With over two decades of experience in e-commerce and financials services across the US and Asia, Ratia brings deep expertise in scaling high-growth, technology-driven businesses. At Amazon and Flipkart, he played a key role in scaling operations, integrating advanced technology, and optimizing supply chain and customer experience strategies. Whilst Amazon and Flipkart provided a bed to unleash scale; Manpreet’s experience at Citi provided a rich experience in scaling global markets & understanding enterprise behavior when it comes to innovation – both incredibly powerful for Builder.ai. His ability to drive efficiency while fostering innovation has consistently delivered value for customers, employees, and shareholders alike.

Ratia added, “Builder.ai has an exceptional foundation—built on groundbreaking technology, a strong culture. My focus will be on ensuring that we scale effectively, execute with operational excellence, and continue to drive value for our customers, employees, and investors. I look forward to leading the team to write the next chapter of Builder.ai’s growth, and I want to thank Sachin for his passion for the business and his vision.”

As Builder.ai’s founder, Sachin Dev Duggal has been behind the company’s journey, transforming software development through AI-powered innovation. Under his leadership, Builder.ai has pioneered a new way for businesses to build software with speed and efficiency.

“This evolution marks an exciting new chapter for Builder.ai,” said Sachin Dev Duggal. “After eight years of growth, bringing in fresh perspective and operational excellence is crucial for our next phase. Manpreet’s background expertise will help us achieve the perfect balance between innovation and operational efficiency.”

This leadership transition reinforces Builder.ai’s commitment to balancing its revolutionary approach to software development with enhanced operational capabilities. With a renewed focus on scalability, innovation, and execution, Builder.ai is well-positioned for its next phase of growth, ready to explore new opportunities, expand its impact, and unlock the full potential of AI-powered software development.

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Ms. Chakar’s leadership will combine her deep financial services, technology, and market experience with Securrency’s groundbreaking technology to deploy market-leading solutions on a global scale. She has been recognized as one of the most powerful women in finance and is a vocal champion for using technology to revolutionize financial services. Ms. Chakar brings over 30 years of experience in global wealth and asset management to Securrency. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President and Head of State Street Digital, where she built and led the team that is helping State Street, institutional investors, and regulators successfully navigate the bank’s transition into a modern digital economy. Ms. Chakar also led State Street Global Markets, where she oversaw its trading, product, and operations platform, helping to drive successful client solutions. Prior to State Street, she served as global head of operations for Manulife’s Global Wealth and Asset Management Division and led the Global Asset Servicing teams for BNY Mellon.

In addition to her leadership at State Street Digital, Ms. Chakar has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Securrency since 2021. Her appointment as the CEO of Securrency highlights the growing importance of compliance aware tokenization, interoperability, and institutional DeFi to the future of global finance.

Ms. Chakar’s appointment will allow Dan Doney, Securrency’s founder, who has served as the company’s CEO and lead architect since its inception, to focus on innovation, technology delivery, and commercialization by continuing to serve as the Chief Technology Officer of Securrency. Mr. Doney is recognized as one of the preeminent thought leaders in the blockchain and decentralized finance space. This focus will accelerate the growth of Securrency’s blockchain-enabled financial services infrastructure market share.

Nadine Chakar, incoming CEO of Securrency said: “The financial services industry is at a critical tipping point as it tokenizes regulated real-world assets and automates legacy financial processes using the power of blockchain technology. The Securrency team has done a remarkable job of developing the most robust technology on the market. As the new CEO, my priority is to accelerate the commercialization of what is in essence the digital asset intelligence and interoperability foundation for major financial institutions and the global ecosystem. Dan Doney is a true visionary and innovator in the industry, and I look forward to working closely with him and the team to create the global digital assets marketplaces of the future.”

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“We have given our former colleagues all the tools they need to succeed and we look forward to seeing what they do with it,” the duo reportedly said in a statement. Muir and Denman founded the UK-based smartphone manufacturer in 2015.

Its first handsets were unveiled later that year, with ambitious plans to emulate the strategies of Asian challenger brands including Xiaomi and OnePlus by offering an alternative to the major manufacturers while competing at an aggressive price point.

At launch the company struck deals with Qualcomm for its hardware and used Cyanogen software. In June 2016, the company launched a second batch of devices aimed at the mid-tier also using the Cyanogen OS, but with MediaTek processors.

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An unprecedented tripartite summit; SAMEAWS aims at bringing together the most influential and prominent women as well as key stakeholders in South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia under one roof to discuss the need to recognize and seize the untapped and profitable opportunities that women’s economic and political engagements represent. 

“Hosting the fourth edition of the summit in Dubai reflects the UAE’s vision and directions of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, which firmly believes in the empowerment of women and the valuable contribution they make to society. We are proud of the role the Summit played in joining women leaders together and supporting their efforts to reach their full potential,” commented Mohammed Al Hakim, Board Member and Advisor, CEO Clubs Network Worldwide.

“We are also proud to announce that the Summit this year managed to successfully achieve its objectives of which one was the successful launch of several schools in Africa and Asia that will provide women of different ages ranging from 14 – 60 years old with the proper education to empower them financially and economically and to positively contribute to their communities,” added Al Hakim.

The SAMEAWS’ 4th edition converged the most influential women leaders and stakeholders from emerging economies to consolidate efforts in supporting and scaling up opportunities for women leaders in these regions, as well as deliberating on sustainable ways of multiplying the number of women in leadership positions in emerging economies, thereby creating diverse possibilities for the upcoming generation of women leaders.

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The survey also found that UAE CEOs believed that growth over the next three years was mainly going to be organic and driven by new products. Vijay Malhotra, the CEO of KPMG in the UAE and Oman, commented: “Change is a constant theme in the UAE. Following the recent announcement that the UAE Innovation Week will run for a month beginning 2018, it is encouraging to note that the findings of our UAE CEO Outlook mirror the UAE Government’s vision for the next three years – with a focus on disruption, innovation and digitisation.”

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Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups are considered the backbone of UAE’s economy, making up for 40 per cent of the country’s GDP. According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, nearly 300,000 SMEs account for 92 per cent of UAE companies, and employ 86 per cent of the private sector workforce, while the global international development organization, Spark, estimates that 19 per cent of the world’s entrepreneurs come from the Middle East.

With such a high percentage of companies, it is very easy to get lost among the clutter and fail to get noticed. So how can a start-up stand out from the crowd, how can it be successful? Well, the secret lies in staying personal.

Know the consumer
Knowing your customer is the first step in staying personal. On a continuing basis, conversations, observations, discussions or research will allow you to know what’s going on inside your consumer’s mind. Without this knowledge, you will never know what their trigger is and how they really feel about your product. Keep the communication going at all times and stay open to feedback – good or bad.

Partners first, customers later
It is true that they are customers to some extent, but first and foremost they are part of your community. The idea here is that you can allow people who are your biggest advocates to be your spokespersons – on social media or through word of mouth. It all builds up to the goal that your brand is driven by community rather than people in a marketing department.

Building brand image and loyalty
The most effective way to build brand image is to consistently deliver the best experiences to your customers so much that they become advocates of your products or service. The first step to delighting the customer is to be able to know their end objective and most important reason for buying your brand.

Then, it’s mapping the consumer’s decision making process, concerns and issues and installing systems to exceed expectations so much so such that the experience as a whole is delightful one. When experience will exceed their requirements, real brand loyalty be born.

Connect with customers
With the smart use of the right mediums for the right business, one could exponentially grow their visibility at almost minimal costs. Speaking regularly to your customers – whether on social media or in person – is absolutely vital for staying personal. With the use of Facebook pages, an SME can connect and speak to their consumers, the specific demographics can be mapped and the business can monitor the visibility very closely.

Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, blogs etc all give voice and a face to the brand and can be used as catalysts to help consumers fall in love with your brand. Use of apps in staying in touch with customers and making your services available at their fingertips is another significant way to carve a niche for yourself.

Adopt a cause and be a thought leader
Every brand should stand up for something and then become the voice for that which they hold most dearly. When the core team introspects they will find one or more key messages or words that springs up in multiple discussions. Innovation, empowerment, emerging markets, logistics, cloud computing or even employee welfare.

Find these and use every opportunity to talk about it and associate your brand with them. Stay in touch with your core fan base. Target your audience, focus on the core needs and requirements, address them and they will talk about it. That’s how you stay personal.

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With 3.3 million registered users, including 2 million in Nigeria and a strong footprint in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Ghana, MoboFree.com is among the largest and most successful mobile social and trusted classifieds platforms in Africa.

MoboFree members upload thousands of new classifieds every day, generating an average of 60 million page impressions monthly. The best-selling items on MoboFree.com are phones, tablets and mobile devices, followed by clothes, fashion and beauty and electronic devices.

The MoboFree technological platform makes buying and selling online easy for any African user with any device, not only for PCs and smartphones but also for old phones with small screens (so called “feature” phones).

“Africa is home to six of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world. Our strong performance once again confirms the success of our model and is indicative of the high level of activity in all markets in which we operate. We are now looking for new partners with which to share our exciting expansion plans as we see enormous opportunities arising in Africa,” said MoboFree CEO and co-founder Neringa Kudarauskiene.

MoboFree is a social marketplace with a unique user-centric approach rather than the traditional item-centric approach. MoboFree allows its buyers and sellers to obtain a large amount of personal information about one other – ranging from photos and mutual friends to ratings or other data that enables identification of whether or not a person is trustworthy.

Negotiation and communication during the buying/selling process is a very important part of African culture. MoboFree allows its members to communicate and negotiate conveniently without leaving the platform. They can do this via private messages or via chat. MoboFree members send over 8 million private messages per month.

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DePaul plans to launch The Sheikh Faisal Centre for Entrepreneurship in the Middle East at Driehaus College of Business later this year.

Sheikh Faisal said, “We are proud to sign the agreement with DePaul, one of the world’s leading educational institutions.

“The government of Qatar has launched initiatives to support entrepreneurs and is investing heavily to enhance the educational system, providing many first-class educational facilities to build a generation that can lead the nation and achieve its vision.”

Rev. Dennis H Holtschneider, C.M., President, DePaul University, said, “We will use this opportunity to strengthen DePaul’s investment in globally- minded business programmes for our students and graduates.”

The centre will work through DePaul’s nationally-recognised Coleman Entrepreneurship Centre. It will facilitate a Young Entrepreneur Academy that develops new generations of Qatari and US entrepreneurs and business leaders through student exchange programmes.

DePaul plans to host Qatari students each summer on its Chicago campus where they will work with business college faculty and alumni entrepreneurs to apply entrepreneurship theory and practice in developing their businesses plans.

A group of Driehaus College of Business students enrolled in programmes related to business development in the Middle East will have the opportunity to participate in a study abroad programme in Qatar.

“Our faculty and successful alumni entrepreneurs look forward to working with emerging entrepreneurs from Qatar and the Middle East to support their continued development into a thriving, professional class,” said Ray Whittington, Dean, Driehaus College of Business.

“We also see the centre as a great opportunity for DePaul students to gain real-world experience on an international stage.”

The proposed centre will hold an annual conference in Chicago for business leaders. It will serve as a source of professional knowledge for Qatar entrepreneurs and those who do business in the Middle East.

Sheikh Faisal will also host a business competition in Qatar for emerging entrepreneurs.

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How has the ecommerce market shaped up in Middle East and Africa region?
Promisingly. I see a lot of entrepreneurs starting companies in the internet sphere. I also see the press picking up on related topics. Moreover, there is huge growth in companies I am or was involved in. This is a sign that the general population is trusting electronic transactions more and more. However, we are still lagging behind in venture capital. Regional investors are still reluctant to deviate from traditional sectors, such as real estate. The Middle East is a gold mine for investments into the internet sphere. It would be a pity, if investors from other continents realize that, before our own regional investors do.

What does SellAnyCar do?
SellAnyCar.com is the Middle East’s first car buying service, which offers FREE and instant online car valuation, FREE car inspection, a GUARANTEE to purchase ANY car within 30 minutes, pay you immediately and take care of all the paperwork. Whatever the make, model, age or condition – SellAnyCar.com will buy any car. How do we do it? Well, as the largest and most established buyer of cars, SellAnycar.com has the purchasing power to offer a competitive price for your car and to buy it straight away. With branches all over the country, SellAnyCar.com is the easiest and quickest way to sell your car.

SellAnyCar.com collects your car’s details online – then all you need to do is come into any one of our locations around the country and after a quick inspection, we’ll transfer the money directly into your bank account. No haggling, no hassle.

Selling a car used to be a lengthy and risky process. Consumers were not sure about their car’s real values, needed to arrange too many appointments with time-wasters or might have ended up getting ripped off. SellAnyCar.com makes selling any car easy, fair and quick. You can literally find out your car’s value within 15 seconds, sell your car and get paid during your lunch break. We are located in all major cities all over the country and soon will be the biggest car buyer in the region.

What is your target market and audience?
We buy ANY car from anyone who owns a car. We do not limit ourselves to any target audience. SellAnyCar.com receives all kinds of nationalities on a daily basis. I recommend anyone who wants to sell a car in the UAE should try out SellAnyCar.com. It is 100% free.

Why SellAnyCar over other car showrooms and online marketplaces?
Selling a car can be a really annoying and complicated process; both time and power consuming for car owners. Clearly, it is something you do hardly every few years, so how should one get the routine that grants the best way to sell a car?

Private sales are often a choice for many sellers. But this usually accrues significant costs, while a return cannot be guaranteed, regardless of whether you advertise your car via print advertisement or through an online marketplace. It usually takes several appointments with a lot of time-wasters until you might sell your car.

Apart from the direct advertisement costs, private sales cause serious further expenses. In the Middle East, there is usually a time span of 3-6 weeks from first advertising to final sale. Furthermore, in advance of a successful deal, statistically you have to go through 4 – 6 meetings with potential buyers – again, a procedure that consumes both your time and money, while a positive return is still uncertain.

With your advertisement being displayed your phone may start ringing any time of the day and you have to manage meetings, but hardly in every case it is a real potential buyer.

This way you may also have to deal with shady and dubious elements. Should you let an unknown prospect actually test-drive your car? And even if the sale goes through, who guarantees you safe and secure payment and prevents you from receiving bouncing cheques? You could end up with no payment and no car.

Another option might be selling your car to a dealership. However, think about it – unless you are really an automotive expert yourself they will always try to outsmart you on the price. After all, that’s what their business model is basically about. Trade-Ins also don’t guarantee fair prices and accurate valuations – even more so, if the dealership sells different makes to the one of your car.

If you choose to give your car to a dealer to advertise it for you in his showroom, you might be without a car for several weeks and still have no guarantee of a sale.

Hence, if you want to sell your car hassle-free, while achieving a fair price, SellAnyCar.com is the perfect solution. We guarantee to buy your car after a free and competent valuation – quick, easy, fair and everywhere.

How and when was SellAnyCar started? Why was it started to provide these services?
SellAnyCar.com launched in September 2013. SellAnyCar.com solves a problem for consumers explained in the question above. The revenue model for SellAnyCar is used car trading. SellAnyCar.com will be in the entire Middle East, including Turkey within 2014.

Are you involved in other verntures apart from SellAnyCar?
Yes, but only active in SellAnyCar.com

Do you have any pearls of wisdom for budding entrepreneurs? What should they look out for before jumping onto the startup bandwagon?
You need to answer these questions before jumping:

1. Does your idea solve a massive problem?
2. Is the idea profitably scalable and how is the monetization strength?
3. Are you passionate about it?
4. Are there any regulatory showstoppers?
5. Is it the right timing?

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Blood, sweat and tears; late nights and weekends spent working; sacrificed vacations and family time – indeed, a CEO’s feelings toward his or her business often mirror those of a parent has for a child.

Unfortunately, when it comes time to take the next step in life, the gravity of letting their baby go can prove overwhelming, say Kathleen Richardson-Mauro and Jane M. Johnson, two business owners who specialize in helping CEOs plan and execute their business ownership transitions.

“Successful business owners tend to pore over every detail in order to improve the venture; but what they often overlook is the fact that, like parents to a child, they will someday have to allow that baby to move on,” says Johnson, co-author with Richardson-Mauro of a practical new guide, “Cashing Out of Your Business,” and complementary website of self-help resources, Business Transition Academy.

“As business owners, we’ve both experienced difficult transitions professionally and personally,” Richardson-Mauro says. “So many CEOs, rather than dealing with the reality of their business’ future without them, carry on as if nothing will change.”

Richardson-Mauro and Johnson, both Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisors and Business Exit Consultants, say there are a number of measures owners can take to ensure the transition is smooth and they have what they need to be happy on the other side of it.

• Change is natural; learn to accept it with regard to your business. If you’re like most owners, you have invested some or most of the best years of your life, and most of your financial resources, in your business. By now, your identity and that of the business may now actually be one and the same. Take heart: Now is the time to focus on your other passions, which may be family, traveling, catching up on reading, fitness and so much more. Consider your next act as a rebirth of you.
• Learn to count beans – outside of your business. Now is the time to take stock of the assets you’ve saved outside of the business and determine how much income you’ll need post-transition. Then, calculate how much money you’ll need to receive from the ownership transition. Most owners are not independently wealthy without their business; most need to extract money from their companies to fund the rest of their lives. The more a business profits, the more owners tend to spread the wealth to family members, or ratchet up spending in other ways. Be realistic about how you want your money to be spent in the next phase.
• Is your business transitioning “in-house”? Small businesses – those with less than 500 employees – are responsible for nearly half of the GDP and employment in the United States. Many of these are family-run enterprises; naturally, owners often want to keep it in the family, which doesn’t always work out. Often, parents want to distribute evenly to their sons and daughters, even though only one was actually active in the business. Attempts to be “fair” can cause businesses to crumble, with an absentee owner trying to call the same shots as someone who’s always there. Be honest about what will actually be good for the business and its employees.

 

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