Having joined Avaya in early 2007, Sabty brought over a decade of experience in hospitality-specific consultancy with him and is today the driving force behind the American technology company’s real-life use cases based on emerging technologies.

Sabty leads a team that takes customer needs and translates them into groundbreaking solutions that leverage technologies such as AI, drones, facial recognition, mobile video collaboration and more.

An expert integrator, he is the mastermind behind some of Avaya’s most impressive showcases at GITEX Technology Week, and has helped deliver incredible new innovations for emergency services across the world by building on and expanding Avaya’s ecosystem so that customers can take advantage of the latest technologies.

Avaya, which is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, specialises in business communications, specifically unified communications, contact centre, and services. The company had filed for bankruptcy in January 2017 as it struggled with debts of $6.3bn, but in a remarkable turnaround, it was able to recover and list on the New York Stock Exchange just 12 months later.

In 2018, it partnered with Arowana Consulting to deliver solutions that leverage emerging technologies to transform customer experiences. The partnership will focus on the hospitality, healthcare and retail sectors.

Sabty said at the time that companies today are looking to take advantage of new technology trends, and that by focusing on specific vertical industry sectors. He told Hotelier Middle East, “They can align with clients’ needs and provide the specialised expertise which enables them to stand out from their competitors.”

The two companies had previously collaborated to deliver the Houdini – Guest Experience solution suite, which was designed to allow hoteliers to enhance guests’ comfort levels and access to services by, for example, using the Avaya Breeze Client SDK, which provides in-room concierge services on the Avaya Vantage Device that boasts the convenience of a desktop phone and the flexibility of an application platform.

Prior to Sabty’s role at Avaya, he was the director of IT for Jumeirah Group’s Burj Al Arab, and has been a key implementer of integrated solutions for hotels in the Middle East and around the world. With 17 years of regional enterprise experience, Sabty is an advocate of technology-driven innovation with business impact.

The vice president graduated from the Haute École d’Art et de Design de Genève, with a focus on Interior Architecture.