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acquisitions so it’s about
bringing these, these big
established brands into
the company. And then
it’s about how you blend
technology, how you blend
culture, how you align a set
of development priorities,
and then actually drive that
through to customer value.
which is super interesting because 10 years
ago we didn’t call it Data Science and
Artificial Intelligence, but I was deploying
predictive models in the consumer world at
Internet scale running in production millions
of times a day doing real-time optimisation
based on predictions.
And it seems like that’s been very slow
to materially make its way from a set of
technical capabilities to something that
actually drives business results. I think we’re
ready for the promise to be fulfilled.
How do you deal with stress in and
outside the office?
On one hand, I have two small kids, which
both creates and alleviates stress. On the
other hand, I’m an avid yoga practitioner, so
I think that definitely helps to keep physically
fit and on the mental side of things.
If you could go back and change
your career decision, what would
it be?
I would probably amp up my understanding
of network a bit more. I think I was fortunate
to work with a group of amazing people.
Amazing start-up founders, amazing
entrepreneurs, amazing colleagues and
leaders, and made an impression by doing
good work. But wasn’t really aware of the
value of that until later.
What are the region-
specific challenges
when implementing new
technologies in the Middle East?
The emerging legislation around data centre
locations and housing are a pretty significant
challenge so the UAE recently passed laws
that are similar to China and others where
data residency is important. Getting that
legal requirement pulled through is one of
the challenges.
The second is the Arabic language. There
aren’t a whole lot of Arabic speakers in the
technology world so getting true empathy
for the culture and the end-user experience
in those things that the rest of the world
takes as a given is a challenge.
What changes have you seen to your
job in the last 12 months?
I took over this role about 12 months ago.
We’ve seen success from some of the seeds
and investments that we planted a year ago.
All of these things are kind of hitting the
point where they’ve been real long enough
that we’re starting to see tangible results
come to mind.
“
AS THE GREAT
EXECUTIVE
COACH MARSHALL
GOLDSMITH SAYS:
“RECOGNISING
WHAT GOT YOU
HERE WON’T GET
YOU THERE”.
What advice would you offer to
somebody aspiring to obtain a
C-level position?
“Keep the main thing the main thing” is
what we say a lot and it starts by putting
substance over style.
You should look at how you bring value to
the organisation. What skills bring that value
and, as the great executive coach Marshall
Goldsmith says: “Recognising what got
you here won’t get you there”. So there’s a
case for constant self-evaluation and self-
improvement on one hand and on the other
hand figuring out how your role provides
business value.
As long as you keep providing more and
more business value and taking advantage
of the opportunities that inevitably present
themselves in this line of work, you have a
good shot at doing great things. n
What do you currently identify as
the major areas of investment in
your industry?
Working for SAP Ariba the huge investment
area is: How do we bring these mega brands
together? We’ve had some pretty big
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