Chief Future Officer

“The quality of who manages the business makes the difference. I’d rather work with a great family managing a family business than an average PE fund managing a company.” 

“Automate your mechanics ruthlessly, but guard your judgment fiercely.”

"CFOs will not be replaced by AI. They will be replaced by someone who knows how to leverage AI better than they do."

"Companies increasingly care about enterprise value, not just short-term profit. As a CFO, I need to understand where technology, markets, and investors are heading. I should not invest in the past simply because it feels familiar."

“Launching a startup is an emotional education. Investors may reject you, products may fail, but your purpose must stay intact.”

“The most important thing is balancing your long-term investments with your short-term regulatory shifts which are coming in on a regular basis.”

“Acquisitions are not about now, but forever. It’s not just about winning a deal today, it’s about the long view, the trust you build, and the relationships that carry the integration forward.”

"You really don't learn and grow if you don't take on new challenges. I think that's the only way you can develop.”

"The biggest challenge wasn’t the procedures themselves but shifting the mindset, especially when it comes to sharing financial data and institutionalizing decision-making. Today, transparency means involving partners and investors in the information, and clear communication is the key to achieving that.

“Transformation is not a one-day story. It’s about how you manage the middle, the broken pieces, the low-hanging fruit, the structural changes. That’s where real leadership shows.”

"Being good at finance isn’t just about creating a solid P&L or looking at your financials. You have to step outside the boundaries of your own department and then ask questions and look at things from a bigger perspective."

“A real CFO isn’t just managing numbers, they’re thinking forward, shaping mindsets, and elevating others. I tell my team: you're the CFO of your domain. Own it, lead it, present it.”

The role of finance has really evolved and we really need finance to be a strategic business partner, not just being like a cost center or asset protection.

"Digital transformation is more of an enabler than a goal."

"With AI becoming more integrated into finance, we're actually seeing more opportunities than challenges."

"You need a finance professional to launch a company, and they are also the last ones standing when it’s time to close it down. So to an extent, yes, we are gatekeepers."

"The region is ideally positioned to play a significant role in global finance. I see more global funds and asset managers using the Middle East as a base. This influx will naturally drive significant employment opportunities in the financial sector."

"Finance involves a lot of strategic inputs as a human being. AI or any system can give you snapshots, but what you feed in is important, and it involves a lot of human judgment on decisions, particularly relating to cash flows and financing requirements as a business."

"AI is an amplifier to improve the quality of deliverables in finance, complementing our work, not threatening our jobs."

"The current struggle with the introduction of AI lies in ensuring that, despite the efficiencies gained through AI, the finance sector does not lose sight of the importance of understanding and connecting with customers on a personal level."

"The finance function is moving beyond traditional transactional processing, to more predictive analytics and forecasting. The use of data science in finance is becoming critical, as it allows for better decision-making and strategic planning"

“In the future of finance, challenges like gaining client trust, regulatory approval, and data protection will be crucial as AI brings more personalised services to the forefront of wealth management.”

"The future of finance in the Middle East is being shaped by increased competition and innovation. In the upcoming years, there will be a rise in the number of banks and financial services competing for consumers' attention, leading to an overall improvement in the quality of services."

"I hate the term gatekeeper for CFOs. I think it's how they have been seen historically, and it's important for us to change our opinion of people as a function."

"I see a future for finance, heavily influenced by digitalization. Over the years, automation will become crucial, reducing the need for traditional data entry roles and shifting our focus towards scalable growth without exponentially increasing the workforce."

“Even though the systems we have today can analyse data and provide graphs, you still need someone to talk about it. The fact that we are still having this one-on-one interview is because human insight is essential."

"Digitalisation will be critical for the future of finance. The role of accountants will change significantly as more tasks become automated, especially with tools like Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Finance professionals will need broader skills, including tech and business understanding."

"AI will definitely be the future of Finance, but the AI tools themselves right now need some improvements. It would be much better if the current market suppliers could work on the cost model to make it more welcoming or better for the majority of the companies to adopt."

Not just in finance—senior leadership, in general, is moving away from the gatekeeper mindset. CFOs today are collaborative leaders, working across departments to provide data-driven insights rather than just controlling spending.

"Digital initiatives should enhance our core priorities, not distract from them."

"Finance has benefited greatly with the introduction of AI, automating extremely important and sensitive tasks like bookkeeping, allowing finance professionals to focus on strategic interpretation and decision-making."