Title: President, APCO MENA
Years in the role: 19 years
Years in the industry: 27 years
Years in the Middle East region: From the region.
Power Essay: Relevance is the strategy – From communications to counsel in the age of AI
If AI can draft it in seconds, what is our role as strategic communicators? In the Middle East, during one of the most transformative decades in living memory, the answer is clear: our value moves upstream. Outputs are becoming commoditised; real counsel isn’t. As the Gulf moves from vision to execution, relevance becomes the differentiator – understanding the business, the rules, the risks and the people who shape them.
Across the region, growth is driven by policy; capital is deployed strategically; and licence to operate is earned not just in boardrooms, but in the court of public opinion. Clients have evolved. After years of building strong inhouse teams, they now expect advisers who understand how their model makes money or creates impact, what the regulator expects, and how decisions land with employees, investors and communities. A press release won’t move the needle anymore; informed judgment will.
This changes the skills equation. Communications expertise is still essential – but it’s no longer enough. If you work in healthcare, you need to understand policy, reimbursement, clinical pathways and patient groups. If you’re in real estate, speak the language of engineers, and get fluent in project finance and planning codes. Public affairs specialists must be policy literate, not just policy adjacent. When you sit down with a CEO, they should walk away having learned something new from you.
AI makes this shift more urgent, not less. Generative tools can handle the heavy lifting – research synthesis, first drafts, scenario mapping – at a speed and cost that frees us up to focus on higher-order work. The real question isn’t ‘Will AI replace us?’; it’s ‘Will we use AI to buy back time and reinvest it in understanding our clients and their world?’. Those who do will become more relevant. Those who don’t will sound the same – and be priced the same – as a machine.
So, what now?
Go deep on domain. Choose the sectors you serve and study them like an insider. Build muscle memory for how policy, capital and operations actually work.
Upgrade your toolkit. Pair AI literacy with fluency in data, regulation and basic financials. Use tools to get to insight faster – but don’t mistake the tool for the insight.
Design for outcomes, not announcements. Move past the reflex to issue a statement or post a video on social media. Build coalitions, stakeholder journeys, and measures that change behaviour and de-risk decisions.
Bring knowledge, network, and passion. Process builds confidence you can deliver. Passion helps ideas win. Both matter, but substance comes first.
The communications industry is at a crossroads: relevance or irrelevance. As this region’s transformation moves from plans to performance, the work that lasts is the work that informs better decisions, earns trust and drives real agendas. AI will keep getting better at producing words. Our job is to make sure those words carry weight.
We need to look up. Talk to people. Learn our clients and their worlds – and let AI handle the rest.
Highlight of the last year
Led the establishment and growth of APCO’s MENA operations, expanding the team to almost 300 consultants across five key markets. Delivering fully integrated advisory, reputation management, and policy advocacy services to both government and private sector clients, positioning the business as a leading global partner
in the region.
Rapid fire
What the industry needs to talk more about:
Clients and their evolving needs.
What the industry needs to talk less about:
Itself.
If you could change one thing in the blink of an eye, you would…
Kill the press release.
What’s one thing about you that would surprise your team?
I love to cook every weekend.
What mobile application can you not live without?
WhatsApp.
What word/phrase do people remember you for using the most?
“Yalla.”
What’s one local/regional tradition that you love the most?
Physicality. Warm hugs and personal interaction.
If you could choose any two people, currently alive, in the world to share a meal with you, who would it be?
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin … together.
What’s your top word of advice for Gen Z and Gen Alpha?
Look up – from devices and distractions.
What’s your go-to comfort food?
Falafel.
