Author: CIO Business Leaders
The best strategic decision is putting people first. Cole Carroll, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Mansfield Energy, has used this principle throughout her career to help businesses and coworkers thrive. Having experienced both great and not-so-great leaders, she’s guided by Theodore Roosevelt’s saying, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” “At Mansfield, the Mission is to Build Relationships that Matter. My approach is that we listen to those we respect and who’ve taken the time to build relationships with us. After all, we represent Human Resources, and we should be both human…
Mabani Aljazeera Group is a leading Saudi Arabian company known for providing services for the evolution of the construction market in the Middle East and beyond. The leader steering it toward greater growth, profit, and success is the dynamic and visionary Faris Mudathir, Chief Executive Officer at the Group. According to him, he provides leadership for all aspects of the company’s operations with an emphasis on long-term goals, growth, profit, and return on investment. What distinguishes Faris is his humanity, integrity, and honesty. In the construction landscape, he is making a positive impact on people and the community through his…
Marketing is not the same for all professionals. For many, it is about branding, and for some, marketing is fraught with something. As CMO at Keepit, Michele Hayes thinks differently. She considers marketing as a messenger for the customer’s voice. “Trust and thought leadership are what the Keepit brand is about,” she remarks. She has always felt that her role is to advocate for the customer as they navigate their cloud and data journey. With the Geopolitically tension-filled environment, Michele acknowledges, “that isn’t an easy task.” Concurrently, technology is evolving, and AI is on the rise. She sees this as…
Meet Yara Al-Huwaymil, one of the brilliant minds behind MEFIC Capital’s people power. As Head of Human Capital, her hard work and determination led her to make her mark in a male-dominated field. Yara’s transition across different sectors applied a tectonic nudge to how she thinks of talent management. Right from banking and real estate to finance, one thing remained unchanged. It’s the core mission of HR to serve the human element. To many, frequent job-hopping can be seen as instability. However, Yara treats it as an incubator of instincts. These experiences gave her diverse exposure, deepening her understanding of…
An Interview with Marie-Josée Lafontaine, Senior Care Visionary and Transformational Advocate In a culture obsessed with youth, wrinkle-free skin, and perpetual motion, aging has quietly become a social taboo. We tuck our elders away, design policies without their voice, and too often, care with speed rather than presence. But one health care leader is challenging all of that. Marie-Josée Lafontaine, a trailblazer in senior care and the daughter of one of Ontario’s first retirement home founders, has spent her career advocating for a radical shift—a return, not to the past, but to soul-first care. “We’ve mistaken longevity for success,” she…
Folk Maritime Services Company (FOLK Maritime) envisions becoming the leading regional liner and short sea operator in the Middle East region, further strengthening the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s position as a global logistics hub. Mohamed Badawy is contributing to steering the company toward this vision in his role as COO. He is a seasoned maritime industry leader with a career spanning over 24 years in regional and global maritime operations. When he arrived FOLK Maritime in March 2024, he brought with him a wealth of experience in line shipping operation commercial, port, terminal, network and fleet management. It enabled him…
In a country where access to water, food, and energy marks the line between survival and progress, Nedbank, under the leadership of Poovi Pillay, is putting its capital where it matters most. Anchored by the Green Economy Strategy, the bank targets catalytic sectors, including Water & Sanitation, Waste & Recycling, Regenerative Agriculture, and Renewable Energy, not as charity but as engines of long-term resilience. From regenerative farms in Limpopo to off-grid energy hubs in the Eastern Cape, Nedbank backs scalable ecosystems with a sharp focus on women, youth, and people with disabilities. The Social Impact Unit is hardwired into the…
“In the digital era, success hinges on efficiently addressing security risks,” says Lucille Britz, Security Head for SEA Markets and Group CTIO Business Manager (Act) at MTN Group. She believes cybersecurity is not treated as a checklist or a siloed function, but rather as a diligent discipline ingrained into the organization’s operating code. Under her leadership, MTN employs Layers of Protection with Defense-in-Depth, where each mechanism contributes to a broader safety net. If one layer is compromised, others remain active to contain and deflect threats. A strict trust protocol reinforces this, requiring that every access request be verified, regardless of…
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” This quote from Mark Twain perfectly captures Ahmed Riesgo’s investment philosophy as the Chief Investment Officer at Insigneo, an international wealth management firm. He is confident but not overconfident, knowing that even the best investment strategies can be upended by unpredictable markets. “Prepare, not predict,” is his guiding principle. Innovation, along with his humility and resilience, enables him to maneuver through choppy investment waters and keep Insigneo ahead of the curve. At Insigneo, Ahmed oversees all the company’s research…
“I have always aspired to become a leader and make a positive impact on my generation,” notes B. Patrick Azania Kabre, with the calm authority of someone who’s earned his stripes. And today, he is doing just that, with steel in his spine and his sights set high. From unstable grids to underbuilt networks, Africa’s infrastructure future is still in the making, and thoughtful builders of consequence like him are helping construct it with strength, scale, and vision. In his current role as Managing Director of NETIS in Burkina Faso, he leads with action where others promise strategy. In a…