Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company or du, in an exclusive interview with TRENDS says GCC companies should work closely with digital and software companies to expedite digital transformation.
Excerpts:
What are the main challenges for business leaders today, especially in our region?
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have been compelled to take rapid action on the digital front to earn back losses and remain competitive. Yet companies in the GCC are hesitant to participate in digital transformation and are currently witnessing a skills gap in software engineering, customer-experience design, digital marketing, and data analytics which is altogether limiting prospects to operate sustainable growth.
To overcome this, companies in the Gulf can partner with strategic digital players and software-development vendors to attract high-quality talent and mold a holistic strategy to advance and develop their respective disruptive digital and analytics capabilities. This in turn can drive a risk-taking culture, all the while developing agile solutions, cloud-based technologies and a solid cyber security framework to ensure their operations run safely.
How has business leadership evolved in the pre- and post-digital world?
Two decades ago, business leadership rested upon nurturing hard skills to fulfill clear tasks all the while operating across a strict silo approach. Later, companies began to slowly focus on data mining, search technology and virtual collaboration.
Today, the business leaders need to answer for speed and flexibility to satisfy growing trends in technology advancements. As a result, executives are now prioritizing artificial intelligence, machine learning and IoT while clearly emphasizing on workforce safety and security, cost management, and enterprise agility.
Today, the business leaders need to answer for speed and flexibility to satisfy growing trends in technology advancements. As a result, executives are now prioritizing artificial intelligence, machine learning and IoT while clearly emphasizing on workforce safety and security, cost management, and enterprise agility.
In the current environment, leaders are asked to account for how their leadership is experienced and consider whether their digital strategy is making their key stakeholders feel more valued, this includes investors, consumers, and employees.
Indeed, how leaders exert influence, foster purpose, engagement, and fairness now prove as important to workplace success as data-driven agility and productivity.
What business leaders should do to push for innovation in their teams and young Arab leaders?
In the constant search for innovation, executives are now widely drawn to focus on the human experience, and digital strategies are leading the game.
At present, a successful digital strategy can drive the roadmap and goals across departments. Maintaining effective workplace transformation as a key objective will harness heightened autonomy, develop problem solving skills, shape active task management and build the foundation for organizational growth and sustainability. It will shape loyalty and provide a positive environment for employees to flourish and grow their skills.
Is it necessary for a CEO to have a technology background? Why?
Digital transformation is about so much more than new technologies and processes. Though CEOs do not need a technology background per se to head a company, digital literacy is a must in today’s world. The latter can facilitate an effective leadership commitment in the development of a disruptive transformation.
Together with an agile mindset, it can empower a workforce with resilience, all the while boosting confidence in digital initiatives. Whereas an agile governance strategy drives agile behaviors,it also sets the tone for increasing a company’s competitive advantage.Therefore, CEOs must keep a look out for the latest advancements in the digital sector to implement change as disruption is not predicted to halt any time soon.
What are the major changes or trends do you see in your industry in the next five years?
Agility will be key to the telecommunications industry and requires telecom operators to look beyond connectivity, and towards new growth opportunities that offer end-to-end solutions for both enterprises and consumers.
To innovate their service offerings, change their business models, and offer flexible solutions, companies need to direct investments towards new technologies to successfully serve the ensuing growing appetite for data. This includes mitigating the impact of 5G technology on bandwidth and the growing demand for value-added managed services, increase high-speed connectivity, keeping up with the value of IoT, and operate an enhanced customer service.
What steps would you recommend for building a strong Arab or GCC Human Capital?
Growing business in today’s world is no longer driven by generating revenue, it is very much about harnessing the right talent and developing human capital within an organization to gain an overall competitive advantage.
Digital transformation is about so much more than new technologies and processes. Though CEOs do not need a technology background per se to head a company, digital literacy is a must in today’s world. The latter can facilitate an effective leadership commitment in the development of a disruptive transformation.
Building the next generations of our workforce calls for a focus on soft skills to motivate long-term behavioral change and equip the Youth with the tools to jump onto the workforce bandwagon. This calls for governments to support fiscal consolidation, economic diversification, encourage job creations led by the private sector and enact a holistic strategy.
As such, its strategy should be inclusive of Health and Education by prioritizing public investments in early childhood development and effective distance learning, but also in the healthcare sector by promoting preventive medicine and healthy lifestyles.
This interview is part of the TOP CEO Thought Leader Series – celebrating and highlighting business leaders of the GCC. For more information on the upcoming 2022 event – conference and awards and related Arab Women Forum, please visit: topceo.me