Sultan joined KEO as a director in 1984. At the time, the firm had 300 employees and was mainly known as a medium-sized regional consultancy with annual fees of about $8m.

She was appointed CEO in 1991, shortly after the end of the Gulf War, when the company had only 26 employees. Today she is in charge of more than 2,300 professionals, with revenues for 2009 exceeding $206m. Sultan has pushed KEO into new markets in Africa, Europe and recently Asia, with new offices opening in Kuala Lumpur in March this year.

Abu Dhabi has become the company’s primary base of operations after KEO had a series of successful projects there such as Emirates Palace Hotel, major infrastructure works in Al Gharbia and mega construction projects throughout the UAE. These include major master-planning initiatives in Abu Dhabi and Saudi infrastructure projects.