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Laila Faridoon
Chief Executive Officer, New Economy Academy
Top 30 Women Leaders to look out for in 2023
Laila Faridoon is a digital transformation and business advisor with over 20 years of experience in providing strategic and innovative solutions to clients across various sectors. She holds a PhD in Computer and Information Sciences from King's College London. As a thought leader, public speaker, and author, she is passionate about challenging the status quo, leveraging science and technology for the good of humanity, and empowering others to create their own reality. She has published a book on personal development, multiple articles on digital and business topics, and delivered keynote speeches at prestigious events. She also has extensive experience in leading and managing complex projects, having served as the Executive Director of the Chairman's Office of RTA, the Secretary General of the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Project Management, and the President of the PMI UAE Chapter. She is skilled in educational leadership, IT strategy, and customer support, and is recognized as one of the top 30 women leaders to look out for in 2023.
Ahmad Mourad
Chief Information Officer, Transmed
Chief Information Officer at Transmed, creating and delivering business and customer value through cutting-edge technologies and impactful digital capabilities, unlocking the power of people, technology, data, and insights. Technology evangelist, business transformation catalyst, digital advisor, and influencer leader with over 25 years of extensive experience in the FMCG, Retail, Telecom, Manufacturing, Healthcare, government and private sectors in North America, Europe, Gulf Region, Middle East and Africa with expertise spanning innovation, business experimentation, digital transformation, strategy planning and execution, operational excellence, and customer experience. Prior to Transmed, held a number of leadership roles with increasing responsibility, working for global and regional organizations including Johnson & Johnson, Bupa Arabia, National Research Council of Canada, Department of Justice Canada, Ajilon Communications, du Telecom, amongst others. As an agile leader, known for innovative thinking, strategy formulation and impactful execution, supporting executives in developing and implementing strategies and roadmaps. Leveraging leading-edge technologies, strong understanding in shaping digital value propositions and business models that deliver differentiated customer experience and business value that matter. Intentional investor and mentor of inclusive and diverse talents with a strong sense of global citizenship. Frequent public speaker with published articles and position papers on various topics, and best-selling book author on financial investment, 'The 21 Indisputable Principles of Trading'.
Musa Faisal
Senior Vice President at Emirates Airline
Musa Faisal is a seasoned aviation executive currently serving as Senior Vice President of Operations Research & Effectiveness (OR&E) which is an in-house consulting arm of the Emirates Group. He facilitates and enables enterprise-wide transformation through strategic advisory, operational excellence, and data-driven decision support. Through effective collaboration and strong partnerships, the OR&E division delivers high-impact solutions across all business units, enabling measurable improvements in performance, efficiency, and organisational agility. As a trusted advisor to the executive leadership team, Musa plays a pivotal role in shaping corporate strategy, designing future-ready operating models, and steering complex, mission-critical initiatives. His work spans strategic growth planning, organisational design, and performance optimisation, consistently aligning operational capabilities with long-term business objectives. He received 'His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum - Emirates Group Chairman's Award for outstanding performance', for the conceptualization, design and implementation of an innovative digital decision support solution that contributed to effective management of aircraft on-time operations. Musa serves as an industry board adviser to the Industrial Engineering programs at Rochester Institute of Technology - RIT (Dubai Campus) and American University of Sharjah - AUS.
Rishikesh Trivedi
Founder & Market Acceleration Specialist, MarketMate
Market acceleration specialist, investor, and strategic advisor with extensive experience driving growth for technology companies across global markets. He currently serves as Director – MEA at iSOURCe and plays an active role as an investor and board member at Enabler ONE, AugPlat, Eywa Media, and MarketMate. Through these ventures, Rishikesh supports go-to-market strategy, demand generation, channel development, and digital transformation for B2B tech organizations. He also advises on digital strategy at La Marquise Jewellery and contributes to frameworks that help companies scale efficiently in emerging regions. With over a decade of well-rounded leadership across strategy, marketing, sales, and business excellence, Rishikesh blends deep industry insights with practical execution to accelerate business impact.
Ayman Elrafie
Supply Chain Leader, Nestlé
A senior Supply Chain leader with +17 years of experience and leadership roles across E2E SC, S&OP, SC planning, logistics, inventory management, manufacturing, and SC transformation, who excels in building & leading high-performing teams, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and aligning SC capabilities to business objectives. In his current role he leads large-scale SC transformation across MENA to boost business growth & profitability, improve SC efficiency, reduce costs, and improve service levels.
Ahmed Marie
Founder, GIG Lanes
Experienced executive with a twenty-year track record in steering regional logistics operations, achieving growth, and broadening corporate influence. Recognized for strategic foresight, adeptly integrating pioneering technologies, optimizing workflows, and spearheading digital evolution. Committed to fostering social responsibility, advancing sustainability efforts, and environmental conservation. A transformative force driving positive change, imprinting an enduring legacy on corporate culture and the broader logistics sector.
Strategic Planning & Execution | Supply Chain Management | Operational Efficiency Improvement | Financial Analysis & Budgeting | Team Leadership & Development | Change Management | Process Optimization | Vendor & Supplier Management | Inventory Management | Risk Assessment & Mitigation | Cross-Functional Collaboration | Customer Relationship Management | International Trade Regulations | Crisis Management | Sustainability & Green Logistics | Negotiation & Contract Management| Regulatory Compliance | Continuous Improvement Initiatives
Qabas Shaer
Founder and Lead Consultant at Riforma Consulting
Qabas has designed and facilitated various workshops using the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Method on creative thinking and innovation, team and personal identity and strategy development and deployment. She has worked on various quality management, process improvement and change management consultancy projects. She has also organized and facilitated professional development programs in different leading organizations on business excellence, total quality management, process reengineering and strategy development and execution. Qabas holds a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master's Degree in Information Management. She is an EFQM Assessor, a Six Sigma Green Belt, and a Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence. She is also founder of Riforma Consulting; providing consultancy and capacity building services in the fields of quality management, business excellence and strategic planning. Riforma Consulting uses experiential learning and gamification, to offer its clients a wide range of versatile and customized solutions.
Tarik Abdulaal
Head of Global Procurement Processes, IFFCO Group
Accomplished Supply Chain leader with +25 years in leading large-scale supply chain operations, transformations and process optimizations across diverse industries. Throughout his career across MEA region, he worked with a variety of multinational and regional companies in different industries including food, house-hold and technology and engaged with clients on supply chain transformation across industries like Automotive, pharma and fashion. He's an optimist and a true believer in the power of technology to transform our world for the best. He's always excited to connect with industry to learn and share, expand his network and help others on driving and realizing value. His working style is built around unleashing the power of organization, developing a value chain, and driving operational excellence.
Saeed Almokhtar
Chief Executive Officer at Konnect Logistics
Operations and commercial management with a verified history in managing global teams, opening new markets, introducing new services profiles that generate profitable revenue. Saeed started his career at aramex, and was the first member to be hired in the Supply Chain Team at aramex head office. Grew within the team and built global team that took aramex logistics to MENA, EU, SEA and GCC. Saeed’s current position is looking after the end to end supply chain at aramex, with its 32 countries and 79 distribution centers. Responsible and accountable for the revenue growth, EBIT performance, and new verticals introduction.Saeed established the OnG, pharma, and food cold chain at aramex. By developing a great team that helped Saeed achieve the strict requirements and the agility of the OnG, the high compliance level of healthcare and pharma, and the hygienic frozen food.
Ahmad Jallad
Innovation & Organizational Excellence Expert, Dubai Municipality
Innovation & Organizational Excellence Expert | PhD Candidate in Engineering Systems Management | Strategy Planning | EFQM Assessor | Certified Innovation Manager | Startups Mentor | PMP | QMS Auditor | Peer Evaluator
An expert in organizational excellence, strategy planning, and innovation with extensive experience in driving performance and transformation across public and private sectors. He currently serves as an Organizational Excellence and Strategy Planning Expert and has held leadership roles focused on innovation, business development, and excellence frameworks, including the EFQM Excellence Model at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) – Dubai. Ahmad's work emphasizes strategic foresight, process improvement, and the fostering of innovation cultures aligned with organizational goals and sustainable impact. He has been instrumental in implementing excellence models and strategic initiatives that support operational efficiency, stakeholder collaboration, and disruptive technology adoption. Ahmad is passionate about developing high-performance teams and creating transformative solutions that contribute to long-term organizational success.
Batool Madani
Transportation and Logistics Researcher, UITP
Dr. Batool Madani holds a Ph.D. degree in Engineering Systems Management from the American University of Sharjah. She is currently a researcher at the UITP MENA regional office. She formerly worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and teaching assistant, delivering courses to undergraduate and graduate students while also supervising senior projects. Her research is oriented toward transportation, addressing the challenges of firstand last-mile connectivity and last-mile delivery. She is also focusing on implementation challenges and strategies of sustainable and technology-driven transportation modes such as electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and drones. Aside from her main research projects, Dr. Batool is interested in logistics, sustainability, urban mobility, supply chain management, and blockchain. She contributed to the authorship of perceptive research papers, publishing several articles in reputable journals and presenting her research at renowned conferences. In addition, Dr. Batool participates in organizing conferences, moderating conference sessions, and reviewing academic papers.
