more capable and scalable. While emphasizing the transformative potential of this technology across multiple sectors, she listed its perceived risks, while underscoring the importance of Responsible AI to ensure safe, ethical AI deployment.

Rania Afiouni Monla, Assistant Professor at the School of Business at UQAM and Advisory Board Member for AI Ethics, joined live from Montreal to explore the impact of agentic AI on work. Her presentation examined how this technology is reshaping job roles, required skills, and workplace dynamics. Rania stressed the importance of new competencies, including critical thinking, empathy, AI literacy, and the ability to effectively delegate to AI agents. She also highlighted the urgency for strategic AI planning, given the rapid growth of this field and the significant workforce disruptions it may bring.

On April 24, LebNet San Diego hosted a thought-provoking webinar on the future of connectivity, exploring the next frontier of wireless technology: 6G. With insights from industry experts Christina Chaccour, Aziz Gholmieh, Diana Maamari, and the moderator, Fram Akiki, the session focused on the advancements, applications, and challenges of 6G, and how it will transform connectivity across various industries.

As 5G continues to shape the present, the conversation is shifting toward 6G, a technology that promises to enhance user experiences, revolutionize sectors like healthcare, transportation, and immersive media, and drive energy efficiency. The panelists discussed the evolution from 5G to 6G, highlighting its potential for lower latency, higher data rates, and a fully integrated AI-native network.

          

Key Highlights:

• Next-Gen Applications: The discussion explored emerging applications of 6G, including holographic communications, digital twins, and applications related to sensing, with the potential to transform industries and improve quality of life.
  

• Global Collaboration & Sustainability: The panel emphasized the need for global collaboration on 6G standards and sustainable development practices to reduce energy consumption and ensure responsible adoption.
  

• Infrastructure & Spectrum Challenges: Key challenges, including the need for advanced infrastructure, spectrum allocation, and security concerns, were addressed. The panelists acknowledged that 6G’s path to adoption will involve overcoming these significant hurdles.

• Ericsson’s Business Model: Christina Chaccour highlighted Ericsson’s approach to integrating AI into network layers, offering hardware, software, and services that will support the 6G ecosystem.

• Hardware Limitations: While progress has been made in technologies like Gallium Nitride semiconductors, the panel noted that business challenges remain, particularly with millimeter-wave technologies. Advanced technologies like gate-all-around and nanosheet transistors are expected to align with 6G timelines by 2030.

• Business and Technology Trade-offs: The panel discussed the business challenges of densifying networks for adequate coverage and the trade-offs between frequency bands: lower frequencies provide broader coverage, while higher frequencies offer faster data transmission but come with costly deployments.

Closing Remarks: The event concluded with heartfelt appreciation for Intuit’s hosting and special thanks to the LebNet San Diego community and team for their support in making the discussion a success. The panelists, Christina Chaccour, Aziz Gholmieh, and Diana Maamari, and the moderator Fram Akiki, shared a collective enthusiasm for the future of wireless technologies and the collaborative efforts needed to bring 6G to fruition.

On April 16th, the LebNet Women in Tech Leadership team hosted a timely and insightful session on Resilience in the Age of Uncertainty.

First and foremost, a heartfelt thank you to Pierre Khawand for leading this important discussion!

The workshop explored the emotional foundations necessary to maintain inner strength, composure, and a growth mindset in today’s rapidly evolving work environments—whether remote, hybrid, or in-person.

Pierre guided attendees through practical techniques grounded in cutting-edge research on mindfulness and emotional intelligence, offering tools to transform obstacles into opportunities for growth. Participants engaged in interactive discussions and hands-on exercises designed to foster calm, emotional adaptability, and confidence.

Despite a platform-wide Zoom outage, the session showed great engagement, and we are grateful for everyone's patience and flexibility!

Pierre has generously offered additional resources for those interested in deepening their practice:

• Slides from the session 

• Pierre’s Office Hours (available for follow-up questions and support)

• Complimentary seat in the Mindfulness Meditation to Reduce Stress & Anxiety @ Work program (live 45-minute sessions every Wednesday at 9:10 AM PT for 7 weeks)

• Complimentary seat in the 21 Practices for Happiness and Accomplishment @ Work on-demand eCourse

To access either program, simply email Pierre directly at pierre.khawand@people-onthego.net

Mark Your Calendars! Our next workshop with Pierre, Storytelling in the Digital Age: Enhancing Narratives with Technology & AI Tools, will be held on May 21. This will be a hands-on session focused on crafting impactful, tech-enhanced stories that resonate. We look forward to seeing you there!

About Pierre Khawand: Pierre is a seasoned leader with over two decades of experience in the software industry, combining innovation, strategic management, and mindfulness practices. He is the founder of People-OnTheGo and the creator of the Hello Mindful app. His educational background includes a Bachelor's from the American University of Beirut, a Master's from the University of Michigan, and Executive Education from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Outside of his professional endeavors, Pierre finds balance through mindful hikes, Tai Chi, and Argentine Tango.

On April 22, the LebNet Bay Area community came together for a compelling and timely conversation on the future of artificial intelligence, featuring Matt Boulos, Head of Policy & Safety at Imbue, an AI lab pioneering next-generation AI agents. Expertly moderated by Luna Maroun, the event brought together a dynamic mix of technologists, professionals, and students.

The discussion delved into the transformative role of AI agents, systems that go beyond generating code to reasoning, acting, and reshaping how we engage with technology. Unlike traditional assistants, these agents are designed to bridge the gap between human intent and machine execution. But with greater capabilities come greater responsibilities and risks.

Highlights from the conversation:

From code to software: Generating a line of code is easy. Building modular, maintainable systems is not. Matt challenged the crowd to think beyond syntax and consider the design foresight embedded in human engineering.

The illusion of understanding: Even researchers are still unraveling how models work. Mechanistic interpretability is a promising path, but we remain largely in the dark.

When AI harms: From deepfake abuse to a tragic case where a chatbot was linked to a user’s suicide, Matt reminded us that safety failures aren’t theoretical. They’re happening now—and the question of accountability remains painfully unresolved.

Policy that grows with tech: We discussed the urgent need for regulations that are principle-driven, adaptable, and designed to evolve. Without this, we risk locking society into frameworks that can’t keep pace with innovation.

Equity and access: Matt posed a powerful question: Who gets to shape the future of AI? If development remains concentrated in a handful of well-resourced players, the public loses its voice in how this transformative technology unfolds.

As Kim Nasrala, an attendee and junior at the University of California, Berkeley, aptly summarized, the future of AI must be built with integrity, empathy, and accountability.

“Let’s build systems that don’t just perform tasks, but do so with foresight and care.” – Matt Boulos

A big thank you to Matt Boulos, Luna Maroun, and to everyone who joined the conversation. If this event made one thing clear, it’s that designing safe AI isn’t just a technical challenge, it’s a societal one.

Following the discussion, attendees enjoyed an hour of networking over light refreshments, and joined together for a dinner in town continuing conversations sparked during the session.

LebNet Arizona is Back!

On April 3rd, we officially relaunched the LebNet Arizona community with a fun and energetic evening at Dave & Buster’s!

The event brought together a fantastic group of Lebanese professionals who came ready to reconnect, make new connections, and share ideas for the future. The night was filled with games, great conversations, and renewed energy for growing the Arizona chapter.

We were especially thrilled to see strong interest in joining the LebNet Arizona leadership team—a promising sign for what’s ahead in 2025!

Stay tuned for more events as we continue building a vibrant tech community in Arizona.

    

LebNet Montreal kicked off its 2025 programming on April 3rd with a lively and engaging social event that brought together Lebanese professionals in tech for an evening of networking, reconnecting, and idea sharing.

As the community’s first official gathering of the year, the event set the tone for what's to come. Attendees enjoyed meaningful conversations, met new and familiar faces, and offered valuable input on future events and initiatives. The energy in the room was warm, collaborative, and inspiring.

Feedback was very positive, with participants expressing excitement for the year ahead and gratitude for the opportunity to engage in person with the local tech community.

 

A big thank you to the Montreal Leadership Team, Maya Haddad, for

 organizing a fantastic kickoff, and to Montreal community members who joined us and made the night so memorable.

Stay tuned for more events coming soon, and if you missed this one, we can’t wait to welcome you next time!

On March 27, LebNet DC hosted an engaging and thought-provoking panel discussion on the evolving role of AI and IT, examining both the transformative potential and the challenges these technologies bring. Rosy Khalife Tyan, our moderator, set the stage with a powerful opening statement: “AI has the potential to both empower and disrupt entire industries. How do we leverage it as a tool for good while minimizing potential harm?”

With 45 attendees, including many new faces eager to explore the topic, the discussion featured expert insights from Bassel Haidar, Samia Melhem, and Samer Halawi, each offering unique perspectives from their respective industries.

The conversation kicked off with Bassel providing an overview of the current state of AI and its role in bridging gaps in global connectivity, healthcare, and education. Samia then shifted the focus to Lebanon, sharing insights on AI adoption in the country and its future trajectory. Samer highlighted how AI is transforming the satellite industry, offering a glimpse into broader industry trends.

The panel delved into critical topics, including global AI adoption, the ethical challenges of AI training, and the potential risks of automation on jobs. Bassel explored the "bad and ugly" aspects of AI, emphasizing the need for responsible development. Samer addressed concerns about job displacement, discussing strategies for companies to prepare for workforce transitions in the AI era.

The event sparked insightful discussions on AI’s role across industries, from software and telecom to aerospace, while also touching on ethics, equity, and unintended consequences. Attendees were highly engaged, with many excited about the discussion and eager for more events from LebNet DC.

A heartfelt thank you to our incredible panelists and moderator for an insightful discussion, and to the LebNet DC leadership team, Maya Reslan, Moukhtar Nsouli, Wissam Yafi, and Janice Antonios, for making this event a success! We also extend our gratitude to the LebNet DC community for your enthusiasm, participation, and valuable feedback. A special thank you to Zazzy for hosting us and providing generous and delicious food and drinks. Stay tuned for more exciting events!