Gulf’s Influential Business Icons to Follow in 2026

Some of the most meaningful careers are not built by following a predetermined path, but by having the courage to embrace change when an unexpected one appears. For Neha Khan, a journey that began in pharmacy and clinical research has evolved through education, entrepreneurship, global finance, and fintech investment. Each transition has required her to learn again, move beyond what was familiar, and trust that an unconventional background can become a strength.

With a Master’s degree in Pharmacy and Clinical Research, Neha spent more than eight years in the clinical research industry. Having invested years in building her expertise, she naturally expected it to remain her long-term career. Instead, life presented an opportunity to create something entirely different.

In 2014, she founded Little Angels, a preschool and early-years education venture in India. Created as an inclusive school, it brought children with special needs and regular children together to learn, play, and grow. Entering education and entrepreneurship without a conventional background in either meant learning along the way. The experience strengthened Neha’s empathy, responsibility, and resilience while giving her the confidence to build beyond her original profession.

Her introduction to finance came just as unexpectedly. Around 2016, her husband, Kashif Khan, was running a business in India in a space similar to what Globizera does today. As Neha began supporting him, her involvement developed into a genuine interest in trade and finance. She credits Kashif as a major driving force behind this transition, encouraging her to learn, step outside her comfort zone, and recognize that not having a traditional finance background did not have to limit her potential.

During COVID, the family relocated to Dubai. Starting again in a new country brought uncertainty, but it also introduced Neha to an international business environment and eventually became the foundation for a new professional chapter.

That chapter took shape through Globizera, a UAE-headquartered financial advisory firm that Neha co-founded with Swati Babel. Today, Globizera works with businesses globally, helping them structure and access cross-border trade and structured financing through banks, financial institutions, development finance institutions, and alternative lenders.

Building Globizera has reinforced Neha’s belief in partnership. Working alongside Swati, whose strengths and perspectives complement her own, has shown her that choosing the right people to build with can be just as important as what is being built.

Her financial journey expanded further when she became a Managing Partner at FirstCred alongside Rohit Choudhary and Sowdamini Bhat. Together, they are building FirstCred across domestic financing as well as sustainable and impact-led funding solutions. More recently, Neha became a shareholder in CredibleX, a UAE-based fintech lending platform within an ecosystem backed by institutional investors including ADQ and Mubadala Capital. This has allowed her to experience finance not only as an entrepreneur and advisor, but also as an investor.

Across these chapters, one recurring challenge has become one of Neha’s greatest strengths: entering spaces where she was not necessarily the obvious candidate on paper. She was not an educator when she established Little Angels, nor a banker when she entered finance. Every transition demanded curiosity, continuous learning, and the willingness to accept that she would not know everything from day one.

Her journey has also included motherhood, career gaps, family responsibilities, and relocation. Experiences that once made her question whether a professional pause meant falling behind have shaped a different perspective today: a career gap is not a full stop, and changing direction does not mean starting from zero.

That belief also defines her understanding of women’s empowerment. For Neha, empowerment is not about proving that women can do everything alone. It is about having the confidence to make their own choices, whether focusing on family, returning to work, changing careers, or building something entirely new. She also acknowledges the family and people who supported her through motherhood, relocation, career changes, and new beginnings, believing there is strength in recognizing those who help us move forward.

Looking back, Neha sees value in every chapter. Clinical research gave her discipline, Little Angels strengthened her empathy, finance broadened her global outlook, entrepreneurship developed resilience, and motherhood brought perspective and patience. Her partnerships have further reinforced the importance of trust and collaboration.

Her advice to anyone beginning, or beginning again is simple: do not wait until you feel completely ready. Stay curious, keep learning, surround yourself with people who support and challenge you, and never allow a career gap, unconventional background, or somebody else’s timeline to define what comes next. 

Neha’s journey continues to evolve, but its message is clear: a pause does not pause potential. Sometimes, the career you never planned becomes the journey that defines you.

• LinkedIn - Neha Khan
• Website - Globizera / First Cred / Little Angels 

The most influential entrepreneurs are often those who see extraordinary opportunities where others see ordinary products. In an increasingly competitive business environment, lasting success is rarely built by trying to do everything. Instead, it is achieved by mastering one area, understanding customers better than anyone else, and continually evolving to create greater value. Leaders who embrace this philosophy are not only transforming industries but also setting new benchmarks for innovation, resilience, and sustainable growth.

Catalina Oñate embodies this mindset through an entrepreneurial journey built on specialization, customer-centric innovation, and unwavering commitment to quality. As the Founder and CEO of Best of Latin Foodstuff Trading LLC (BLF), she has transformed what many considered an unconventional business idea into one of the UAE's trusted names in premium avocado sourcing and value-added food solutions. Her success is not simply a story about importing fresh produce, it is a story of building trust, solving real business challenges, and creating meaningful impact across the food industry.

Originally from Colombia, Catalina moved to Dubai nearly two decades ago in search of new opportunities and a better future. Like many entrepreneurs who have chosen the UAE as their home, she found far more than a thriving marketplace. She discovered a country that encourages innovation, rewards resilience, and provides an ecosystem where determined individuals can transform ambitious ideas into successful businesses. Those values became the foundation of her entrepreneurial journey and continue to shape her leadership philosophy today.

In 2016, Catalina founded Best of Latin Foodstuff Trading LLC with a vision that challenged conventional thinking within the food trading industry. While most companies diversified across numerous fruits and vegetables, she made the bold decision to focus exclusively on avocados. It was a strategic choice rooted in the belief that true excellence comes through specialization. By dedicating the business to a single product, BLF developed unmatched expertise across every stage of the supply chain, from sourcing and harvesting to logistics, ripening, storage, and quality management. This focused approach enabled the company to consistently supply premium avocados imported directly from Africa and Latin America to hotels, restaurants, retailers, catering companies, and food manufacturers throughout the UAE.

What distinguishes Catalina's leadership is her ability to transform customer insights into innovation. Rather than relying solely on market research, she spent years listening to chefs and hospitality professionals, understanding the operational challenges they encountered while working with fresh avocados. These conversations revealed recurring issues surrounding ripening consistency, preparation time, labor requirements, and unnecessary food waste. Instead of viewing these as routine industry problems, Catalina recognized an opportunity to create solutions that would make her customers' operations more efficient.

That vision led to the launch of PURE, BLF's innovative range of clean-label avocado products developed in Dubai. Produced locally using High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology, the range includes Avocado Spread and Guacamole that preserve freshness, natural flavor, texture, and nutritional value without preservatives or artificial additives. By reducing preparation time, minimizing waste, and delivering consistent quality, PURE reflects Catalina's commitment to combining innovation with practical value for the food service industry while supporting the UAE's growing demand for healthier and more convenient food solutions.

Like every successful entrepreneur, Catalina has navigated periods of uncertainty, including supply chain disruptions, changing market conditions, and regional challenges that affected businesses across the Middle East. Rather than allowing these obstacles to define her company, she viewed them as opportunities to rethink strategy and strengthen customer value. Her belief that innovation often emerges during challenging times has enabled BLF to continually evolve while remaining focused on its purpose of delivering meaningful solutions rather than simply supplying products.

Beyond business performance, Catalina believes that sustainable success is ultimately built on relationships. Every avocado represents the collective efforts of farmers, suppliers, logistics partners, chefs, retailers, and consumers. This understanding has shaped BLF into a business where trust, consistency, and long-term partnerships take precedence over short-term transactions. Her leadership demonstrates that enduring business growth is achieved through reliability, collaboration, and a genuine commitment to helping every stakeholder succeed.

As Best of Latin celebrates a decade of growth, Catalina's vision extends far beyond being a trusted avocado supplier. She is leading the company toward becoming the Middle East's premier avocado specialist by combining premium fresh produce with innovative, locally manufactured food solutions that support healthier lifestyles, operational efficiency, and sustainable business growth. Her journey stands as a powerful example of how specialization, continuous innovation, and purpose-driven leadership can transform a simple idea into a lasting legacy. As one of Gulf's Influential Business Icons to Follow in 2026, Catalina Oñate continues to demonstrate that true entrepreneurial success lies not in pursuing every opportunity, but in creating exceptional value through focus, trust, and the courage to keep evolving.

• LinkedIn - Catalina Oñate
• Instagram - catalina.onate
• Facebook - Catalina Oñate

The future of business is increasingly defined by the future of talent. As industries transform, technology accelerates change, and international opportunities continue to expand, the leaders creating lasting impact are those who understand that education must evolve alongside the world it serves.

At the intersection of education, entrepreneurship, international partnerships, and strategic development stands Ms. Archana Merchant, a distinguished education entrepreneur and strategic leader whose work reflects a clear commitment to building globally relevant pathways for learning, professional advancement, and institutional growth.

As the Founder and CEO of , Achievers Education Ltd. in the United Kingdom, Aspire International in the UAE and Mind Boosters Management Consultancy in the UAE, Ms. Merchant has developed a diversified professional ecosystem serving students, professionals, and institutions across international markets. She also serves as Co-Founder and Executive Director – Government Affairs & Strategic Development at EIU Business Services , contributing to strategic expansion, institutional collaboration, government and regulatory engagement, and long-term organizational development.

Across these leadership mandates, one principle remains consistent: creating credible, internationally connected opportunities that enable individuals and institutions to thrive in a rapidly changing global environment.

Ms. Merchant’s leadership journey is distinguished by her ability to view education through a broader strategic lens. For her, education is not simply the acquisition of academic credentials; it is an essential driver of professional transformation, economic opportunity, confidence, and long-term human capital development.

This perspective has shaped the organizations she leads and the partnerships she develops. By connecting academic pathways with practical skills, professional development, international exposure, and career opportunities, she has focused on addressing one of the most important challenges facing modern education: bridging the gap between qualification and meaningful professional outcomes.

Her philosophy is grounded in a simple but powerful principle: a qualification should be a gateway to opportunity, not the destination.

Entrepreneurial success across multiple markets requires more than ambition. It demands strategic clarity, resilience, adaptability, operational discipline, and an ability to anticipate changing market dynamics.

Ms. Merchant has demonstrated these qualities through the development of organizations operating across the UAE and the United Kingdom, while maintaining a strong international orientation. Her work encompasses education consultancy, professional development, institutional partnerships, strategic management, and career-oriented initiatives.

Her approach is inherently collaborative ,focused on creating relationships that deliver sustainable value rather than short-term visibility.

In an increasingly competitive international education environment, institutional credibility has become one of the most important measures of long-term success.

Ms. Merchant places strong emphasis on quality assurance, governance, regulatory alignment, ethical business practices, and stakeholder trust. She recognizes that sustainable institutional growth must be underpinned by responsible leadership and robust professional standards.

Her executive approach combines strategic vision with disciplined execution. Whether developing institutional partnerships, supporting regulatory engagement, expanding professional programs, or strengthening organizational capabilities, she remains focused on creating structures that are scalable, credible, and positioned for long-term growth.

This balance between entrepreneurial ambition and governance discipline has become a defining feature of her leadership.

At the heart of Ms. Merchant’s work is a commitment to people.

She believes that access to quality learning and professional development can fundamentally alter an individual’s trajectory, opening doors to new careers, international opportunities, greater professional confidence, and broader possibilities.

Her vision extends beyond helping individuals obtain qualifications. It is about enabling them to become future-ready professionals equipped to navigate changing industries, international workplaces, and an increasingly competitive global economy.

This people-centred philosophy continues to influence the initiatives and partnerships she develops, ensuring that innovation remains connected to purpose and that institutional growth ultimately translates into meaningful human impact.

Ms. Merchant’s contribution to education, entrepreneurship, and women’s leadership has received recognition through several distinguished honors, including the Excellence in Women’s Educational Empowerment and Leadership, the International Women Achiever Awards 2024 for Best Quality Training Academy of the Year, the Excellence in Education Business Excellence Award, and the Leader in Women’s Education Global Award 2024.

These recognitions reflect not only her entrepreneurial achievements but also the broader influence of her leadership in advancing professional development, institutional excellence, and opportunities for individuals seeking to build successful futures.

What ultimately distinguishes Ms. Archana Merchant is the scale of her vision and the purpose behind it.

She sees the future of education as increasingly interconnected with business, technology, professional development, and international mobility. Her objective is therefore not simply to expand organizations, but to build ecosystems of opportunity, where institutions can strengthen their capabilities and individuals can translate learning into tangible professional advancement.

Ms. Merchant is contributing to a new generation of education leadership defined by international collaboration, entrepreneurial thinking, institutional credibility, and measurable impact.

Her journey demonstrates that meaningful leadership is not measured solely by the organizations one builds, but by the opportunities those organizations create for others.

Through strategic vision, entrepreneurial resilience, and an unwavering commitment to excellence, Ms. Archana Merchant continues to shape a future in which education serves not merely as a pathway to a qualification, but as a catalyst for global opportunity, professional transformation, and lasting impact.

• Website - Achievers Education
• LinkedIn - Archana Merchant / Achievers Education Limited 
• Instagram - achieverseducationuk 
• Facebook - Achievers Education UK 
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• X - AchieversEduUK  

Some professional journeys begin with established resources, networks, and a clear roadmap. Others develop gradually through responsibility, learning, relationships, and persistence. For CA Sankaranarayanan Sathiavageeswaran, his professional journey across India and the UAE has been shaped by family legacy, professional discipline, continued learning, and an interest in understanding businesses beyond their financial statements.

Sankaranarayanan qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2013. A Fellow Chartered Accountant and law graduate, his professional work has since covered areas including auditing, taxation, financial reporting, internal controls, risk management, forensic assignments, and business advisory.

His professional foundation was built in India, where he followed in the footsteps of his late father, CA S. Sathiavageeswaran. Working alongside his father introduced him not only to the technical side of the profession but also to the responsibility that comes with advising businesses and individuals on financial matters. Over time, he became increasingly involved in the family Chartered Accountancy practice.

At the same time, Sankaranarayanan carried a long-standing ambition to build a professional presence outside India. When he discussed the idea with his father, the response came with an important condition: whatever he chose to build overseas, he would continue to remain responsible for his commitments in India. Rather than abandoning one path for another, he began looking for a way to manage both.

That journey brought him to the UAE in September 2017, during the months immediately preceding the introduction of VAT. The beginning was modest. There was no established network waiting for him in the UAE. He travelled extensively using public transport, spent time understanding the local business environment, and interacted with people from different industries and nationalities. Metro journeys, meetings, a laptop bag, and simple brochures became part of those early days.

More importantly, the experience gave him first-hand exposure to the practical challenges faced by businesses adapting to a changing financial and regulatory environment.

On 4 March 2018, Opulence Accounting and Book Keeping LLC was incorporated in the UAE. The milestone carries deeply personal significance for Sankaranarayanan. During the initial stages of the venture, his mother pledged her jewellery to help support his ambition. For him, that support represented far more than the money required to start a business. It became a reminder of the trust placed in him and the responsibility that came with building something of his own.

The years that followed were focused on learning, developing systems, building a team, and working with businesses across different situations. Today, Opulence works with businesses in the UAE in areas including accounting and bookkeeping, tax compliance, financial reporting, and related financial support.

A recurring aspect of Sankaranarayanan’s professional work has been dealing with situations where financial information requires considerable organisation before it can become useful to management. This may involve reconstructing records, reconciling balances, reviewing documentation, understanding control gaps, and helping establish more structured financial processes.

These experiences have influenced the way he looks at accounting. For him, financial statements are not merely records of transactions that have already taken place. Their greater value lies in helping business owners understand what is happening within an organisation—how resources are being used, where risks may exist, and what the numbers may indicate about future decisions.

Technology has increasingly become another important part of Sankaranarayanan’s professional learning. In recent years, he has developed practical knowledge of Artificial Intelligence and digital tools and their application within professional workflows, including research, document review, financial analysis, information organisation, and process improvement.

His interest in AI stems from a simple question: how can technology help professionals work with information more effectively while preserving the judgement and responsibility expected of them?

With this perspective, he has been exploring ways in which AI can assist with analysing information, improving workflows, organising large volumes of data, and reducing repetitive processes. At the same time, he believes that its use in professional work must remain subject to human review, verification, confidentiality, and professional judgement.

Rather than viewing technology as a replacement for professionals, Sankaranarayanan sees it as a tool that can enable them to devote greater attention to interpretation, judgement, and decision-making. This intersection between finance, regulation, data, and artificial intelligence has consequently become an important area of continuing learning for him as businesses themselves become increasingly technology-driven.

Another important part of his journey has been the people around him. Radul Prakash and Kiran, who began their association with Sankaranarayanan as interns in India, later became closely involved in the execution of work in the UAE. His family, colleagues, mentors, and professional relationships across India and the UAE have similarly played important roles at different stages of the journey.

That experience has reinforced his belief that a professional organisation is rarely built by one individual alone. It develops through people who learn together, assume responsibility, and remain dependable over time.

Looking ahead, Sankaranarayanan intends to continue developing his professional knowledge in areas including Corporate Tax, internal controls, risk management, financial reporting, and technology-enabled professional workflows. He also plans to continue studying the practical applications of Artificial Intelligence within finance and professional services as the technology develops.

From beginning his professional career in India to arriving in the UAE in 2017 and establishing a business in 2018, his journey has involved adapting to a new country while remaining connected to the professional foundation from which he started. Along the way have come changes in taxation, regulation, and technology, as well as lessons from family, colleagues, clients, mentors, and the businesses he has worked with.

For Sankaranarayanan, the journey therefore remains less about arriving at a particular destination and more about continuing to learn, adapt, and take responsibility as the profession around him evolves.

• LinkedIn - CA Sankaranarayanan Sathiavageeswaran 

• Instagram - sathiasankar2

• Facebook - Shankar Narayan Sathiavageeswaran

Business resilience is no longer built solely on financial strength or operational efficiency. In an era defined by rapid technological change, evolving regulations, and global uncertainty, organizations require leaders who can anticipate challenges, strengthen governance, and create frameworks that enable sustainable growth. Lynne Regenass has spent more than two decades doing exactly that, building a distinguished career at the intersection of operational risk, compliance, corporate governance, and strategic leadership.

With extensive international experience across the financial services sector, Lynne has established herself as a respected risk professional whose expertise extends far beyond traditional governance. Her ability to navigate diverse markets, lead multicultural teams, and approach complex challenges with a strategic mindset has made her a trusted leader throughout her career. Today, based in Dubai, she continues this journey as the Founder of Ophyr Consulting, where she helps organizations strengthen governance, improve operational resilience, and navigate an increasingly complex business landscape.

Her entrepreneurial venture represents a natural evolution of a career built on independent thinking and practical leadership. Rather than viewing risk as a limitation, Lynne has consistently approached it as a strategic enabler, one that allows organizations to innovate with confidence while maintaining strong governance and accountability. This philosophy has remained central throughout every stage of her professional journey.

One of the most defining chapters of Lynne’s career was her eight-year tenure with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). She was headhunted by the Bank’s then Chief Risk Officer to join AIIB during its startup phase and became the single person responsible for founding and establishing its operational risk function. Starting the function from the ground up required far more than stepping into an existing framework; Lynne had to craft the structure, processes, and approach needed to embed operational risk within a newly developing international institution. She led the function for seven years, investing extraordinary personal commitment into its development and working days, nights, and weekends with the ownership mindset she would bring to her own business.

For Lynne, her contribution at AIIB represents perhaps the magnus opus of her career. Her contribution extended beyond establishing and leading the operational risk function, with her strong entrepreneurial flair also shaping her broader contribution within the Bank. Rather than being defined by changes in job title during her tenure, this period was defined by what she built, established, and led as the Bank evolved. By the time of her departure, the function she had initially established alone had developed to the point that AIIB subsequently hired a team of six staff.

Earlier, Lynne served as Head of Governance, Risk and Controls (Africa) at Barclays Africa Group Limited, holding a director-level position where she oversaw governance and control frameworks across the continent. Her experience also includes serving as Senior Risk Manager at the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, where she further developed expertise in development finance and enterprise risk management. Earlier positions with Commerzbank AG, UBS, Worldwide Investor Network, and BDM Ltd. provided valuable operational, banking, and international management experience that continues to influence her leadership today.

What makes Lynne’s professional journey particularly compelling is the breadth of her experience. While building an accomplished executive career in global financial institutions, she also pursued entrepreneurship by founding several businesses, including Homme (Pty) Ltd and NSpa Nail Salons (Pty) Ltd. These ventures reflect her ability to combine corporate governance expertise with business ownership, demonstrating versatility across both strategic leadership and operational execution. They also highlight an entrepreneurial mindset that embraces opportunity while remaining grounded in sound business principles.

Throughout her career, Lynne has remained committed to continuous professional development. She earned a Master of Business Leadership specializing in Finance and Corporate Governance from the University of South Africa School of Business Leadership, following her Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Economics. She further expanded her expertise through studies in Development Finance at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, obtained a Certificate in Banking Risk through GARP, and most recently completed the Women’s Leadership Development Programme at the University of Oxford. Her commitment to lifelong learning reflects a leadership philosophy rooted in continuous growth, adaptability, and intellectual curiosity.

Equally significant is Lynne’s international perspective. Having worked across Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and beyond, she understands the importance of balancing global best practices with local business realities. Her multilingual capabilities and multicultural experience allow her to build meaningful relationships across diverse environments while leading with empathy, collaboration, and strategic clarity. These qualities have enabled her to navigate change successfully while helping organizations remain resilient in increasingly dynamic markets.

As businesses across the Gulf continue accelerating transformation while strengthening governance standards, leaders who combine technical expertise with strategic vision will play an increasingly important role. Lynne’s journey demonstrates how governance and operational risk leadership can also require an entrepreneurial mindset, the ability to create structures where none previously existed, build capabilities from the ground up, and take ownership of their long-term development. Through her extensive executive experience, entrepreneurial ventures, and unwavering commitment to professional excellence, she continues to help organizations build stronger foundations for the future, making her a deserving choice among Gulf’s Influential Business Icons to Follow in 2026.

• LinkedIn - Lynne Regenass 

Some entrepreneurs are defined by the companies they build. Others are defined by the persistence that keeps them building, even when the outcome is uncertain. For Jeff Scaman, Founder of DUBL, Inc., entrepreneurship has never been a single career decision; it has been a lifelong pattern of identifying opportunities, taking calculated risks, learning through setbacks, and continuing to move forward when circumstances do not unfold as planned.

That instinct appeared remarkably early. At just five years old, Jeff took his first job pulling weeds for a neighbor each week for $5. Before long, he was cutting grass, trimming bushes, and collecting empty Coke bottles to return to the store for five cents apiece. What began as childhood work introduced him to principles that would remain central throughout his professional life: initiative, effort, resourcefulness, and the connection between creating value and earning opportunity.

By twelve, he was running his own newsstand at a busy intersection on Ogden Avenue, part of the famous Route 66 corridor. Selling Chicago Today newspapers to drivers on their way home from work gave him another early education in persistence and customer connection.

That entrepreneurial mindset followed Jeff into adulthood. At nineteen, while attending college for business management, he started a small construction business. He already knew that he wanted to create something meaningful, even if the exact direction was not yet clear. His attention eventually turned toward real estate, where he earned his license and began selling.

At 22, Jeff purchased his first investment property and sold it only a month later for a handsome profit. The experience encouraged him to think bigger. He subsequently acquired six buildings comprising 37 apartments, renovated and resold them within 18 months, and used the proceeds to purchase a vacant 63,000-square-foot store that he transformed into an office building. His interest in transformation also extended to historic preservation. During the late 1980s, he purchased and restored an 1874 Victorian home in the Oak Park Historic District, returning the property to its original colors.

Yet Jeff’s career would not remain confined to construction and real estate. In the mid-1990s, while spending two years as a casualty claims adjuster, he developed an idea for a commercial trucking dashcam. Recognizing its potential, he launched a new company, filed several patents, and pursued an opportunity within the commercial dashcam industry.

His involvement went beyond developing a product. Jeff participated in the IEEE Working Group on Event Data Recorders, contributing to efforts surrounding international industry standards for dashcams. However, innovation did not guarantee an easy commercial path. Funding constraints eventually contributed to patent litigation seeking more than $10 million, and the case was lost at trial in July 2017.

For many, such an outcome might have marked an ending. For Jeff, it became another turning point.

Three months later, over dinner in Dallas with his friends Tiffany and Brad Cooke, a conversation about developing a dashcam app opened the door to a new possibility. From that discussion, the concept for DUBL was born.

Since then, DUBL, Inc. has received three patents, launched three apps, and established ongoing worldwide distribution as the company works to build a unique, full-service technology platform. Its development has also demanded patience. Within a week of filing DUBL’s first patent in 2020, COVID lockdowns began. The disruption delayed the process, and the company ultimately waited three full years before receiving its first patent.

Rather than viewing such circumstances simply as obstacles, Jeff sees them as part of the reality of entrepreneurship. Some challenges can be anticipated and managed; others arrive entirely outside a founder’s control. What matters is whether the conviction behind an idea is strong enough to survive the waiting, uncertainty, and setbacks that accompany its development.

That perspective is particularly relevant in a business environment where innovation is often celebrated for its outcomes while the years of persistence behind it receive far less attention. Jeff’s journey demonstrates that entrepreneurship is rarely linear. His path has moved through childhood ventures, construction, real estate investment and redevelopment, insurance claims, patented technology, litigation, and ultimately the creation of DUBL.

Today, he remains realistic about what lies ahead. The eventual outcome of DUBL is still uncertain, and Jeff does not pretend otherwise. In many ways, it is precisely that uncertainty, and the endless possibilities of what could be, that continues to motivate him.

His journey offers a compelling reminder that influential entrepreneurship is not only about recognizing an opportunity before others do. Sometimes, it is about continuing to believe in an idea before others can see its potential. For Jeff Scaman, that willingness to keep building through uncertainty has remained a defining thread across decades of entrepreneurship, and continues to shape the next chapter of DUBL, Inc.

• LinkedIn - Jeff Scaman

In an increasingly interconnected business world, some of the most influential leaders are those who recognise opportunity at the intersection of established industries and emerging markets. Nick Rowles-Davies has spent more than three decades operating at precisely such an intersection, bringing together law, finance, investment, and business strategy while helping shape the evolution of legal finance internationally. Today, as Founder and CEO of Dubai-headquartered Lexolent, he is taking that experience into a new chapter: building a global legal-finance network and investment platform from the Gulf.

Rowles-Davies qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1994 and entered the fields of legal expenses insurance and litigation finance in 1999. That early exposure highlighted a challenge that would become central to his career: even a strong legal claim can have limited practical value when the claimant lacks the resources to finance it effectively or manage the associated cost and risk.

Over the years, he has played a significant role in the development of litigation finance as the sector has grown in scale and sophistication. Since 2010, Rowles-Davies has held senior leadership positions across both privately held and publicly listed litigation funders. He helped launch and build Vannin Capital, led Burford Capital's operations outside the Americas, served as CEO of Chancery Capital, and became Executive Vice Chairman of Litigation Capital Management. He also served as a director of the Association of Litigation Funders of England & Wales.

His career has evolved alongside a broader transformation in the industry itself. Litigation funding has moved beyond being viewed primarily as a specialist solution for individual cases. Increasingly, businesses can use legal finance strategically, to transfer the cost and risk of disputes away from operating budgets, preserve cash, and manage portfolios of legal assets with greater financial discipline.

Rowles-Davies has contributed to the sector not only through business leadership but also through its professional literature. In 2014, Oxford University Press published his book, Third Party Litigation Funding. He is also the editor of Legal Finance Expert, an independent journal he established to cover the funding market, and the founder and author of Code on Trial, which explores disputes and regulation involving artificial intelligence, digital assets, and legal technology.

With Lexolent, these different strands of his experience come together. Headquartered in Dubai, the business combines a global origination network, an online platform, and investment capital. Its objective is to bring greater coordination to a traditionally fragmented market, where claims, funders, investors, and specialist advisers have often relied on informal and inefficient channels to find one another. Lexolent is designed to create a more structured environment for sourcing, assessing, financing, syndicating, and trading legal assets.

Dubai plays a central role in that vision. Positioned between established common-law markets and rapidly developing economies across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, the city offers a distinctive combination of international connectivity and access to private capital. Its sophisticated disputes and arbitration sector, together with the common-law framework of the DIFC Courts, further strengthens its position. Rowles-Davies sees these characteristics as giving the UAE a credible opportunity to emerge as an important global centre for investment in legal assets.

That ambition is already translating into practical activity. Lexolent's UAE-based litigation fund has successfully concluded its first investment in proceedings before the DIFC Courts. The transaction demonstrated how capital based in Dubai can support a meritorious legal claim while also generating an investment return. For Rowles-Davies, the principles of access to justice and investment discipline can work together rather than stand in opposition: when a case is carefully selected and properly structured, it has the potential to serve both objectives.

His leadership philosophy has been shaped by years of building businesses across different organisations, jurisdictions, and stages of market development. Technical expertise, while essential, represents only one part of effective leadership. Commercial discipline, clear communication, and the judgement to recognise which opportunities should not be pursued are equally important.

That perspective also informs his advice to the next generation of legal professionals: “Understand the law thoroughly, but learn about finance, technology, business and the industries in which your clients operate. Be curious, ask difficult questions and develop your own judgement.”

In 2026, Rowles-Davies is focused on expanding Lexolent's international origination network, deploying capital through its Dubai-based fund, and developing a more transparent market for primary, syndicated, and secondary investment in legal assets. His wider vision extends beyond the growth of a single company. He believes Dubai has the capital, connectivity, and legal infrastructure required not simply to participate in the global evolution of legal finance, but to help lead it.

As the Gulf continues to strengthen its position as a centre for international business, investment, and innovation, Nick Rowles-Davies represents the kind of leadership increasingly shaping the region's global influence, combining deep sector expertise with a clear understanding of where markets are heading and the conviction to build the infrastructure that can take them there.

• LinkedIn - Nick Rowles-Davies

In hospitality, influence is built far beyond impressive properties and exceptional guest experiences. It emerges from the ability to understand every layer of an operation, develop people, strengthen commercial performance, and translate strategic ambitions into standards that teams can consistently deliver. Moutaz Nazzal’s professional journey reflects precisely this kind of progression, a career developed through hands-on operational experience and steadily expanded into commercial, managerial, and executive leadership.

Today, as Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Gewan Hotels & Resorts, Moutaz contributes to the strategic direction and operational performance of a multi-property hospitality portfolio across the UAE and Egypt. His focus encompasses operational excellence, brand consistency, service standards, and guest satisfaction, bringing together years of experience across hotel operations and sales. Before assuming his current position in July 2026, he served as Group Director of Hotel Operations at Gewan Hotels & Resorts, overseeing the operational performance of six properties, including five 5-star hotels and hotel apartments and one 4-star hotel.

That responsibility placed him at the intersection of strategy and execution. His remit included financial performance and guest satisfaction while leading executive teams, optimizing standard operating procedures, enhancing service standards, and supporting owners’ strategic objectives. It is an approach that reflects one of the defining characteristics of his career: an understanding that strong hospitality performance depends on both the guest-facing experience and the systems, people, and commercial discipline supporting it.

Prior to his group leadership responsibilities, Moutaz served as Hotel General Manager for Capital Suite Hotel Apartment under the NCT&H portfolio, where his experience included the property’s pre-opening phase. This followed nearly five years with Danat Al Ain Resort, during which he progressed through several important leadership positions. He served as Assistant Director of Sales Marketing, Director of Sales Marketing, and later Executive Assistant Manager. These roles strengthened a professional perspective that bridges two essential sides of hospitality leadership, the ability to generate business and the ability to deliver effectively once that business reaches the property.

His commercial experience also includes serving as Cluster Sales Manager with Abu Dhabi National Hotels and Sales Manager with Rotana Hotel Management Corporation PJSC. At Rotana, he additionally worked as an Operations Manager, with responsibilities spanning budget forecasting, operational cost control, team training, banquet operations, workforce scheduling, service standards, and logistical coordination. This combination of sales and operations has given his career a breadth that extends beyond any single hospitality function.

Moutaz’s professional foundation was established much earlier through roles that brought him close to the everyday realities of service delivery. His career includes experience with Le Meridien Hotel and Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea, where responsibilities ranged from outlet operations and profitability to team development, quality control, customer service, inventory, marketing activities, and food and beverage management. His profile also records an earlier restaurant supervisory role associated with Four Seasons, involving employee development, operational standards, cost control, customer service, and restaurant performance.

His experience has not been limited exclusively to hotels. As Fresh Food Category Manager at Safeway in Amman, he worked across inventory control, merchandising, product mix, pricing, promotions, profitability, food safety, store programs, and sales opportunities. He also served as Operations Manager for Reetal for Events and Food Supply, identifying new markets and business opportunities while overseeing event and operational requirements. Earlier, as Food Beverage Manager at United Arab Investment, he managed day-to-day F&B operations, service quality, team recruitment and training, KPIs, budgets, sales performance, and customer requirements.

Taken together, these experiences reveal a career built from the operational floor upward rather than one confined to executive-level strategy. From managing restaurant teams and food and beverage standards to sales, marketing, hotel management, multi-property operations, and executive decision-making, Moutaz has developed an understanding of hospitality from multiple perspectives.

Alongside his professional experience, he holds a diploma in Hotel Management from Delaware City University. His profile also highlights marketing management, consumer products, and coaching among his key areas of expertise.

As Gulf hospitality continues to evolve, leaders are increasingly expected to balance premium service with operational discipline, commercial awareness, brand consistency, and capable teams. Moutaz’s journey demonstrates how experience across these interconnected areas can shape a broader approach to leadership.

His progression to Deputy Chief Executive Officer represents not simply a change in title, but the continuation of a career that has steadily expanded in scope, from individual outlets and departments to properties, clusters, portfolios, and strategic leadership. As he contributes to the next phase of Gewan Hotels & Resorts, Moutaz Nazzal stands as a compelling figure to watch among the Gulf’s influential business icons in 2026.

• LinkedIn - Moutaz Nazzal

Some careers are built around a carefully defined industry from the beginning; others emerge from a fascination that gradually becomes a professional calling. For Kelly ElAwadly, General Manager, Middle East & Africa at Caleres, that calling has always been footwear, an industry she sees at the intersection of fashion, functionality, craftsmanship, and self-expression.

Over more than 14 years in the Middle East, Kelly has transformed that passion into a career spanning merchandise planning, brand management, commercial strategy, and regional business leadership. Her journey has taken her through some of the region’s most recognized retail organizations and given her an understanding not only of brands and numbers, but also of the cultures, consumers, and relationships that ultimately shape sustainable growth.

Her professional foundation combines international business with analytical and commercial expertise. A graduate of American InterContinental University with a Bachelor’s degree in International Business, Kelly developed experience across business analysis and planning in retail and wholesale environments, working with categories ranging from footwear and clothing to fashion accessories, fine jewellery, department stores, and high-end homeware. 

Her journey in the region began with Al Tayer Group, where she spent more than eight years progressing through merchandise planning roles. Working across prominent retail accounts gave her valuable exposure to forecasting, inventory management, budgeting, consumer trends, and the delicate balance between maximizing commercial opportunities and managing risk. Her responsibilities also required close collaboration across buying, marketing, operations, commercial teams, and frontline functions, experience that would become an important foundation for her later leadership roles. 

As her career evolved, so did the breadth of her perspective. Kelly went on to gain further experience in merchandise planning before moving into brand leadership with Apparel Group, where she served as Brand Manager from 2023 until joining Caleres in 2026. Across these experiences, she continued strengthening her capabilities in brand building, commercial growth, and navigating the complexities of regional retail.

Yet one of Kelly’s most distinctive professional strengths comes from something that cannot be learned through reports or spreadsheets alone: her connection with the region itself.

Early in her Middle East journey, she made the decision to learn Arabic, not because her role required it, but because she wanted to better understand the people and cultures surrounding the markets in which she worked. Combined with more than 14 years of experience across the GCC, that effort has helped her develop deeper relationships and a more nuanced understanding of consumer behavior.

Today, Kelly leads the Middle East and Africa business for Caleres, bringing together her passion for footwear, brands, strategy, retail, and consumer connection. Caleres’ portfolio encompasses footwear brands across premium, contemporary, comfort, and lifestyle categories, including Sam Edelman, Stuart Weitzman, Naturalizer, Vionic, Allen Edmonds, Veronica Beard, and Vince.

The diversity of that portfolio mirrors the diversity of the markets Kelly oversees. Across the Middle East and Africa, there is no universal formula for success. Each market has its own consumer expectations, commercial environment, cultural nuances, and opportunities. For Kelly, effective regional leadership therefore means protecting the global DNA of a brand while ensuring that its expression remains locally relevant.

That balance has become increasingly important as consumers grow more informed, connected, and discerning. Quality alone is no longer enough; consumers also expect authenticity and experiences that genuinely resonate with their lifestyles. Understanding these subtleties and translating them into meaningful brand experiences remains one of the aspects of the industry Kelly finds most rewarding.

The wider retail environment is evolving just as rapidly. Physical and digital retail are becoming increasingly interconnected, expectations continue to rise, and brands face constant pressure to innovate without losing sight of what makes them distinctive. Rather than viewing this transformation solely as a challenge, Kelly sees significant opportunity for organizations capable of remaining agile and focused on delivering genuine consumer value.

Following the acquisition of Stuart Weitzman, she is particularly enthusiastic about opportunities to expand Caleres’ premium segment through strategic relationships with retailers that share an ambition for growth and exceptional customer experiences.

Looking ahead, Kelly’s vision for Caleres across the Middle East and Africa is centered on strengthening the presence of its brands, deepening strategic partnerships, and identifying new avenues for regional growth. She believes considerable potential remains across markets that continue to be shaped by entrepreneurial energy, changing consumer expectations, and an extraordinary pace of development.

From Al Tayer Group and Apparel Group to her current leadership role at Caleres, Kelly’s journey reflects the value of combining analytical discipline with cultural understanding, commercial instinct, and a genuine passion for the industry. More than a decade after beginning her journey in the region, the pace of change still inspires her, and her enthusiasm for footwear remains every bit as strong.

As the Middle East and Africa continue to emerge as influential markets within the global retail landscape, Kelly ElAwadly represents a leadership perspective grounded in local understanding while remaining connected to global opportunity, making her a fitting business icon to follow in 2026

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​​​​​​In technology, influence is rarely built by simply keeping pace with change. It comes from understanding where change is heading, translating complex innovations into meaningful business outcomes, and bringing people, partners, and technology together around a clear direction. C. Mert Baki has spent more than 25 years working at precisely this intersection, building a career that connects deep technical expertise with commercial leadership and an increasingly forward-looking focus on enterprise artificial intelligence.

Based in Dubai, Mert’s professional journey has taken him across the Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe, and wider international markets. His experience spans enterprise data infrastructure, data storage and protection, cybersecurity, technical sales, customer experience, channel development, strategic alliances, technology services, and business development. More recently, that journey has evolved toward Generative and Agentic AI, reflecting both the changing priorities of enterprise technology and his longstanding ability to adapt technical knowledge to new business realities.

His foundation in technology was strengthened by an academic background in Physics at Middle East Technical University. Early roles in sales and product management introduced him to the commercial side of technology before his career moved deeper into enterprise infrastructure. By 1998, he had stepped into entrepreneurship as General Manager and shareholder of Storus Data Storage and Protection Solutions A.S., gaining early experience in building and managing a technology-focused business.

The years that followed steadily expanded the scale of his responsibilities. At KoçSistem, he worked across Unix, data storage, protection, pre-sales, post-sales, and vendor relations. He then joined EMC Computer Systems, progressing from Technology Consultant to Senior Technology Consultant and ultimately Technology Consultancy Team Manager. This period strengthened a leadership approach that would become increasingly important throughout his career: combining technical credibility with an understanding of customers, teams, and commercial objectives.

That combination became particularly visible during more than nine years with IBM. Beginning as Technical Sales Leader for Central and Eastern Europe, Mert went on to hold regional and global-growth-market responsibilities from Dubai. His work included technical leadership for high-end storage, client escalation and problem resolution, competitive enablement, product enhancement requests, technical solution development, and regional team leadership. He later served as Customer Experience Leader for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, developing strategies and programs aimed at strengthening customer experience. His contributions during his IBM journey were recognized through distinctions including the IBM 100% Quota Club, IBM Manager Choice Award, IBM Global Sales School Distinctive Level Graduation, and IBM MEA Top Contributor Award 2015.

After IBM, Mert continued building his regional leadership credentials through Gulf Business Machines (GBM) and Pure Storage. At GBM, he acted as a technical lead for data storage and protection solutions, supporting regional offices and strategic customer opportunities. At Pure Storage, he oversaw distributor and partner technical performance across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Turkey, with an emphasis on partner capability, productivity, collaboration, and customer engagement.

His career subsequently broadened further into enterprise services and cybersecurity. As General Manager, Middle East Africa, Ensure Services at Redington Middle East and Africa, Mert operated within a technology services network spanning more than 26 countries and 48 support centers. He later joined Shifra as Alliance Manager, working within the cybersecurity-focused value-added distribution ecosystem across the Middle East.

Today, his attention is increasingly directed toward one of enterprise technology’s most consequential developments: Agentic AI. As a Senior Consultant at Exelixi AI, Mert advises within an environment focused on AI-driven automation and enterprise solutions. Exelixi’s portfolio applies AI across areas including computer vision, financial services, governance and compliance, enterprise intelligence, trade reconciliation, document management, and education. For Mert, this represents a natural evolution of a career spent helping organizations understand, adopt, and derive value from complex technologies.

What distinguishes his professional journey is the breadth of perspective accumulated along the way. He has worked with clients, distributors, technology partners, vendors, and cross-functional teams while engaging across international markets. His experience covers technical sales and architecture as much as business development, partnerships, product strategy, customer experience, revenue growth, and P&L responsibility. His profile reflects regional leadership exposure encompassing more than 140 countries and eight sub-regions across major technology vendors.

Underlying this breadth is a practical philosophy of ownership: understanding what needs to be done and taking responsibility for making it happen. Equally important is his ability to translate technical value propositions into business propositions, allowing conversations about infrastructure, cybersecurity, data, or AI to remain connected to the outcomes organizations are ultimately trying to achieve.

As Gulf businesses accelerate investment in AI, data infrastructure, cybersecurity, and digital transformation, leaders capable of connecting technological possibility with commercial reality will have an increasingly important role to play. C. Mert Baki’s journey across enterprise technology, regional leadership, partnerships, and emerging AI reflects that intersection, making his evolving contribution particularly relevant to the Gulf’s next chapter of technology-driven growth.

• LinkedIn - C. Mert Baki 

Behind every high-performing organization is an operational ecosystem that rarely receives the spotlight but ultimately determines how effectively a business delivers on its promises. From financial discipline and customer experience to technology, sustainability, safety, and people management, operational leadership requires the ability to connect multiple moving parts with one clear strategic direction. Over more than two decades, Rekha Harikumar has built her career around precisely this challenge, evolving into a seasoned facilities and operations leader whose experience spans some of the UAE’s most complex commercial, residential, and entertainment environments.

Today, as Chief Operating Officer at Rons Enviro Care LLC, Rekha provides strategic and operational leadership across Facilities Management, Specialized Cleaning, HVAC manufacturing and projects, and Marine & Diving operations. Her role goes beyond overseeing day-to-day performance. She translates corporate vision into executable operational strategies, establishing KPIs, governance frameworks, and performance dashboards while strengthening the systems required to support sustainable business growth. Her approach has contributed to a 20% improvement in operational efficiency through process optimization, SOP standardization, and synergies across divisions. She also manages annual operating budgets exceeding AED 60 million, with a strong focus on cost control and margin improvement.

What distinguishes Rekha’s professional journey is the scale and diversity of the environments she has managed. Across her career, she has developed expertise in integrated facilities management, strategic planning, financial management, asset lifecycle management, project execution, technology implementation, energy management, sustainability, risk management, regulatory compliance, vendor management, and quality control. Over the past decade alone, she has overseen facilities-management budgets exceeding AED 600 million and supported facilities serving millions of visitors annually.

Before assuming her current position, Rekha served as Director – Operation & Facilities Management at Rons Facilities Management, where she reported to the CEO and led operations and maintenance across Facilities Management, Retrofits, and Specialized Cleaning. With responsibility extending to operational strategy, system implementation, and P&L, the role further strengthened her transition from facilities-management specialist to broader business and operational leadership.

A defining chapter in Rekha’s career was her eight-year tenure with Global Village, Dubai, where she served as Senior Manager – Facilities. Operating a destination spanning approximately 1.6 million square metres and welcoming around nine million visitors every season required far more than conventional facilities oversight. Rekha led the implementation of facilities-management systems while working within an environment where safety, reliability, service quality, and visitor experience had to operate seamlessly at extraordinary scale. Her profile records a 9/10 customer satisfaction result for Facilities and NPS, reflecting the service-focused dimension of her operational leadership.

Her experience across the UAE also includes leadership roles with Idama Facilities Management Solutions, including Senior Manager – Facilities at DIFC. Within the approximately five-million-square-foot development, she coordinated with multiple stakeholders, managed client relationships and governance requirements, and monitored KPIs for both Idama and subcontractors. Earlier, as Manager Client Relations, she worked with residential communities such as Layan, comprising more than 550 villas, where her responsibilities encompassed operational service excellence, total quality management, efficient processes, energy management, and sustainable operating solutions.

Rekha’s foundations in large-scale service management were further strengthened at MAF Dalkia Middle East, where she managed contracts and soft-service operations across approximately 81 du sites, encompassing commercial buildings, retail locations, technical core facilities, and POP sites. These varied assignments helped shape an understanding of facilities management not merely as maintenance, but as an integral business function capable of influencing efficiency, stakeholder confidence, customer experience, and long-term asset performance.

Supporting this extensive practical experience is a multidisciplinary academic and professional foundation. Rekha holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram, along with an MBA in Operation Management from the University of Atlanta. Her professional credentials include Certified Facility Manager (CFM), Project Management Professional (PMP), and the NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety. Her certification portfolio further encompasses Lead Auditor credentials in Asset Management System – ISO 55001, Quality Management System – ISO 9001, Environmental Management System – ISO 14001, and OH&S Management System – ISO 45001, along with Facilities Management – ISO 41001. She has also completed certification in HVAC System Design, further enhancing her technical acumen and complementing her extensive operational and facilities-management expertise.

At the heart of Rekha’s leadership philosophy is an emphasis on people, accountability, resilience, and continuous improvement. She leads multidisciplinary and cross-functional teams while building long-term stakeholder relationships and reinforcing HSE, risk-management, and business-continuity frameworks. Her structured yet agile approach demonstrates how operational excellence can become a strategic business advantage rather than simply a supporting function.

As Gulf businesses continue to embrace technology, sustainability, sophisticated asset management, and increasingly demanding customer expectations, leaders capable of translating strategy into reliable execution will remain central to their success. Rekha Harikumar’s journey, from managing diverse facilities and communities to steering complex, multi-division operations, reflects the experience, adaptability, and performance-driven leadership that make her a fitting name among Gulf’s Influential Business Icons to Follow in 2026.

• LinkedIn - Rekha Harikumar 

Some leaders are drawn to titles. Ankit Tanna is drawn to the moment when something he built starts running without him. Across nearly two decades in eCommerce and omnichannel retail, spanning India, the United Kingdom, and the GCC, that instinct has shaped a career defined less by the roles he has held than by the digital businesses, teams, and systems he has built from the ground up.

Today, as Group Head of Digital at Geekay Group, one of the region’s leading destinations for gaming, electronics, and collectibles, operating across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, Ankit leads digital transformation across the group. His mandate is deliberately broad, encompassing eCommerce, customer service, loyalty and CRM, digital marketing, and the end-to-end modernization of how a traditional, multi-market retailer serves its customers online and in-store.

His route there has been anything but linear. Ankit began as an entrepreneur in India, building gaming cafés and a gaming-retail business at a time when both were relatively novel bets. He went on to co-found ventures as varied as a security and home-automation company and one of India’s first fully vegan boutique salons. That founder’s mindset, comfortable with ambiguity and resistant to the status quo, became the through-line of everything that followed.

The corporate chapters of his career gave that instinct greater scale. Over six years at Reliance Brands, he built and led eCommerce for a portfolio of global names, including Hamleys, Diesel, Pottery Barn, West Elm, and Ajio Luxe. The experience taught him how to translate iconic international brands into digital experiences for a fast-evolving consumer. He later led eCommerce and omnichannel for Sacoor Brothers across the GCC before taking on his current group-wide remit at Geekay.

Through these experiences, Ankit has learned that the hardest work in digital transformation is seldom the technology itself. More often, it is the human and organizational challenge of change: aligning teams that have operated in a particular way for years, earning trust across markets with different customers and expectations, and building the often-unseen operational backbone, data, fulfilment, service, loyalty, and content, on which a great digital experience actually depends.

Transforming legacy retail, he believes, is less about launching a flashy storefront and more about rewiring how an entire business thinks. Doing that across six countries, several companies, and multiple categories simultaneously is a test of patience as much as strategy. Progress comes from sequencing the right battles, proving value in one place, and allowing that evidence to carry the rest of the organization forward.

His achievements reflect this philosophy. Time and again, Ankit has established eCommerce and omnichannel capabilities where little existed before, while building digital functions designed to outlast his own tenure. For him, that is perhaps the truest measure of whether meaningful value has been created. It is the instinct of a leader who, at heart, still simply likes to build.

That same philosophy shapes the advice he offers to aspiring professionals. “Titles and revenue are outcomes, not goals,” he says. “Build something with your full effort, obsess over the customer and design it so that one day it can run without you, that’s when you know you’ve actually created something that matters.”

He encourages young professionals to choose autonomy over prestige, to recognize operational detail as a source of genuine competitive advantage rather than a chore to be delegated away, and to measure themselves by what they leave behind rather than what they hold today. He also emphasizes the importance of staying active, whether through outdoor activities, sports, gaming, or workouts, as a way to keep the creative juices flowing.

In a region racing to define the future of retail, Ankit Tanna represents a quieter, more durable kind of leadership, one focused not simply on being seen, but on building things that last. His journey across entrepreneurship, global brands, omnichannel retail, and digital transformation reflects an approach grounded in customer focus, operational depth, and long-term value creation. As the Gulf continues to accelerate its digital evolution, it is this builder’s mindset, the ability to create systems, empower teams, and leave behind capabilities that can thrive independently, that makes Ankit a fitting presence among Gulf’s Influential Business Icons to Follow in 2026.

• LinkedIn - Ankit Tanna 

Influence in business is rarely the result of one defining achievement. More often, it is built over time, through the decisions made during uncertainty, the willingness to keep learning, the ability to recognize opportunity in changing markets, and the discipline to turn experience into meaningful progress.

The journeys of Neha Khan, Catalina Oñate, Archana Merchant, C. Mert Baki, Lynne Regenass, Jeff Scaman, Nick Rowles-Davies, Moutaz Nazzal, Kelly ElAwadly, CA Sankaranarayanan Sathiavageeswaran, Rekha Harikumar, and Ankit Tanna reflect this in remarkably different ways. Their paths demonstrate that leadership can emerge through reinvention and entrepreneurship, deep specialization and operational expertise, technological transformation, international experience, or the persistent work of building organizations, teams, systems, and opportunities that can continue creating value.

As the Gulf strengthens its connections with global markets while embracing new technologies, industries, and business models, the region will continue to create space for leaders capable of combining experience with adaptability and ambition with execution. The twelve individuals featured in Gulf’s Influential Business Icons to Follow in 2026 offer distinct perspectives on what that evolution can look like. Their stories are not simply reflections on how far they have come, but glimpses into what they are continuing to build, and why their next chapters will be worth following. 

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