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Point of View Middle East - Deloitte
Middle East

Point of View
Published by Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) and distributed to thought leaders across the region | Summer 2019

Revolution                          Evolution                           Revolution                         Evolution
Mobile phones in your               Automating audit                    Millennial 4.0                     Family businesses and
pocket                                                                                                     new tech

R/Evolution
Point of View Middle East - Deloitte
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 |

Summer 2019
Middle East Point of View
Published by Deloitte & Touche (M.E.)

www.deloitte.com/middleeast
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Point of View Middle East - Deloitte
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Editorial

A word from the
editorial team
For all you know, the words you are             thinking about education as a result of          Who says technology says Big Data. On
reading have been generated by a robot.         the rapid move towards the fourth                this subject, Bhavesh Morar et al., write
Or not. Could you really tell the               industrial revolution has prompted key           that: “Gulf countries benefit from unique
difference?                                     regional governments to embark on                strengths to be able to unlock
                                                education reform that holistically               opportunities offered by Big Data such as
With the opening of Ai-Da’s first solo art      addresses their challenges in improving          the availability of an efficient legislative
exhibition in June in Oxford, England, new      the quality of education to meet the             system, strong leadership commitment,
boundaries have just been breached in           increasing labor demands of the digital          and a state-of-the-art technology and
the world of Ai. You see, despite Ai-Da’s       world and beyond” they say.                      infrastructure foundation” in their article
cascading brown hair and tinted lips, she                                                        Big Data in the GCC: from strategy to
is in fact, a robot. The first to be able to    It is not only the education sector in the       global leadership.
draw and paint from sight using her             region that is having to embrace
camera/eyes. The exhibition is aptly titled     technology. Faiq Khalid, in his article …In      In all this turmoil, it is perhaps easy to
Unsecured Futures.                              with the new says: “People want to carry         feel dazed and confused, easy to miss
                                                out most of their mundane daily chores           our sense of purpose. Not an issue that
It has long been perceived that artists         on their mobile phone […]” As such,              millennials seem to be contending with.
and social scientists would be immune to        “embracing technology is no longer a             Tahani Sinjab, in her article Millennial 4.0:
the Artificial Intelligence takeover. Human     choice for a successful business, it is a        Gearing up for retention, describes
creativity was thought to surpass any           requirement […]” and that this is                millennials as “exponential professionals”
algorithm possible. The human brain             particularly true for family offices in the      who are disrupting much of what the
could reach creative horizons that no           Middle East.                                     Baby Boomers have established.
robot, or robot creator, could possibly
hope to match. But now it may seem the          But could that same mobile phone be The          Too overwhelming? Then perhaps a day
opposite is true. As every struggling artist    Black Mirror in your pocket? That is what        at the CFO Transition LabTM may be in
desperate to get showcased watches with         Nick Athanasi and Boray Altunisler ask in        order. Robert O’Hanlon and Bronwyn
envy as Ai-Da’s exhibition is mounted—          their article about the unique                   Millar recount the one-day learning
not to mention Sophia, the first robot to       opportunities and challenges associated          experience that focuses on the three
be granted Saudi citizenship—it may             with mobile devices in investigations and        most important resources CFOs should
even seem advantageous to be a robot in         legal matters. “The information that the         consider managing during their
a still very human world.                       average user sees and interacts with on          transitions, namely time, talent and
                                                their mobile phone,” they write, “is only a      relationships.
Yet, despite what has often been                portion of the vast data their device truly
depicted in sci-fi movies, we will not be       holds. In truth, the data on smartphones         So, as you can see, it starts with
descended upon by robots. The robots of         is rich and granular enough to build             education, and ends in learning.
the future will be us. Or rather our            profiles of intimate detail about their          Knowledge. While robots may be able to
descendants and their descendants. The          users.”                                          store more of it, we still need a human to
changes will be so incremental that we                                                           make sense of it. Case in point, Ai-Da may
will hardly notice them. A heart pacer          You have been warned. But that is only           be the artist but the exhibition still had to
here, an artificial valve there, titanium       one side of the story. When not in system        be curated by a human.
legs, we will morph into cyborgs ever so        breakdown mode, technology is
gently. There will be no Robot Revolution       synonymous with speed and efficiency             We truly hope you enjoy reading this
but rather, a Robot Evolution.                  and this is particularly true in the audit       issue of the Middle East Point of View,
                                                world. In Automating audit: The evolving         entirely written and edited by humans,
It’s all a matter of acclimation. And as        role of auditors, Angelito Catacutan and         we promise.
everything in life, it starts with education.   Fadi Ghawi state that: “Auditors need to
In the first article in this issue – From       invest in understanding the value of new         ME POV editorial team
fragility to antifragility – Ziad Zakaria and   technologies and the skillsets now
Elham Barghouty dissect the education           needed to deliver a new generation of
sector in the region. “The shift in our         audit.”

                                                                                                                                             03
Point of View Middle East - Deloitte
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Contents

Contents

                                                                  06
                                                                  Big Data in the GCC
                                                                  From strategy to global
                                                                  leadership
                                                                  Bhavesh Morar, Maher Kilani,
                                                                  Jean Louis Prevost and
                                                                  Kristian Meyer

                                                                  32
                                                                  Millennial 4.0: Gearing up
                                                                  for retention
                                                                  Tahani Sinjab

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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Contents

14                              18                                24                                 28
…In with the new.               From fragility to antifragility   The Black Mirror in your           The CFO’s journey
How are Middle Eastern family   Change management and             pocket?                            My experience at the CFO
businesses embracing new        communication in the Middle       Unique opportunities and           Transition LabTM
technologies?                   East education sector             challenges associated with         Rob O’Hanlon and
Faiq Khalid                     Ziad Zakaria and Elham            mobile devices in investigations   Bronwyn Millar
                                Barghouty                         and legal matters
                                                                  Nick Athanasi and Boray
                                                                  Altunisler

40
Automating audit: The
evolving role of auditors
Angelito Catacutan and
Fadi Ghawi

                                                                                                                                    05
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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Big Data

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Point of View Middle East - Deloitte
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Big Data

Big Data
in the GCC
From strategy to global
leadership
                                                                     07
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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Big Data

Gulf countries benefit
                                                B
                                                          ig Data has become a hot topic           Where does the GCC stand?
                                                          in the last decade with many             GCC governments have recognized the
from unique strengths                                     countries looking to acquire a           power of Big Data to drive economic
to be able to unlock                             competitive edge in this new industry.            growth, enhance decision-making and
                                                 This disruptive technology offers                 create competitive advantages in both,
opportunities offered by                         numerous opportunities for governments            the public and private sectors. They have
Big Data such as the                             across the world: it can help enhance             defined detailed plans to launch their Big

availability of an efficient                     decision-making, improve service delivery
                                                 and also support the growth of a
                                                                                                   Data transformation journeys. As such,
                                                                                                   GCC countries have reached different
legislative system, strong                       multi-billion dollar industry. A                  stages in their roadmap and have further
leadership commitment,                           MarketsandMarkets study predicts that             milestones to reach when compared to
                                                 the market will be worth US$67 billion by         global standards.
and a state-of-the-art                           2021, growing at a compounded annual
technology and                                   growth rate (CAGR) of 18.45 percent.1             An investigation of the current state of
                                                 Countries such as the UK, the United              GCC governments’ efforts towards
infrastructure                                   States and Australia have already                 unlocking the potential of Big Data
foundation.                                      displayed tangible progress in the                unveils four areas of progress across
                                                 implementation of their own Big Data              the region:
                                                 initiatives, allowing them to achieve
                                                 concrete benefits.

                                                 From a regional standpoint, GCC                   • Strategy
                                                 governments have set ambitious plans                Substantial efforts have been
                                                 to position themselves at the forefront             undertaken to define tactical directions
                                                 of this digital revolution. Most GCC                and build comprehensive Big Data
                                                 countries have recognized the                       strategies and programs. Each of these
                                                 importance of this disrupting technology            countries approached it differently:
                                                 and have designed forward-looking                   Dubai’s Smart City Strategy, Qatar Smart
                                                 strategies (e.g., UAE Smart Data Strategy,          Program (TASMU), Bahrain Open Data
                                                 Tasmu Qatar, KSA Strategy, Smart Dubai)             and KSA Open and Big Data strategies,
                                                 to unlock the possibilities offered by Big          are some examples. The anticipation of
                                                 Data. To date, some of these countries              Big Data becoming a powerful lever in
                                                 remain in the strategizing phase and are            achieving national visions has driven
                                                 working on developing concrete                      the GCC countries to place it as a
                                                 applications.                                       priority on their agendas.

                                                 Gulf countries benefit from unique
                                                 strengths to be able to unlock
                                                 opportunities offered by Big Data such            • Technology/Data Standards
                                                 as the availability of an efficient legislative     In order to derive insights from Big
                                                 system, strong leadership commitment,               Data, the necessary technology
                                                 and a state-of-the-art technology and               architecture and analytic capabilities are
                                                 infrastructure foundation. Therefore, it            being implemented to facilitate usage.
                                                 is critical for GCC countries to quickly            However, across the region, few
                                                 progress from the planning phase in                 governments have launched programs
                                                 order to start implementing the key                 to develop data registries, standards
                                                 foundations required to enable Big Data             and classifications to enhance data
                                                 applications at a government level.                 availability and quality. A large portion
                                                                                                     of the region's data quality has

8
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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Big Data

 inconsistencies and limited metadata          these data protection laws is the Qatari             efforts are also seen in the UAE with the
 and even remains in a non-digital             law N13 of 2016. The law aims at                     Dubai Open Data Law, and in Saudi
 format, hindering the ability to extract      protecting consumers in an increasingly              Arabia where new data protection laws
 valuable insights.                            threatening online environment and                   are expected to be implemented in the
                                               ensure that they have confidence in                  near future.
                                               their personal data protection. Similar

• Human capital                               Big Data initiatives in GCC countries
  GCC governments have identified the
  need to prepare the current and future           Bahrain                                                     Qatar
  generation to handle Big Data by                    • Bahrain is implementing its                              • Qatar launched the TASMU
  building data specialist capabilities,                Open Data strategy for the                                 program which aims to
  training government employees and                     kingdom. The strategy aims at                              position the country as a
                                                        encouraging and enabling the                               leader in the area of smart
  revising existing educational curricula.
                                                        use of public data to push the                             city technology and ICT
  In the government sector, one of these                development of society and
  initiatives resulted in equipping civil               economy as a whole                                         • A Platform of Platform is
  servants with the ability to use data to                                                                           being built that will be
                                                                                                                     connected to specific
  provide better quality and more efficient
                                                                                                                     sectorial platforms and will
  services. For example, Smart Dubai has                                                                             collect data of each relevant
  recently partnered with the private                                                                                entity
  sector to build Data Lab to push data
  science skills in Dubai, improve
  collaboration within the data science
  community and uncover opportunities
  to boost the data ecosystem. However,            Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
                                                      • Saudi Arabia has just initiated a                   United Arab Emirates
  a limited pool of data science talent in
                                                        new ambitious Big Data                                 • The Smart Data strategy built
  the region is making government                       strategy                                                 on key national policies to
  transformation challenging.                                                                                    support the development of
                                                      • The kingdom has recently                                 Smart and Open Data
                                                        launched a large scale
                                                        cyber-security initiative,                             • Smart Dubai has initiated a
                                                        including a national cyber                               partnership with IBM to open a
• Security/Privacy                                      security authority and a                                 Data Lab to push data science
  Leveraging Big Data when providing                    national cyber security center                           skills in society
  individual services creates a balancing
  act between data collection versus
  utilization and data privacy versus
  security. Cyber security has rapidly        Cyber security has rapidly become
  become a priority for GCC nations in
  the light of recent cyber-attacks faced     a priority for GCC nations in the light
  by governments in the world. GCC
  governments are investing heavily in        of recent cyber-attacks faced by
  safeguarding national security and
  educating the broader population on         governments in the world. GCC
  the importance of cyber-security.
  Governments across the GCC are              governments are investing heavily in
  working on new regulations to protect,
  not only the personal citizens’ interest,   safeguarding national security and
  but also the overall robustness and
  security of the system. An example of       educating the broader population on
                                              the importance of cyber-security.

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Point of View Middle East - Deloitte
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Big Data

                                                      The GCC governments have embarked on         • Investment remains focused on
                                                      their Big Data journeys with an important      technology rather than on use cases;
                                                      understanding: Big Data is not only about    • Costly human capital due to scarcity of
                                                      technology, but a strategic key feature of     regional talent (and somewhat global)
                                                      the future. However, five critical             and long lead times to build local
                                                      challenges remain before the benefits of       capabilities;
                                                      Big Data can be reaped for the GCC           • Data remains fragmented; limited cross-
                                                      countries:                                     government utilization of data.
                                                      • Limited partnership with
                                                        industry/entrepreneurs to capitalize on    These implications end up preventing
                                                        data;                                      stakeholders from unlocking the full
                                                      • Cloud is not in play due to data           potential of such an investment and in
                                                        residency issues, making Big Data more     other instances prevents others from
                                                        expensive than it should be;               venturing into this project.

Big Data challenges faced by GCC countries                                                         Big Data journey framework

                           Limited governance to           Data standards/principles
                          foster the development             not defined for most
                                                                                                                       Establish
                                 of Big Data                     governments
                                                                                                                       a Big Data
                                                                                                                      governance
                                                                                                                      framework

                Absence of culture to                     Lack of capabilities/skills
              promote the sharing data                       to utilize Big Data

                                                                                                                                          Train and
                                                                                                                                            upskill
                                                                                                                                          resources
                                                                                                                 Implement
                          Lack of awareness about                                                                 necessary
                            the importance and                                                                    tools and
                           availability of Big Data                                                                systems

                                                                                                                          Overhaul internal
                                                                                                   Develop and              data quality
                                                                                                    implement
                                                                                                     use cases

Forming the right governance is the
most critical yet overlooked step.

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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Big Data

How can GCC countries leapfrog into           Equip your organization with the                To accelerate the
the future?                                   right skillsets
To accelerate the progress of their Big       “Data scientists are the new unicorns.”         progress of their Big Data
Data programs, GCC countries need to          This expression is no longer a novelty          programs, GCC countries
quickly start building the necessary          and has become increasingly relevant
foundations to ensure that government         due to the sheer competition to attract
                                                                                              need to quickly start
entities have the ability to store, share     these talents. The good news is that the        building the necessary
and analyze large amounts of data from
both, a technology and capability
                                              “Data science PhDs” are not mandatory
                                              as a first step to equip your team with
                                                                                              foundations to ensure
standpoint.                                   the necessary skillsets; as an example,         that government entities
                                              Australia has developed a holistic              have the ability to store,
Forming the right governance is the most      framework to improve overall data skills
critical yet overlooked step. Governments     of Australian Public Service (APS)              share and analyze large
need to first establish a governance body     employees.3 The program is composed             amounts of data from
empowered to implement initiatives            of in-house trainings, partnership with
across the different entities, measure        local universities to train civil servants
                                                                                              both a technology and
progress and provide subject matter           in specialized data analytics, as well as       capability standpoint.
expertise when required.                      placement programs with Data61, the
                                              government’s data innovation arm. It is
In addition to controlling and preventing     also critical that these talents are able to
misuse, governance should be activated        operate without having to encounter the
with the target of fostering additional and   usual bureaucratic practices that often
improved use of data.                         prevail in the public sector, and that
                                              can impact their creativity. Also, entities
An operational layer composed of Data         should nurture a culture of collaboration
Champions from selected entities              with external stakeholders (i.e. private
reporting directly to this body should be     sector, academia and other
implemented. These champions act as           governmental entities) as it allows these
change agents across their organizations      organizations to have access to external
and are responsible for project               capabilities and infrastructure not always
implementation.                               available internally. A sample of such
                                              practices is: the Big Data Hubs created
Furthermore, establishing Big Data            across the United States operating in
functions as a cross-governmental             collaboration with the private and
program proved to be a key success            academia sectors, with each hub focusing
factor for implementation and alignment.      on different themes (e.g. mobility,
As an example, the United Kingdom             environment and healthcare) depending
created the Data Advisory Board in 2017,      on the regional needs and areas of
which has the responsibility to drive         interest.4
better use of data across government
and enable cross-government
collaboration. The Board is also
empowered to resolve any issues faced
in achieving these objectives.2

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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Big Data

It is also critical that these talents are                                                    Scalability and security as key
                                                                                              guiding principles

able to operate without having to                                                             Operating in a Big Data environment
                                                                                              requires organizations to rethink some

encounter the usual bureaucratic                                                              aspects of their IT infrastructure.
                                                                                              Technology architecture is usually built

practices that often prevail in the                                                           upon legacy systems based on the
                                                                                              prevalence of centralized infrastructures.

public sector, and that can impact                                                            Entities need to rewire their architecture
                                                                                              and favor scalability to cope with large

their creativity.                                                                             amounts of datasets with the ability to
                                                                                              transform and load data in real-time if
                                                                                              needed. In these new decentralized
                                                 Better data quality for enhanced             environments, security becomes even
                                                 results                                      more important. The ability to provide
                                                 Improving the quality of the data is         anomaly/threat detection, immunization,
                                                 fundamental to maximize potential            and attack mitigation capabilities is the
                                                 outcomes. Large amounts of datasets in       new norm. Keeping these key principles
                                                 the GCC remain non-digitized with            in mind will lower implementation risks
                                                 various level of quality, which has a        and improve the ability to process large
                                                 negative impact on usability. As a first     datasets.
                                                 step, it is fundamental that corporate or
                                                 government entities create data registries   Implementation of use cases to
                                                 to understand what is available. As this     showcase benefits
                                                 exercise of reconciliation is undertaken,    As a first step, entities should consider
                                                 datasets need to be cleansed in              using datasets already available internally
                                                 accordance to national-level standards.      to start showcasing tangible benefits. In
                                                 Defining data standards in a collaborative   order to do so, they should focus on
                                                 way is paramount for ensuring adoption       prioritizing ‘low-hanging fruits’ before
                                                 across all organizations. All datasets       jumping into overly complex use cases
                                                 should adhere to national standards and      requiring datasets that might not be
                                                 comply with confidentiality and legal        directly available. A prioritization exercise
                                                 requirements regardless of volume and        can help in this selection process through
                                                 complexity. This exercise can be daunting    defining which use cases can help to
                                                 given the amount of datasets available       tackle key challenges while achieving
                                                 within a government body. To simplify        tangible benefits. Below are some criteria
                                                 this process, entities should prioritize     that could help governments facilitate
                                                 which datasets to cleanse based on use       their selection process:
                                                 cases that they want to implement. A         • To what extent could the selected use
                                                 good example is the work undertaken            case be considered as a pragmatic
                                                 by the Australian Government, which            solution to one of the country’s
                                                 established a framework to identify            challenges?
                                                 datasets whose availability and use will     • Are the required datasets for this use
                                                 generate significant community-wide            case already available within the
                                                 benefits.5                                     organization?

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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Big Data

• Impactful datasets might be residing
  with the private sector. Explore          In these new decentralized
  possibility of leveraging existing
  partnership.                              environments, security becomes
This selection process is crucial, as       even more important. The ability to
implementing these practical cases will
be seen as a proof of value, increasing     provide anomaly/threat detection,
the public interest and enhancing
stakeholders’ involvement.                  immunization, and attack mitigation
Conclusion                                  capabilities is the new norm.
GCC countries have recognized the
opportunities offered by Big Data and
                                            by Bhavesh Morar, Partner, Consulting,
their potential impact on citizens and
                                            Maher Kilani, Senior Manager,
businesses. As such, they have set
                                            Consulting, Jean Louis Prevost,
aspirational goals, strategies and
                                            Manager, Monitor Deloitte and Kristian
roadmaps. While some governments
                                            Meyer, Consultant, Deloitte Middle East
have already started implementation,
others are in the planning phase and
have yet to convert their plans into        Endnotes
concrete actions. An iterative execution    1. “MarketsandMarkets Big Data Study”,
approach to transform use cases into           MarketsandMarkets, Big Data Market by
                                               Component (Software and Services), Type
reality is key to becoming data
                                               (Structured, Semi-Structured and Unstructured),
innovators.                                    Deployment Model, Vertical, and Region (North
                                               America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America &
Many of the macro challenges faced by          Middle East and Africa) — Global Forecast to
                                               2021
the GCC region have been tackled in
                                            2. “The Government Digital Service (GDS) Advisory
other countries with proven Big Data           Board”, Government Digital Service, Cabinet
use cases. These use cases were                Office, United Kingdom,
implemented in different sectors such          www.gov.uk/government/groups/gds-advisory-
                                               board 2019
as education, healthcare, transportation.   3. “Australian Public Service Better Practice Guide
In light of this, Gulf countries should        to Big Data”, Commonwealth of Australia, 2014
focus on these sectors as a start, build    4. “Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs(BD Hubs)
                                               Accelerating the Big Data Innovation Ecosystem”,
expertise and achieve tangible results.
                                               National Science Foundation, 2018
To speed up the transformation,             5. “Data Skills and Capability in the Australian Public
governments should collaborate with            Service, Commonwealth of Australia,
research centers to fuel innovation and        Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
                                               2016
unlock potential values of data.

As a result of these efforts and provided
the key foundations required are put in
place, GCC countries have the
opportunity to transform their
economies and play a leading role in
the Big Data global race.

                                                                                                                                               13
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Family businesses

            …In with
            the new.
            How are Middle Eastern family
            businesses embracing new
            technologies?
            Embracing technology is no longer a choice for a
            successful business, it is a requirement. This is
            particularly true for family offices in the Middle East.

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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Family businesses

                                                                     15
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Family businesses

The questions that
                                                 I
                                                    n the Middle East region, an average        specialization: Majid Al Futtaim, Abdulla
                                                    consumer may be considered                  Latif Jamil, Mohammed Alabbar,
Middle East family                                  relatively tech savvy. According to         Khansaheb and Al Tayer, being some of
businesses face are                              various digital agencies, the UAE has one      the recent prominent examples.
                                                 of the highest smartphone penetration
those that any other                             rates across the globe at over 90              Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Group, a large
private business faces,                          percent.1 Saudi Arabia stands at 79            Middle Eastern conglomerate, is investing

namely, how to integrate                         percent. One poll showed that an
                                                 average UAE resident spends about 6.5
                                                                                                heavily in e-commerce and other
                                                                                                technology solutions in the retail sector.
technology into their                            hours per day interacting with various         It recently made an investment in
business offerings to                            phone apps, or almost a third of their         Wadi.com as a step to strengthen its
                                                 waking hours.2                                 online grocery offering, owns a mobile-
improve customer                                                                                wallet app called BEAM, and has also
experience, drive                                Consumer preferences cannot be any             introduced self-checkouts using
                                                 more apparent. People want to carry out        handheld barcode readers at various
efficiencies and remain                          most of their mundane daily chores on          Carrefour stores to enhance user
competitive in this agile                        their mobile phone: ordering food,             experience. The group’s investment
business environment.                            groceries, pet food, a cab, or car             philosophy is nicely summed up by CEO,
                                                 refueling, selecting a doctor based on         Alain Bejjani: “Technology is the currency
                                                 ratings, booking doctor appointments           of the future.”
                                                 and even simple tasks like laundry pick
                                                 up. Government bodies are looking to act       The US$1 billion e-commerce platform
                                                 on this trend, one example being the           ‘Noon.ae’ was launched in 2017 and
                                                 Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in         jointly funded by Mohammed Alabbar
                                                 Dubai, offering a full range of service        and the SWF of Saudi Arabia, Public
                                                 offerings via its app from reporting traffic   Investment Fund. Mohammed Alabbar,
                                                 accidents, to paying for parking or            Chairman of Emaar, and sponsor of
                                                 payment of fines.                              Noon.ae was recently quoted as saying:
                                                                                                “Omnichannel retail is the way forward…
                                                 The questions that Middle East family          shopping malls are here to stay, but they
                                                 businesses face are those that any other       require e-commerce DNA to be
                                                 private business faces, namely, how to         embedded in their bricks and mortar.”
                                                 integrate technology into their business
                                                 offerings to improve customer                  Abdulla Latif Jamil (ALJ) Group, is a
                                                 experience, drive efficiencies and remain      diversified conglomerate, commonly
                                                 competitive in this agile business             known for its automotive operations
                                                 environment. Every industry has been           within Saudi Arabia. Realizing the
                                                 affected by technological advances,            potential in the electric vehicle industry
                                                 leaving ample room for product and             and general progression taking place
                                                 process improvements.                          within the industry, ALJ was an early
                                                                                                investor in a Michigan-based electric pick
                                                 Family offices embracing the                   up and SUV manufacturer, Rivian. Based
                                                 technological wave                             on the latest US$700 million equity
                                                 Some of the Middle East family                 funding round financed by Amazon, the
                                                 businesses have been quick to invest in        implied value of Rivian is now in excess of
                                                 new technologies within their areas of         US$1.5 billion.

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Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Family businesses

Khansaheb Group, a UAE-based family             Encouragement from local                        capital funds by TAQNIA and Saudi
business with operations primarily in           governments                                     Telecom, Badir tech start-up incubators
infrastructure construction and                 Governments across the Middle East              and other such programs are further
development works, is also focused on           have also demonstrated their intention to       evidence of the increased focus on
bringing innovation and technological           embrace new technologies, support               technology within the region. Many of
advantages to its operations. The group         innovation, boost cooperation with global       these initiatives are aimed at stimulating
recently acquired the technology and            technology brands, and forge new                tech-focused activity among the private
intellectual property rights for Spiralite, a   partnerships. The UAE has set up formal         sector and local family offices.
circular flat oval non-metallic insulated air   programs to embrace new technologies
duct, which is an advanced and energy-          such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain,    We are increasingly witnessing large
efficient alternative to conventional           Internet of Things, 3D Printing and             family offices and private businesses in
ductwork. Such innovative investments           Augmented Reality, among others.                the region realizing the potential that
will help the group drive growth and            Similarly, Saudi Arabia has announced the       technology brings to their businesses:
profitability in the long-term.                 development of a US$500 billion smart           efficiency, greater visibility and control
                                                city, NEOM, that will extend 460km across       over growth drivers, new sales channels
Al Tayer Group, another diversified family-     the coast of the Red Sea. The sovereign         and routes to market, and continued
owned conglomerate in the UAE, has also         wealth funds of the UAE and Saudi Arabia        innovation in product development.
taken active steps to embrace                   have also collectively committed in excess
technology. As one of the largest luxury        of US$70 billion to Softbank Vision fund,       The digital stage has been set by
retailers in the Middle East, the company       which is focused solely on upcoming             Government and digital transformation is
has announced its plans to develop and          technology investments. Such investment         happening at a much faster pace than
strengthen e-commerce and                       initiatives send a clear signal to local        ever before. Consumer preferences point
omnichannel capabilities. In the                entrepreneurs and family offices about          to the increasing need for technological
automotive sector, the group also added         these governments’ focus and aspirations        solutions. The fourth industrial revolution
to its traditional dealership business, with    on the technological front. Programs            is driving smart technologies to bridge
its investment in Careem—which has              supported by governments, such as               the physical and digital worlds. Many of
subsequently been acquired by UBER—             Museum of the Future, Dubai Future              the larger family offices have embarked
valuing Careem at approximately US$3.1          Accelerators program, FinTech Hive in the       on this transformational journey and
billion.                                        UAE and technology-focused venture              have benefited from their early move,
                                                                                                further encouraging ongoing investment.
                                                                                                The remainder should consider how they
We are increasingly witnessing large                                                            can leverage technology and available
                                                                                                government support to drive future
family offices and private businesses in                                                        growth.

the region realizing the potential that                                                         by Faiq Khalid, Assistant Director,
                                                                                                Financial Advisory, Deloitte Middle East
technology brings to their businesses:
efficiency, greater visibility and control                                                      Endnotes
                                                                                                1. Reported by Advancesoft based on research of

over growth drivers, new sales                                                                     eMarketer, a digital market research company.
                                                                                                2. A survey on UAE smartphone usage trends by

channels and routes to market, and
                                                                                                   YouGov.

continued innovation in product
development.

                                                                                                                                               17
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Education

18
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Education

From fragility
to antifragility
Change management and
communication in the Middle
East education sector

                                                                            19
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Education

The shift in our thinking
                                                 M
                                                            anaging organization change is      It’s time to shift our thinking from the old
                                                            hard, but today, top performing     model of teaching to a new model of
about education as a                                        organizations are constantly        learning.”3
result of the rapid move                         changing and adapting. We call these
                                                 organizations “adaptable.” They are            The shift in our thinking about education
towards the fourth                               organizations that not only survive, but       as a result of the rapid move towards the
industrial revolution has                        thrive in the midst of radical change. They    fourth industrial revolution has prompted

prompted key regional                            gain from disorder in their industry, and
                                                 they get stronger rather than weaker in
                                                                                                key regional governments to embark on
                                                                                                education reform that holistically
governments to embark                            stressful times. Prof. Nasim Taleb calls       addresses their challenges in improving
on education reform that                         these organizations “antifragile”.1            the quality of education to meet the
                                                                                                increasing labor demands of the digital
holistically addresses                           The education sector in the Middle East        world and beyond.
their challenges in                              is being tested for adaptability and
                                                 antifragility. Education leaders are trying    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for
improving the quality of                         to implement education reforms that            example, is currently embarking on an
education to meet the                            focus on improving the quality of              ambitious education reform program
increasing labor                                 education and eliminating the gap              comprised of a portfolio of initiatives that
                                                 between the skills required by the job         covers all stages of education from K-12
demands of the digital                           market and those taught in schools.            to higher education to life-long learning.
world and beyond.                                According to the World Bank: “The Middle       Those initiatives have an immense impact
                                                 East and North Africa Region (MENA) has        on education policies, practices, systems
                                                 taken great strides in education. It has       and most importantly, on people and
                                                 quadrupled the average level of schooling      their ways of working.
                                                 since 1960, halved illiteracy since 1980
                                                 and achieved almost complete gender            One key initiative is the implementation
                                                 parity for primary education.”2 Yet it still   of Competency Based Education (CBE) in
                                                 faces fundamental challenges related to        pilot schools. Through CBE, the teacher’s
                                                 education quality and skills mismatch.         role will change from transferor of
                                                 One underlying reason for this                 knowledge (content delivery) to facilitator
                                                 discrepancy is due to the education            of student learning and ignitor of
                                                 sector’s failure to adapt and change.          students’ curiosity to become lifelong
                                                                                                learners. The students’ behavior will also
                                                 In their book, A New Culture of Learning,      need to change. Students will need to
                                                 Doug Thomas and John Seely Brown say           learn “how to learn” on their own with
                                                 that: “For most of the twentieth century       teachers acting as facilitators of their
                                                 our educational system has been built          learning and their peers as their support
                                                 on the assumption that teaching is             communities.
                                                 necessary for learning to occur.
                                                 Accordingly, education has been seen           To successfully implement an education
                                                 as a process of transferring information       reform at an organizational and national
                                                 from a higher authority (the teacher)          level, leaders need to adopt a change
                                                 down to the student. This model,               mindset. A number of key strategic
                                                 however, just can’t keep up with the rapid     questions include:
                                                 rate of change in the twenty-first century.

20
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Education

1. Why is applying change management
   and communication strategy a key          Change management is a young
   success factor and enabler to
   implementing education reform?            management discipline. As such, it is
2. Given that the majority of leaders in
   organizations believe in the importance   not always made clear that unless
   of managing change, why is change
   management and communications still       people change their behavior and
   not getting the needed sponsorship?
3. How can educational organizations         embrace the new ways of working, the
   increase the odds of successfully
   implementing an education reform          education reforms benefits cannot,
   that sticks?
                                             and will not, be realized.
A key success factor – change
management and communication                 The challenges facing change                    • The perception that change
Given the ripple effect that education       management and communication in the               management and communication is a
reform will have on education practices,     education sector are:                             linear set of activities carried out in a
systems and people, change                   • Change management is a young                    sequential manner, with no
management and communication are               management discipline. As such, it is not       interdependent changes that are
key to enable the adoption of this massive     always made clear that unless people            carried out independently from project
national-level change. If ignored, or if       change their behavior and embrace the           management activities.
not executed properly, the risks of            new ways of working, the education
organizations not meeting their intended       reforms benefits cannot, and will not, be     • The education sector is highly
objectives and realizing benefits increase     realized.                                       structured, decision-making is
exponentially.                                                                                 centralized and very slow. As a result,
                                             • Initiative sponsors are usually experts in      it may not always have the agility,
The question remains: how successful is        their industry and/or policy making             adaptability and capability to implement
the education sector in enacting and           though may not necessarily have the             strategic change.
managing change? What is hindering it          skill to lead large-scale change efforts.
from sustaining the required behavioral        Articulating a compelling vision and          • Government employees are usually
changes and new ways of working?               communicating the case for change to            harder to motivate than private sector
                                               their stakeholders are important to             employees according to Harvard
Challenges facing change                       initiatives’ long-term success and              Business Review, due to weak
management and communications                  benefits realization.                           performance management and
From our experience in working with                                                            incentive systems
public and education sector clients in       • Sponsors may not always align all
the region, the importance of change           impacted leaders to the organization’s        • Previous negative experiences in change
management and communication as an             vision, thus jeopardizing winning their         efforts, coupled with multiple initiatives
enabler to any transformation program is       support and commitment when                     implemented simultaneously, have
well understood, but can sometimes be          implementing the initiatives.                   sometimes resulted in employees
hard to implement.                                                                             feeling change fatigue and resisting

                                                                                                                                        21
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Education

The education sector                              the adoption of the proposed changes.        • Communicating the case for change to
                                                  This gets more complicated if the              create urgency and win stakeholder
is highly structured,                             employee experience during the change          support.
decision-making is                                journey, and how the change affects
                                                  their daily work, are not taken into         • Training leaders to tell inspiring stories,
centralized and very                              consideration.                                 to role model the right behaviors, to
slow. As a result, it may                                                                        hold difficult conversations, and to

not always have the                              Given the above challenges, how can the
                                                 education sector increase its chances of
                                                                                                 provide reassurance during the
                                                                                                 transition.
agility, adaptability and                        successfully implementing reforms in
capability to implement                          order to achieve the intended objectives      • Addressing the different needs of the
                                                 and get the most out of its investment?         impacted stakeholders through targeted
strategic change.                                                                                change management and
                                                 Raising the odds of success                     communication interventions to win
                                                 To holistically reform education so that it     their support and commitment.
                                                 may keep adapting to the exponential
                                                 changes, change management and                • Embedding the change management
                                                 communication activities need to be             and communication activities in the
                                                 embedded in the DNA of the                      project management plan and allowing
                                                 organization. This is done by:                  for mid-course corrections to manage
                                                 • Selecting initiatives/sponsors who have       people risks.
                                                   high tolerance for ambiguity and change
                                                   and have deep experience in leading         • Understanding change from the point
                                                   large-scale transformations.                  of view of the employees by assessing
                                                                                                 their readiness for change as well as the
                                                 • Establishing nimble governance that           impact of the change on their day-to-day
                                                   provides oversight, sets the direction,       work and designing targeted
                                                   monitors results and manages people-          interventions to facilitate adoption of
                                                   related risks.                                the change and new ways of working.

                                                 • Aligning leaders on the vision of the       • Looking at other enablers of change
                                                   reform so they set the right tone for         such as performance and incentive
                                                   their organization.                           systems as well as removing change

                                                 To holistically reform education so that
                                                 it may keep adapting to the exponential
                                                 changes, change management and
                                                 communication activities need to be
                                                 embedded in the DNA of the
                                                 organization.

22
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Education

 blockers such as slow decision-making        Figure 1: In order to thrive in an uncertain world, organizations should consider shifting stable
 processes and empowering front-line          and predictable characteristics to adaptable ones.

 teams to make quicker and better
                                              Stable organization                                                            Adaptable organization
 decisions to serve their stakeholders.
                                                    Profit-driven                                                               Purpose-driven
Conclusion
In order to keep up with the exponential            Internal-focused                                              Customer-focused ecosystem
change of the digital world and to ensure
that students have the right skills for the         Hierarchal structure                                              Flexible network of teams

21st century, the education sector in the
                                                    Siloed bureaucratic interactions                        Collaboration and agile governance
region has to reform education, and
fast. Change management and
                                                    One-size-fits-all talent management                        Individualized talent engagement
communication are key to enable this
mass change at an organizational and                Resistance to change                                    Change and learning are continuous
national level. While there is no one-size-
fits all approach to designing and
implementing change management and
communication interventions, there are        Endnotes
                                              1. Taleb, N., (2012) Antifragile: Things That Gain
factors that increase the odds of success.
                                                 from Disorder, New York: Random House
Four key success factors are:                 2. www.worldbank.org/en/region/mena/brief/
1. The leadership team is aligned and            education-in-mena
   enabled to articulate the vision and       3. Thomas, D. and Brown, J.S. (2011) A New Culture
   case for change.                              of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World
                                                 of Constant Change
2. Stakeholders are engaged and
   understand the cost of not changing.
                                              Sources
3. Governance and accountability of
                                              – www.worldbank.org/en/region/mena/brief/
   change are clear to all.                     education-in-mena
4. Systems that enable and sustain            – The Adaptable Organization -Harnessing a
   change, such as performance                  networked enterprise of human resilience,
   management and incentive systems.            Deloitte
                                              – “Why Government Workers Are Harder to
                                                Motivate”, Robert Lavigna, Harvard Business
Change will come at a faster rate than          Review, November 28, 2014
ever and will not end in implementing a       – Thomas, D. and Brown, J.S. (2011) A New Culture
reform. Therefore, moving towards an            of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a
“adaptable organization” will eventually        World of Constant Change
                                              – Taleb, N., (2012) Antifragile: Things That Gain from
change the DNA of the education sector
                                                Disorder, New York: Random House
to embrace continuous improvements            – Gibbons, P., (2015) The Science of Successful
and be “antifragile”.                           Organizational Change

by Ziad Zakaria, Director, Operations,
Consulting and Elham Barghouty,
Manager, Consulting, Deloitte Middle East

                                                                                                                                                  23
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Mobile devices

            The Black
            Mirror in
            your pocket?
            Unique opportunities and
            challenges associated with
            mobile devices in investigations
            and legal matters
            The information that the average user sees and
            interacts with on their mobile phone is only a portion
            of the vast data their device truly holds. In truth, the
            data on smartphones is rich and granular enough to
            build profiles of intimate detail about their users by
            analyzing their behavior, browsing patterns,
            whereabouts and much more.

24
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Mobile devices

                                                                  25
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Mobile devices

T                                                                                              In the event whereby
          he invention of smartphones has        unlock a less abridged story, with a more
          led to a paradigm shift in our         comprehensive timeline of their
          everyday lives, both, from             custodians’ activities, through combining     a custodian is
personal and business perspectives.              disparate sources of data such as call        uncooperative, there
This is evidenced by the ever increasing         logs, messaging applications, GPS
mobile phone usage rate, with some of            coordinates, and many other forms of
                                                                                               are precautions that
the Middle Eastern countries such as             data either generated by the users, or        the forensic technology
the UAE and Oman leading the world
in mobile penetration rates.1 The ability
                                                 collected automatically by mobile devices.
                                                                                               specialists need to
to have uncapped information at our              Although there is an abundance of cases       follow in order to avoid
fingertips is the epitome of practicality.       that include outrageous email                 inadvertently wiping the
However, the increased reliance on               communications, people are generally
mobile devices has also dramatically             more hesitant to discuss fraudulent           data off a particular
increased the degree to which the data           activities over business emails while they    device by trying to unlock
on these devices mirror users’ daily             may be more comfortable having the
activity.                                        same conversation through mobile
                                                                                               it with several incorrect
                                                 messages, due to the more personal            attempts.
When it comes to the realm of                    nature of the mobile device. A
investigations and legal matters, mobile         conventional approach that involves
                                                                                               Meeting Discovery Obligations” with the
devices, with their increased magnitude          analysis of email data can help identify
                                                                                               aim of helping companies develop BYOD
of personal data, can be absolute gold           fraudulent behavior. Adding mobile
                                                                                               policies and reducing discovery disputes.2
mines. The data found on a mobile                device data into the same investigation
device can provide investigators with            could provide crucial information such as
                                                                                               Access and protecting the gold mine –
more pieces of the puzzle, or could              a text message sent or a call placed after
                                                                                               The next challenge is whether the data
provide the smoking gun among these              an email, and offer additional
                                                                                               on mobile devices is technically
pieces. As with most technological               perspectives through the locations the
                                                                                               accessible, especially considering that the
advancements, the opportunities                  individual has visited, photos taken or
                                                                                               majority of mobile devices are password
created with these additional sources            wireless networks connected.
                                                                                               protected/encrypted. In an ideal data
of information are not without new
                                                                                               collection scenario, the custodian of each
challenges. This step forward in legal           Understanding the challenges and
                                                                                               mobile device would provide their
discovery is associated with numerous            considerations
                                                                                               passcode or PIN during collection. This
layers of challenges and considerations          Legal considerations – The first
                                                                                               may not always be the case as became
that must be addressed in order to make          challenge in utilizing data from mobile
                                                                                               apparent in the recent court case
effective use of the data that mobile            devices is whether the companies have
                                                                                               between Apple and the FBI. The FBI had
devices can reveal.                              the authority to access their employees’
                                                                                               requested Apple’s help in unlocking an
                                                 mobile devices. Companies are
                                                                                               iPhone that belonged to a gunman in the
Pieces of a puzzle                               increasingly allowing or requiring Bring
                                                                                               San Bernardino terrorist shooting. Apple
The majority of investigations today             Your Own Device (BYOD) policies due to
                                                                                               objected to providing assistance, arguing
involve some form of electronically              the financial and logistical benefits.
                                                                                               that providing assistance in unlocking an
stored information (ESI). Traditionally,         However, organizations should consider
                                                                                               iPhone in one instance would give the FBI
investigations that involve analysis of ESI      the requirements and obligations, both
                                                                                               precedence to unlock every iPhone they
relied primarily on emails and electronic        from a legal and technical perspective,
                                                                                               encounter, which Apple believed to be an
documents. While these conventional              when such policies are put in place. Due
                                                                                               attack on civil liberties.3 While this case
data sources continue to act as rich             to the various security, privacy, and legal
                                                                                               may be extreme in comparison to
sources of information in fact-finding           concerns associated with BYOD, the
                                                                                               corporate investigations or civil matters, it
exercises, they generally do not provide         Sedona Conference published the paper
                                                                                               highlights some of the technical and legal
all the pieces of a puzzle. The integration      “Commentary on BYOD: Principles and
                                                                                               challenges associated with collecting data
of the data held on mobile devices can           Guidance for Developing Policies and
                                                                                               from mobile devices.

26
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | Mobile devices

In the event whereby a custodian is
uncooperative, there are precautions that       Mobile devices house various third-
the forensic technology specialists need
to follow in order to avoid inadvertently       party applications and different file
wiping the data off a particular device by
trying to unlock it with several incorrect      formats. Processing data from these
attempts. In fact, law enforcement
agencies are being trained not to even          constantly evolving applications in
look at the devices with facial recognition
features (e.g. Apple’s Face ID), given that     order to make it available for review
inadvertently failing the facial recognition
check multiple times could make the             purposes is a challenge in itself.
phone request a passcode, or at worst,
wipe the data off the device entirely.
                                                evolving applications in order to make          perspectives in investigations, there are
                                                it available for review purposes is a           various technical challenges and legal
While on the subject of data loss, due to
                                                challenge in itself. One version change         considerations that organizations should
mobile devices having a high risk of data
                                                in an application could make the entire         be aware of. In order to address these
spoliation, it is imperative that the secure
                                                application inaccessible for processing.        challenges, organizations should be
seizure, transportation and examination
                                                The electronic discovery industry is            seeking accurate and timely legal advice,
of mobile devices are performed by
                                                constantly trying to keep up with this          and hiring qualified specialists equipped
specialists following digital forensic best
                                                unparalleled speed and variety of               with the right skillset and toolkit to be
practices. There are various factors that
                                                changes.                                        able to harvest these rich sources of
may impact the integrity of the data
                                                                                                information effectively.
collected from mobile devices. For
                                                Finally, there are various challenges with
instance, most mobile devices have
                                                regards to how the data from mobile             by Nick Athanasi, Partner and Boray
limited storage capacity, which would
                                                devices is reviewed and potentially             Altunisler, Assistant Director, Financial
sometimes imply an auto-deletion setting
                                                presented in court. One of the challenges       Advisory, Deloitte Middle East
being enabled, thereby creating a
                                                is providing disparate sources of
possibility of data loss. In addition, mobile
                                                information such as call logs, contacts,
phones are inherently prone to external
                                                text messages and chats in a unified and        Endnotes
interference. Through wireless signals, it                                                      1. UAE Leads World in Mobile Penetration Rate.
                                                user-friendly method for review. Another
is possible to remotely wipe the data off                                                          CommsMEA, 3 Sept. 2018.
                                                challenge is the use of emojis as they are
the device or alter the data on the device,                                                     2. The Sedona Conference, Commentary on BYOD:
                                                most prevalent in mobile                           Principles and Guidance for Developing Policies
which could render the entire evidence
                                                communications. As emojis may contain              and Meeting Discovery Obligations, 19 Sedona
item inadmissible in court. When there
                                                meaningful content and provide valuable            Conf. J. 495 (2018).
are risks of external interference, digital                                                     3. USA v. In the Matter of the Search of an Apple
                                                context, they should not be omitted while
forensics specialists would preserve and                                                           iPhone Seized During the Execution of a Search
                                                searching, reviewing or presenting digital
transport devices with specialist                                                                  Warrant on a Black Lexus IS300, California
                                                evidence. In fact, they are increasingly           License Plate 35KGDD203 (February 19, 2016)
equipment called Faraday bags in order
                                                appearing in court cases.4                      4. Goldman, Eric, Surveying the Law of Emojis (May
to prevent outside signals reaching the
                                                                                                   1, 2017). Santa Clara Univ. Legal Studies
mobile devices.                                                                                    Research Paper, 8-17. Available at SSRN:
                                                In summary
                                                                                                   https://ssrn.com/abstract=2961060 or
                                                With mobile devices acting as mirrors of
Cat and mouse – Another challenge                                                                  http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2961060
                                                our daily lives, it is clear that they can
associated with data on mobile devices is
                                                provide invaluable information in
the processing and analysis of the data.
                                                investigations or legal matters, hitherto
Mobile devices house various third-party
                                                unavailable. However, while these devices
applications and different file formats.
                                                have the potential to unlock new
Processing data from these constantly

                                                                                                                                               27
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | CFO Transition LabTM

        The CFO’s journey
        My experience at the
        CFO Transition LabTM

28
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | CFO Transition LabTM

                                                                        29
Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View - Summer 2019 | CFO Transition LabTM

T
        aking on the Chief Financial Officer      The day                                                  A critical part of the day is understanding
        (CFO) role, whether promoted              The day is all about the CFO.                            which aspects of the business the CFO
        from within or hired from outside,        The only people in the room are the Lab                  currently spends their time on.
always comes with unknown territory and           Facilitator, the Lab Manager, Lab Scribe,
challenges. We have a limited period to           the Lead Client Service Partner and the                  The four faces
make our mark within the new role and             CFO. Everyone has only one interest: to                  Today’s CFOs are expected to play four
to set forth a plan that stakeholders             help the CFO be the best they can be and                 diverse and challenging roles. The two
will buy into and meet the business’              to walk away having mapped out their                     traditional roles are steward—preserving
objectives. The challenge is how to do            personalized 180-day action plan.                        the assets of the organization by
all of that and still deal with the day-to-                                                                minimizing risk and getting the books
day business of the job at hand.                  In preparation for the CFO Transition                    right—and operator, running a tight
                                                  LabTM stakeholders are engaged to                        finance operation that is efficient and
Ideally as the CFO, you want to have your         understand their hopes, fears and what                   effective. It is increasingly important for
180-day plan mapped out, know exactly             they wish the CFO’s legacy to be. This                   CFOs to be strategists—helping to shape
what your focus areas are going to be             interaction is important for the team to                 overall strategy and direction—and
and what actions you need to take to              be able to guide the CFO during the day,                 catalysts, instilling a financial approach
meet your objectives. With no CFO role            not only to the areas that the CFO wants                 and mindset throughout the organization
being the same as another, due to                 to concentrate on, but also to the areas                 to help other parts of the business
varying operating landscape, economic             that are important to the stakeholders.                  perform better.
environment, legislative requirements             It can provide context on possible
and talent considerations, to name just           development areas that the CFOs                          These varied roles make a CFO’s job
a few, there is no off-the-shelf answer           themselves may not be aware of.                          more complex than ever.
book. Each CFO’s plan will have to be
unique. The CFO Transition LabTM
supports the CFO in identifying and               Catalyst                                                                         Strategist
mapping out the broad strokes of that             The objective of the catalyst is                                                 The objective of the strategist
                                                  to stimulate behaviors across                                                    is to provide leadership with
plan within a day.                                the organization to achieve                                                      respect to aligning financial
                                                  strategic and financial                                                          and business strategies such
                                                  objectives                                                                       as M&A, the investments and
                                                                                                   Leading edge
     The CFO Transition LabTM                                                                                                      capitalization of the company
                                                                                                                           St
                                                                                     st

                                                                                                                              r
                                                                                   ly

                                                                                                                             at

     The CFO Transition LabTM is an
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     interactive, one-day experience
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                                                                                                     Threshold
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                                                                                                                      c
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     CFO Transitions. The agenda of
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     the CFO Transition LabTM focuses                                                                Finance
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     resources CFOs should consider
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       management                                 Steward                                                                          Operator
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                                                  The objective of the steward                                                     The objective of the operator
     • Talent – Talent in the finance
                                                  is to protect and preserve the                                                   is to balance capabilities,
       organization                               assets of the organization                                                       talent, costs and service levels
     • Relationships – Critical                                                                                                    to fulfil the finance organiza-
       stakeholder relations                                                                                                       tion’s responsibilities

30
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