SAP MENA has appointed Ahmed Jaber Al-Faifi as the new managing director (MD) for Saudi Arabia. Reporting directly to Sam Alkharrat, Managing Director, SAP MENA, Al-Faifi will lead SAP's ambitious growth strategy and field operations in one of the company's most dynamic markets. An IT and telecommunications veteran with more than a decade's experience across the Middle East, Al-Faifi joins SAP MENA from Zain KSA, where he held the position of chief operating officer, supervising networks, IT, sales, marketing, customer care, among other key operational functions. Under his leadership, Zain KSA achieved tremendous growth in record time and expanded its operations to attain a market leadership position, including becoming the first in the region to introduce mobile 4G LTE. Al-Faifi's tenure at Zain KSA also entailed working as chief technology officer, where his cost optimization initiatives resulted in savings of more than SR2.3 billion over a five-year period. "Ahmed has the background and vision to move us to the next level, and will be instrumental in driving our customer-centric innovation agenda centering on cutting-edge, localized solutions related to mobility, analytics, applications, database and technology and the cloud," Alkharrat said. SAP MENA plans recruiting more than 500 additional employees, opening several new offices and expanding the company's partner ecosystem and the SAP University Alliances program. – SG
