Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, highlighted the complementary roles of technology and leadership in shaping the future of business and industry at the Technology Evolutions and Leadership conference at the bank’s head office. H.E. Dr. Hamad bin Salem Al Rawahi, Executive President of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, was the guest of honour at the conference attended by dignitaries, and a large turn-out of key banking, technology and industry representatives.
Drawing on the success of the Technology Evolutions conference series launched in 2014, the second edition of the conference came as part of efforts by the bank aimed at familiarising and sharing insights on the latest technologies shaping the future leadership in industry and business.
H.E. Dr. Hamad bin Salem Al Rawahi congratulated Bank Muscat for hosting the conference which highlighted new horizons in the world of technology and leadership contributing to the success of business and industry. At a time when business and industry are reviewing their strategic plans in light of the prevailing economic situation, the varied themes discussed at the conference are relevant in building successful enterprises contributing to the overall progress and development of the country, H.E. Dr. Hamad bin Salem Al Rawahi added.
Waleed Al Hashar, GGM – Corporate Services, said: “For the second year in running, Bank Muscat is proud to host the conference which facilitated engaging interaction with technology and leadership experts. Presently, at Bank Muscat, we are witnessing the amazing world of technology redefining the leadership role. The successful leadership is in turn keeping pace with the constantly evolving technology to face a continuously changing environment. Focused on the future where we want to go, Bank Muscat continues to redefine the banking culture in Oman by new and innovative initiatives driven by technology to retain its leading position.”
Waleed Al Hashar added; “As the flagship bank in Oman, technology continues to change the way the bank is delivering world class services to customers. The driving force of the bank to sustain leadership in banking service excellence is the ‘Let’s Do More’ vision and corporate values pursued by us. As leaders, our vision mandates us to continuously and constantly challenge what we do. We are focused to always listen, question and improve, thereby push ourselves and our people to do even better.”
Technology and leadership experts addressed the conference, spotlighting the rapidly changing technology and the equally altering leadership playing vital roles in charting successful business ventures. The conference stressed that with the unprecedented advances in technology, leadership was no longer conventional.
Highlighting ‘How Technology Influences Leadership’, Abdulrahman Al Busaidi, Chief Operating Officer, Oman Air, made a presentation on his leadership journey titled ‘I Did it My Way’, proving that the traditional leader is still someone to be admired.
Marco Peter Wolters, General Manager – IT, Operations and Infrastructure, Bank Muscat, made a presentation on ‘IT Leadership & The Animal Kingdom’, noting that one has to go to the extreme and evolve as a leader depending on the situation as characterised by animal traits. The presentation highlighted that certain situations require extreme responses in leadership as revealed by animals who reflect contrasting responses depending on the situation.
Remi Gulzar, Research Director, Gartner, made a presentation titled ‘Future Shock – How to Anticipate the Next Big Thing’, highlighting that with the various modes of leadership, Information Technology (IT) are leaders in their own right, driving both strategy and business, and as such leadership style needs to change moving towards a more holistic approach.
In a presentation spotlighting the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector, Amrou Al Sharif from Teclution pointed out that true leaders are those who have defied the odds. The unconventional leaders always inspire ideas and innovative solutions, he added.
The modern workplace was another area on focus on the technological advancements helping organisations to achieve greater scale of economies as explained by Ihsan Anabtawi, Regional Manager, Microsoft Gulf.
A lively panel discussion showed how leadership may affect uptake or adoption of technologies, thus having an impact on employee satisfaction. Never before has technology been so integral to the longevity of employees’ tenure in an organisation, or to their overall fulfillment, let alone the impact it has on work-life balance, the panelists noted.