Leading tech trends magazine WIRED Middle East has published its exclusive interview with Hassan Jameel, Deputy President and Vice Chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel, in the first issue of 2021.

Discussing his plans to reinvent the business for the digital age, Hassan Jameel says:

“We like to call ourselves a 75-year-old startup.  We want to make sure we have that entrepreneurial spirit. And we want to always be thinking of how we can… be lean as much as possible.”

He predicts that digitalization is critical in improving customer service, a less-than-thrilling term that nonetheless can decide whether a business succeeds or fails. Interpreting the vast amounts of data that the conglomerate’s numerous divisions generate will be key.

“Maybe the most important aspect of digitalization is our people. We want to foster this entrepreneurial spirit to make sure this [data] can be used… so training our people, developing our people, focusing on hiring the right people.  For instance, today we’d like to hire more software and data engineers, because those are the people who are able to read and utilize the data much more effectively.”

The feature highlights Hassan Jameel’s specialism in the automotive sector; he highlights four industry-redefining trends—autonomous vehicles, electrification, mobility-as-a-service, and connectivity.

“Once these four trends start to converge, that’s when the real disruption, the real inflection point will happen.  So, there’s such an opportunity for us as a company in the mobility space to really look at different opportunities, whether that’s through extending our current businesses, investing in new businesses, or partnering and finding synergies that can support our businesses. Digitalization most of the time is the missing link which can support a lot of things today.”

Photo credit: NAWAWI STUDIO.

Read the full article in its original location here.