The Wonder Women of MENA: SAP’s Hoda Mansour
About Hoda Mansour, SVP & SAP Head of Business Process Transformation- EMEA South
Hoda is a highly experienced, creative and self-motivated executive with vast experience in delivering innovation and business value for customers. She worked for leading multinational software companies including SAP, Oracle & Microsoft in regional and global capacities, living and working in three different continents, which gave her a well-rounded experience in dealing with different cultures, challenges, and business models. Given her impact on the business, Forbes Middle East acknowledged her leadership by recognizing her as one of 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen in 2023. This came on the back of her recognition by Forbes Middle East as one of Top 5 Women in Technology for 2022 & being selected on the Forbes Middle East Most Powerful Businesswomen since 2018.
Hoda is currently leading SAP’s Business Process Transformation in Southern Europe, Middle East & Africa covering 75 Countries; before which she was first female to be appointed in a Managing Director role by SAP across the whole of Middle East & Africa region.
Since joining SAP in 2013, Hoda played a pivotal role in supporting the company’s growth strategy to transform the United Arab Emirates Market. During her role as Chief Operating Officer in 2017, the UAE & Oman won the Market Unit of the Year award across the whole of EMEA South for the first time ever and Hoda was recognized as The Top COO for Southern Europe, Middle East & Africa region (EMEA South). She acted as the local executive sponsor for several strategic digital transformation engagements including Expo2020 Dubai.
Hoda is part of the Global Executive Leadership Team at SAP. She regularly speaks at global and regional forums. She is a member of the Board Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce since June 2021. She was appointed on the board of Commercial International Bank (CIB) where she has also been selected to Chair CIB’s Board Sustainability Committee Since March 2023.
Hoda holds a B.Sc. with Distinction & Honors in Engineering from Alexandria University in addition to Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with Distinction from Maastricht School of Management.
About her thoughts for the industry
Several thoughts come to my mind when I think of 2023:
- Businesses will continue to move away from mere Digitization to invest more in true Business Process Transformation. This will be the only way to sustain new business models, react to current market dynamics and thrive in today’s complex & competitive world.
- AI will play a more fundamental role in our businesses and daily lives. The dependencies on AI will further expand and we will eventually see many more jobs being replaced by AI. The workforce will need to reassess their skillset to continue to be relevant. There will be also anincreased focus on ethical AI.
- Sustainability to continue to be Top of Mind on the Executives Agenda, with furthermore emphasis on adopting sustainable practices across businesses and communities
- Retaining Top Talents while focusing on Mental Health & Work life Harmony to be on top of executives’ agendas
I believe 2023 will bring a lot of change in many aspects, including political, economic, and social.
Despite all the challenges that we have witnessed in the past few months, I am positive on what 2023 will bring and hopeful that the world will react positively in face of the current challenges.
I am a true believer that with every challenge comes an opportunity!