Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 37 | Page 99

GET TO KNOW... On the lighter side of things, we ask the industry experts what makes them tick. . . . Mohamed Helmy, MD for SAP Kuwait W What would you describe as your most memorable achievement? My most memorable achievement was while at SAP, my entire team was named in the global SAP Winner’s Circle, which recognises the top-performing sales and solutions teams from around the world. Our team of 10 people over-achieved our goals. Being part of the Winner’s Circle was an incredible opportunity to share best practices with SAP teams from across SAP’s globe-spanning geography. What first made you think of a career in technology? I’ve been interested in technology from a young age, when my parents bought me a Commodore 64 home computer in the early 1980s. By designing early programs, I found it amazing what could be created with technology. After studying at university, I realised that I liked the business field and being with people the most. So, I’ve used technology as a vehicle to serve different communities and support our customers and partners to leverage technology to transform the economy, society and environment. www.intelligentcio.com What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position? My management style is to encourage a culture of learning. Over the past 30 years, I have realised that I’ve learned something new every day – and often the things that one least expects. It’s important for organisations to foster a culture of diversity and inclusion, and include people of different backgrounds. Innovation and development are part of SAP’s DNA. At SAP, we provide a range of professional development programmes that are cascaded to develop talent, especially young talent and millennials in Kuwait. What do you think is the current hot technology talking point? Cloud is the dominating technology subject in Kuwait and the Middle East. Big Data and analytics is also seeing strong demand – especially as organisations are “ KUWAIT IS SEEING FOUR MAJOR INDUSTRY VERTICALS THAT ARE DIGITALLY TRANSFORMING THE FASTEST. INTELLIGENTCIO 99