Head of IT & Digital | CFO-Facing Technology Executive
Driving enterprise transformation with board-level clarity across complex, regulated environments — from ERP cutovers and cyber resilience to AI adoption at scale.
Career & Ecosystem
With 20+ years across enterprise platforms, cybersecurity, and regulated environments, I currently lead the end-to-end technology agenda at CYVN Holdings in Abu Dhabi — an investment group with ecosystem partners including McLaren and NIO — reporting directly to the CFO and managing a ~AED 2M annual IT budget.
My delivery record is concrete: a D365 F&O ERP go-live on January 1, 2025; a bank integration that eliminated ~97% of manual payment handling; and an AI adoption programme with 28% productivity gains — all underpinned by ICFR-aligned controls that hold up under audit.
My domain spans Microsoft cloud (Azure, M365, Dynamics 365), Zero Trust security, and UAE regulatory compliance. My focus now is the next level: shaping IT as a strategic growth enabler across complex, multi-entity organisations — not just running it well.
Business language first. Every initiative I sponsor starts with a board-level question — what risk are we reducing, what capability are we unlocking, what return are we generating — and works backwards into architecture. IT earns its seat at the table by speaking the language of the business, not the other way around.
Security as foundation, not afterthought. I operate from a Zero Trust-first mindset — assume breach, verify continuously, segment ruthlessly. This is not theoretical posturing; it is how I design every environment, from identity governance to endpoint management.
Financial discipline in every IT decision. Technology spend demands the same rigour as any other capital allocation. Every IT investment gets a risk register, a phased ROI model, and clear exit criteria. The CFO should never have to ask what IT is doing — reporting, KPIs, and business cases are built into the operating cadence.
AI with guardrails. Deploy where measurable productivity gains exist, protect data sovereignty, and never let adoption outpace the control framework. AI without governance is a liability. AI with governance is a competitive advantage.
Operating models over project legacies. The measure of a good technology leader is not whether the ERP went live — it is whether the governance, service discipline, and team capability persist long after the project closes.
CYVN Holdings · Abu Dhabi, UAE
Reporting directly to the CFO, leading CYVN's end-to-end technology agenda — enterprise transformation, cyber resilience, and scalable governance for a high-expectation investment group with ecosystem partners including McLaren and NIO. Architected a modern IT operating model balancing speed with control: delivering business-critical platforms (ERP, collaboration, security, data governance) while strengthening audit readiness and risk management. Manages a ~AED 2M annual IT budget with disciplined CapEx/OpEx allocation.
MAPYR · Dubai, UAE
Reporting to CEO of a fast-growing SMB, led full digital transformation of the company's IT landscape — ERP & BI, information management, collaboration, telecoms, networks, and information security. Managed a $250K budget and developed a 3-year IT roadmap. Led D365 F&O migration roadmap, D365 CRM and B2B customer portal implementation, and end-to-end IT setup for two greenfield warehouses including AI/ML productivity initiatives and 3PL integration.
Polarcus · Dubai, UAE
Managed IT service delivery for 500+ users across UK, Singapore, US, Norway, UAE offices and eight offshore seismic vessels. Owned ITIL-compliant service desk processes, escalation, and out-of-hours emergency support. Environment spanned Palo Alto, Meraki, Hyper-V/ESXi, O365, Darktrace, VSAT/Inmarsat/Iridium, and Alcatel PBX. Reduced vulnerabilities by 60% onshore and 87% offshore within six months through improved patch management.
ACIS Information Technology & Lukoil International Services · Dubai, UAE
At ACIS (2016–2019): Reported to CEO, managed a team of 20 experts and delivered 10 end-to-end IT projects for hospitality, government, and private sector clients including Rotana (35 hotels) and Mövenpick. At Lukoil (2015–2016): VIP helpdesk and mobile systems engineer supporting 1,000+ users across UAE and abroad. Recipient of multiple letters of appreciation for outstanding performance and initiative.
Specialisation: Data Transmission and Processing
[University · City]
Advanced postgraduate studies covering network architectures, data transmission protocols, signal processing, and distributed systems — with a focus on high-throughput data environments and enterprise communication infrastructure.
Where I'm investing my thinking and energy right now.
Designing enterprise AI governance that balances rapid adoption with data sovereignty, regulatory compliance, and measurable ROI - ensuring AI is a controlled strategic asset, not an unmanaged risk.
Moving beyond perimeter security into identity-centric, continuously verified architectures across multi-cloud, hybrid, and edge environments - with practical implementation playbooks for mid-market organisations.
Codifying the playbook for building IT functions from zero in new ventures and holding structures - governance, service design, vendor strategy, and team architecture that scale from day one.
Executed the full enterprise rollout of Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations on schedule - stabilising finance operations, reducing month-end friction, and establishing structured IT controls that strengthened audit readiness.
Strategic Impact: Unified the group's financial data backbone, enabling real-time reporting to the board and eliminating fragmented spreadsheet-driven processes that carried material audit risk.
Spearheaded H2H bank integration enabling fully automated payments - reducing manual payment handling by ~97%, and strengthening financial control, traceability, and audit readiness across the group.
Strategic Impact: Eliminated a key financial control gap and enabled straight-through processing, reducing audit exposure and giving the CFO end-to-end payment traceability from approval to bank settlement.
Launched Microsoft Copilot, Security Copilot, and D365 AI capabilities backed by an AI governance and data-protection framework - delivering 28% productivity gains in targeted roles and 30–50% faster security triage.
Strategic Impact: Positioned the organisation as an early AI adopter with measurable ROI, while establishing the governance guardrails that protect data sovereignty and satisfy board-level risk appetite.
Built a formal IT operating model and service desk governance from the ground up - creating predictable execution across incidents and changes, reducing resolution cycle by ~35%, and raising endpoint management to 100% managed coverage.
Strategic Impact: Transformed IT from ad-hoc support into a governed function with SLAs, KPIs, and executive reporting - the operational foundation required before any enterprise-scale transformation can succeed.
Open to executive technology leadership discussions, board advisory conversations, and strategic consulting engagements.