Private company

• Advised Family Offices on growth capital and pre-IPO opportunities in Education, Tech, and other sectors.
• Conducted deal-making and venture evaluations to identify lucrative investment opportunities.
• Collaborated with stakeholders to strategize and execute successful investments for high returns.

CEO / Operating Partner

TomouhCL

Member

OPUS

OPUS is a global community focused on empowering the next generation of business innovators. We believe community is the key driver of opportunity. Built on inclusivity and diversity, our community brings together carefully chosen individuals known for their talent and ambition.

Our mission is to become the world’s foremost connector of people and creator of opportunities.

Kïdo

* Spearheaded establishment and growth of the 3 UAE Schools via greenfield and acquisitions, conducted a successful exit to a strategic investor through an exceptional due diligence and negotiation process achieving high multiple ROI. 
* As part of executive committees / senior management, working across geographies to review, evaluate and plan corporate-wide strategies and organizational initiatives to build infrastructure, operations, sales processes and systems to achieve growth of the Revenue by 50% year-on-year.  
* Evaluating potential expansion via Joint Venture and Franchising with Private Equity, Regional Family Offices and Strategic Investors into Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Oman, Qatar and Africa. 
* Canvased for and engaged in multiple fund-raising discussions with Private Equity, Venture Capital, Individual and Strategic Investors globally. 
* Designed, implemented and championed a robust financial infrastructure (budgeting, forecasting and reporting) from scratch across geographies, subsidiaries and product verticals.

Group CFO & CEO, Middle East & Africa

Standard Chartered Bank

* Achieved performance beyond management expectations for the Sub-Saharan Africa Financial Markets Business to make it one of the best-performing segments by expanding cross-asset derivatives solutions across flow and bespoke structured deals. 
* Harnessed the transformative power of a new well-trained team and selected global stakeholders to increase revenue from 20x + in less than 4-years.

Head of Africa Structuring, SSG Group (Emerging Market Structuring)

* Closed the largest derivative trade in Pakistan for the Group. 
* Development of Islamic Shariah-Compliant Derivatives.

Derivatives Structurer - Middle East and Pakistan

* Set-up and fast-tracked the growth of the credit structuring business in London from less than USD 200k to USD 8mio during the credit crisis of 2007-2008. Cultivated a strong collaboration with European / US Sales teams to build distribution channels to pension funds, hedge funds, asset managers and private banks. 
* Successfully closed a USD 1 Billion+ Capital Relief Balance Sheet transaction for the Bank through a Structured Trade in December 2007, which was recognized by Head of Wholesale Bank and Group CEO.

Structurer

* Launched and developed the strategy for the MENA Capital Markets business across the Origination and Distribution business lines, product initiatives in the Structured Credit space, resulting in numerous firsts for the Bank. Contributed to increase in revenue by more than 200%. 
* Led the execution of 4 Structured IPO Lending transactions (Revenue USD 10mio+) for the largest local IPOs in the UAE in 2005-2006, coordinating structural requirements internally and liaising with sales teams and clients.
* Pitched and executed the first SCB IPO Lead Receiving Bank mandate for the Al Baraka Bank IPO in 2004. Put together a regional syndicate of 12 banks and the infrastructure to deliver a highly successful transaction.
* led the efforts to sell-down CDO equity tranches to institutional investors in MENA

Associate Director, Capital Markets

National Bank of Abu Dhabi

* Structured a USD 20mio Fund of Hedge-Funds - manager / strategy due diligence, risk evaluation, selection.
* Launched the FAB UAE Trading Fund which currently has an AUM of AED 141mio.

Investment Analyst

I am the man in the arena!

I’m a serial entrepreneur who started selling a hand-copied local newsletter at 8-years old, and I’ve never known what it’s like not to be responsible and be a leader. No set-back has kept me down, and I have always approached my next “adventure” with enthusiasm. I would put this down to my huge capacity to learn, my resilience, and curiosity allowing me to identify paths to reinvent myself and my organizations. 

I have enjoyed many executive positions in my career with my strong commercial acumen, and ability to deliver operational excellence with scale across multiple markets. I focus on delivering key outcomes, building amazing teams and collaborations and scaling to new heights. 

As Regional CEO / Group CFO for Kido, my experience has allowed me to gain extensive international knowledge of the learning markets and impact investments including early childhood education, edtech and school operations. We have leveraged technology and innovative pedagogy to improve delivery in Pre-School Education.

• I built, lead and grew the UAE Nursery Business over 7 years and orchestrated a successful exit.
• I have had extensive experience with creating finance strategy, managing cashflow, and optimizing pricing, costs and revenues. 
• I have contributed by advising on and executing M&A, capital raising (Private Equity and Venture Capital), build-out, tax optimization, strategic, corporate and legal restructuring transactions for portfolio companies across UK, US, India, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore. 

At SCB, I joined in 2004 in the Capital Markets MENA team, was promoted in two years to be based in London to build and grow the credit distribution platform across Europe and North America. In 2009, I joined the Strategic Solutions Group in Middle East and within a year was asked to lead the team and expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa. I Implemented exceptional growth in revenue for the Africa FM Sales business and for all business lines multiplying sales by at least 3x to upto 20x and higher throughout. 

Professional Skills
Strategic Planning | Transformational Leadership | Team Development | Product Roadmap | Portfolio Strategy | Deal Making | Investment Analysis | M&A | Financial Systems | Global Expansion

Domain Knowledge 
Investment | Private Equity | Capital Markets | Education Management | Education Consulting | EdTech

Umair Tariq

Another excellent session arranged by TomouhCL !

Excellent and though provoking discussions and great to meet leaders from across the region!

li_at

JSESSIONID

Talks about #strategy, #education, #investment, #impactinvesting, and #entrepreneurship

Family Office Advisor | CEO | CFO | Private Markets Deal-Maker | Buy-and-Build & Portfolio Operations | Education Strategy | Ex-Standard Chartered | CFA Charterholder | GCC • UK • US • Africa

A year of consistent engagement with UCEA - Family Office Group events has reinforced a fundamental truth: the most valuable deals rarely come from cold pitches but they emerge from trusted relationships built over time.

Last week's gathering was another testament to Michael Reeves and his team's ability to curate not just investment opportunities, but meaningful dialogues. What makes these events exceptional isn't simply the quality of dealflow presented, though it consistently impresses, it's the intentionality behind who's in the room.

Throughout this year, I've watched this community evolve from individual connections into a genuine ecosystem where family offices and institutional investors can think collectively about complex allocations. The conversations have shifted from transactional to strategic, from reactive to proactive.

A particular highlight from last week: the cross-border opportunities that wouldn't typically reach traditional channels, presented with the kind of operational transparency that serious allocators demand.

To the UCEA team—thank you for understanding that effective capital deployment starts with effective relationship building. The consistency and quality you've maintained throughout the year hasn't gone unnoticed.

Already looking forward to the next one.

#FamilyOffice #InstitutionalInvesting #PrivateMarkets #CapitalAllocation #DealFlow

UCEA - Family Office Group

Regional Investment Manager @ UCEA Family Office | Relationship Development

"It is better to lose time than temper in a negotiation"

#FamilyOffice #Dealmaking #Investing #Growth #Leadership

An Excellent Biography. 

I've been very interested in John Malone's deal-making and structuring creativity since reading "The Cable Cowboys". 

While not that much in-depth on the structuring part, its a must-read for entrepreneurs on fast-changing industries, mergers, acquisitions, deal-making and growth and challenges. 

I now need to research on tracking stocks, spin-offs and the various structures used by John Malone throughout his career and look forward to that study. 

#Mergers #FamilyOffice #PrivateEquity #ReadingClub #Leadership

“Reality will pay you back in equal proportion to your delusion.”

— Will Smith

#Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Growth

Every year end, many review the Investment Outlooks from various banks and investment houses, navigating through differing opinions in extensive reports. 

This year, I utilized NotebookLM to help summarize the information, and it is impressive to see how it synthesizes data and documents into a coherent summary. 

While I still recommend reading the original documents in full, you may find this #2026 #MarketOutlook Compendium useful. 

#Investing #AI #Markets #FamilyOffice #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital

Compendium of 2026 Outlooks

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
- Michaelangelo


#Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Growth #Creativity

“An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit.”

- Pliny the Younger: Roman senator, lawyer, and author 


#Leadership #Growth #Goals #Entrepreneurship

Dalil AI

Building the smartest and easy-to-use AI Sales Assistant enabling salespeople on-the-go and startup founders to build relationships and close deals, while managing their CRM data chatting on WhatsApp

Co-Founder and CEO

McKinsey & Company

Loved every moment even more. Slept even less. Spearheaded a Retail Bank Transformation to boost CASA deposits and streamline customer service across all segments, from Mass to SMEs. Led the charge to amp up loan and credit card sales with cutting-edge cross-selling models, product innovation, and optimized sales ops. Crafted a 360° strategy to win over affluent banking customers in KSA, rolling out initiatives in strategic waves. Transformed branch networks for a major Middle East bank, optimizing footprint and service models. Mapped out a procurement optimization for a luxury brand, eyeing €35+ million in savings. Coached a lot of Associates and BAs

Senior Engagement Manager

Loved every minute. Didn't sleep much. Built a killer forecasting model for healthcare giants to manage PPE during COVID-19. Rolled out a nationwide waste management program, saving a major retailer $40+ million annually. Streamlined procurement for a healthcare leader, unlocking $60+ million in savings. Revamped the supply chain structure for a top dairy company, slashing 25% of spend. Excel never stood a chance; PowerPoint either.

Associate

Antonio Manzone

I led a small but mighty team to revamp our supply operations and sales strategy. We saw an 85% revenue jump by introducing a ready-to-wear collection, attracting customers who bought multiple suits. We also cut delivery times by 42% by optimizing our supply chain. It was a thrilling journey of growth and innovation.

Co-founder and  CEO

Total

Managed 25 gas stations and led over 20 projects, boosting revenues by 17.4%. I helped launch the "Total Access" initiative, doubling our gas distribution volume. I also created "RezoMarket," an online platform for station managers to share equipment, saving over €400K. It was a rewarding experience filled with learning and friendship

Network Area Manager

Learned a lot by carefully listening to 8 experienced Market Managers and Product Owners

Market Manager Apprentice

Jibtel

Optimized and implemented both old and new Google AdWords campaigns, driving effective SEO and SEM strategies. Focused on acquiring new clients and conducted in-depth market analysis to develop innovative strategies. It was a dynamic role that kept me constantly learning and growing

Responsible Business Development Italy - Internship

Marina Militare Italiana

Voluntary Military Service

I’ve lived the CRM pain. Now I’m solving it.

- Started in sales 10 years ago at McKinsey & Total.
- Tried every CRM on the market. Watched talented teams avoid them.
- Saw millions lost to missed follow-ups and bad admin.

Decided to build a real fix.

Here’s what we’re building at Dalil AI:
→ A CRM you can update by sending a WhatsApp message.
→ AI agents that do your admin—real-time, from LinkedIn, Email, and WhatsApp.
→ Insights, not spreadsheets.
→ Designed for sales, fundraising, recruitment—wherever relationships drive revenue.

Does your team hate CRM admin? You’re not alone:
- 50%+ of CRM users never log in
- Most managers dread pipeline reviews
- Salespeople spend 8+ hours/week updating records

Dalil AI flips the script:
- Zero manual entry.
- Auto-captured deals, contacts, and notes—straight from your conversations.
- 10+ AI agents to keep you ahead.

If you’re serious about sales—and tired of busywork—let’s talk.
🔗 usedalil.ai | DM for early access

Giuseppe Manzone 💼📲🤖

When you're 22, you have 18 hours a day × 7 days.
126 hours of pure potential.

When you're 35+, a father, a husband, and a bootstrapping founder…
You’re lucky if you get 55–60 a week.

This photo was taken right after a sunrise run.
The only moment of the day where nobody needs me.
Kids asleep. Wife resting. Slack silent.
Just me, sweat, and the city waking up.

At 22, time is your unfair advantage.
You can grind 12 hours a day, 7 days straight.
No responsibilities.
No bedtime routines.
No mental load.

Unlimited energy.
Unlimited hours.
But when life evolves…

Your hours shrink fast:
Kids → school, breakfast, evening routine
Wife → dinner, conversations, problems to solve
Workout → minimum 30 minutes
Friends → even the bare minimum
And sleep… because you actually need it

Add all that up, and your week collapses to 55–60 usable hours.
Not 126.
Not 100.
60.

And yes, you end up competing with people who can simply out-hour you.
People who can do in 6 months what might take you a year.
If I could go back in time, I would use those 126 hours very differently.

But here’s the shift:
When your time shrinks, your clarity grows.

With only 55–60 hours:
You stop pretending.
You stop multitasking.
You stop chasing noise.

Every hour has to matter.
Every hour has to move something forward.
And that’s when you actually become dangerous.

Do I feel slower than before? Sometimes.
Behind? Often.
But more intentional? Always.

Time abundance creates options.
Time scarcity creates mastery.
When life takes away your hours, it gives you focus.

If you’re 22 -> use your 126 hours. Seriously.
If you’re 35+ -> own your 60 like your life depends on it.

Co-founder @Dalil | Reinventing CRM for the DMs era; AI, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and zero admin work.

Last week something happened that genuinely made me stop.
And it took me a few days to figure out how to respond.

I woke up to a tag from Zack Deris
a list of 25 entrepreneurs he believes will shape 2025.

And somehow my name was there…
Right next to Charlie Hills, Ruben Hassid, Tim Zheng, 
and many others I’ve been learning from for years.

I didn’t want to reply instantly.
It didn’t feel right to rush a post, 
drop a quick “thank you,” 
and move on.

So I waited.
Because the last few months of building have been intense
emotionally, 
mentally, 
and physically.

And this recognition arrived at a moment where 
I needed to breathe and actually feel it.
That’s why this post is coming now.

Being included in that list was humbling.
Not because of reach.
But because it felt like someone saying:
“Hey, you’re not invisible. I see the work.”

It meant a lot to me!

But it is also true that 
in these past months I’ve met founders doing extraordinary things 
and far from the spotlight...
And I genuinely think they deserve it!

Here are a few whose work absolutely impressed me recently (no particular order):

Nathan Trousdell — Navero
Building an AI-powered hiring platform that verifies skills, prevents cheating, and ranks candidates so teams hire faster and more fairly.

Sean Hurley — Vissibl
Building an AI Agentic Compliance OS that embeds compliance into existing workflows and automates manual risk processes.

Abhy Choumal — CareerGenie
Building an AI-driven, gamified career platform that gives young professionals personalized career plans, skills guidance, and job signals.

Ranime El Skaff — Prop-AI
Building an AI real-estate engine that automates property search, analysis, underwriting, and investment decision-making.

Yuliya Fomina — Tailo 
Building an AI-powered customer engagement platform that provides personalized, intelligent website agents tailored to your brand and audience.

Samer El Mardini & Shahrukh Ghazali — Aura Finance
Building an invoice-financing platform that lets B2B companies get paid immediately while their customers pay on credit terms up to 120 days later.

Matteo Mantovani — Liively
Building a platform that eliminates queues at events and venues by enabling fans to order food, drink and merch directly from their seat

Entrepreneurship rarely gives you “confirmation” moments.
Most of the journey is faith, not evidence.
So when someone recognizes your work (even unexpectedly) 
it gives you fuel.

Not ego.
Fuel.

Thank you again, Zack Deris; your post meant more than you know.
And to the founders above: keep going! You're killing it!

I use to consult a bank that had 7,500 paying CRM users.
Not all the CRM founders you see out there can tell the same.

This is not like working for 5-10 SMEs for one year, 
and call yourself an expert.

That was not a small company. 
It was much more complex to work with.

They didn't have budget problems.
And they didn't lack training.

And yes it was a bank generating billions every months!
And yet… only 20% of their sales reps actually used the CRM.

Every day, I’d sit with the Head of Retail and his team.
Sharp people. Good structure. Strong processes.
But their conclusion was always the same:

“Giuseppe, we can only trust what our sales reps say.
We don’t really know what’s happening with clients.”

The CRM was more than half empty.
Notes missing.
Deals outdated.
Tasks never logged.

And when we dug deeper, after hundreds of interviews
the truth was brutally simple:

The reps weren’t lazy.
They were busy.

They were having real conversations;
in person, on the phone, and mostly… on WhatsApp.

None of this was visible to management.
Which meant nobody had the full picture.

I remember thinking:
“If a giant, well-funded bank with 7,000 users can’t fix this…
how do SMEs even stand a chance?”

In SMEs, one person plays 6 roles.
Nobody has time to ask: “Hey, did you follow up with this client?”

Most managers operate blind.
Most founders guess.
Most reps rely on memory.

Fast forward to today.
This morning, Dalil AI’s Brain showed me this line on a client profile:

“Last engagement with Nathan was 28 days ago; follow-up needed.”

It came from:
 • WhatsApp
 • LinkedIn
 • Email
 • Sentiment
 • Engagement patterns

All read by AI.
All unified.
All surfaced automatically.

What used to take a 5-10 minute phone call to a rep…
now takes 15 glimpse.

This is exactly why we built Dalil.
Not to create “another CRM.”
But to give teams the visibility they’ve been pretending they have for years.

Because you can’t manage what you can’t see.
And sales lives in conversations, not in drop-down fields.

Have you ever struggled with CRM visibility in your own team?

One minute!
That’s how long it took him to give me his feedback.
And I'm sharing the story with you LIVE!

Not on the phone.
Not on an a different.
Directly inside Dalil AI, on WhatsApp, where real sales actually happens.

30 minutes ago I messaged a prospect, 
he has been testing our CRM since Monday evening.
He’s the CEO of a startup closing a nice funding round,
and he currently runs his whole workflow on Attio.

I expected something like:
“Still exploring…”
 or
“I’ll get back to you later this week.”

Instead I got this:
“How amazing is the adding a contact via WhatsApp!!!! 🔥”

I just stared at it.
Because this is not just a nice message.
This is the fifth customer coming from Attio 
since we launched only 8 weeks ago.

5!
Five!
All switching for the same simple reason:

They and their sales live on WhatsApp.
Their CRM didn’t.
Dalil does.

And every time I see that reaction;
that tiny spark of “wait… this actually solves my pain”
I’m reminded of something important:

People don’t fall in love with software.
They fall in love with how it makes their day feel.

Less friction.
Less admin.
Less “I’ll update later.”

More flow.
More clarity.
More “Oh wow… that was fast.”

These early messages keep me grounded.
Excited, yes! 
But also aware we’re still at 0.001% of what Dalil AI can become.

But today?
Today, I enjoy this additional validation
signal that we’re building in the right direction.

Have you ever had a product click instantly for you, for me it was lemlist
Always curious to hear your stories.

💥 Companies are paying $150–400 per user, per month
 and still juggling CSV uploads like it’s 2009.

The crazy part?
This is normal.

You buy a #CRM - $40-90 per seat
Then you buy an #outreach tool - $70-90 per seat
Then a WhatsApp or LinkedIn tool - $70-90 per seat

Until you realize none of them talk to each other properly.
So you start integrating - $30-80 per tool
Zapier here.
Make there when possible because is less expensive.
Or n8n flows preferable if you have the technical capabilities.

And when an integration doesn’t exist?
You download a CSV.
Upload it somewhere else.
Pray the columns match.
Repeat tomorrow.

This is what companies pay $150–400 per seat for.
A “stack” that constantly breaks 
unless a human babysits it (with additional cost)

When we started building Dalil AI, this was the pain we wanted to kill forever.
A CRM should guide you (Dalil means "guide" in Arabic) 
not force you to become its part-time engineer.

So we rebuilt Workflows again and again until it finally felt right.
Twelve redesigns (and this is not even close to the upcoming one).
Hundreds of edge cases.
And now… the BETA tag is about to disappear.

🚀 Dalil can now automate anything inside the CRM
Triggers → filters → logic → messages → updates → loops.
All native. 

🌍 And because WhatsApp + LinkedIn are built-in…
We’re unlocking Phase 2:
Multi-channel outbound sequences directly from Dalil.
Email → WhatsApp → LinkedIn.
One place. One engine. One flow.

🤖 Next up: the AI enablement
• AI rules and guidance
• AI trigger and conditions
• AI-generated messages
• AI actions

This is the moment where a CRM stops being a database…
and becomes a sales powerhouse.

We’re close. Very close.
Stay tuned ;) 

Do you think sales teams should still live across 4–6 tools?

"SHOW ME YOUR PIPELINE AND SALES PROCESS"
This is the first thing I ask during #DEMO calls;
usually goes just fine, but yesterday iI was shocked!

I was on a call with a founder of a Fintech startup:
$450k pre-seed, product live, 
2 founders both selling ready to hire 3 sales reps

The guy shared their “CRM” with me.
The screen loads and I see this file name:
"PIPELINE_FINAL_v27_USE_THIS_NEW(1).xlsx"

My brain: WTF.

He opens it.
9 tabs.
Columns from A to AC.

One tab for deals.
One for “hot deals”.
One for “really hot deals – DO NOT TOUCH”.

Then it gets worse:
- WhatsApp screenshots pasted into cells
- Comments like “SEE ABOVE” pointing to nothing
- Voice note links in a column called “follow up???”
- Investor notes mixed with customer notes

To make him aware, I tell him.
"Imagine I'm an investor who you calls you and ask:
Who are your top 10 deals for this quarter and what’s the last thing that happened with each?”

He freezes. 
Starts jumping between:
- Excel
- WhatsApp Web
- Gmail
- His note app
- A random Notion page called “Sales – new”

90 second later… we still don’t have a clean answer.

That’s when I told him:
"You realize you don't have really the control over your pipeline?"

then I continued:
"You really think that saving maybe $200 a month, 
it is worth reliving this situation for real this time?"

He simply replied:
"How do we migrate my data into Dalil AI?"

I didn't even get to do the demo, 
because his problem was not to be solved with featured
but with structure.

I did the demo anyway, and when I showed what AI could do
he started the paid plan on the spot.

It doesn’t matter if you are:
- a solo founder juggling prospects, clients, partners, investors
- a team of 10 reps all with their own sheets
- a team of 50 with 50 versions of reality

If your “system” lives in Excel + WhatsApp + email + notes,
you not being "lean"
you are blind when it matters.

A good #CRM is not “software”.
It’s your single source of truth for every relationship you care about.

One record where you see, in one place:
- all emails, WhatsApp, LinkedIn messages
- every call log and note
- every activity, status change, owner change
- every task, renewal, risk, next step

You stop running after information.
You start reading a story of the relationship
and deciding the next best move.

And now with #AI, things are much simpler!
You have a 24/7 assistant who does most of the work for you!

That’s the whole problem I’m obsessed with at the moment:
"turning this chaos into one clean, living record"

P.S. If you want to see how #Dalil can solve your pipelines problems, 
don't hesitate to reach out

Entrepreneurship is knowing that nobody is coming to save you.
I learned this the hard way last January.

A moment where everything felt uncertain… 
and there was no boss, no safety net, no plan B to lean on.

Just me.
A laptop.
And a problem that wasn’t going to solve itself.

That’s when it hits you:
freedom and fear live in the same apartment.

But that’s also the moment you start growing.

Not when things go well,
but when you finally accept that radical responsibility is the price of this life.

The day you stop waiting for help…
is the day you start becoming the founder you’re supposed to be.

Did this hit you yet? 
If yes tell me when 😉

taplio

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taplio

The Battle

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Giuseppe Manzone 💼📲🤖

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