GRAND REVEAL OF ATLANTIS, THE ROYAL

The new iconic landmark of Dubai, Atlantis The Royal welcomes guests to an experience that will redefine their perspective of luxury. Crafted by the world’s leading designers, architects and artists, this is a destination where everything has been designed to challenge imagination. Atlantis The Royal ignites with a collection of 795 elegant rooms, suites and signature penthouses with 44 of them having private infinity pools. The red-carpet reveal featured global A-listers including Beyoncé, Kendall Jenner, Liam Payne, Rebel Wilson, Ellen Pompeo Winston Dukes and Letitia Wright. Stars from around the world also gathered including Germany’s Verona Pooth, British TV presenter Mark Wright with wife Michelle Keegan, former Australian Masterchef judge and chef Gary Mehigan, as well as former champion boxer Amir Khan. Dubai faces Huda and Mona Kattan and Mahira Abdelaziz joined Bollywood stars Sibani Dandekar and Farhah Khan on the carpet that brought together celebrities from the four corners of the globe. Eight years in the making, Atlantis The Royal has been designed to reshape what ultra-luxury travel means.

Mashreq appoints Aziz Ata as Global Head of Financial Institutions and NBFI

Mashreq, one of the leading financial institutions in the UAE, has appointed Aziz Ata as its new Global Head of FI and NBFI. Aziz’s responsibilities involve overseeing Mashreq’s FI and NBFI segments worldwide, developing and implementing the business plan for the division, providing senior leadership for key client relationships, and managing regulatory, industry, and obligor risks across the portfolio.

Aziz is a trusted senior banking executive with a proven track record of delivering consistent revenue growth. He has had a variety of roles at HSBC including Regional Head of Debt Capital Markets, MENA and Regional Head of the Debt Financing and Liability Solutions platform.

Luxury fashion and lifestyle mobile game, DREST appoints Henri Holm as CFO

DREST, the company behind the world’s first luxury fashion and lifestyle mobile game announces gaming, tech and Web3 authority Henri Holm as its new CFO, as the company prepares for its next phase of worldwide expansion.

Holm has 20 years of international experience in the games industry, having worked with privately funded, venture capital-funded, and publicly listed companies, driving finance, business development and digital strategy creation. Holm brings a wealth of knowledge in scaling up multinational firms such as Fandom Sports Media, Nokia Greater China and Rovio Entertainment, where he oversaw the development of the Angry Birds franchise across Asia.

Carl-Peter Forster, previous board member of Volvo Cars, joins StoreDot as Chairman

StoreDot, the pioneer of extreme fast charging battery technology for electric vehicles, announced the appointment of global automotive industry leader CarlPeter Forster as Chairman. This key appointment, effective immediately, signals yet another step in StoreDot’s global expansion and even closer ties with the global automotive industry, as it remains firmly on track for the mass production readiness of its game-changing ‘100in5′ extreme fast charging cells by 2024.

Mashreq hires Radu Topliceanu to grow digital bank Neo and Personal Banking

Mashreq, has appointed Radu Topliceanu as its new Head of Neo and Personal Banking. In this role, he will help Mashreq grow its award-winning customercentric digital bank Neo as well as its Personal Banking Division.

Radu’s responsibilities include developing innovative digital banking propositions, designing customer journeys to deliver superior customer experience, driving customer acquisition, revenue, and profitability, and building synergies with external stakeholders in the digital ecosystem to support Mashreq’s expansion plans. During his over two decades of retail banking experience, Radu has established himself as a digital banking pioneer, using comprehensive expertise in segment and product management to spearhead multiple successful business model transformations.

Etihad Airways appoints Arik De as Chief Revenue Officer responsible for revenue, e-commerce

Etihad Airways announced the appointment of Arik De as its Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing a new organisational division focused on revenue. Since April 2022, De has served as Vice President of Revenue and Commerce at Etihad Airways, responsible for revenue management and e-commerce.

Having started his career over 20 years ago in finance at the International Monetary Fund, De has spent the last 15 years working within the aviation industry. He has previously held leading positions at WestJet, Air Asia, Aeroméxico, and most recently, TAP Air Portugal, where he was the Chief Revenue and Network Officer.

Former President of Walt Disney Imagineering Bob Weis joins Gensler as Immersive Leader

Gensler, the global architecture, design, and planning firm, announced today that former President of Walt Disney Imagineering, Bob Weis, is joining the firm as Global Immersive Experience Design Leader. A visionary within the entertainment industry, Weis brings to Gensler more than 30 years of leadership, creating, designing and developing some of Disney’s most iconic projects around the globe. During his time at Disney, Weis led more than 200 major projects around the world with a capital value of more than $30 billion. From the U.S. to Shanghai, Tokyo to Paris, Weis’ design and innovation imprint has been indelibly left on theme parks, attractions and rides, resorts, and cruise ships. He has also consulted with major clients including Smithsonian, National Geographic, NASA, and the United States Navy, among others. Bob has received numerous industry accolades and awards and remains closely connected to his Disney roots.

Lee Blakemore moves from Anthology to Introhive as Chief Executive Officer

Introhive, the world’s leading Customer Intelligence Platform, announced that Lee Blakemore has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer. Blakemore brings over 30 years of software and sales experience to lead Introhive through its next phase of growth, with a focus on customer growth and product research and development.

Lee has a proven track record of success and deep expertise in scaling software businesses to a global audience. Throughout his career, he has led go-to-market, operations, customer support, and international operations at leading global enterprise software companies. He is a seasoned technology leader who leads business transformations to drive growth.

Nadine Chakar moves from State Street Digital to join Securrency as CEO

Securrency, developer of institutional-grade, blockchain-based financial and regulatory technology, announced that Nadine Chakar will join the company and assume the role of Chief Executive Officer. Chakar’s leadership will combine her deep financial services, technology, and market experience with Securrency’s ground-breaking technology to deploy market-leading solutions on a global scale.

She has been recognized as one of the most powerful women in finance and is a vocal champion for using technology to revolutionize financial services. Chakar brings over 30 years of experience in global wealth and asset management to Securrency.

Luke D’Arcy appointed Executive Vice President of Business Development at Spiro

Spiro, the brand experience agency within the GES collective, announced appointment of Luke D’Arcy as Global Executive Vice President of Business Development. In his new role, D’Arcy will direct and oversee the efforts of the experiential marketing agency’s growing worldwide team and work in close conjunction with today’s top brands to deliver dynamic, impactful experiences for audiences.

D’Arcy brings more than 20 years of brand experience to the Spiro table, most recently holding numerous executive roles at Momentum Worldwide, where he helped develop and propel experiential marketing initiatives for the likes of American Express, Coca-Cola, Nike and Samsung, among other major names. A Harvard Business School alumnus, D’Arcy also honed his skills at lauded global advertising agencies Havas Creative and Iris and served as partnership director during the launch of Sir Richard Branson’s United Kingdom-based Formula 1 Virgin Racing team.

Bentley Systems elevates Brock Ballard to Chief Revenue Officer, Eric Boyer joins Investor Relations

Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software company, announced that Brock Ballard, previously vice president and regional executive, Americas, has been promoted to the role of Chief Revenue Officer, and that Eric Boyer has joined as Investor Relations Officer. Ballard succeeds newly retired Gus Bergsma who joined with Bentley Systems’ acquisition of RAM International in 2005.

Boyer brings over 20 years of experience in investor relations and equity research, a deep knowledge of capital markets, and a strong network of relationships. During his tenure as senior vice president and head of investor relations at IHS Markit Ltd., which was a global information services leader, its market capitalization increased from $8 billion to $44 billion.

Dr Sarah Trice joins AI powered XtalPi as COO US operations based in Greater Boston

XtalPi, a pioneering pharmaceutical technology company powered by artificial intelligence and automation, announced that Dr Sarah Trice has joined the company as chief operating officer of US operations. Dr Trice will report directly to XtalPi CEO Dr Jian Ma, leading the company’s growth strategy and corporate operations in the U.S. and European markets.

Dr Trice has spent over 17 years building a celebrated career across the life science and pharmaceutical sectors. Prior to joining XtalPi, Dr Trice co-founded Entos, Inc., an AI-driven biotechnology company, where she oversaw all day-today operations and directed external business activities as the COO.

Sarah Otten joins global pharma Medison as VP, GM of Americas region

Medison Pharma, a global pharma company focused on providing access to highly innovative therapies to patients in international markets, is proud to announce the joining of Sarah Otten, in the role of VP, GM of Medison’s Americas Region.

For the past 3 years, Sarah has held the position of VP Global Market Access and Commercial Strategy for Apellis Pharmaceuticals. Before that, she spent 9 years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals holding senior roles in Commercial and Corporate Compliance, including Executive Director Global Geographic Expansion and Head of Latin America, and an additional 12 years at Pfizer, where she held numerous roles in sales operations and market access.

Ecolog International, a global provider of integrated services and logistics solutions for life support, supply chain, energy and healthcare industries, announced appointment of Juan Chaparro as Executive Chairman of the Board.

With over 30 years’ experience as an executive in supply chain management, procurement and sourcing, having worked for globally recognized companies such as Zara, Esprit and Primark, Chaparro brings a wealth of expertise in complex logistics management in fast-paced environments as well as the B2C focus. This aligns with Ecolog’s vision and growth strategy and makes him a valuable addition to the leadership team.

Chaparro’s appointment comes at a pivotal time as Ecolog progresses with expanding its service offering into customized healthcare solutions, clean water and renewable energy as well as sustainable food technologies. With projects in both emerging and established markets catering to various institutional clients, Ecolog is set to leverage its scale and footprint to also provide direct services to consumers.

DH Park moves from Hyundai Motor India to Head Middle East and Africa Regional HQ

Hyundai Motor Company announced appointment of DH Park as its new Head of Hyundai Motor Company Middle East and Africa Regional HQ. With HMC, Park has assumed his duties at the regional headquarters in Dubai as of this week. He is to oversee operations across the Middle East Africa region.

During his career at HMC, Park has worked in nearly every role related to Marketing and Sales and has extensive work experience in numerous countries across Canada and Australia, as well as Spain where he served as President of Hyundai Motor in the country.

Later, he went back to Hyundai HQ as the Head of the Asia and MEA Group. Park’s previous position was at Hyundai Motor in India where he was the Executive Director of Sales, Marketing, and Services. Park brings over 27 years of automobile experience with global leadership roles in various positions at Hyundai Motor Company.