Management

Ahmed Galal Ismail is Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors at Majid Al Futtaim - Holding, the leading shopping mall, retail, and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia with assets in excess of USD 19 billion and 43,000 employees. 

Mr. Ismail has been a long-standing leader at Majid Al Futtaim, having held several executive positions across the company’s portfolio of businesses during his 18-year tenure, and has played an instrumental role in the growth and development of the Group. 

Most recently, Mr. Ismail served as the Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim - Properties, from 2018 to early 2023 leading the company’s portfolio of shopping malls, hotels, and mixed-use communities across the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, and Lebanon. Prior to assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim - Properties, Mr. Ismail led Majid Al Futtaim - Ventures, overseeing seven business verticals including Leisure and Entertainment, Cinemas, Lifestyle, Facilities Management, and Consumer Finance. He joined Majid Al Futtaim in 2007 as the Group's VP of Strategy. 

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 the Arab Investment Bank and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council and the CEO Alliance for Climate Change, in addition to being a Trustee of the American University in Cairo.

Mr. Ismail holds an MBA with distinction from London Business School and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the American University in Cairo.

Ziad Chalhoub is Chief Financial Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Majid Al Futtaim - Holding. In his role, Mr. Chalhoub 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, Mr. Chalhoub is responsible for the Group's sustainability strategy, ensuring the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles across the business. Mr. Chalhoub plays a key role in advancing the company's sustainability agenda, driving initiatives that align with its long-term vision for responsible growth and impact.

Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim, Mr. Chalhoub spent 20 years at IBM, 14 of which as a finance leader in New York. In 2011, Mr. Chalhoub served as Chief Financial Officer for IBM's Central & Eastern Europe-based businesses and in 2013 was appointed Chief Financial Officer for IBM's Middle East and Africa interests. Mr. Chalhoub has also served as Chief Financial Officer for IBM's Global Technology Services (GTS) business. 

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

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 operates as the strategic advisory function, setting the group’s strategic direction, identifying key value levers, and overseeing the portfolio toward the aspired full potential. In this capacity, she also oversees Corporate Development, evaluating growth moves and strategic partnerships.

She also stewards the Technology, Data, and AI strategy roadmap to support company-wide digital aspirations to pivot existing business or enter new Tech/ D&AI-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.

Charles Awad is the Chief Brand Officer at Majid Al Futtaim – Holding. He works closely with the Group’s different operating companies to shape the overarching brand agenda and drive customer lifetime value. Charles leads brand-building efforts across strategy, communications, innovation, loyalty, customer engagement, and experience, while overseeing marketing investment strategies. He also manages the Majid Al Futtaim corporate brand, leading group-wide media initiatives and company-wide marketing partnerships.

Charles has over 25 years’ experience in building and growing profitable B2C and B2B brands, and has held leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder and Allergan. He has a proven track record of leading marketing, R&D, and commercial teams to drive game-changing, customer-centric strategies and disruptive innovation.

Before joining Majid Al Futtaim, Charles was the Growth Strategy Adviser for Allergan in Zurich, where he developed strategies to triple the medical aesthetics business by 2025. Prior to that, as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer for Oettinger Davidoff AG, he doubled the global Davidoff net sales and profit in five years through brand repositioning and breakthrough marketing strategies.

He also spent 17 years with Procter & Gamble in senior roles in the Middle East and Europe, driving strategy development, portfolio growth, and brand turnarounds in the FMCG business.

Charles holds an MBA from INSEAD, as well as a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.

Khalifa Bin Braik is the Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim - Asset Management, where he leads a portfolio of 29 shopping malls and 13 Hotels across the Middle East and North Africa.
 
Khalifa has extensive real estate and hospitality leadership experience in various organisations. After starting his career with Dubai Holding, he joined Sharjah Holding, a joint venture between Majid Al Futtaim - Properties and the Government of Sharjah; and moved to Majid Al Futtaim - Properties in 2014. He served as a director in the Shopping Malls business unit and Managing Director, Hotels Business Unit. In that role, Khalifa was responsible for optimizing the operating and financial performance of the entire portfolio of Majid Al Futtaim - Hotels, as well as building robust relationships with our international hotel partners.
 
Khalifa holds a master's degree in financial economics from Boston University and a B.Sc. in Economics from Northeastern University.