Gulf Business Machines, a provider of IT solutions, has appointed Wadad Kafka as Vice President of Services, in February 2018. She will be based out of GBM’s regional headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In her new role, Wadad will be responsible for building the managed services capabilities for GBM and reinventing their professional services portfolio around hybrid cloud. She will also support GBM in becoming the leading hybrid cloud and digital solutions partner in the region by 2020.
Wadad, who has more than 23 years of industry experience, joins GBM from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where she held a variety of leadership roles globally throughout her time with them. Most recently, she served as the EMEA Senior Director of Hybrid Cloud Consulting Services where she was responsible for leading the business across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Wadad holds a Master of Science degree from the Technical University of Zagreb, Croatia and an Executive MBA from California State University in the United States. A linguist, she speaks five languages, including Arabic, Croatian, English, French, and German.
GBM is the sole distributor for IBM, excluding selected IBM products and services, throughout the GCC, apart from Saudi Arabia. GBM’s momentum was further enhanced in 1999, when the company secured the Cisco portfolio. Most recently GBM was named as the Apple Authorised Systems Integrator for the UAE. GBM offers an extensive range of IT infrastructure, solutions and services.
Commenting on the appointment, Martin Tarr, CEO of GBM, said: “We are excited to welcome Wadad to GBM’s management team. With over two decades of experience in building, transforming, and growing businesses successfully on a global and regional level, Wadad is a strong addition to the growing GBM family. We look forward to working alongside Wadad, using her skills and knowledge to help shape GBM’s future during this most transformative time.”