Meet the Judges

Anas Almarie is the Director of Social Media Solutions & Training specialising in government and corporates at UAE-based Social Station - an official LinkedIn partner. As an executive and founding member of the Arab Social & Digital Media Council since 2016, he also Co-hosts the weekly live show #HRMEChat in affiliation with SHRM - MEA.

Additionlly Almarie was awarded by Dubai Internet City in 2015 for the best app award in the smart city app hackathon. He is also the founder of MENA Social Media Awards, Almarie currently judge’s and acts as chair across 6 regional & international awards: International Business Excellence Awards, Gulf Customer Experience Awards, Gulf Real Estate Awards, Gulf Digital Expereince Awards, Gulf Employee Experience Awards, and Gulf Sustainability & CSR Awards.

Currently Almarie is a TV guest, author and keynote speaker across Asia, Middle East and Africa, and an adjunt faculty at SP Jain Global Managment School and a former lecturer at the University of Sharjah – Engineering School. He is also an active member at Social Media Club and Toastmasters International.

More info: www.AnasAlmarie.com, Portfolio: https://goo.gl/T2Tzhy

Kashif is a dynamic, results-driven leader with years of progressive experience leveraging management consulting skills with legal acumen to drive business growth, protect assets and, assure legal compliance. He is currently working as Director Corporate Services with Biznet Consulting advising Entrepreneurs, Corporates and Business Owners on Company Formation and Business Setups in UAE.

His is also an active Council Member of GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group) and successfully incorporated many local and MNC’s in UAE. His expertise and knowledge includes; structuring of legal entities and help foreign companies to setup branches and investment companies in UAE.

Ayman is the Co-Founder and Group Managing Director of The Corporate Group. He is in charge of subsidiaries responsible for delivering one-stop-shop of professional services related to business setup solutions and enabling both FDIs and foreign companies to do business in UAE and the region.

He has attracted businesses across all sizes and industries such as but not limited to education, healthcare, technology, energy, professional services. Some of these businesses are listed in global stock market while others are start-ups offering disruptive technologies/ideas.

Furthermore, his experience includes advising companies for corporate structuring and merge & acquisition transactions along, developing operational framework that delivers unique customer engagement with clients and stakeholders along with association with both private and government sectors.

Past work experience:

• Worked in Government Resource Planning project (currently known as Dubai Smart Government) for Oracle implementation across local government departments of Dubai Government (2002-2006)
• Co-Founder and COO of Zeroday IT Solution L.L.C., an information and cyber security consulting company based in Dubai (since 2007)
• Corporate Business Services L.L.C., a professional services company specialized in company formation solutions and business consultancy based in Dubai (since 2007)

Personal achievements:

• Awarded for outstanding performance and achievements made in GRP project (currently known as Dubai Smart Government)
• Working closely with Injaz UAE as judge/mentor for entrepreneurship programs. Injaz UAE is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JAW), one of the world's largest non-profit business education organizations
• Participating as judge for various award programs of International Awards UAE
• Active speaker in number of local and global seminars and conferences sharing knowledge and experience around entrepreneurship and legal/operational framework of doing business in UAE
• Active member of Institute of Directors, Hawkama at DIFC

Ayman is fluent in English and Arabic. He earned his BA in Business Administration and Information Systems at University of Colorado (USA) and pursing for his Master of Project Management in British University in Dubai.

Faran Niaz is Senior Vice President, Global Head of Customer Experience at ADIB. A change Management Expert & highly experienced Customer Service expert with over 25 years of Global experience in Banking/Financial Services including successful establishment and running of Alternate Channels, Call Centers, Customer Service units and Quality setups for Citibank, Mashreqbank and ADIB.

Faran has led ADIB in winning ‘Best Bank in Customer Experience in UAE’ for an unprecedented seven consecutive years. An unparalleled achievement in Banking Industry. Faran is also a talented Award winning Photographer with his work exhibited in Italy, Thailand & UAE.

Indu Singhal is an Engineer & a Business Management Post Graduate, and is also a certified 6 Sigma Black Belt. She has been heading Visual Ace Business Solutions & EBM since their inception, for over 20 years. She has over 25 years of experience in various areas of business including Leadership, Human Capital, Business Strategy Formation, Process Re-engineering, Knowledge Management, and Value Chain Enhancement.

She is a self-employed Business Excellence Consultant and has worked closely with the Business Excellence Department under the Department of Economic Develop, Government of Dubai for well over a decade. She has guided various organisations, of all sizes, from several industries, in their process of Continuous Improvement. Indu has facilitated Balanced Scorecard Development & Implementation, Performance Management Systems Setup, PESTLE Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Ishikawa Diagram Studies, Cost-Benefit Analysis, development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), etc. for many organizations in the UAE.

As an Innovator, she has conceptualized and designed, and is managing the EBM Benchmarking Program that facilitates transparent sharing of Business KPIs of various businesses from a cross section of industries across the UAE, exchange of business best practices through facilitation of B2B Benchmarking Visits and Club Sessions.

She has also conceptualized and designed, and is managing the first ever Health Awards across the UAE (2016) - a program that facilitates the recognition of the contribution of Organizations and Individuals in the Healthcare Industry across the UAE. This has also been endorsed by the Government of Dubai, UAE.

Naila Al Moosawi represents the new breed of female Emirati Board-ready women.A credible Exco member and commercially focused decision maker championing differentiation through commercial transformation.

She naturally drives performance to transform organizations and develop strong high-potential teams across the region.Recognized speaker and panel judge member across MEA.As the Director of Human Resources - GCC she is responsible for organization and human capital development, offering over 15 years of progressive experience.

Naila is the Diversity and Inclusion Champion leading D & I ambitious plans in GCC. She holds MSc in Psychology from Middle Sex University UK and CIPD Associate; and a Directorship Program Graduate from Hawkamah- Institute of Directors

Thom is an experienced International Business Development Director. Thom heads the Middle Eastern operation for Synapse Medical Services with focus on new routes to market for the disruptive & innovative healthcare solutions that the company offer. He leads the Business Development team in Sydney, Dubai and Chennai.

Thom has a wealth of knowledge within Business Development, having built a corporate proposition in the UK from scratch for a leading healthcare agency. Thom brings with him a variety of experience from both a sales and operational standpoint, in the legal and healthcare sectors.

Mohammed Husary is a results-driven leader, entrepreneur, and corporate strategist with over 20 years’ experience in aviation. He is Co-Owner/Founder and Executive President of UAS International Trip Support, a leading global trip support solutions provider. His dynamic leadership has helped the organization create innovative new products and services and has been a pivotal factor in its strong global expansion.

Mr. Husary sponsors a wide range of philanthropic social initiatives. He’s also a member of several official international associations and organizations. In 2018, he was selected as a member and lecturer in the Arab Professionals Forum of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation and won the Sapphire Pegasus award for lifetime achievement.

Francisco is co-founding partner of Innoway. Before that he spent more than six years in a strategy consulting firm, specialized in Strategy Execution.

Francisco has wide experience as a strategy & innovation consultant, helping organizations define their strategies, innovate and also help startups validate their ideas and grow their business.

An internal audit employee at (GDRFA) Head of QA section (president)
A Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
A Certified ICA in Compliance
A student at MBRSG studying MPA
Graduated from Zayed University, Major: Education. "Early childhood and primary English Studies"
Worked at Dubai Municipality as an Educational Programs Officer for 6 years.
Attending and participating in more than 100 of (conferences, events, trainings, forums)
Ongoing monitoring of the performance of the internal audit activity.
Designing and preparing initiatives programs for internal audit department.
Planning programs and participating in different committees. Dealing with administration requirements and requests of advances and purchasing processes and payment orders. Preparing researches and studies. Comparing and following the Best practices in internal audit Communication and relationship with governments and private agencies.

Dr Hanan Abdalla Hassan Almarzooqi a qualified HR professional with eleven years of practical experience with particular emphasis on strategy, corporate performance management and internal audit. I have a Phd in in Business Administration Management (Talent Acquisition) graduate with Cam Laude . I am acting as a Head of Internal Audit Department and I am a Head of HR Audit Section

I attended many conferences as a Speaker: the Global Conference on Leadership and Business Management Singapore and the 11th Asia Pacific Business Research Conference in 2017 and in the International management conference in Abu Dhabi in 2016.

I have four awards from Chartered institute of internal Auditors from UK. IIA Award in the Internal Audit Planning and Assurance. IIA Award in Interpersonal Skills for Audit and Assurance. IIA Award in Corporate Governance and Risk Management. IIA Award in Compliance Audit and Assurance. I am a Certified Human Resource Manager.

Starting a career as an Internal Auditor holding a MSc Accounting & Finance gave me the opportunity to explore various fields of audit and evaluation of corporate performance especially when awarded Certified Internal Examiner EFQM - by Dubai Government.

Major\ Dr. Sara Al Mutawa, PhD in eservices, Project Manager accredited by the PMI and endorsed by the Australian institute of Project Management (AIPM), Consultant- Emirates Centre for Government Knowledge Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government and Head of IT Audit in the General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs. My objective is to consolidate the skills and knowledge acquired from my academic qualification, research and experience, throughout a career in eServices Management, project Governance, business analysis, Researches and studies. I envisage this will be in a role where my skills are fully utilized whilst my interest in keeping up-to-date with technology will be satisfied. I am passionate about what I have achieved in context to my academic qualifications & experience and would like to further built my career path by in-depth research on eServices/ eGovernment transformation domain and utilize my skills practically, towards eTransformation journey of my country.

Mr. Ayman, Institutional Excellence Expert at General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs - Dubai. He has more than 22 years of practical experience and researching administration studies helped to combine his academic background with professional experience to come up with innovative ideas which he can use in his professional life.

A holder of a Master’s degree in Management Information Systems (MIS), a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, a diploma in programing and system analysis, as well as professional certificates such as Project Management Professional (PMP) from Project Management Institute (PMI). Expert and Professional Trainer in Management Approved by American Institute of Professional Studies, Approved Assessor and Mentor for King Abdullah II A Ward for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency.

With over eighteen years of professional experience across a wide swath of industries, Hanane Benkhallouk is well-equipped for her current role as a multi-industry business consultant. In the course of her career, Hanane has held senior managerial roles with Fortune 500 companies, governments, and non-profit organizations alike, and further thrived in a multitude of fields including but not limited to: retail and franchise development, financial services, and real estate. Hanane’s work has taken her from Europe, the U.S., and the MENA region. Currently, Hanane works as the executive director of Sustain Leadership, a boutique management consultancy firm based in Dubai with footprint in Africa, Europe and Asia.

Hanane Benkhallouk’s passion for business stretches back to her earliest college years. As an undergraduate, Hanane attended the Institut Supérieur de Commerce et d’Administration des Entreprises (ISCAE), the top-ranked business school in her home of Morocco. Upon her graduation in 1997, Benkhallouk moved on to study marketing and finance at the New York Institute of Technology at Old Westbury and began Concept 2 Completion, her first business consulting firm. She graduated from her MBA program with distinction in 1999.Hanane received multiple awards of excellence from Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman government authorities as well as her native Moroccan government.

With his diversified experience in managing multiple businesses and having expertise in Strategic Management and Business Excellence; Mohamed Ali A. Maricar, heads the operations in BBMC group, a building materials company.

Mohamed, a believer in continuous learning and improvement, is a PhD candidate with Heriot-Watt University, UK. He is a Certified Business Researcher (PgCert-BR) and a Certified EFQM Excellence Assessor. He actively participates in assessing companies and organizations for the regional Excellence Awards like SKEA and DQA.

Mohamed is passionate about mentoring SMEs and Family Businesses through use of his expertise and research-based approaches in facilitating sustainable growth. In addition, he teaches part-time at universities and can speak over 5 different languages.

Accomplished leader with more than (20) years of diversified experience and a strong record of achievement in government excellence models. He is certified Quality expert and Excellence Assessor. In addition, He conducted more than (40) assessment processes for government sector. furthermore he audits business procedures according to the Quality Management system (2008-ISO 900), carries out the improvement projects under the Six Sigma Mechanism where he has the black belt, where (6) successful projects have been completed.

He holds a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration, Diploma in the development of methods from the United Nations, Professional Diploma in Quality Management and Organizational Excellence and Diploma in the future Foresight. He is Quality expert in the field of institutional excellence, certified assessor from Dubai Executive Council and Certified assessor in the Ministry of Interior. Furthermore, He is certified assessor and trainer.

Jamal is the Director of Digital Innovation in Four Kings (4K) Enterprise LLC, a growing digital-tech company. 4K provides Digital solutions by leveraging Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), primarily in Digital Media and Education sectors.

Jamal holds a Master’s degree from Germany in 'Communication and Media Engineering'. He has 18 years of multi-fold experience gained from working in Germany, UK, UAE and India. HP, Siemens, Emirates SkyCargo are some of the companies in which Jamal's expertise was utilized.

Jamal positions himself as a Business Architect who provides his expertise to various organizations in the line of Innovative Solutions, Business Excellence and Air Cargo Automation Consultant. As part of social responsibility, Jamal works with the UAE government assessing Awards like Dubai Quality Award (DQA), Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award (SKEA), Taqdeer Award, UAE Innovation Award etc.,

As a passionate knowledge hunter and a Toastmaster who enjoys public speaking, Jamal coach’s companies of any size by providing structured plan towards sustainable business based on excellence framework.

'In today's business world, “'Change' is the only constant”.

I’m an experienced International Business Development Director in Energy sector, focusing on Oil & Gas and Geothermal markets.

I’m currently heading business development of the Reservoir Group in Middle East and Africa, focusing on expanding into the new markets with innovative technologies and solutions for the entire oil and gas life cycle through exploration, development to production.

Holding Master Degree in Petroleum Engineering, I have extensive 20+ years global knowledge within Leadership, Operations, Business Development and Sales, having worked on three continents, businesses in over 50 countries for a major corporate company to mid-size private companies, successfully building business from scratch.

Suryanarayan owns the global P&L of 3i Infotech’s ERP product business. He is responsible for defining the business & ORION product strategy and its execution covering cross-functional areas to grow global revenues and margins. Previously, he was Vice President, Sales at Oracle Financial Services for more than a decade. Widely travelled, he has an envious record of growing revenues from zero/low base profitably in multiple geographies, under challenging conditions. He volunteers for causes related to education, software products, and start-ups.

Shruthi Boosey Arora represents the new Entrepreneurial woman with an Msc.Major in HRM. A result oriented leader and decision maker who is performance driven and self motivated. She comes with a 2.5 decade strong Airline GSA experience and held office of CEO. She’s the founder of the Jana Group based in U.A.E – which comprises of Jana Consultants a B2B Consulting Company that has forayed into Renewable Energy, Photovoltaic Panels, EPC and Ultrasonics, JUS General Trading LLC works with another aspect of sustainability and recycling. Passionate about making a difference, she is on board of WalkAhead Sports Services, spearheading the Company to the visionary discipline of growth and success staying fit with Badminton and Cricket.

Shruthi is the Chairperson of the Parent Council at Al Diyafah High School, Dubai and has volunteered to do Interviews at the EXPO2020. Giving back to society and making tiny inroads to helping People at large gives her immense happiness. A Mom with a 10 year old beautiful daughter, she’s learned to balance life and lives it to the fullest with the support of her loving family.

With over fifteen years of experience in the hospitality field, Lea El Amm is passionate in her field and dedicated to the business. Starting from operations then HR and moving later on to Supply Chain, handling international brands regionally from sourcing to new product development, recipes, inventory, new market entries, quality assurance and cost control; Lea has been recently given the opportunity to handle the entire supply chain of the central production facility delivering to more than 400 outlets.

Berc is a management consulting manager with twelve (12) years of professional experience in ICT, finance and management consultancy companies through the Middle East and Mediterranean Africa countries with strong academic background. Berc has actively worked on different projects in global ICT, banking and governmental entity companies in the area of Change Management, Strategy and Transformation, Corporate Performance Management, Business & Service Development and Modelling, Process Development and Optimization, Data Management and Governance.

Berc received a MSc. Degree from Rochester Institute of Technology (USA) and a BSc. in Industrial Engineering from Yildiz Technical University (Turkey). Berc is expecting to receive his PhD. in Business Administration in 2020 from Yeditepe University (Turkey). He has participated global executive programs in Harvard University (Harvard Kennedy School) and University of Connecticut. Berc has also granted the globally recognized certification in corporate performance management which is Balanced Scorecard Professional

Top-performing business development manager credited with business expertise, like sales, marketing, and management to manage the business needs of our clients and deliver substantial revenue growth in highly competitive business markets. Analytical, professional, skilled in providing aggressive client prospecting, project tracking, and lead generation proficiency. Identifying and resolving problems, turning ideas into logical strategies, and implementing systems to optimise team productivity. A proven aptitude to communicate and resolve conflicts with team spirit; diligence in doing tasks assigned for business success.

A successful Senior Management-level professional operating in the retail sector, Poonam is an entrepreneur, a mother and a certified yoga instructor. With specialist skills in Business Excellence, Process Development, Compliance and Project Management; her professional experience includes roles in retail and the aviation sector.

Poonam has a robust portfolio of professional development, including Leadership and Six Sigma Green Belt certifications.

Poonam is genuinely passionate about retailing and yoga, with early career experience of starting-up a successful retail business. Poonam has worked for Splash, a Dubai based fast fashion retailer where she has enjoyed regular recognition for the contribution she has made to the business. In her current role as Head of Business Excellence, she has supported commercial profitability by leading key projects for the business, operational standards and retail efficiency of the entire estate of retail outlets, through delivery of automation and productivity initiatives.

Poonam's entrepreneurial skills have been key to her success, and she excels at identifying and maximizing opportunities.

Delivering significant , measurable improvements that enhance customer experience is matter of personal pride to Poonam.

Neil Alexander (aka Alex) has broad experience in strategy, change & transformation across the banking, financial services, manufacturing, fine chemicals, foods and social enterprise sectors.

Originally an engineer managing large CapEx programs, Alex completed an executive MBA and a fellowship in manufacturing management, before spending 12+ years working in banking & financial services. During which he gained experience in change management, strategy execution, mergers & acquisitions, new business launch, business turnaround, troubleshooting & problem fixing.

Alex is also an accredited ‘enterprise mentor’, and has mentored in media, retail & hospitality sectors, in the UAE. He also has a deep interest in both ancient & modern sustainable building technologies.