Work at a Startup

"Born and raised in Ukraine, Tania embarked on her professional journey with the world’s largest youth-run organization AIESEC. She worked alongside hundreds of thousands of millennials to make the world a better place. After 7 years of successful projects and various roles across the globe, Tania was elected as the Global President of AIESEC International. This journey brought her to over 50 countries empowering young leaders to become change agents in their society. After AIESEC, Tania wanted to embed herself in the business side of corporations. She took on various roles in sales, operations & business transformation. These experiences gave her great exposure and understanding of how companies are run. In her previous role as a transformation manager, her biggest project was to facilitate the merger between two drastically different companies. Tania was challenged with the task of connecting two companies from different industries, cultures & processes into one company. She greatly enjoyed the challenge and after completion, she took on the role as SVP of Organizational Development & Culture at Bayzat – a technology company which provides insurance and HR solutions. Tania's expertise lies in empowering diverse teams to recognize and maximize their potential as members of the organization. She is passionate about personal development, training, cross-cultural management. "

"I have spent much of my career in executive and entrepreneurial positions, championing the cause of digital innovation in MENA. As the Founder and CEO of Okadoc, along with a team of an equally passionate team, we are in a mission to improve the Healthcare Experience for All. I started my e-commerce journey by co-founding MarkaVIP.com, which became one of the largest private online shopping platforms. I then moved on to Souq, where I held multiple leadership roles, helping drive the company from a fledgling startup to a scaled-up e-commerce platform which attracted the attention of the world’s biggest e-commerce player and that was eventually acquired by Amazon.com for US$600million. In 2015, I accepted an offer to become the Group CEO of Noon.com. The US$1bn joint venture involving key Dubai captains of industry and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund where we managed to take the company from cradle to one of the largest regional e-commerce players. "

Following an international career in investment management, private equity and M&A, at Deutsche Bank, Abraaj Capital, Wamda, and Booz & Co, Tarek co-founded and became CEO of Seez, an AI-powered car shopping app. He is also a Venture Partner with Al Faisaliah Group in KSA focusing on their VC activities. Tarek holds an MBA from INSEAD and an MsC in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics.

"Lia Wadih, Product Lead and Business Development Specialist at SE Factory (SEF), primarily focuses on driving SE Factory’s mission to help talented youth access training and good jobs while helping companies hire more efficiently. Lia leads on the outreach strategy of SE Factory mainly by building partnerships with companies in Lebanon, the Middle East and beyond while ensuring and maintaining successful hiring process. With overall accountability for SE Factory’s clients, Lia supports in driving profitability, quality and growth to SEF’s programs by identifying and nurturing a portfolio of key organizational relationships and leading on new product developments to leverage existing resources and offerings according to the needs of custom clients. Lia’s experience has been accrued in different multinational initiatives in the entrepreneurship sector such as Elevate Impact Accelerator (funded by UNICEF), Seedstars, and several startups, handling partnerships and strategic alliances, product development, content creation, logistics and events management, and process mapping and improvement. Lia holds a BEng in Industrial Engineering and a minor in Business from the Lebanese American University."

Co-founder and CTO at Bulkwhiz

Akram Assaf, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Akram is responsible for directing technology strategy, software development, and product delivery at Bayt.com. Akram has extensive experience in managing technology development and innovation for a wide range of industries and business applications. Akram comes to Bayt.com from Oracle where he was responsible for a variety of consulting engagements serving large institutional customers. Akram started his career in Andersen Consulting where he consulted Middle Eastern governments and leading corporations on technology implementation in the fields of Finance and HR Systems. Akram is a graduate of Jordan University with a BSc in Computer Science.

Amro is a seasoned senior Human Resources executive with over 2 decades of insightful experience within technology, telecom, and business services conglomerates. He has shaped high-performing cultures at major growth brands with technical business acumen, prolific communication, and robust learning & development programs. Works in partnership with senior management to orchestrate cultural development and organization change initiatives that address corporate goals and strategies Develops executable resourcing strategies and award-winning leadership development programs which motivate teams to exceed corporate objectives through various cycles. For the past 15 years, through various roles across the Middle East, Africa and the GCC , Amro has been providing oversight and leadership of Human Resources functions that include restructuring and rebuilding HR Functions, service delivery, operational effectiveness, business process review, continuous improvement activities, technology strategy and Learning & Development. Amro’s experience has been accrued in different multinational companies; he started his career in P&G in the finance department. Amro moved to Xerox as a sales executive, DHL as a Sales manager and Aramex as the HR Manager- Egypt in 2000. Ali Bin Ali Group as the Group Training & Employee Development Manager in 2003, then became the Group Human Resources & Training manager in 2005 . In 2008 he joined Vodafone as the Head of Resourcing & Learning. He then re-joined Aramex in 2010 as the Regional HR Manager-Africa,Global Training Director in 2015 , and became the HR Director for the GCC region in 2016. Amro is now the CHRO for iMile Delivery services

Nadine Mezher is the Co-founder and CMO of Sarwa, the first automated investment advisory platform in the region. Nadine co-founded Sarwa after years of consultancy in retail strategy and activations with a track record of successful projects delivered for clients ranging from government entities such as the Office of HH the Crown Prince of Dubai and large-scale companies such as OSN, Nestle... Prior to that, she worked for Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Government of Dubai in retail strategy and strategic alliances, as well as festivals development, where she led the management and development of citywide festivals and worked on the Dubai Retail Strategy. Nadine holds a Bachelor of Business Administration/Marketing from the American University of Beirut, as well as a degree in design from Esmod Paris.

He began his journey in startups more than 9 years ago in Dubai, he occupied different tech roles in startups and in different stages starting from ideas to a platform handling million of transactions. Issam is the CTO of MATIC Services, a free SaaS-enabled marketplace for home cleaning services, he joined the team when it was just an idea and managed to build the apps and tech team and expand rapidly in the past 3 years. Before Matic Issam was the Head of Technology in iMENA where he helped building SellAnyCar, OpenSooq, ReserveOut, Okaz and other startups, and worked before in Logta Mall startup and MTN.

• Co-founder, board member and Chief Strategy Officer at HalalaH Company, one of the fastest growing Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia aiming at becoming the first regional Neo-bank • Chairman of the Lebanese Chapter and a Co-lead of the Payment Vertical at the MENA FINTECH Association • Co-founder and board member at Parity Finance, the first ISA-based student education funding program in the region • A mentor for startups at the American University of Beirut (AUB), ESA Business School and IM Capital • An advisor to the AUB’s Growth Readiness Program, a leading program aiming at scaling regional SME’s • An investor in Seeders Angel Investing Fund • A visiting lecturer at multiple regional universities • Has 15 years of Investment Banking and Investment Management Experience and has a Capital Markets Certification from the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority • Holds an MBA from the University of Manchester in UK.

Following an international career in investment management, private equity and M&A, at Deutsche Bank, Abraaj Capital, Wamda, and Booz & Co, Tarek co-founded and became CEO of Seez, an AI-powered car shopping app. He is also a Venture Partner with Al Faisaliah Group in KSA focusing on their VC activities. Tarek holds an MBA from INSEAD and an MsC in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics.

Co-founder and CTO at Bulkwhiz

Akram Assaf, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Akram is responsible for directing technology strategy, software development, and product delivery at Bayt.com. Akram has extensive experience in managing technology development and innovation for a wide range of industries and business applications. Akram comes to Bayt.com from Oracle where he was responsible for a variety of consulting engagements serving large institutional customers. Akram started his career in Andersen Consulting where he consulted Middle Eastern governments and leading corporations on technology implementation in the fields of Finance and HR Systems. Akram is a graduate of Jordan University with a BSc in Computer Science.

"Yasmine with an e, comes from Algeria, have been in the UAE for 10 years and loving it. MBA graduate, I began my career as a Cabin Crew for Etihad Airways before moving to Recruitment a couple of years later, since then I specialised in aviation and airport services, recruiting for all the Etihad Network. I recently took a leap and joined an amazing organization Careem, after many years in a mature corporate organization I wanted to experience a start up.

Amro is a seasoned senior Human Resources executive with over 2 decades of insightful experience within technology, telecom, and business services conglomerates. He has shaped high-performing cultures at major growth brands with technical business acumen, prolific communication, and robust learning & development programs. Works in partnership with senior management to orchestrate cultural development and organization change initiatives that address corporate goals and strategies Develops executable resourcing strategies and award-winning leadership development programs which motivate teams to exceed corporate objectives through various cycles. For the past 15 years, through various roles across the Middle East, Africa and the GCC , Amro has been providing oversight and leadership of Human Resources functions that include restructuring and rebuilding HR Functions, service delivery, operational effectiveness, business process review, continuous improvement activities, technology strategy and Learning & Development. Amro’s experience has been accrued in different multinational companies; he started his career in P&G in the finance department. Amro moved to Xerox as a sales executive, DHL as a Sales manager and Aramex as the HR Manager- Egypt in 2000. Ali Bin Ali Group as the Group Training & Employee Development Manager in 2003, then became the Group Human Resources & Training manager in 2005 . In 2008 he joined Vodafone as the Head of Resourcing & Learning. He then re-joined Aramex in 2010 as the Regional HR Manager-Africa,Global Training Director in 2015 , and became the HR Director for the GCC region in 2016. Amro is now the CHRO for iMile Delivery services

• Co-founder, board member and Chief Strategy Officer at HalalaH Company, one of the fastest growing Fintech companies in Saudi Arabia aiming at becoming the first regional Neo-bank • Chairman of the Lebanese Chapter and a Co-lead of the Payment Vertical at the MENA FINTECH Association • Co-founder and board member at Parity Finance, the first ISA-based student education funding program in the region • A mentor for startups at the American University of Beirut (AUB), ESA Business School and IM Capital • An advisor to the AUB’s Growth Readiness Program, a leading program aiming at scaling regional SME’s • An investor in Seeders Angel Investing Fund • A visiting lecturer at multiple regional universities • Has 15 years of Investment Banking and Investment Management Experience and has a Capital Markets Certification from the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority • Holds an MBA from the University of Manchester in UK.

"Faten Saliba is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Lebanese American University and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. Her research area focuses on policy evaluation related to labour market and development issues. She relies on micro econometric techniques to empirically assess the effectiveness of existing regulations/schemes. Her current work focuses on technology and the future of work, happiness and labour productivity and youth unemployment in the MENA region. She is the Founder of Success & Co, a startup that aims to empower Arab youth by providing them with technical guidance and tools to achieve their goals. Success & Co equip youth with the necessary tools to attain higher level of education or join the labour market. She has earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester, in addition to two certificates from Harvard Division of Continuing Education on Leadership Skills as well Artificial Intelligence in Business. She has more than 6 years of policy work experience in international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, International Monetary Fund in Washington DC and Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in Beirut. "

Iraklis has been instrumental in building and growing some of the region's most successful and scalable startups. He's passionate about solving real problems through technology and collaboration. Currently, Iraklis is the Founder at loclpal and also a Director at Visa's Innovation Center.

Sherif Tawfik is the Executive Director for Commercial Partners, Channel, Scale Business, and Start-ups, for Microsoft in the United Arab Emirates, primarily focused on driving Microsoft’s mission “to empower every person and every organization to achieve more”. Sherif is the Executive Director, Commercial Partners & Channel Business for Microsoft in the UAE, leading the Commercial Partners engagement, Strategic Alliances, Microsoft Channel Transformation, and B2B Start-ups growth strategies. He also leads the scale performance and Microsoft Cloud transformation strategies for the Small, Medium, and Corporates segment. Prior to this, Sherif was the Regional General Manager for Microsoft Bahrain and Oman, empowering a diverse audience of governments, enterprise, start-ups, partners, IT professionals, developers, and consumers in both countries.

Henrik has 13 years of experience in the Emirates and a majority of that has been spent in Education Industry. Henrik is heading up the Career Development Centre at INSEAD's campus in Abu Dhabi.