Zeeshan Khwaja to lead Ankura’s financial services advisory practice across EMEA

Global consulting firm Ankura has strengthened its senior team in the region with the appointment of Zeeshan Khwaja as Senior Managing Director in its Dubai office.

Zeeshan Khwaja joins Ankura from Kearney, where he was a Senior Partner in the firm’s Financial Services business. He has more than 20 years of experience in banking and financial services consulting across the Middle East, Europe and the United Kingdom.

At Ankura, he now leads the firm’s Financial Services Advisory practice across EMEA – a region where Ankura has seven offices. His remit includes expanding the team, its services portfolio and its client impact.

“After an incredible journey with Kearney over the last four years, it’s time to close an important chapter and begin an exciting new one,” Khwaja reflected in a post on LinkedIn. “Kearney has truly been a second home – a place where I have had the privilege of working with exceptional people and leaders from around the world.”

“Looking ahead, I am excited to be joining Ankura. What I appreciate about the firm is the unique way it operates – the focus is less on selling a predefined answer and more on helping leaders make decisions they can stand behind. In uncertain environments, that’s the difference that truly matters.”

Earlier in his career, Khwaja worked at Big Four firms PwC and EY, where he helped build and scale their financial services consulting businesses in the Middle East. He also spent time in banking, serving at Deutsche Bank’s London office.

In his client work, Khwaja specializes in business and corporate strategy, top-line growth, retail, small and medium-sized enterprise and corporate transformation, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled transformation, and customer experience innovation.

Ankura’s seven offices in EMEA are based in Brussels, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt am Main, London and Riyadh.