Microsoft has announced the appointment of Samer Abu Ltaif as the President of its operations in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.
Abu Ltaif, who joined Microsoft in 2004. Most recently, he was the regional general manager of Microsoft Gulf. During his tenure, he led a number of the company’s initiatives aimed at enabling sectors such as government and SME.
According to the company, his vision for Microsoft in MEA is to contribute to the economic and social development of the region. “MEA has tremendous potential. The rich diversity across the region, combined with the fast-growing youth population and innovative spirit, opens up enormous opportunity,” said Abu Ltaif. “As Microsoft, we have an important role to play, not only through the innovative technology that we bring to market, but also through our presence across the region, our focus on developing local talent, and our deep commitment to the communities in which we operate”.
A key part of Abu Ltaif’s new role will be to drive the digital transformation agenda of the region across governments, enterprises, developers and small and medium businesses. The company highlighted that his role will be instrumental in progressing its commitment to empower people, transform businesses, impact societies and fuel a knowledge economy in MEA.
Abu Ltaif will continue to be based in Dubai, which serves as one of the major hubs for Microsoft in the region.
He takes over the reins from Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Ali Faramawy, who has headed the region for thirteen years. Faramawy, in turn, takes on a newly announced global role as the head of the Emerging Markets Digital Transformation Organisation which has been established within the company.
The new organisation will focus primarily on building the capability in emerging markets to drive the adoption of cloud technologies and contribute to sustainable growth. Innovation, agility, strategic partnerships, modern business models and building cloud skills for its partners, will be the core focus of this team.
