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business models that can transform citizen
and customer experiences.
Kuwait is also a major hub for innovative
home-grown organisations, start-ups
and entrepreneurs. Schneider Electric is
supporting the training of our channel
partner ecosystem in emerging technologies,
and we are also continuing our partnership
with the non-profit INJAZ Al-Arab and
exploring educational tie-ups to mentor and
train the young in Kuwait.
How do you deal with stress and
unwind outside the office?
Outside of work, I’m highly competitive in
the sporting world. I enjoy playing squash
and chess, especially with my two sons,
because I believe that it’s important the
body needs to work as quickly as the mind.
I also try to spend as much time as possible
with my family, including my two sons and
my daughter. On the weekends, we spend
quality time together going camping,
attending cultural events and having fun.
If you could go back and change one
career decision what would it be?
I’m an optimist, and I firmly believe that
every step of my career has contributed
positively to my personal and professional
growth. For example, working at ABB gave
me the strong technology background
and experience with a multinational
corporation. Working at KUBOTA gave me
the wide experience with Japanese cultural
and business aspects when I was General
Manager for the Middle East and Africa.
Since 2015, I’ve been General Manager
of Kuwait for Schneider Electric, where I
can combine all my experiences to further
support Kuwait Vision 2035 and drive
Kuwait’s nationwide Digital Transformation.
What do you currently
identify as the major
areas of investment
in your industry?
Every industry vertical
in Kuwait is investing in
Digital Transformation,
especially the energy, oil
and gas sector. Oil and
gas firms have always
been at the digital forefront and
continue to drive innovation. For example,
we are working closely with the Kuwait Oil
Company on smart training with immersive
virtual reality environments.
Schneider Electric supports Kuwait’s Digital
Transformation with our EcoStruxure
architecture, which aims to provide
organisations across the building,
transportation, water and waste water, oil
and gas, utilities and data centre segments
with real-time insights that can drive new
levels of digital business. In 2019, we will
continue to support the local market with
plans to host a Schneider Electric Innovation
Day in Kuwait in September 2019.
What are the region-specific
challenges when implementing new
technologies in the Middle East?
In Kuwait and the Middle East, organisations
are very knowledgeable about the business
benefits of adopting emerging technologies
to enable Digital Transformation. The
biggest challenge facing Middle East
organisations in their Digital Transformation
is changing corporate culture and company
mindsets. I like to think of digitally-leading
organisations as those that seamlessly blend
the experience of the ‘old masters’ with the
adaptive mindset of the ‘young innovators’
to create high-performance teams. At the
same time, both groups need to adapt to
the
rapid pace of
technological change by continuously
developing their digital skills.
What changes to your job role have
you seen in the last year and how do
you see these developing in the next
12 months?
Over the past year, Kuwait has changed
significantly. Government-led mega-projects,
Digital Transformation initiatives and Smart
Cities developments, aligned with New
Kuwait 2035, are all rapidly accelerating.
As we look to 2019 to 2020, we are also
seeing a massive shift in digital technologies
such as cloud, Artificial Intelligence and the
Internet of Things reaching mainstream
business adoption. In anticipation of this
growth, c-suite executives need to gain
a greater understanding by continuously
developing their digital skills.
I’m currently taking Harvard and MIT
distance-learning courses on Digital
Transformation of corporate culture, bringing
Big Data analytics increasingly into our
workplace to gauge market and business
development, employee performance and
transforming customer experiences.
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain
c-level position in your industry?
The best advice for employees seeking
to become c-suite executives is that they
need to have a vision on how to transform
their organisations. With the rapid pace
of technological change, aspiring c-suite
executives also need to work hard on their
self-development, and build their digital
knowledge and skills, and network with peers
in the technological ecosystem to gain a
full and deep understanding of the market
situation. The most successful executives are
also those that keep an open and honest line
of communication with their employees. n
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