MAY 2023 # 192 CEO MIDDLE EAST MAY 2023 ISSUE #192 UAEAED 20 KSASAR 20 BAHRAINBHD 2 KUWAITKWD 2 OMANOMR 2 REACHING NEW HEIGHTS Sunil Kaushal, CEO, Africa and Middle East Region at Standard Chartered, reveals his strategy for staying aheadDubai, UAE Leadership Summit 2023 For commercial and event enquiries SARASWATI AGARWAL Group Commercial Director Tel: +971 4 444 3352 GSM: +971 52 895 2214 E-mail: saraswati.agarwal@itp.com DANIEL FEWTRELL Director Of Awards & Marketing Tel: 971 4 444 3684 E-mail: daniel.fewtrell@itp.com DAVID CAMERON Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2010 – 2016) JERRY INZERILLO Group CEO, Diriyah Gate Development Authority AMIR KHAN Former Professional Boxer JAMES HOGAN Chairman, Knighthood Global BACARY SAGNA Former Professional Footballer BOOK YOUR EARLY BIRD DELEGATE PASSES HERE Wednesday, 21 st June 2023CONTENTS MAY 2023 CEO MIDDLE EAST 3 MAY 2023 # 192 06 EDITOR’S LETTER 08 COMMENT Experience is the best teacher, especially when success is the result, says author and speaker Jeff Haden 1O DIVERSITY Entrepreneurial activity by gender is reasonably balanced, but the reality is somewhat different, says Professor Heather J. McGregor, Provost and Vice Principal of Heriot-Watt University Dubai 12 LEADERSHIP Leadership responsibilities extend beyond the confines of an organisation and the interests of its internal stakeholders, says François Ortalo- Magné, Dean of London Business School 14 LEADERSHIP The transition from being responsible for a job to being responsible for people is not always easy, says PR manager Aaron Illathu 16 ENTERTAINMENT It’s exciting to imagine where the UAE and the Gulf will be in terms of film production over the coming years, says Karl Hougaard, founder of Trade License Zone 10 0812 164 CEO MIDDLE EAST MAY 2023 CONTENTS 26 STARTUP Having a mentor can be the difference between success and failure for many entrepreneurs, says Elliott Denham, Senior Associate Manager - Startup programmes, Dtec Ventures 30 REAL ESTATE Beachfront properties in well-established areas rank high on the scale of profitable investments, believes Ali Sajwani, Managing Director of Operations and Technology, DAMAC Properties 38 TECHNOLOGY Solutions like ChatGPT are no silver bullet that can solve every customer service woe, believes Tvrtko Stosic, Consultant at Avaya International 48 TIMEPIECES 20 26 48 38 Sunil Kaushal, CEO, Africa and Middle East Region at Standard Chartered, opens up the bank’s transformative plans COVER STORY 30MAY 2023CEO MIDDLE EAST 5 To receive your copy delivered directly to your door, subscribe online at www.itp.com/subscriptions The most important business people and CEOs talk to the most important magazine BUILDING TOMORROW Abbas Sajwani, founder of AHS Properties, reveals the mindset behind Dubai’s latest real estate success story APRIL 2023 #191 UAE AED 20 KSA SAR 20 BAHRAIN BHD 2 KUWAIT KWD 2 OMAN OMR 2 The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. 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MEDIAEDITOR’S LETTER 6 CEO MIDDLE EAST MAY 2023 performance, enabling them to make better decisions and take more informed actions. This level of transparency and visibility allows leaders to identify areas for improvement and take corrective action before problems escalate. With the advent of new technologies, leaders are no longer bound by traditional methods of communication and collaboration. They can now harness the power of data analytics, virtual collaboration tools, and automation to streamline processes and make more informed decisions. These tools not only enhance the efficiency of operations, but also foster a more dynamic and inclusive work environment. One of the most significant benefits of technology is its ability to connect teams across geographies and time zones. Virtual collaboration tools like video conferencing and project management software enable leaders to maintain real-time communication with their teams, no matter where they are in the world. This level of accessibility and flexibility helps to break down barriers and bring teams closer together, resulting in greater engagement and a sense of shared purpose. Moreover, technology empowers leaders to leverage data analytics to gain valuable insights into team performance and identify areas for improvement. These insights enable leaders to make more informed decisions and pivot quickly as business needs evolve. With this information at their fingertips, leaders can provide targeted feedback and coaching, leading to greater employee satisfaction and improved outcomes. On the horizon, the power of artificial intelligence (AI) is also rising. With its ability to learn, reason, and adapt, AI is transforming the way leaders make decisions and manage their teams. AI-powered tools can analyse vast amounts of data to provide valuable insights and predictions, allowing leaders to make more informed decisions. Moreover, AI can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time for leaders to focus on strategic planning and innovation. As AI continues to evolve, it is sure to play an increasingly important role in the future of leadership, enabling leaders to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness in their roles. Until next time. Share your views on thought leadership and innovation by getting in touch: matthew.amlot@itp.com QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? MATTHEW AMLÔT Managing Editor @MatthewAmlot LEADERSHIP 2.0 Technology is empowering leaders to make decisions, collaborate more effectively, and empower their teams to achieve their full potential H ello and welcome to the May issue of CEO Middle East. Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, and it has transformed the way we work, communicate, and access information. In the world of business, technology has opened up new possibilities and opportunities for leaders to improve their skills and achieve their goals. One of the ways technology is improving leadership is through the use of data and analytics. Leaders can now access real-time information and insights about their team’s THURSDAY 5 TH OCTOBER 2023 GROSVENOR HOUSE, DUBAI, UAE Introducing the Education Excellence Awards - honouring the teachers, leadership teams and support staff, providing world class education in Dubai. The awards are now open to nominate for all schools providing Foundation to Year 12 education in all curriculums in Dubai. Scan to visit website For more information, visit EdExcellenceAwards.com or email edexcellenceawards@itp.com8 CEO MIDDLE EAST MAY 2023 asked a wildly successful entrepreneur to describe the most important thing he had learned about starting and building businesses. He didn’t mention the usual suspects. Great partners. Great teams. Great ideas. Access to capital. Work ethic, determination, and grit. Nope. Here’s what he feels is the most important lesson he has learned: “That starting a successful business – much less running a successful busi- ness – is something you can ‘figure out.’ That all you need to do to succeed is find the right model, or framework, or system. That you can predict the future: How technology will change, how tastes will change, and how you will change. Shoot, that you can somehow pre- dict the future, even though that’s what all of us try to do. The most important thing I’ve learned is to always keep one thing in mind: “That I will never truly know.” Admittedly, that approach sounds falsely humble; after all, experience is the best teacher, especially when suc- cess is the result. Yet experience – and educa- tion, both formal and informal – can sometimes make you “too smart” to question your decisions. A 2018 study showed that people with high college entrance exam scores tend to be much less likely to analyse and learn from their mistakes. The same can be true for physicians. A 2005 Journal of Internal Medi- cine study showed that doctors who were given challenging clinical sce- narios were only able to come up with a correct diagnosis two-thirds of the time. But when the same physicians were asked to analyse their initial diagnosis and consider alternative possibilities – in short, to imagine that they didn’t truly know – their diagnos- tic accuracy improved by as much as 40 percent. Or take Jeff Bezos. As Bezos says, a key indicator of high intelligence is a willingness to change your mind – Leaders need to remember that they are always learning WHEN YOUR BIGGEST WEAKNESS IS YOUR GREATEST STRENGTH Motivator. Haden says experience is the best teacher, especially when success is the result COMMENT BY JEFF HADEN, KEYNOTE SPEAKER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, LINKEDIN INFLUENCER, AND AUTHOR OF THE MOTIVATION MYTH IMAY 2023 CEO MIDDLE EAST 9 COMMENT Billionaire. The smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, according to Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos which, by extension, shows a willing- ness to admit you didn’t “know” what you thought you knew. “The smartest people are constant- ly revising their understanding,” Bezos says, “reconsidering a problem they thought they’d already solved. They’re open to new points of view, new infor- mation, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking.” In short, they wake up every morn- ing thinking, “I don’t know,” set out to figure out what they don’t know... and then do it all again tomorrow: allowing new data, new results, new trends, new anything revise and reshape the way they think. While starting each day thinking, “I don’t know,” could sound paralys- ing, it’s not. In fact, it can be empow- ering. That’s at least partly why Bezos doesn’t spend a lot of time weighing the pros and cons of easily reversible decisions; since he can’t truly know, he focuses on making the best decision he can with the information currently available and leaves himself open to re-assessing, re-evaluating, and even reversing that decision. That’s at least partly why Steve Jobs said knowing when to trust your- self can make a tremendous difference in your life; while you may not be able to predict whether a decision, strategy, or approach will work, you can know that you will work hard to overcome the inevitable obstacles and challenges inherent in any worthwhile pursuit. That’s at least partly why Nobel Prize- plied the model you decided you should apply, predicted what you felt confident you could predict, and felt you “knew” what you could know. In those moments you did your best, which is all you can ever do. The key is to wake up the next day and remind yourself that, no matter how confident or certain you felt, you still don’t truly know. That way you’ll stay open to new data, new advice, new models, new predictions, and new knowledge. Getting it wrong? Unfortunately, that’s part of the process. But staying wrong doesn’t have to be. “NO MATTER HOW CONFIDENT OR CERTAIN YOU FELT, YOU STILL DON’T TRULY KNOW” winning economist and psychologist Daniel Kahneman says, “I’m willing to change my mind every five minutes when I find that there’s information that I didn’t have, no matter how strong the stand I took was, or how ag- gressive or even rude I was about that point. If I find that I was wrong, I’ll change my mind immediately.” Not knowing doesn’t mean not making decisions, though. One of the most important things any leader or entrepreneur does is make decisions – lots of them. The key is to remember that every decision simply marks a mo- ment in time: a moment when you ap-Next >