Adapting to change is the key to business survival, but too many leaders fear it rather than embrace it. While history – and the present (Meta, anyone?) – is littered with examples of companies struggling to adapt to transforming ecosystem, change should instead be viewed as an opportunity.
We are blessed in the Middle East to report on, and work within, one of the most diverse and dynamic business communities in the world. The region’s post-Covid-19 bounce back has left most of the world in its wake, but has still necessitated businesses find new ways to take advantage of a new global economy facing more headwinds than in recent years.
That being said, more bright spots are visible over the horizon for the region this year, with the FIFA World Cup 2022 set to provide an economic boost to its host nation of Qatar, along with the wider Gulf as many fans are expected to be commuting to the sporting mega-event. Dubai, in particular, stands to gain, with the emirate topping the charts as the number 1 destination that fans are booking tickets to Qatar from.
Real estate and construction have long been some of the most exciting sectors in the Gulf, with the region home to some of the world’s most ambitious projects. This is a situation unlikely to change in the near future, with mega projects continuing to break ground – whether that the futuristic Line at NEOM, or a floating luxury hotel in Dubai.
On the subject of change, we included a supplement with the latest issue of Arabian Business: The 2022 Young Achievers edition. Congratulations to all those listed, who are sure to be one day the future leaders of the Middle East.
Ahmad Al Zaini
Co-founder and CEO
Foodics
KSA
Technology
Co-founded in 2014 by Al Zaini, the powerhouse behind FOODICS, is a cloud-based technology and payments platform for restaurants in MENA headquartered in KSA. FOODICS was launched after he noticed a lack of technology in the F&B sector, particularly during the ordering process. He built on this idea and developed a whole tech stack over time and a fully integrated ecosystem.
And today, FOODICS is an end-to-end restaurant management and fintech ecosystem that empowers F&B owners and merchants to run their operations efficiently, thereby fast-tracking their own business growth in the process.
Earlier this year, FOODICS made its first acquisition with the full ownership of POSRocket, the second largest restaurant cloud technology provider in MENA. The company also raised $170m in the largest SaaS Series C funding round in MENA led by global technology investor Prosus and Sanabil Investments, a PIF-owned investment company focused on private growth investments in various stages of the business cycle.
More recently, FOODICS entered a strategic partnership with The UAE Ministry of Economy. Their aim is to promote mutual exchange and cooperation to support SMEs in the F&B sector with services and products geared to expedite their inception and growth via new technologies, by optimising corporate strategies and boosting business operations.
Eman Ali Al Shorafa
Entrepreneur and Senior Healthcare Executive
Founder of WEVIN Investments & Consultancy
UAE
Healthcare
Ms. Eman Al Shorafa earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing and business administration from Zayed University in 2009. She has started her career in marketing and executive administration at United Eastern Medical Services (UEMedical) for few years before climbing her career ladder to become the Chief Protocol Officer of the leading Danat Al Emarat Hospital for Women & Children for more than 4 years. From 2019 to 2022, she was the Chief Operating Officer of Danat Al Emarat Hospital managing a team of 200 employees from Patient Experience to Operations, Call Center, Business Office, Planning Office, Biomedical Engineering, Facilities Management, VIP services, Hospitality Services, Catering, Patient Relations, and more.
She was listed in the Arabian Business list of 40 under 40 seasoned leaders and young executives in December 2019, and in Arabian Business list of GCC Young Achievers in 2021. Moreover, she was listed in the Encyclopedia of Emirati Women published by the General Women Union in 2020.
As one of the youngest female Emirati executives in the healthcare sector in UAE, Ms. Al Shorafa has proved herself as an excellent leader, inspiring her team members and colleagues to achieve positive outcomes and improve patient satisfaction rates.
In 2022, Ms. Al Shorafa founded WEVIN Investments – the holding company of diverse organizations in security, technology, and education. She is a partner in Bedayati Nursery in Abu Dhabi and T3 Solutions for IT, Facility Management and Security. Through her company, she provides consultancy services for startups to optimize cost, increase efficiencies and revenue in addition to providing consultancy services to healthcare organizations to enhance their patient experience, hospital image, operational capabilities, hospitality, VIP services, facilities management and beyond.
Ms. Eman Al Shorafa is also a member in the Emirates Angels Investors Association. She is a Board Member at United Eastern Group (UEG) and United Eastern Technical & Management Training (UETMT) and the co-founder and manager of 3 businesses including a high-end café (Mon Café), a retail boutique shop for children (Mon Bebe) as well as a prestigious Swiss chocolate brand (Rohr Chocolats).
Eman Hylooz
Founder and CEO
Abjjad
Jordan
Media
Founded by Hylooz, a Kuwaiti national, Abjjad is the first Arabic social network for readers, authors, and bloggers in the Middle East which was launched in June 2012 by Hylooz and Tamim Al Manaseer. Steered by a passion for reading and books, Hylooz began her career in software which she later applied towards the development of her digitised Arabic language platform Abjjad.
A subscription-based platform that offers users unlimited access to thousands of Arabic eBooks, readers can add eBooks to their reading shelves as well as rate, read, review, and connect with like-minded readers from around the world. With over 2.5 million registered readers, Hylooz and her team aspire to expand Abjjad to become the Arabic eBooks Netflix. She is also a founding partner in non-profit initiative Suwayya and holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Named as one of the top five startups in Jordan, Abjjad has collaborated with hundreds of publishers in the region to source the latest books which are legally licensed, and copyright protected. Readers can create their own account on the website, sign in and curate their own virtual library, which is divided into a planning to read list, previously read list, and currently reading list.
Farah Al Alami
Chief marketing and communications officer
NMC Healthcare
UAE
Healthcare
Farah I. Al Alami is the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at NMC Healthcare since September 2022 leading all marketing and business development functions across the group and its different facilities. She holds an MBA (with distinction) from New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the Yarmouk University in Jordan. With over 18 years’ experience in communications and PR in the Middle East (ME) region, Farah was listed in 2019, 2020 and 2022 as one of the top most influential communications and PR professionals in the Middle East in the Power Book of PR Week, UK. Moreover, she was listed in the Arabian Business list of 40 under 40 seasoned leaders and young executives in December 2019 and Arabian Business list of GCC Young Achievers in 2021.
Farah was the Chief Communications Officer at United Eastern Medical Services (UEMedical) Group in UAE from January 2016 until October 2021, leading the marketing and communications functions on a corporate level and throughout UEMedical’s subsidiaries including Danat Al Emarat Hospital, HealthPlus Network of Specialty Centers, Moorfields Eye Hospital Abu Dhabi and several other projects in KSA. Farah then moved temporarily to Mubadala Health as Senior Director of Communications & Marketing as part of Mubadala Health’s acquisition of UEMedical in 2021.
From 2013 to 2016, Mrs. Al Alami served as the Regional Director of Communications & PR in Middle East region, Turkey & UK for US-based Cleveland Clinic. She previously led media relations and internal communications at Abu Dhabi’s tertiary hospital Sheikh Khalifa Medical City from 2005 – 2011 and in between, she joined UEMedical as their Marketing Manager for 2 years.
Throughout her experience, Farah focus was on marketing and communications. Her key areas of specialization are corporate and internal communications, media relations management, digital marketing, crisis communications, events management, marketing, advertising and change management. She attended several workshops and courses related to PR and communications; and holds a certification as a Microsoft Office Specialist from Microsoft.
Farah was invited to present segments in a weekly medical TV show (Fi Baytina Tabeeb) on Abu Dhabi TV Station from September 2012 until January 2014 with over 55 aired episodes/reports aiming to promote healthy lifestyles.
Mrs. Al Alami is also an elected Board Member at the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA), a non-profit association established to set world-class standards for the public relations and communication industry in the Middle East, since January 2016 and has served as a committee member in the Women in Business Committee under the American Chamber of Commerce Abu Dhabi (AmCham Abu Dhabi) from 2017 – 2019.
Aside from the corporate world and in her free time, Farah dedicates her time to promote reading. She uses her Instagram account to document her reading journey. She reads novels in English and Arabic languages, and shares her reviews through multiple channels including her Instagram account @farahalalami1. She has also co-founded “Al Alami Book Club” with her cousin Deema Al Alami in 2020, attracting over 700 members/readers from across the globe.
Hazza Al Mansouri
Astronaut
Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC)
UAE
Science
Having made headlines when he became the first Emirati in space and the first Arab on the International Space Station (ISS) on 25 September 2019, former military pilot Al Mansouri was selected from 4,022 candidates, following a series of tests in the UAE and abroad. He underwent thousands of hours of special training as part of an agreement between MBRSC and major space agencies, including NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, and JAXA.
He began his training in September 2018, at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre at Star City in Moscow. He also received training in Houston, Texas and Cologne, Germany, as part of partnership agreements with major space agencies, including NASA, ESA, and JAXA. For the upcoming historic space mission to the ISS, he will act as a backup crew for his colleague Sultan Al Neyadi who was a backup crew member when Al Mansoori made history by becoming the first Arab on the International Space Station (ISS).
An Abu Dhabi native, Al Mansouri’s passion for astronomy led him to major as a military pilot at the Khalifa bin Zayed Air College, UAE. He went on to become a Functional Check Flight (FCF) Pilot F-16B60, and later, became the youngest military pilot to fly an F-16.
Huda Kattan
Founder and Chairwoman
Huda Beauty
UAE
Retail
Best known for her global beauty brand Huda Beauty, Kattan founded her billion-dollar cosmetics brand in 2013. Fuelled by an unsatisfying finance job along with a lifelong passion for beauty, she had enrolled in a makeup training school in Los Angeles, California.
In 2010, Kattan set up her beauty blog HudaBeauty.com and later launched a YouTube channel, a Facebook page and an Instagram account by the same name.
After acknowledging a gap in the market for false eyelashes, in 2013, Kattan and her sisters worked together to create a collection of false eyelashes under the Huda Beauty brand name. Her experience in the beauty industry coupled with her social media skills led her to further expand her makeup range to include liquid lipsticks.
In November 2018, Kattan further expanded her repertoire to include fragrance by collaborating with her sister Mona to launch the brand, Kayali. Fuelled by its success, she then launched her own skincare line known as Wishful Skincare in 2020. Rather than invest in advertising campaigns, Kattan instead, has leveraged her social media prowess of over 50 million Instagram followers to reach success. In 2017, private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners had acquired a minority stake in a deal that valued her company at $1.2bn.
Lina Gallagher
Founder and Head of e-commerce
Emerce Consulting
UAE
Technology
Leading Emerce Consulting, a Dubai-based consultancy that helps retailers, brands, start-ups, distributors, and investors across the GCC to embrace digital transformation and launch ecommerce stores, Gallagher has years of experience across the ecommerce space in the Middle East working in media, luxury, retail, asset management, government/public sector, and financial services sectors.
Having worked as an entrepreneur, investor, non-executive director, corporate advisor and founder of multiple businesses across diverse industries with over 18 years of experience, she has a key interest in B2B and B2C eCommerce, Web 3.0, fintech, and SaaS. During her career, Gallagher has launched several ecommerce stores locally and internationally, including Carrefour UAE, John Lewis, Homes R Us and Selfridges.
A former Deloitte London and UAE consultant, Gallagher earned a Bachelor’s Degree in E-Business from the University of Liverpool, UK and specialised in Digital Marketing Disruptive Strategy at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK.
Backed by experience within the online retail space across omni-channel strategy, greenfield ecommerce implementations, last-mile optimisation, e-merchandising advisory, and more, Emerce supports international and local retailers, brands, manufacturers, and distributors with all digital transformation activities. Some of these include ecommerce platform selection, strategy definition, digital marketing advisory, ecommerce operations set up and optimisation, and ecommerce data analytics.
Mohamed Khomsi
Executive Director
HealthPlus Network of Specialty Centres & Moorfields Eye Hospital Abu Dhabi
UAE
Healthcare
Mohamed Khomsi is the Executive Director of HealthPlus Network of Specialty Centers and Moorfields Eye Hospital Abu Dhabi. In 2015, he joined UEMedical, the parent company of HealthPlus Network of Specialty Centres, as Group Director of Business Development. UEMedical was then acquired by Mubadala Health in 2021.
While at UEMedical, Khomsi worked to establish the newly commissioned Danat Al Emarat Hospital for Women & Children and was involved in operational processes and business development, including securing partnerships with international institutions such as The Hospital of Sick Kids Toronto and University College London.
In 2019, Khomsi became Director of Operations at HealthPlus Network of Specialty Centres & Moorfields Eye Hospital Abu Dhabi, in addition to his existing role. He worked to build a culture of belonging within the group, promoting high-quality care, safe practices and a patient-centric approach. He also worked to expand HealthPlus services geographically, including new centres in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Khomsi has more than 15 years of experience in international relationship management, business development and hospital operations. Previously, he worked in London at the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), the largest healthcare provider in the world, as Head of Business Development & International Relations, handling business development and international marketing at The Portland Hospital for Women & Children and The Lister Hospital Chelsea.
As a key member of HCA’s senior team, Khomsi developed and implemented business and international marketing strategies, including financial guidance in negotiating commercial contracts and establishing and promoting specific service lines in international markets.
As a key member of the operations team at The Portland Hospital, he established the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and London’s first Paediatric Rehabilitation Centre in the private sector. Prior to joining HCA, Khomsi was responsible for multiple roles in the Private Services Division at Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust London.
About HealthPlus
Launched in 2010 by UEMedical, HealthPlus is a network of specialized care centers, providing healthcare services based on state-of-the-art technologies. Centres include: HealthPlus Fertility Centres in the UAE and KSA, HealthPlus Diabetes & Endocrinology Centre, HealthPlus Family Clinics and Moorfields Eye Hospital Abu Dhabi.
Under the Mubadala Health umbrella, our assets now have much broader support from world-renowned institutions across the spectrum of care, which can only benefit patients and enhance the quality of care they receive.
In line with Mubadala Health’s vision to transform the regional healthcare landscape, HealthPlus is setting new standards for the UAE and regional healthcare industry with its state-of-the-art facilities and world-class caregivers. HealthPlus intends to continue expanding its services in the UAE, KSA and throughout the region in the coming years.
Nadine Mehzer
Co-founder
Sarwa
UAE
Investment
A marketing and communication strategy leader with over 20 years of experience, Mezher is well-versed in delivering high-end projects for a diverse range of clients, from startups to government entities and large-scale companies. She co-founded Sarwa after years of consultancy in retail strategy and marketing with a track record of projects delivered for clients ranging from the Dubai government as well as multinational corporations including Nestle.
Prior to that, she worked for the UAE government entity Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in retail strategy and strategic alliances. With a multi-disciplinary background in management strategy and brand communication across industries and geographies, Mezher holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, as well as a design degree from Esmod Paris.
An investment platform and personal finance app specifically aimed at young professionals in the region, Sarwa is backed by international and regional stakeholders in addition to the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office. Their team implements investment strategies and work to develop a personalised investment experience.
By leveraging technology to simplify and create a seamless investing experience, Sarwa offers easy rebalancing, dividend reinvesting, tax optimisation, amongst others.
Nora Al Matrooshi
Astronaut
UAE Astronaut Programme; Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC)
UAE
Science
Out of the 65 women from around the world who have been in space, Al Matrooshi, the first female Arab astronaut, now ranks as the 66th. She and her fellow countryman, Mohammad Al Mulla now join Sultan Al Neyadi and Hazza Al Mansouri in the Emirati fellowship of astronauts.
A Sharjah native, she was selected from more than 4,000 candidates and has previously managed projects for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). She is also member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and currently works as an engineer at the National Petroleum Construction Company.
In 2022, she embarked on two years of training at NASA in Houston, Texas, where the Emirati astronauts will undergo training across five categories of the programme, including learning Russian, operating a T-38 training jet, operating and maintaining the International Space Station’s (ISS) complex systems, and more. Once qualified, the astronauts could be assigned to undertake space missions or missions that involve performing research aboard ISS.
The UAE Astronaut Programme, one of the projects managed by the UAE’s National Space Programme and funded by the ICT Fund of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), aims to support research and development in the ICT sector in the UAE.
Ola Doudin
CEO and Co-founder
BitOasis
UAE
Technology
Backed by a background in engineering, after Doudin moved on from her full-time job consulting job at Ernst & Young in London after the 2008 global financial crisis, she began working on entrepreneurship initiatives with Aramex founder Fadi Ghandour while shuttling between Dubai and Jordan. Her interest in Bitcoin and the technology behind crypto assets was piqued during her research into startups and fintech ventures on different models of payments.
In 2013, she invested in her first-ever Bitcoin and one year later, Doudin launched her Dubai-based startup as an online wallet and exchange available across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, and was the first to use multi-signature technology to protect digital assets. BitOasis also secured two rounds of funding from international and regional venture capital funds.
A trading platform that allows investors to buy, sell and swap crypto assets in over 40 different cryptocurrencies, BitOasis has collaborated with global payments solutions provider Checkout.com to enable users to deposit UAE Dirhams and Saudi Riyals to their BitOasis accounts using their credit or debit cards. Striving towards legitimising the use of crypto across other financial institutions, Doudin is working to pioneer more regulatory discussions around crypto trading in the public and private sector.
Ozair Puda
CEO and Founder
ServiceMyCar.ae
UAE
Transport
An entrepreneur driven by a passion for cars, and a tech enthusiast, Puda was born and educated in the UK. During his first visit to Dubai in August 2017, he had observed a gap in the market in the automotive industry, which prompted him to launch Servicemycar.ae
in 2018.
As the region’s first online car servicing and repair platform, this enables vehicle owners to remotely book their car for service and repairs, have their car collected and delivered at a time and location convenient to them, and stay updated on their car’s progress throughout the repair stages.
As the UAE’s first vehicle servicing network, Servicemycar.ae is capable of servicing more than 10,000 vehicles per day, and offers service packages, breakdown cover, and home start for a monthly fee.
In 2021, Servicemycar.ae raised a seed round of $10m led by Omani business group Bahwan, one of the sultanate’s diversified family-owned groups.
With a focus on plans to develop new technologies in the Middle East, Servicemycar.ae has also established an international presence in the UK and strives to cater to the specific regional demands of both Oman and the UK. Moving forward, the company aims to expand to other markets including the US and India.
Rashid Alabbar
CEO and Founder
Sivvi.com
UAE
E-commerce
Since co-founding Sivvi.com, a fashion and lifestyle platform retailing clothing, footwear, and accessories from over 200 high-street, sports, beauty and lifestyle brands, Alabbar then entered a joint venture with Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP). YNAP owns six multi-brand websites, one of which is Net-a-Porter.com through his company Symphony Investments, under Alabbar Enterprises.
His portfolio also includes multiple luxury food brands within the portfolio of Alabbar Enterprises. A member of the board of directors at Barakat Group, a key supplier of fresh produce to UAE’s major airline catering companies, five-star venues, and other retailers, with over 350 refrigerated vehicles and refrigerated facilities spread across the UAE, the brand now spans across KSA, the Far East, Maldives, Oman and Kuwait.
Its trading arm includes Barakat Vegetables & Fruits Co, sourcing fresh produce from over 53 countries, as well as Barakat Quality Plus, the manufacturing arm of the Barakat Group which manufactures freshly squeezed juices, cut and sanitised fruits and vegetables, and hot kitchen items.
Alabbar holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree and Master of Science Degree, both from University of San Diego, USA. Prior to co-founding Alabbar Enterprises, he was appointed in Mergers and Acquisitions at Standard Chartered Bank, Dubai and in Capital Markets in HSBC, Dubai.
Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy
UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation
UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
UAE
Government
In the role of the UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation since 2016, Al Hashimy is responsible for the UAE’s bilateral relations with Sub-Saharan African countries, Pakistan, India, and the Small Island Developing States within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously, she served as commercial attaché, as well as the deputy chief of the UAE’s embassy to the USA.
She was also the managing director of the Dubai Expo 2020 Higher Committee and director general of the Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau. In November 2013, in her role as managing director of Dubai’s World Expo 2020 bid, Al Hashimy was pivotal in Dubai’s winning bid to host Expo 2020. As the director general, it was the first time in history that an Expo was held in MENASA.
She also chairs Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organisation working to improve access to primary education in developing countries. Dubai Cares is playing a key role in helping achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning by 2030, by supporting programmes designed to reduce, and remove the obstacles that prevent young people and children from attaining a quality education in developing countries.
Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri
Chairwoman, UAE Space Agency
UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology
Minister of State Public Education and Advanced Technology
UAE
Government
Juggling multiple roles within the UAE’s futuristic space initiatives, in her role as the Minister of State for Advanced Sciences since October 2017, Al Amiri’s responsibilities include enhancing the contributions of advanced sciences to the development of the UAE and its economy. She also played a pivotal role in the building of UAE’s first two satellites, DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2, and the first entirely Emirati-made KhalifaSat.
Also, the chairwoman of UAE Space Agency and the UAE Council of Scientists, Al Amiri was appointed as the chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency in 2020 where she oversees the agency’s mandate of guiding the space sector, ensuring its contribution to the national economy and also to the UAE’s sustainable development.
In 2021 when the UAE announced its goal to send a probe to orbit Mars for the country’s 50th anniversary, she was named deputy project manager and science lead on the mission. Her team designed the spacecraft ‘Hope’ for the mission, which cemented the UAE’s space programme and involved a team that was made up of 80 percent women. She is also the chairwoman of the Emirates Scientists Council, chairwoman of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Council, and chairwoman of the Dubai Future Academy Board of Trustees.
Sarah Omolewu
Managing Partner
Maven Marketing and Events
UAE
Media and Marketing
Positioning herself as a facilitator for US brands seeking to expand into the region through franchise opportunities and joint ventures, Omolewu initially had co-founded a boutique marketing and PR agency in Atlanta, Georgia, specialising in fundraising and partnerships for celebrity non-profit foundations prior to moving to Dubai in 2009.
Identifying the untapped entertainment market potential in Dubai, in September 2012, Omolewu launched her agency and went on to secure talent for the KSA market, including Ronaldinho and Kevin O’Leary at Misk in 2018 and Usain Bolt for the G20 Youth Summit in 2020.
Under her leadership, the company has delivered many firsts in the region, including the first privately-owned marketing agency to have organised a major red carpet movie premiere in the UAE, the first activation with an active NBA player as well as the first to usher in celebrity clothing line pop-up stores to Dubai, including MSFTS by Jaden and Willow Smith, amongst several others.
Further expanding, in 2021, Omolewu founded Maven Global Access (MGA) to help US businesses, specifically those led by minorities and women, to expand internationally. Working to leverage the power of celebrity engagement, the MGA platform helps countries achieve their foreign direct investment goals.
Shadman Sakib
Founder and CEO
Vurse
UAE
Technology
Launched in 2022, Vurse is an interactive short video platform designed for users to showcase, consume, and engage with global talent, ideas, and culture. Nurturing entrepreneurial talents at a young age while still pursuing his formal education in the US and the UK, Sakib was already building his tech business portfolio of innovative concepts.
Driven by a passion for technology, his vision is to become both a disruptor and a tech entrepreneur of this generation. With big plans for expansion over the next five years in Dubai, Sakib’s vision has been further bolstered by the announcement of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, which aims to boost the UAE’s economy to $4bn by 2030 through the contribution of the metaverse sector.
With AI and metaverse at the core of the technology, Vurse enables its users to stay updated with the latest trends and find the content that suits their needs. The app offers video editing, music editing, and employs purpose-designed machine learning driven systems to ensure users are always ahead of the latest trends.
Another area of focus for Sakib is philanthropy and through his Shadman Sakib Foundation, he will support young entrepreneurs and tech startups who require financial assistance to help launch their projects.
Shenin Hamid
Founder and CEO
Inspire
UAE
Events and Marketing
Having built her business from scratch at just age 19, Hamid is one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the UAE. Steered by her leadership, Inspire, a Dubai-based events and experience agency, has grown from an idea in her living room into a regional success, executing between 200 and 250 events and experiential campaigns per year across KSA, Dubai, Qatar, and Kuwait.
By offering experience driven turnkey events solutions from Design, Production, Scenic to Staffing for clients across the globe, Inspire has grown significantly through the years.
An outspoken advocate for women
Driven by passion, ambition and empathy, Hamid supports young entrepreneurs at various start-up hubs based in Dubai and Silicon Valley and is a mentor to many young aspiring women-led businesses around the world. She has become an outspoken advocate for women to be more aggressive in seeking success in the business world and gender equality in the workplace.
Hamid continues to support women in the corporate sector in multiple ways, including developing policies around equal pay, extended paid maternity and paternity leave, in addition to prioritising mental health in the workplace.
Sky Kurtz
Founder and CEO
Pure Harvest Smart Farms
UAE
Agriculture
Prior to founding Pure Harvest Smart farms, Sky Kurtz had co-founded Vence, a wearable technology solution for animal protein farming. He was also with Francisco Partners in the role of senior executive. He later went on to launch Pure Harvest Smart Farms, the tech-enabled agribusiness focused on sustainably grown, premium quality, local fresh produce grown using controlled environment agriculture technology to produce fresh fruits and vegetables in high-tech greenhouse facilities.
Part of their mission is to offer tangible food security, helping the country’s mission toward self-sufficiency and environmental sustainability. With technology that is seven times more efficient than typical desert greenhouse farms and over 30 times more efficient than traditional field farming, they believe that controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) is the future to achieve true food security in arid climates.
In June 2022, Pure Harvest acquired BayWa’s controlling interest in the Al Dahra BayWa joint venture, which currently operates a large-scale, 11-hectare high-tech controlled-environment agriculture production facility. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, USA, and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU, USA.
Talal Al Ajmi
Founder and CEO
VI Markets
Kuwait
Finance
As a young Kuwaiti entrepreneur, Al Ajmi’s passion towards financial markets and trading helped to reinforce his reputation in the trading field in Kuwait and the Middle East. A graduate from the University of Philadelphia in Jordan with a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology, he had always considered himself an entrepreneur and a businessman.
His career journey began during his academic years during which Al Ajmi was managing several small family businesses. When he returned to Kuwait, he joined an investment company to gain more knowledge, and after working in this field for several years, Al Ajmi was inspired to move forward and work towards achieving his dream. He held various positions in several financial companies and eventually assumed the role of financial broker to help kick-start his new career as an entrepreneur.
The start of VI Markets
Al Ajmi founded Version International Markets (VI Markets) in Kuwait in 2010 and currently holds the position of CEO and a board member at One Financial Markets, the main partner.
VI Markets provides a tailored online service to investors in Kuwait and then partnered with One Financial Markets, which was established 2007 in London. One Financial Markets is regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and offers a global presence with local expertise through its fully owned and affiliated offices throughout the Middle East, Europe, South America, Central and Southeast Asia. This partnership has enabled VI Markets to become one of the few countries in the GCC region to be regulated by FCA. Al Ajmi’s consistent vision has enabled him to obtain high market share in Kuwait and the Middle East.
Ambition with no boundaries
Faced with numerous challenges, including the procurement of capital as well as creating an awareness about the intricacies of trading in international markets, Al Ajmi’s goal was to promote sustainable development via education.
He established VI Markets in a modest building with few employees, knowing that this field faced stiff competition from different existing companies, but he still managed to steadily build his business. His core focus was to educate those Kuwaitis’ who are interested in trading and then enable them to start their own journey by managing their portfolios.
Sharing his success on social media
By leveraging the power of social media, Al Ajmi shared his daily trades and educated his audience on how to manage their portfolios. Not only did this help to attract a huge base of existing and new traders in Kuwait and the Middle East but allowed him to grow closer to his audience.
The launch of Yasmeen
Steered by a belief that through education anything is possible, Al Ajmi had always wanted to launch an initiative that served the women in Kuwait and the Middle East. He understood that women were also interested in foraying into the financial markets but did not know where to start. Therefore, Yasmeen was launched as a forum exclusively for women, designed to support female empowerment in business and the world of financial investment.
Through bespoke educational services and outstanding personal support, Yasmeen provides tailored training and trading solutions that supports growth and the pursuit of commercial and educational goals. Al Ajmi shifted the concept of trading within this market by providing members with the specific workshops and seminars as well as helped them in obtaining their FCA licenses which ensured credibility and professionalism.
Passion for trading
Not only passionate about trading, but Al Ajmi is also an avid collector of timepieces as well as is a loyal fan of Manchester United. He also believes in giving back to society through philanthropic projects and has built several charitable schools in both Indonesia and India to promote education outside the field of trading.
Technology-based product offerings
According to Al Ajmi, the main mission and vision of VI Markets is educating and spreading awareness about trading online with trained staff to provide stellar customer service. A key unique offering by VI markets is One Connect app which handles everything in a secure environment and keeps all your execution in one place while experiencing all the trading tools it offers. An integrated process, the One Connect app is linked to MT4 and all trades are visible in a client’s MT4 account and on the One Connect app.
Users can sign up for a new account within the One Connect app or they can link an existing account using a drop-down menu within the app. VI Markets provides complimentary workshops conducted by professional trainers, both virtually or in-person for its clients and non-clients to help spread awareness.
Moreover, VI markets offer a wide range of instruments on both forex and CFDs. And with forex, they offer all major currency pairs, in addition to exotic currency pairs. Another unique patented technology is Copy Trading which automatically copies trading portfolio performance for individuals who want to link their accounts with a specific trader. Striving to enhance the customer experience, this new technology has shown great interest in the world as it eases the process of managing one’s portfolio.
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