GET TO KNOW...
On the lighter side of things, we ask the
industry experts what makes them tick. . . .
Charbel Khneisser,
Regional Presales Director, METNA
at Riverbed
What would you describe as your
most memorable achievement? the Internet’s early days and here I owe
a lot to my father who bought me my first PC.
My 14 years working in the technology
industry have been extremely fruitful and
this is true of all the roles I’ve played. I
have two career achievements of which I’m
particularly proud. First, back in 2007/2008,
I managed the complete implementation
and solution architecture for the Public Key
Infrastructure of Saudi Arabia that was
inaugurated by the MCIT minister, and it
was the first national transformation project
across the GCC. At 17, with the rise of mobile phones, I
saw technology as a new way of living, so
I aspired to become a person who would
contribute to the advancement of society
through IT. Today, working at Riverbed
and enabling organisations to achieve
their digital ambitions with our Digital
Performance Platform has made my dream
come true.
And early this year, I was selected to take
part in Riverbed SteelMasters, a leadership
development programme for high-potential
executives in collaboration with Organization
Insight, as a reward for all the strategic
initiatives I have been driving over several
years to transform the METNA presales team
at Riverbed.
What first made you think of a
career in technology?
Back in school, at the age of 12, I attended
my first ‘data processing’ or ‘computer’
class. At that time, we were still running DOS
6.x, along with those beautiful, unreliable
floppy drives.
At that time, my passion was astrophysics and
I always wanted to learn more about space
and seeing a machine so powerful in terms
of processing intelligence became for me the
new ‘space’ to discover. So I started learning
more by buying books, taking advantage of
www.intelligentcio.com
smarter than yourself and keep challenging
them to bring the best out of themselves.
Success isn’t individual but a practice that
comes from great teamwork. A leader should
extend smart trust to his team, empower
them to achieve a common goal and
lead by objectives. I am a fan of macro-
management, but this works only when a
proper trust-based relationship is built within
your network. ‘If you can’t be replaced,
What style of management
philosophy do you employ with your
current position?
The power of a leader comes from within
his own team; surround yourself with people
“
I ASPIRED TO
BECOME A PERSON
WHO WOULD
CONTRIBUTE
TO THE
ADVANCEMENT
OF SOCIETY
THROUGH IT.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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