Summary

A well-seasoned Group Chief Information Technology & Digital Officer with over 30 years of global leadership, strategic and technical expertise. Strong leader with the ability to switch between a strategic and tactical mindset, within highly competitive international markets.

Plays an advisory focused role, in addition to partnering with the Board and C-suite executive management teams. Seasoned in setting out global multi-million dollar technology investment strategies.

Is a trusted and the go-to-expert, with a clear focus on ROI for ‘first to market’ technology programmes. Focuses on driving innovation, business value and technology revolutions.

A ‘visionary’ and ‘change catalyst’ by nature, who challenges the status quo and scouts for continuous improvement opportunities.

A ‘people leader’, who effectively communicates, manages and leads by example. Has extensive experience in restructuring and transforming under performing teams; sets up and manages complex reporting matrices. Creates working environments that champion creativity, best practice and business excellence.

Experience

Chief Digital Officer & Managing Partner

2017 - 2021
AppsIntegra LLC, Dubai – UAE.
  • Responsible for the set up and development of a market leading digital solution delivery agency, that focused on the development and execution of country-level digital transformation projects.
  • Clearly defined the business vision, operating frameworks, set key performance objectives and drove aggressive growth plans. Full company P&L responsibility and managed a team of 70+ engineers.
  • Created ‘first to market’ innovative products across all digital platforms and in accordance with agile methodologies and DevSecOps best practice.
  • Business partnered with clients, analysed their requirements, and provided senior level counsel that translated concepts into impactful products.
  • Led complex projects that focused on disrupting customer behaviour, traditional markets and optimised the user experience.
  • Spearheaded research and data-driven insight programmes that developed real-time market data and insight, which drove the evolution of global market changing products.
  • Entwined the latest digital technologies and industry trends across all commercial remits.
About:
AppsIntegra is a Dubai based digital studio driven by the creation of unique, distinctive and memorable solutions and experiences. A team of talented and passionate designers, developers & engineers provide clients with the most innovative and unique design and development approaches using the latest modern technologies.
Projects:
TAMM eGovernment Mental Health well-being Platform NRTC Fresh Building Management System Dashboard API strategy Arabee Learning National Scholarship Platform Orphan Charity LiDAR based Geo Security Smart City Project FlyDubai AWS Migration NESSA social ecommerce platform Medication delivery IoT Orchestration
Technologies:
Web Components LitElement TypeScript Flutter BPMN Kubernetes Docker/Containerisation Camunda Hasura IOS, Android & PWA apps AWS Google Firebase PostgreSQL React Alibaba Cloud Azue Cloud SonarQube DevSecOps Moodle LMS Serverless Keycloak ID and Access Management Woo Commerce LiDAR Phaser Game Engine GraphQL A-Frame 3D/AR/VR IoT Sigfox 0G network Unity Game Engine Shopify (headless)

Global Chief Information Officer

2013 - 2017
Louis Berger International
  • Key member of the Executive Management team. Set out the global information technology and digital investment strategies. Ensured all programmes were ‘fit for purpose’ and exceeded ROI benchmarks.
  • Responsible for the development and execution of the Information technology and digitalisation programmes that focused on the optimisation of stability, security, scalability, and speed.
  • Translated business–wide requirements into innovative change management and business process re-engineering programmes. Built and managed a local and remote team of 150 engineers and developers.
  • Spearheaded global change management initiatives and synchronized major transformational & technology modernisation programmes, across the UK, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.
  • Ensured commercial alignment and harmonisation across a wide range of optimisation projects; such as the development of dashboards, robotic process automations, PMIS & collaboration platforms and ERP enhancements.

Regional Chief Information Officer

2005 - 2013
WS Atkins Plc, Dubai – UAE.
  • Integral member of the Senior Executive team. Focused on the delivery of the corporate vision through the use of appropriate technologies, effective agile processes and the development of highly effective teams.
  • Responsible for the overall definition, direction, and vision of IT & digitalisation hubs, at both global and local levels.
  • Audited and analysed the full IT and technology internal ecosystem. Designed applications that focused on the improvement of system performance, security and automation that supported commercial efficiencies.
  • Responsible for the full programme delivery lifecycle. Developed governance frameworks and mitigated risks that ensured all projects were delivered on time and within budget.
  • Established the IS architecture, principles, standards and roadmap. Drove the consolidation of international networks, domains and systems that delivered a consistent user experience with enterprise-wide applications and tools.
  • Launched Middle East technology projects that were adopted globally; which included BIM, enterprise storage cloud, 3D desktop virtualisation, bidding stage-gate review system, project information management tools, and VoIP.

Digital Transformation Director

1999 - 2005
Emirates Group, Dubai – UAE.
  • Responsible for the establishment and implementation of the eVentures Group setting technology strategy that introduced and drove new disruptive business models and digital channels across the Emirates Group (Emirates Airline, Cargo, Holidays and Dnata).
  • Drove a partnership with Microsoft that provided the online travel portal for MSN Arabia.
  • Patented an innovative B2B web-service for the booking of hotel rooms, provided real-time availability via interfaces to the hotel’s property management system (Oracle/Micros Fidelio), and automated the booking process.
  • Leveraged off international and local commercial insight, which was utilised to formulate innovative products and impactful customer experiences.