BrazilEY MENA appoints new leaders for Assurance and Advisory
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) practice of global professional services firm EY has made two leadership appointments. Wasim Khan has been named head of the firm’s Advisory business, while Khurram Mian has ascended to take the top role in EY’s Assurance division.
Khan and Mian have been promoted internally, and both boast a track record of over two decades at Ernst & Young, the globe’s third largest accounting and consulting firm. Founded in 1923, EY’s MENA business has more than 6,000 people united across 20 offices and 15 countries, including in among others Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Together, they will take responsibility for around half of the firm’s workforce in MENA. Khurram Mian will lead a team of around 2,400 assurance professionals in the three practices of: Audit, Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS) and Forensic & Integrity Services. Prior to taking the role on 1 July 2018, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the MENA Assurance practice, before which Mian held the role of Assurance Leader in EY Jeddah and Dubai consecutively, from 2009 to 2015.
“Khurram’s experience across our key markets, client service acumen and passion for quality and innovation will be critical to realise our strategic growth objectives and maintain our leadership in the MENA region,” said Abdulaziz Al Sowailim, Chairman and CEO of EY MENA.
Commenting on his new role, Mian said that he is “extremely excited and proud” to be leading EY’s assurance services, “at a time when innovation and technologies are disrupting conventional professions and creating new challenges for both businesses and their auditors.”
Asked about how he believes EY will remain ahead of the curve – the firm competes fiercely in the field with the other Big Four’s Deloitte, KPMG and PwC – he pointed at the importance of quality and technology-led innovation. “Maintaining our leadership in MENA in audit requires relentless focus on the quality of our services and embrace of innovation and integrate technology into our offerings, whilst closely monitoring the needs of regulators, investors and the financial markets. For non-audit services it is critical that we identify solutions and service offerings to support the business agenda of our clients.”
Meanwhile, also per 1 July 2018, Wasim Khan has been appointed as Advisory Services Leader for the Middle East & North Africa region. He has been with the firm since 1998, when he joined as an IT consultant from Unisys. During his 20 year tenure, he has ascended the ranks to senior partner, and most recently served as Chief Operating Officer for the MENA Advisory arm and latterly as Deputy Advisory Leader MENA. Al Sowailim: “Wasim has played a key part in shaping how our Advisory business looks like today, and we are delighted to welcome him as the new MENA Advisory Services Leader. I am confident that we will continue to drive growth and innovation across our Advisory business.”
EY’s consulting arm helps clients with a broad range of advisory and implementation services, spanning management consulting (strategy, performance improvement, operations consultancy), financial advisory (M&A, corporate finance, restructuring) and digital consulting (IT advisory, systems implementation, new technologies). The MENA wing has more than 700 professionals, serving organisations in sectors such as government, financial services, energy, real estate, hospitality and construction, consumer products, telecommunications and technology.
Khan: “We are seeing businesses shift to adjust their strategies in response to fundamental changes in industries and business models. The ‘transformative age’ is changing how we live, work and play – from the gig economy, artificial intelligence, and smart cities to self-driving vehicles, clean energy sources and more. This is also disrupting the consulting industry.”
The newly elected consulting boss said that the firm is well-positioned to navigate the changes in the industry – valued at $250 billion globally by US-based analyst firm ALM. “We too are adapting the way we consult. We fully understand the value of converging with technology providers, cybersecurity technology, design agencies, data analytics experts and digital hubs. And we are increasingly collaborating with new participants from different industries to co-create value.”
