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Ahmed Galal Ismail is Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors at Majid Al Futtaim - Holding.

He has been a long-standing leader at Majid Al Futtaim, having held several executive positions across the company’s portfolio of businesses during his tenure, and has played an instrumental role in the growth and development of the Group.

Having joined Majid Al Futtaim in 2007 as the group's VP of Strategy, he then oversaw seven business verticals including Leisure and Entertainment, Cinemas, Lifestyle, Facilities Management, and Consumer Finance in his role as CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Ventures. Prior to his most recent appointment as CEO of Holding, Mr. Ismail served for 5 years as CEO of our Properties business, leading the company’s portfolio of shopping malls, hotels, and mixed-use communities. 

Mr. Ismail started his career with Procter and Gamble in Egypt and Germany, before joining Booz Allen Hamilton where he was named Principal, advising organisations in the retail, media, tourism, and transportation sectors.

Mr. Ismail serves on the Board of Endeavor UAE, a global non-profit dedicated to high-impact entrepreneurship, and the Arab Investment Bank. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s CEO Alliance for Climate Change and is a Trustee of the American University in Cairo.

Ziad Chalhoub is Chief Financial Officer of Majid Al Futtaim - Holding.

In his role, he is responsible for the financial health and control of the organisation, overseeing all financial activities, including financial risk management, financial planning, financial reporting and analysis of data in support of delivering against the company's strategic objectives. In addition, he is responsible for the company-wide Investment and M&A functions.

Ziad has over 20 years of experience, 14 of which he spent in New York as a finance leader at IBM. In 2011, he served as CFO for IBM's Central & Eastern Europe-based businesses and in 2013 was appointed CFO for the company's Middle East and Africa interests. In his most recent role as CFO for IBM's Global Technology Services (GTS) business, he was accountable for a portfolio of USD28 billion P&L of GTS' portfolio of business, owning all financial planning, pricing, business development, audit, controls and business operations.

He holds an MBA in Finance & Strategy from the University of Rochester, New York, and a bachelor's degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick.

Viviana Alberu was appointed Chief Human Capital Officer for Majid Al Futtaim Holding in January 2023, with responsibility for the development and implementation of strategies that drive business growth and improve organisational performance through our 45,000+ employees. Bringing Majid Al Futtaim's 'People First' ethos to life includes identifying opportunities for process improvements, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration and trust and leveraging technology to enhance the employee experience.

She joined the company in 2015 to lead the Transformation Office but quickly stepped into the role of Head of Human Capital for Majid Al Futtaim Properties, which she held for seven years.

Originally from Mexico, she holds an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. Her previous experience includes roles at McKinsey, Empresas Polar, one of Venezuela’s biggest food and drinks manufacturers and CANTV, the telephone and internet service provider in Venezuela.

Elham Al Qasim is Chief Strategy & Technology Officer for Majid Al Futtaim – Holding, responsible for developing our long-term strategy and operating model with a focus on driving sustainable value creation and growth. Her team operate as the strategic advisory function, offering market intelligence, analysis, diagnostic and execution services to support the business with its ongoing transformation, investment, growth, and efficiency plans. She also leads the creation and delivery of our technology strategy and roadmap to support company-wide digital aspirations to pivot existing business or enter new tech-enabled sectors.

Before joining Majid Al Futtaim, Elham spent 12 years in Abu Dhabi working with Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, and Digital14 amongst others. Prior to that, she was based in the UK, where she started her career in Investment Banking at JPMorgan.


Elham holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business from the American University in Dubai and a Masters degree from the School of Social Policy at The London School of Economics & Political Science.

Ahmed El Shamy was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim - Properties in January 2023.

 In his previous role as Chief Financial Officer of Majid Al Futtaim - Properties, Ahmed was responsible for the evolution of the finance function and oversaw the financial health, risk, and compliance practices. He helped deliver on business targets despite challenging market conditions, mitigated the impact of the COVD-19 pandemic and successfully executed programmes such as War on Waste and the C1500 plan. 

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Ahmed was Partner and Group CFO of Qalaa Holdings, one of the Arab world's largest private equity firms. He has also worked with Procter & Gamble, Citadel Capital, and Al Ahram Beverages and Orascom Development Holding.