HASAN FARDAN AL FARDAN

Transcript

00:00My name is Hassan Fardan Al Fardan. I'm the chief executive officer of Al Fardan

00:12Exchange. I've been in this role for the last four years and really I've been

00:15spending most of my time trying to adopt new technologies that will help propel

00:19our business into the future.

00:25Digital is a fundamental part or I would say even a foundational part of our

00:29business strategy. Just the way the market is evolving, the way

00:33customer demands are evolving, we have to cater to those

00:37evolving and those changing demands. So in order for us to deliver a

00:41strong product that is catering for these growing digital

00:45savvy customers, we have to start by developing and evolving our

00:49digital architecture, our infrastructure for us to be able to

00:52offer such products. So for me, I work very closely

00:58with the team that we have in-house and we try to stay really abreast of

01:02all of these changes that happen. Something that's really

01:05exciting and quite relevant today may lose its excitement six months from now.

01:09So unless you're moving at quite a

01:12sustainable and fast pace, you're going to miss out on these amazing opportunities.

01:15I would say don't be afraid of trying something different.

01:23Don't be afraid of change. A digital transformation

01:26journey is very complex and I've tried to elevate my own

01:31knowledge via targeted courses and interacting with

01:35global thought leaders and reading a lot of research.

01:40It's important to know that this is a journey. So the longer

01:44you take to start this journey, the more difficult it's going to be for you as

01:47you progress. And then it's a monumental task for you to try to play

01:50catch-up. So you have to stay abreast, you have to keep yourself up to date and you

01:54have to keep trying. And yes, you will make mistakes and yes, you will fail.

01:58I know this sounds cliche, but you have to be willing to make mistakes and

02:02you have to be willing to fail. And you may even have to get into the

02:05mindset of, you know what, I may spend a little bit of money, I may not see an

02:08immediate ROI, but that investment and those mistakes and those errors that

02:12you make will prepare you to have a far better experience as you move forward.

02:15Believe me, nobody's getting it right from the first time.