QNB’s al-Kuwari among top executives featured in KPMG’s ‘2018 Global CEO Outlook’

QNB Group chief executive Ali Ahmed al-Kuwari is one among the 1,300 C-suite executives of large international firms to have been featured in KPMG’s ‘2018 Global CEO Outlook’.This is the first time that a Middle Eastern banking sector chief executive has featured in the report, which indicates that chief executives are facing a variety of challenges, such as uncertainty driving realistic growth, digital transformation and cyber threats, and are focusing on data-driven decision-making.As the pace of digital disruption accelerates and banks race to keep up with technological change, QNB is taking a holistic approach to its workforce to make sure it has the skills it needs, al-Kuwari said in the report.“The opportunity is to complement our existing value proposition and offering in order to partner with those winners and rather build a new customer centric ecosystem that adds value to all. The challenge is to identify the disrupters that really add value,” he said.Highlighting that digitalisation was a common theme throughout the report and, along with this, a growing sense of concern around cyber security; with nearly half (49%) of CEOs say that becoming the victim of an attack is a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if’. In this regard, al-Kuwari said “the challenge is to constantly be ahead of the cyber criminals — a task which is very difficult to achieve.While cyber security used to be considered an issue primarily for the IT department, these days it is a permanent agenda item for the entire C-Suite  — one that we are all responsible for. Other international business leaders also echo al-Kuwari’s concern in the report, which states that CEOs are embracing the digital agenda like never before; with 59% considering the protection of customer data as a critical personal responsibility.Overall, cyber security has risen from fifth to second place this year in terms of risks which have the potential to hamper future growth. Only half (51%) of respondents indicated they are well-prepared for a cyber-attack, even though over half (55%) say that a strong cyber strategy is critical to engender trust with key stakeholders.“Since the blockade began in Qatar 12 months ago, we have seen unparalleled challenge and changes for many of the country’s businesses. However, in-line with global sentiment, there have been numerous examples of leaders maintaining a positive outlook and taking a proactive approach towards identifying opportunities to refine and enhance their operations, ultimately securing growth,” according to Ahmed Abu-Sharkh, KPMG in Qatar’s country senior partner.