< PreviousCOVER STORY | IRFAN TANSEL 40 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 operations, and ultimately, the company’s bottom line. The automotive market was in a challenging place prior to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it seems that the challenges are even greater, but such is life – how are you leading through some of the most challenging economic times in living memory? The world has changed dramatically in the last few months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetimes, Covid-19 has resulted in wide-spread concern and hardships for businesses and communities all over the world. It has impacted many industries, and the automotive industry is no exception. In the UAE, the government has been fantastic at taking care of all of their residents. They implemented many preventive and precautionary measures early to curb the spread of Coronavirus. We express our wholehearted support in their efforts to address and lead us through these challenging times. Our number one priority at Al Masaood Automobiles was that our employees and customers were safe and looked after. We launched an Interactive Live Sales Experience over video chat and mobile Test Drives with display cars dropped off to the customer’s preferred location. We sold a luxury Infiniti from the first day of launching. Remember that this phase is temporary. We will all emerge stronger and more resilient from this extraordinary situation that we are experiencing. What impact will this crisis have on your industry in the longer term and what can you advise leaders in business generally, to plan for post- COVID-19? The emergence of this global pandemic has managed to impact various industry verticals, including the automotive segment. The effect has resulted in production shutdowns, sales declines, drops in demand, and so on. To help better deal with this crisis, my advice is to maintain a positive mindset, look at the brighter side of things. We should also remain committed in our work and try to see this challenge as an opportunity for growth, instead of an obstacle. These are times to encourage creativity and innovation. victories I’ve achieved are owed largely to the hard work I put in, my dedication and perseverance, and the many wonderful men and women who I have worked with and learned from throughout my career. I worked my way up the ladder, starting as an apprentice in automobile workshop and living in labour camps, to being promoted as Service Manager, then General Manager and now, Chief Executive Officer. How do you approach building culture in an organization? Company culture is an integral and essential part of the business. Every company is unique, possesses its own DNA and this DNA is cascaded down from the top. They are imbedded into the vision, mission and values of the company. It affects everything within a company – all your decisions are driven by the culture you want to sustain or create. From your ability to recruit top talent, to improving and enhancing employee satisfaction. Company culture is the backbone of a happy workforce. If a positive culture is absent, employees will struggle to discover the real value of their work. In turn this creates a series of negative consequences that will impact your M AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 41 social distancing measures will define those changes to offer further health, safety and convenience to our employees and customers. What is your workforce doing while in isolation, what changes has the company made to enable business to continue? It is essential that we address the change that COVID-19 has created in order to maintain business continuity. Over the last two years, I have called for the move to digitize What strategy and forward planning should leaders be thinking about now? True leaders have foresight, they are forward thinkers. Digital transformation was a prerequisite long before Covid-19, but with the changes that the pandemic has brought about, it has become essential for organizations to digitize and innovate their offerings. COVID-19 will eventually go away, but innovation will not. The buying behaviors of customers will permanently change. Digital platforms will take more limelight. Our goal is to maintain business continuity while ensuring the safety of our employees, customers and securing financial sustainability. We also engaged and enhanced our digital channels to support remote work and online trading. We are now firming our plans for the period after the pandemic crisis. Reviewing our “new retail format” outlined in our mid-term strategy “Project Falcon” with the fresh experiences of the past two months. I call this planning period as the “New Normal” where not only our offerings, customer touch points will change but also our organization needs modification to adopt to the era coming. Continues digital transformation, businesses, but I felt that some organizations were resistant to this change. Today, in the face of this crisis, we are fast tracking the transformation with remote working. We created an omni-channel buying experience with evolved customer journeys that are integrated with our brick and mortar showrooms. Led by our vision to ‘Deliver Innovation’, the Al Masaood Automobiles family are working with renewed enthusiasm to develop further innovative technologies that enhance yet simplify our processes and COVER STORY | IRFAN TANSEL 42 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 operations. Needless to say, these efforts add much value to our digitization goals, and more importantly, for our customers. We have achieved several milestones in regards to digital transformation. For instance, the launch of the first ever e-commerce platform in the region enables customers to choose the specifications of their choice of Nissan and have it delivered straight to their doorstep. We now offer our customers an Interactive Live Sales Experience through a video call with our expert sales consultants. Customers can ‘roam’ around the showroom virtually before choosing their favorite vehicle, and it will be delivered to their homes after purchase. Our Service Department has also activated home pickup and delivery service for after sales services. What have been some of the other big challenges you have overcome, how did you overcome them? One of the biggest challenges that we have faced is the decline of the automotive market since 2016. Back then, we were able to address this situation by pushing ourselves to achieve three dedicated goals as essential pillars of “Project Falcon” strategy that we set – to drive operational excellence and help optimize costs; focus on the creation of new business lines and revenue streams; and develop new retail formats. In line with this, we were able to overcome the situation, and it’s now proudly highlighted by the milestones we gained when we worked towards achieving each of our goals. Milestones include the launch of a certified pre-owned operation covering all three brands; the launch of Finance and Insurance business enabling us to tailor made offerings to customers, the launch of a new business line through the creation of Al Masaood Auto Leasing and the multi brand servicing with Auto Central. Combined with imbedded performance culture we have achieved this downturn into opportunity with double digit volume and markets share growth Year on Year (YoY) since then. A career leader, what qualities do you see as crucial to good leadership? Are there any qualities that are specific to the automotive industry? The most important qualities of a good leader include being visionary, positivity, integrity, accountability, empathy, humility, resilience and influencer. As you can see there are many qualities required to be a good leader irrespective of the sector. What makes a successful leader is creating a good, enthusiastic team, with diversified skill set and creative. Very important factor is to trust them, empower them and support them. I also believe that ‘companies don’t fail because they have bad plans, they fail because they don’t achieve to get their employees to put their hearts and minds into the plan’. We should all work closely together to boost the spirit of ONE team. Get your team to be involved in strategy and ideation phases and you will find employee Keynote speaker, Irfan Tansel is a talented and sought-after public speaker. M AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 43 platforms for the safety of our employees and our customers. So, we launched our Interactive Live Sales Experience. This dynamic platform allows people to see and interact with their car purchase, all from the comfort of their homes. Customer service is a pillar of the company’s reputation – how are you harnessing technology to respond to the unprecedented requirements of customers in this completely unforeseen landscape? Being a customer-centric company, Al Masaood Automobiles has constantly remained true to its commitment of creating innovative solutions that cater to our client’s needs. We understand that buying a car is the second biggest purchase decision that an individual makes in their lifetime. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that people would want to see, touch and interact with the cars they wish to purchase. To better address this challenge, we have created a virtual sales platform that allows customers to buy a car even while they are following the orders to stay at home. We have also developed the Infiniti vehicle configurator, which allows customers to experience a full 360-degree view plus other exciting features. The new online configurator allows you to build a new vehicle of your choosing, including options and packages, from the ground up. Users can simply choose the model and experiment with interior and exterior design, features, colors and technology. Admire your vehicle from all angles with 360 degree views. Revisit and change your choices as many times as you like. When you are ready, you can print out or share your configuration with your friend or with our sales team. engagement increases significantly, hence they own the plan and do whatever to succeed as it is theirs. Piece of advice; surround your self with colleagues from whom you also will learn, do not tolerate mediocracy. How do you deal with failure? My 40 years of experience has taught me that whenever something fails, you should still continue to think positively and see what can be learned from that experience. I would like to leave behind a book on the lessons I’ve learnt, documenting the transitions of the automotive industry, and how an apprentice technician became a part of that. With electrification and autonomous vehicles perhaps dubbed as two of the most seismic changes the industry has ever had to anticipate, how crucial is staying ahead of technological changes? Since inception, the automobile has been a flashpoint for technological, economic, and social innovation. The past year was a pivotal one, faced with many important achievements and challenges across the disruptive dimensions of mobility-autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification, and shared mobility (ACES). We see continued acceleration of investments in the relevant technologies, with e-hailing, semiconductors, and sensors for advanced driving-assistance systems and autonomous driving still being the front- runners. What digital solutions have been innovated as a direct result of COVID-19? As earlier stated, Al Masaood Automobiles started to implement its digital journey a few years back when it created its ‘Project Falcon’ vision. People are spending more time online and on their mobile phones than ever before. These days, buying is about convenience. People want a seamless and quick buying experience. Our M Auto mobile app, which we have recently launched, allows for service booking from home, tracking repairs and even pick up and drop off. As society is now urged to stay in their homes in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, we engaged and enhanced all of our digital Disruption in the industry is something you speak on a lot around the world – what are your personal views on Industry 4.0 and how it is going to reshape our world? Our mindset is to disrupt or be disrupted. Industry 4.0 is finally here and it’s accompanied by emerging technologies that have been designed and developed to further reshape the automotive industry in the long-term. Over the last few years, terms like emerging technology, digital disruption and digitalization have become buzzwords in the industry. The automotive sector has invested billions of dollars in enterprise systems, automation solutions, and advanced product technologies. During the last two years, I have spoken at a number of events to promote the advantages of digitizing businesses, despite the feeling of resistance from some organizations concerning this impending change. Remote working, omni-channels and creating evolved customer journeys that are integrated with brick and mortar showrooms were just some areas that businesses found to be challenging. However, the sudden emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted these companies to transform and revert to these processes, some almost overnight, with amazing results. A passion for cars is obviously a huge part of who you are – what was it that first sparked this lifelong interest? Are you fascinated by the history of cars more, or their future? I consider myself a true automotive afficionado, cars are my passion and addiction. This is also the same reason why I have managed to become successful in my career path as my success stems from my passion. After starting my career as an apprentice to become a car mechanic at the age of 15, and after over 40 years’ experience in the automotive industry, I can proudly say that I have become a family business and autonomous vehicle expert. With the history of the automobile world being so deep, cars will still continue to evolve and amaze us with newer technologies and innovations. We will see much more in terms of development and evolution. The future is very exciting - I am just as excited as everyone to usher in a new era in automobiles. 44 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 SETTING THESETTING THE RIGHTRIGHT EXAMPLEEXAMPLE LEADERSHIP | MANARA GLOBAL OVID-19 IS A CRISIS THAT WE’VE NEVER seen the like of before; this is not Deepwater Horizon nor even the 2008 financial crisis – it is far worse and the global impact of it is rippling throughout every part of the world. We are dealing with a moment in time that may forever change how we live, do business, travel, play and communicate with each other. On a human level this public health emergency is a tragedy of epic proportions as we are sadly seeing lives cut short and taken abruptly by this invisible virus, families left devastated, and lives changed with the passing of loved ones. No matter where you are in the world, there is widespread disruption to people’s everyday lives in how they work, live, and socialise. With the continuing “Great Lockdown” as the IMF’s chief economist, Gita Gopinath, coined it recently, we will also have to deal with the consequences from this virus which has caused a global economic emergency. The IMF describes this as the worst global crisis and recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s, and far worse than the global financial crisis of 2008. This means every government is having to not just fight one crisis, but multiple at the same time with the decisions taken now impacting lives, businesses, and their national economies in the short to long term. Quick to react Here in the UAE, the leadership was quick to react to the unfolding crisis and wisely implemented a range of measures such as being amongst the world leaders in testing for the virus that certainly have resulted in the saving of many lives. Business leaders are having to navigate through this unprecedented prolonged period of uncertainty that is requiring substantial change to how they operate. Some businesses will undoubtedly fold during this time, others will need to reformulate their strategies in order to emerge out of this moment successfully. Some may even need a complete pivot around who they are, what they do, and what they stand for. It’s at times like this, that purposeful leadership delivered consistently and authentically through strategic communications will help organisations to stand out from the crowd and win by being relevant and demonstrating empathy. ‘Doing the right thing’ Businesses have a responsibility to their employees, their customers, their stakeholders and the communities in which they operate within, by not just saying the right thing and selling their products and CM AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 45 BUSINESSES HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND MAKING A DEMONSTRABLE DIFFERENCE IN OUR NOW ‘NEW WORLD’, WRITES TERI O’DONNELL, FOUNDING PARTNER AND CHAIR OF MANARA GLOBAL services, but doing the right thing and making a demonstrable difference in our now ‘new world’. It’s now not just the time to follow the crisis manual and the crisis process and our ‘business as usual’ communications strategy; it’s time for businesses to be distinctive, show relevance to what is happening around them and to the lives of their consumers, take a leadership position and give all of those within their ecosystem something to be proud of and inspired by. I read an interesting quote in the Harvard Business review by Hubert Joly, the executive chairman and former CEO of Best Buy. Commenting on discussions with CEOs around Covid-19 he went on to say, “I have found the leaders that I have spoken with to be incredibly purpose-driven, with a clear human focus. They see that this crisis is a key leadership moment for them to help others. They are all spending time with their teams and working together to do the right thing. They understand, to put it in Churchillian terms, that this has the potential to be their ‘finest hour’, and they want to rise to the occasion. In all cases, I have been struck by their humanity”. I think this sentiment is spot on and it will be these businesses and business leaders that will help navigate what will be our ‘new normal’ and credibly acting with true empathy, and a heartening show of humanity when we need it most. Here in the UAE, we see some great examples of businesses acting with heart and being a part of this community. Like Dubai-based Cafu – the Middle East’s first on-demand fuel delivery provider – has announced it will deliver petrol to the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services’ (DCAS) fleet of vehicles, which operate in over 100 locations across the emirate. Cafu’s founder and CEO, Rashid Al Ghurair, described this completely right with empathy and demonstrating real leadership when he said: “It is important to come together as a community and support each other during this critical time.” I wholeheartedly agree and its commendable to see Cafu using its expertise and assets authentically in where they have the ‘right to play’ Much like Mubadala, who are showing purposeful leadership to drive impact, in their launch of #WeAreDedicated, a coordinated campaign to help combat Covid-19 by supporting communities in the UAE and across the globe. These are just two of the many businesses that are standing out from the crowd. ‘doing the right thing, not just saying the right thing’, demonstrating thoughtful and purposeful leadership. We are going into a new world. And Covid-19 has and will continue to take the lives of many loved ones which is dreadfully sad. But let’s use this crisis to emerge from it as better humans; have purpose and not just process and profit at our hearts; speak and act with empathy, and lead from the front as communications and business leaders. 46 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 202046 CEO MM IDDDDID LELE EA S T MAYMA20200 2020 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION BRINGS CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES, WHICH BRINGS WITH IT HUGE SECURITY IMPLICATIONS. COMPANIES NEED TO HAVE ROBUST CYBERSECURITY POLICIES IN PLACE IF THEY WANT TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES AFFORDED BY THIS FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, WRITES CHERIF SLEIMAN, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AT INFOBLOX LEADERSHIP | INFOBLOXM AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 47MAYAY 220 2 0 CEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO M IDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD LE LE LELE EEEELELELEEELEELELLLELELELLLELLELELLLLE L ELEEELELEELELLLL EE EA SEA SEA SEA SEA SASEA SASEA SASEA SEA SA SSASEA SSEA SEA SEA SAAAEA SEA SEA SEA SEAEAEAEAEA SEA SEAEA SEA SEA SEA SEEA SEAEE ASASSSAAAEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT 74747474747477774777474747444447774744447444444448 C EO M I D D L E E A S T M AY 2020 NE OF THE PRIVILEGES OF MY JOB IS the opportunity to talk to business leaders across Asia about where they see the opportunities and challenges in their fields. And in all these conversations, two issues keep coming up: the digital transformation and cybersecurity. Many of these leaders talk about these issues as though they are distinct, but I see them as essentially two sides of the same coin. Leaders really cannot consider digital transformation without considering the broader cybersecurity concerns that come with it. And indeed, companies need to have robust cybersecurity policies in place if they want to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by this Fourth Industrial Revolution. Companies seeking to undergo the digital transformation should focus on security first, and provide some advice for how they can integrate security-minded thinking into their digital transformation strategies. CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION The 2020s will be the decade of the digital transformation around the world. Organisations are building their networks in a different way – taking advantage of concepts like multi-cloud and SD-WAN technologies, and leveraging the power of IoT devices and the software- as-a-service revolution – to provide better customer service, empower their employees and respond more quickly to markets opportunities. As businesses invest in these new tools to digitise their operations and move to the cloud so they can better compete, the legacy world of data centre and interlocked branches policed centrally is fundamentally changing. The network perimeter that we have been used to is permanently dissolving. Indeed, as devices proliferate, remote access becomes the norm, and companies increasingly store data and run applications from the cloud, the threat matrix that companies face becomes varied and complex. Enterprises need to understand that the more they take advantage of the benefits of the digital transformation, the more of their critical applications and data will be stored, accessed and run in the public domain – outside of direct corporate control. And at the same time, the expansion of IoT devices, BYOD policies, and remote access is increasing the surface area through which malicious actors can gain access to the network. Security is no longer something that can be considered as an add-on to running an enterprise network, it needs to be integrated into how enterprises think about their entire digital transformation strategy. A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT Ask anyone what the key to digital transformation is and they’ll likely respond with one word: data. Data is what allows companies to allocate resources efficiently, identify new business opportunities and provide targeted services to customers. But data is also a resource in its own right, and one that is highly sought after by cyber-criminals. Criminals can steal data outright, as they did in the 2017 Equifax breach, or it can be locked down and held for ransom, like in the WannaCry ransomware virus that spread around the world and in Asia in 2017. So the opportunity for business is there, and so too is the risk. The digital transformation gives companies the chance to grow, and provide goods and services when and where they are needed, all while reducing operating costs and lowering friction between buyers and sellers. But as the value of personal data becomes more widely appreciated, the importance of securing that data becomes more important – both to a company’s reputation and to their bottom line. O LEADERSHIP | INFOBLOX Cherif Sleiman, Senior Vice President International Business at InfobloxM AY 2020 C EO M I D D L E E A S T 49 We used to look at the “social contract” between businesses and customers as a simple financial transaction: a customer provides money and the company provides goods or services in return. A company’s reputation depended primarily on its ability to deliver on its promise. Today – thanks in part to the digital transformation – that contract has changed. Reputations still depend on a company’s ability to provide goods and services, but a company’s ability to protect data plays a critical role as well. In cases like this, the social contract is murkier. Customers may be receiving a service – but they are paying with their data, not dollars, or rupees, or yen. Furthermore, unlike dollars which become the company’s once the transaction is finished, data is fundamentally still tied to the customer, and will remain so forever. Companies who collect and deal in valuable personal data – and that includes pretty much all organisations – thus have a much higher obligation to protect the data that they are gathering – not only to their customers, but to their owners and shareholders as well. Data breaches can have dramatic effects on a company’s market value. A 2019 analysis published by British consumer- advocate website Comparitech found that the share price of companies who suffered a data breach lost an average of 7.27 percent in the immediate aftermath. The real damage occurs over the long term. While stock prices largely recover within a year, breached companies still lag behind the broader market, by 6.5 percent after one year, and nearly 13 percent after two. THE COSTS OF CYBER THREATS The decline in corporate value after a cyberattack has many causes. Some of the costs are obvious: the value of the information stolen, the disruption to customers and corporate productivity and the cost of addressing the attack itself. There are longer-term costs as well. The company may incur fines or liabilities stemming from the attack, they may lose business or customers, or their share price may drop because of the hit to their reputation. In 2018, Microsoft commissioned a study which found that these long-term, indirect losses can really add up. Microsoft found that cyberattacks could cost large firms in Asia up to $30m, a majority of which came from the deeper impacts on the company’s business, ecosystem and economy. Cyberattacks can also do damage before they even occur. The Microsoft study found that nearly 60 percent of their respondents were putting off initiatives to take advantage of the digital transformation because of concerns over cybersecurity. This is the most tragic cost of cyber- security. Sixty percent of businesses aren’t taking advantage of opportunities afforded by the digital transformation, choking off growth before it even has a chance to begin. NEXT LEVEL NETWORKING: A NEW MODEL FOR NETWORK SECURITY As enterprises build networks for this new digital era, we are finding that they have very different architectures from the traditional hub-and-spoke, data-centre-centric model. As the pace of digital transformation accelerates, the way that businesses operate, procure, and consume technology is changing more quickly than ever before. Organisations need to embrace this change and understand that in this new era, the way that we build secure networks is changing as well. We call this new paradigm “next level networking.” Organisations need to think differently about network security in this new era of networking. Companies need to change their mindset: as the digital transformation seeps through industries in all sectors, the way organisations procure and consume technologies is changing as well. Organisations can’t afford to think of network and security as separate fields, with individual solutions siloed from one another. Concepts like SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) demand networking professionals to re- think their architecture from the ground up. Fundamental services like DNS can’t be an afterthought to security, but rather can be brought into the security picture and leveraged for a stronger defence. This paradigm shift will not be comfortable for many. It is never easy to fundamentally change two decades of expertise and learn something new. But if businesses are to succeed in this new era and take advantage of the benefits of digital transformation, they will need to embrace innovation quickly and rethink the role that cybersecurity plays across their network. Integrated, robust cybersecurity must be a fundamental consideration when considering business strategy, not only for today, but for the future. Next >