Dubai Campus Guest Speakers

Hult Dubai has close links with global and local headhunting firms. Our industry contacts give you wide exposure to business professionals in the region. Our Dubai campus is always busy with regular company visits, career fairs, more than 50 guest speakers and, many other activities.

Recent speakers at the Dubai campus

Award-winner Nayla Al Khaja, who runs her own production company in Dubai’s Media City, gave an impassioned presentation during Hult’s Executive Speaker Series, on how she struggled against traditional norms to kick start a fledgling movie industry and become one of the Middle East’s most highly acclaimed directors. When asked to give one piece of advice to female MBA students looking to succeed in business, Nayla said: “One big lesson I’ve learnt is that gender does not matter. What does matter is that you become a professional – you have to acquire the right skill sets to deliver the right product to make your client super happy.” She added that it is important for all would-be entrepreneurs to remember who they really are, and to keep trying – even when the economic outlook is dim.

Nayla graduated from Dubai Women’s College with a degree in Mass Communication in 1999 but realized her true calling lay in film production prompting her to apply to Ryerson University in Canada, well known for its Film making program. She graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor in Image studies – Film making. In recognition of her achievements, Nayla has received numerous awards and accolades including winner of UAE International Young Screen Entrepreneur (IYSE) Award 2010, as part of the British Council’s international award programme, Young Creative Entrepreneur  (YCE), as well as UAE Woman of the Year - Film/Photo Category - L’Oficiel Magazine 2009.

Sanjiv Mehta has over 25 years of professional managerial experience. He has concentrated his talents primarily in consumer goods businesses, spending 19 years with Unilever, one of the world’s biggest and most respected consumer goods companies.

Sanjiv completed his Chartered Accountancy in India and Advance Management Program at Harvard Business School, and has lived and worked in India, Dubai, Bangladesh and the Philippines. He was the Chairman & Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh from 2002 to 2006, Chairman & CEO of Unilever Philippines from 2007 to 2008, and since 2008 has been the Chairman of Unilever North Africa and Middle East (NAME) based in Dubai. Unilever NAME is one of the largest consumer goods companies in the region with leading market positions in several categories and household name brands.

Philippe Dauba-Pantanacce is a Senior Economist for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), providing in-depth analysis on MENA economies for internal stakeholders as well as the bank’s lients. Philippe contributes to the global outlooks and forecasts on the MENA region.

He provides support to the sales force, the regional executive committee, and trading teams whenever research views on the Middle East are needed. Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank in 2007, Philippe worked for HSBC for five years in New York and Paris. At HSBC Asset Management, he was responsible for its global emerging market fund expertise for continental European clients. Before that, Philippe worked in Washington, DC for the French embassy and as a legislative aide for a US Congressman.

Philippe holds a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Economics and a Master’s in Business Management, both from the University of Paris, Dauphine. He is also a graduate of Sciences-Po Paris with a Master’s in International Relations and holds a Master’s from Columbia University, specializing in Emerging Market Finance.

Other recent speakers at the Dubai campus:

• Mr. Robert Garden, Managing Director, Royal Bank of Scotland
• Mr. Declan Hegarty, Managing Director and Head of Business, HSBC Middle East
• Ms. Claire Duce, Assurance Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Mr. Rajeev Lalwani, Partner, Technology Advisory, KPMG
• Mr. Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman - North Africa and Middle East, Unilever
• Mr. Philippe Dauba-Pantanacce, Senior Econonomist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Mr. William Ho, Consultant, Deloitte
• Mr. Al Rajwani, Vice President - Arabian Peninsula & Pakistan, P&G
• Ms. Benedicte Hennebo, Head - Marketing, Middle East & North Africa, British Telecom
• Mr. Rick Campbell, Director - Oil & Gas, Schneider Electric
• Mr. Mishal Kanoo, Deputy Chairman, Kanoo Group of companies
• Mr. Tariq Al Gurg, CEO, Dubai Cares
• Mr. Russel Sy, Managing Director, Tecom investments
• Mr. Choukri. A.Moubarak, Senior Vice President, Goldman Sachs & Co
• Mr. Michael Francis Andrew, Group HR head, Etisalat
• Mr. Erwin Bamps, Chief Operating Of!cer, Gulf Craft LLC
• Mr. Panos Manolopoulos, Vice President – EMEA, Stanton Chase International