CEOs and executive leadership positions should be filled by people with technology career backgrounds, such as app or software development, if businesses are to be more successful, says four-fifths (80%) of business leaders in the UAE.
New research finds international recognition that elevating technology team members into leadership roles drives significant value for the entire organization. When identifying specific benefits, nearly three quarters (70%) of business leaders in the UAE highlight improved efficiency across the whole organization – a figure that was 20% higher than the EMEA average, while 50% recognize increased business performance, 58% greater innovation potential, and 50% better customer experiences.
“Business leaders have never been at the helm of so much change, so those with an inherent knowledge of technology and an understanding of how applications can help them adapt to any market conditions and shape their future performance and resiliency have a real advantage. Indeed, three-quarters of the world’s business leaders agree that a ‘technology inside’ leadership skillset will bring success,” said Rasheed Al-Omari, Principal Business Solutions Strategist, SEMEA, VMware. “From the tens of millions of people and students now working and educating from home to Governments creating contacting tracing apps in months, to banks being able to scale to provide significant revenue streams, to businesses and retailers looking at digital platform options almost overnight, this pandemic has driven a decade of digital transformation in a few months.
Hassan Hamade, Senior Technologist, EMEA, added: “It is the ability to get these defining, business apps that deliver information and services into the hands of users, where needed – that creates success and genuinely drives customer engagement. Leadership with technology in its DNA combined with a software-enabled digital foundation to serve up these digital services is a winning combination.”
