Mr. Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Helaissi is the Group Chief Executive Officer and a board member of Gulf International Bank B.S.C. Prior to joining GIB in February 2016, Mr. Al-Helaissi was the Deputy Governor for Supervision at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), having started there in May 2013. At SAMA, his responsibilities included the oversight of the Banking and Insurance sectors as well as finance company regulations (mortgage, leasing, and other non-bank finance institutions). He was additionally responsible for consumer protection. Prior to SAMA, Mr. Al-Helaissi was Senior Country Officer and Managing Director, Saudi Arabia for JPMorgan Chase as well as Head of Global Corporate Banking for the Middle East and North Africa. Earlier in his career, he was Saudi British Bank’s (affiliate of HSBC), Central Province Area General Manager, covering all keylines of business, including corporate and consumer banking. He has also served on a number of boards, including the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). 

Mr. Al-Helaissi holds a BA in Economics from the University of Texas in Austin, USA, and has 31 years of banking and regulatory experience primarily in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Selman Fares M. Al-Fares is the Chief Executive Officer of AlMajd Al Arabiya Company for Asset and Property Management of a Hospitality Portfolio in Makkah, Madinah, and Jeddah. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive Officer of Nessel Holding Company, and held several senior positions in Al Faisaliah Group, Gulf Stars Group for Network Technology and Technology Solutions, and Riyad Bank. Earlier in his career, he held numerous positions at Samba Financial Group, most recently Senior Country Operation Officer. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Technical Investments Company, and a board member of GOSI, Hassana Investment Company, and Falcom Holding. He is also a member of the Investment Committee, Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance. Mr. Al Fares holds a degree in Computer Information Systems from Arizona State University, USA. He has 39 years of professional experience.

Dr. Najem bin Abdulla Al Zaid is the Founding Partner of ZS&R law firm in association with Hogan Lovells. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Saudi Electricity Company and a member of the Tadawul Regulatory Policies and Oversight Committee. Further, he is a Governance Committee member at Saudi International Petrochemical Company, a Governance Committee member at Arabian Centres Company, and a Board and Board Risk Committee member and Governance, Nomination, and Remuneration Committee member at GIB BSC. He also served as the Vice-Chairman of The Mediterranean and Gulf Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Company and as a board member of the National Center for Privatization and PPP. Prior to founding ZS&R, Dr. Al Zaid was the Chief Governance and Legal Officer at Al Rajhi Bank Group and had previously served as the Commissioner and a board member of the Saudi Capital Market Authority, appointed by royal decree. He also worked as Counsel at the Islamic Development Bank Group. Dr. Al Zaid holds a Doctor of Juridical Science from the George Washington University Law School, USA, a Master of Laws from the University of Minnesota Law School, USA, a High Diploma in Law from the Institute of Public Administration, Saudi Arabia, and a BA in Islamic Jurisprudence and Law from Umm AlQura University, Saudi Arabia. Further, he successfully completed the Harvard Law School Leadership Program and the London Business School Management Development Program. He has 26 years of professional experience.

Mr. Rajeev Kakar is a board member of Eurobank Ergasias SA(Greece), Commercial International Bank (Egypt), UTI AssetManagement Company (India), Satin Credit Care Networks (India), GIB BSC and is a Global Advisory Board member at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. From 2006-2018, he was the Global Co-Founder of Fullerton Financial Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, Singapore; and also served concurrently as the Global CEO of Consumer Banking, Regional CEO for Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and as the founder, Managing Director, and CEO of Dunia Finance, Fullerton’s UAE subsidiary. Prior to that, he was at Citibank for 20 years, finishing as the Regional CEO & Division Executive - Turkey, Middle East, and Africa. Mr. Kakar holds an MBA, Finance & Marketing from the Indian Institute of Management, and a Bachelor of Technology, Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. He has 34 years of professional experience.

Mr. Bander bin Abdulrahman bin Mogren is the Chief Operating Officer at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF). He is also a member of the PIF Nomination Committee, a board member of the Saudi Development and Investment Company and the Chairman of its Remuneration Committee, and a board member of the Saudi Real Estate Company and a member of its Nomination and Remuneration Committee. Mr. Mogren is a board member of King Abdullah Financial District and the Chairman of its Nomination Committee, a board member of Jassara, and a member of the Nomination and Remuneration committees of Tadawul, Sanabil Investments, Noon, and the National Center for Privatization, Neom, Qiddiya, and Central Riyadh Development Company. Previously, he was Managing Director of Human Resources and Corporate Services at NCB Capital, and Head of Human Resources at Jadwa Investment; as well as having held managerial positions at STC. Mr. Mogren holds a BA in Human Resources and Business Administration from Eastern Washington University, USA. He has 19 years of professional experience.

Mr. Sultan bin Abdul Malek al-sheik is a Director at the Local Holdings Investment Division at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF). He is also a board member of the Helicopter Company, Tahakom Investment Company, Saudi Company for Exchanging Digital Information (Tabadul), AlMarai Company, GIB BSC, and Saudi Fisheries Company, as well as being an Executive Committee member of Saudi Telecom Company. Prior to joining PIF, Mr. Al Sheikh held key positions in reputable financial institutions. He served as an Associate and

Vice President of Investment Banking at Saudi Fransi Capital. Mr. Al Sheikh also worked as an Officer in the Securities Listing Department at the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) and as a Relationship Manager at the National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Al Sheikh holds an MSc in Finance from the George Washington University, the USA, and a BSc in Finance from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. He has 17 years of professional experience.

Ms. Anju Patwardhan is a globally experienced board director, banker, and Fintech venture investor. She has lived and worked in Singapore, San Francisco, and India. She was the Managing Director at CreditEase Fintech VC Fund of USD 500 million, based in Silicon Valley, from 2016-20. She continues to be an advisor to the Fund and represents the Fund on the boards of various portfolio companies in the US and the UK. Before this, Anju worked in banking for over two decades, based in Singapore, with Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) in global leadership roles including Global Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Risk Officer, and Chief Operating Officer. She was a member of SCB’s global executive leadership team, a member of the Global Technology & Operations Management Group, and a member of the Global Risk Management Group. Ms. Patwardhan has served on boards of banks and regulated entities in the US, the UK, Europe, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. She is on the Global Advisory Council of Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI). She has been a guest faculty for a FinTech course for MBA students at Stanford GSB since 2017. Her numerous academic accolades include Fulbright Fellow and Visiting Scholar from ASEAN, and Fellow of the Distinguished Careers Institute, at Stanford University, California, USA. She was also appointed Distinguished Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Banking & Finance (Risk Management); Innovation Fellow at the National University of Singapore; and was on the e-Residency advisory board of the Government of Estonia. Ms. Patwardhan has been a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Steering Committee on ‘Disruptive Innovation in Financial Services’ since 2015 and was a Member of the WEF’s Global Future Council on Blockchain from 2016 to 2018. Recognized globally as a FinTech thought leader and influencer, Ms. Patwardhan is regularly invited to speak at leading annual international conferences and events, including the World Economic Forum, G20 SME Finance Forum, World Bank/IMF, Asian Development Bank, Milken Institute, and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Ms. Patwardhan is an alumna of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Management. She has nearly 30 years of professional experience.

Eng. Muhannad bin Kusai bin Hasan Al Azzawi is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Saudi Industrial Construction & Engineering Projects Company (SICEP), Chairman and CEO of Saudi Training & Technology Company (ST&T) Chairman and CEO of Al Wusata Development Company. Eng. Al Azzawi is Chairman of Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Board’s Remuneration and Nomination Committee; board member of Taiba Investments, and member of the Investment Committee and Remuneration and Nomination Committee, and board member of the Saudi Arabian Golf Federation, and Chairman of the Investment Committee and board member of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, and member of the Executive Committee. He was Vice-Chairman of the National Contractors’ Committee, Council of Saudi Chambers; Vice-Chairman of the Contractors’ Committee, Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and a member of the Joint Saudi-French Business Council. In addition, He represents the private sector on several Government committees concerned with the contracting sector in Saudi Arabia. He has been a member of the Young Presidents’ Organisation since 2000. Eng. Al Azzawi holds a BSc degree in Computer Engineering from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. He has 26 years of professional experience.

Mr Yousif Al-Harjan is the Chief Executive Officer and board member at the National Center for Government Resources Systems and a board member in the National Technology Development Program. Prior to this, he spent 14 years with the Ministry of Finance of Saudi Arabia, including as the Assistant Deputy Minister for National Systems. Earlier in his career Mr Al-Harjan also held positions in Etimad, SADAD and STC. 

Mr Al-Hargan holds a BSc in Computer Engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia and an advanced leadership qualification from the London Business School.  He has 17 years’ of professional experience.