Aditya Ghosh, Co-founder of AkasaAir is a remarkable leader known for driving hyper-growth across various organizations. With experience in managing a workforce of over 25,000 employees, Aditya has a Midas touch in transforming people-driven organizations globally. He serves on the boards of FabIndia and OYO South Asia, contributing his expertise to diverse sectors. Aditya started his career in 1996 as a corporate law executive, providing legal counsel to notable entities like InterGlobe, GSK Beecham, PepsiCo, and the World Bank. His leadership journey includes serving as the former President and Board Member of IndiGo, propelling the airline to success, and later transitioning to the unicorn OYO. A compelling speaker, Aditya shares insights and experiences from his leadership roles at various corporate events and conferences, captivating audiences with his blend of professional and personal skills.
Shiv Shivkumar, an accomplished leader and bestselling author, currently excels as an Operating Partner at Advent International, infusing his extensive experience and strategic acumen into driving business growth. His customer-centric and motivational leadership style has been a cornerstone in steering organizations toward resounding success. In his former role as the Group Executive President, Corporate Strategy at Aditya Birla Group, Shiv played a pivotal role in propelling the organization's growth across diverse business interests spanning 36 countries. As the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer at PepsiCo Holdings Private Limited in India, Shiv implemented effective growth strategies, navigating and leading iconic brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, and Peter England. Recognized as one of the top five Indian marketers by the Economic Times, Shiv Shivkumar stands as a distinguished leader and strategic architect of growth in the dynamic business landscape.
Richard Rekhy is the former CEO of KPMG, India, and a current Board Member of KPMG Dubai. As CEO, he was a member of KPMG's Global Board and the Council of KPMG International. With over thirty-six years under his belt in Consulting and Professional Services, Richard has worked at Arthur Andersen, Ernst & Young, and KPMG, spearheading the firms in various capacities. Richard is a qualified Indian chartered accountant, a mentor, and an Angel Investor. Richard is affiliated with leading business enterprises, domestic and worldwide, and is also an active member of diverse industry associations and trade bodies. He was a member of the advisory group for the HSBC Skills for Life Programme and the CII National Council member. An eloquent and powerful orator, Richard is a respected voice on a range of social and economic issues and focuses on customer centricity.
Mimi Nicklin is a renowned HRD certified global leadership and motivational speaker with clients such as Aditya Birla Group, Big Basket, Coca-Cola, KPMG, Emirates, Standard Chartered, and many more. Her engagements focus on changing needs of the diverse employee groups that organisations are committed to motivating, engaging and leading into the future - and how to match organisational goals with those of the individuals responsible for driving them. Her areas of intervention and focus are overcoming conflict, listening-led leadership, enabling communication to drive performance and working in a multi-generational and cross-team environments that leaders and managers need today. She leverages the latest insights in high performance and leadership into commercially sound strategies for people and companies to do their best work by putting emotional intelligence at the core. As an inclusive leader, she passionately talks about empathy as the road to engaged culture, consistent performance, transformational management skills, psychological safety, and inclusive team success.
Frederik Bisbjerg is a highly respected international business developer with expertise in digital transformation and business model innovation. He is a highly sought-after senior advisor in the fields of digital transformation, digital-first corporate strategies, and C-level consulting, focusing on “the art of the possible” to secure business and digital transformation. He was previously Head of MENA and Digital Transformation specialist with the Digital Insurer, the world’s largest knowledge base on digital insurance with more than 35,000 active members. He actively lectures and shares insights on topics of Strategy and Transformation, Big Data, and Best Practice Tech Architectures. With his experience, Frederik shares his insights on topics such as the overall value generation in the industry with AI and big data and approaches to implementation of AI in businesses.
Navid helps executives and their leadership teams accelerate and successfully transition into new roles. He is the author of the international bestselling book Mastering Executive Transitions - The Definitive Guide. Navid has lived and successfully worked in five countries across six sectors and his background that spans over two decades of HR experience in some of the world’s most admired organisations. More recently, Navid has been recognised as HR‘s Most Influential Practitioner by the HR Magazine, as #1 Coach of the Year by CEO Today, as 100 Most Iconic Coaching Leaders by CHRO Asia and has received the Outstanding Leadership Award from Education 2.0. Navid is a regular keynote speaker at conferences and leadership events worldwide.
Goran specializes in leadership, employee development, employee motivation and company culture building. Throughout his career, Goran held several executive roles ranging from business development and entrepreneurship in general to instructional design and consulting. Currently, he is a Managing Director at Leoron Professional Development Institute, looking over the consulting services. Coming from such a corporate experience, Goran works to support individuals, deepen their self-awareness, and create new approaches to meet their goals and find more fulfillment. Goran’s mission is to help make meaning in people’s work by focusing on who they are and what they do and connecting primarily with their core values and strengths. Goran is a mentor, facilitator/trainer and coach. He is a certified ICF PCC coach (International Coaching Federation) and ICF Member; Goran is CPC (Certified Professional Coach) & Certified Group Coach facilitator from ICA (International Coach Academy).
Fatima brings over 8 years of dedicated experience in the pharmaceutical realm, primarily within AbbVie, where she navigated diverse product portfolios across various markets, excelling notably in Immunology.
Her career progression witnessed substantial growth in technical expertise, analytical prowess, leadership, and adept communication and negotiation skills, culminating in her current role as a sales supervisor and people's manager. Spearheading efforts with Humira, a top-selling pharmaceutical, Fatima gained invaluable insights collaborating across functions and with the Brand Team.
Beyond her professional pursuits, Fatima is characterized by a passionate nature, relishing diversity both personally and professionally. Her interests span from devouring books and continuous learning to exploring new cultures through travel.
A dynamic Speaker, Consultant, facilitator, and executive coach, Ibrahim holds a master’s degree in business, a bachelor’s in engineering management from U.S.A., a senior certified professional from SHRM, and a professional certified coach from ICF.
Ibrahim has a 30-year experience in human resources, developing and growing all levels of employees. Ibrahim started in education and worked for Coca-Cola in Cyprus, L’AZURDE in Riyadh, Arab Insurance Group in Bahrain, Department of Civil Aviation in Dubai, Mannai Corporation in Qatar, Pepsi-Cola in Jeddah, and Royal Group in Abu Dhabi. He was instrumental in creating cultural change programs where he facilitated the development of top organizational-level strategies and tactics to implement the newly found cultures. Ibrahim coached and counseled many senior executives.
with Meirc, he excels in human resources management, training and development, leadership, and cultural change, self-development, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills.
Ibrahim is driven to promote ethical and conscious practices professionally.
Aman Gupta, the visionary behind boAt, known for his compelling storytelling skills, Aman offers valuable leadership insights, underscoring his role in steering India's cherished Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brand, boAt. He identified and disrupted a segment that had not been touched by any entrepreneur before and contributed to India's growth. boAt manufactures affordable gadgets for consumers from all backgrounds. Aman achieved an extraordinary milestone by gracing the Cannes Film Festival's red carpet—an accolade that distinguishes his entrepreneurial journey. Aman had the rare privilege of accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a historic visit to France, where he addressed the Indo-French CEO Forum and shared insights into Indian startups and the "Make In India" campaign. His participation alongside established business leaders signals the growing recognition of the entrepreneurial spirit in India. Aman also shares his expertise as a judge on Sony TV's Shark Tank India, contributing to leadership, and customer satisfaction.
Lieutenant General Deependra Singh Hooda, renowned for his pivotal roles, served as the Army Commander during the Chumar and Demchok face-off with China in September 2014 and led the surgical strikes against Pakistan in September 2016. With a remarkable forty-year career in the Indian Army, he navigated strategic challenges on the borders of China and Pakistan, stationed in Jammu and Kashmir as a Corps commander and later as the Northern Army Commander. Beyond his military achievements, General Hooda is a sought-after speaker, emphasizing resilience, teamwork, and team motivation for common objectives. His insightful talks draw from extensive experience, providing valuable lessons on leadership and collaboration in challenging situations.
Ayoub Fathi, a renowned cybersecurity expert and entrepreneur. He was awarded Global Top CISO in 2022 and is currently the VP of Information Security and CISO at Noon. With a background in software, his transition from hacking and security engineering roles to CISO leading InfoSec for a group of companies demonstrates his dedication to safeguarding digital realms. In his earlier years, Ayoub was highly active in the bug bounty space, successfully identifying tens of vulnerabilities on Facebook. He was also active in HackerOne, where he was ranked in the TOP100 and participated in several live hacking events. When he is not wearing his CISO hat or working on security engineering projects, he is still switching his hacker hat on and off to contribute to the cybersecurity space; most recently, he has uncovered multiple account takeover vulnerabilities in ChatGPT.
Semih is a futurist and an eminent figure in AI-driven leadership, future of work, innovation, and digital transformation, boasting multinational experience in telecommunications, FMCG, consultancy, and training. His expertise spans a unique blend of business acumen and data analytics, achieving significant results in AI, business transformation, strategy execution, innovation, project management, and other business functions.
As a visionary leader, Semih has spearheaded groundbreaking projects, such as launching the first AI program in the Middle East. His accolades include being named a Top50 Thought Leader and Influencer in Artificial Intelligence by Thinkers360, receiving the Global AI Ambassador title from SwissCognitive, and earning the Instructor of The Year award twice.
Currently leading AI and digital programs at PwC, Semih is also a prolific speaker and advisor. Through his leadership, Semih continues to inspire change and drive the adoption of AI across industries, making him a highly sought-after keynote speaker.
After nearly taking her own life at the age of 18, Hayley realised how mental health issues are increasingly affecting millennials and she was passionate to do something about it. Hayley's experience and insight makes her a credible voice for leadership, diversity and inclusion as well as mental health and well-being. Hayley's story has graced some of the world's biggest stages from Wembley Arena to Oslo Spektrum. From helping leaders bridge the gap with millennials and Gen Zs to creating a safe space and mentoring hundreds of young people from diverse and lower socioeconomic backgrounds Hayley really is passionate to make a change. Hayley sits on the board of Wagamama as well as consulting their CEO to help reach young people from more diverse backgrounds.
There are so many enticing Leadership speakers just waiting to speak at your next event. Bringing a top speaker or expert to your event can be a game changer. Whether it is inspiring, engaging life stories or driving change within your organisation or institution. Connect with Best Leadership speakers & leaders through UAE Speaker Bureau; a platform where leading organisations partner for their business conferences and events – via keynote presentations, cross-industry interactions, inspirational and leadership sessions.