Archives: Session Speakers

Mr. Samar Hayat is the Chief Executive Officer of Tapal Tea (Pvt.) Ltd. and is leading Pakistan’s largest Tea company to consecutive years of extraordinary growth despite Pakistan’s tough macro environment. Prior to joining Tapal, Mr. Samar spent 20 years with Procter & Gamble based in Saudi, Switzerland & Dubai leading giant global brands such as Pampers, Gillette, Head & Shoulders & Pantene for Middle East, Africa, India, Pakistan region.

Mark’s entrepreneurial odyssey began with a stupidly audacious venture: helping a new generation of A-list celebrities to build their brand in the first wave of the internet. He soon became the ‘go to brand guy’ for hundreds of icons… from Lady Gaga and Usher to Barack Obama and Buckingham Palace.

After Hollywood Mark shifted to Silicon Valley founding multiple tech ventures and learning the ropes in the strange and wonderful world of Venture Capital. Along the way Mark has picked up a cabinet of awards including Cannes Lions, Emmys and even an Oscar Nomination. The Guardian named him “Star of Tech City” describing him as “An Entrepreneur, Investor & Board Advisor who’s changing our world by boosting economic growth.” He went on to be named in the “Silicon 60 Global Tech Entrepreneurs,” “The Most Influential Londoners” “The Sunday Times Top people in Britain,” “The Drum’s Digerati List,” “The Debrett’s Top 10 Digital List,” and was invited to do a TED talk which quickly reached millions of views.

As a speaker, Mark Adams is celebrated for his insightful and thought-provoking presentations. Twice honoured as “Speaker of the Year” in 2023, he captivates audiences with his unique perspective on digital innovation and leadership. Mark is also the author of the anticipated 2024 publication, “The Community Driven Economy,” which promises to delve into the intricate relationship between technology, community, and economic growth.

Dolly has been in the forefront of the agency production world for decades before founding MINTMENA to become the leading production consultant in the MENAP region.

The wealth of knowledge she brings to the business is immense, and best seen through her thought leadership on the work she does through MINTMENA, partnering with multinational clients out of the GCC, Pakistan, Singapore as well as Nigeria, on many brands including Coca-Cola, Danone and Nissan to name a few, to help them and their partner agencies elevate production quality while optimizing production costs.

Dolly is also a veteran for responsible production and is always thriving to ensure responsible production guidelines are followed not just on the projects she leads but across the industry.

Muhammad Ammar Hassan is a Fractional CMO & CGO. Currently engaged with technology companies like DVAGO, Oraan, Onic & Yango where he working in areas pertaining to brand, performance marketing, Data, engineering & product management to amplify demand side growth for companies involved in eCommerce & physical retail, Pharmacy, FinTech, Telecommunication & Ride Hailing.

Ammar previously held C-Suite level positions in Daraz [Alibaba Group] where he was the CMO & SVP Monetization for 5 years. Ammar also was a founding member of OLX where he served as Head of marketing, Sales and customer operations from 2014 to 2019.

Ammar also have ground level experience in advertising working in the field of media planning, creative, brand activation and PR agencies in ZenithOptimedia, Adcom Leo Burnette, Evernew concepts, RG Blue comms & Status Pro along with his sales experience in ARY Digital.

Ammar is a prominent thought leader with over 27,000 followers on LinkedIn where he regularly writes about e-commerce, performance-driven marketing, branding, and organizational culture.

David’s career started at Saatchi & Saatchi as a graduate trainee, progressing through the agency world as Managing Partner at WCRS and then MD of Lowe Howard-Spink in London.

Moving to Atlanta he worked for the Coca-Cola Company as Global Director and VP of Advertising, before returning agency-side as President of BBDO Europe, and then as a main board director and CEO of Tempus Partners.

Following WPP’s purchase of Tempus, David set up Team Vodafone for the group. In 2004 he joined Vodafone as Global Director of Brand and Marketing Communications, progressing to become Global Brand Director in 2005 and CEO of VIML (Vodafone Ireland Marketing LTD) in 2008 based in Dublin. Returning to London, David joined Barclays in 2012 as MD of Brand, Reputation and Citizenship.

He stepped down as Chief Communications & Marketing Officer at RBS in 2020, a position he took up in July 2015. He was a member of the Bank’s executive committee and reported to Ross McEwan, the CEO. He led the rebranding of RBS to NatWest.

David was president of the World Federation of advertisers from 2015 to 2019, he is now President Emeritus of the WFA. Ex-Chair and council member of the MGGB, a fellow of the Marketing Society and a fellow of the IPA. Awarded the Lifetime achievement award by The Drum in 2020. Recognised in the Queens New Years Honour list in 2021 for his services to Marketing and Advertising , he was awarded an OBE.

He is a Consultant, Coach and Mentor.

Farheen Salman Amir has been associated with Unilever since 1999, leading a diverse range of categories throughout her career, including Personal Care, Ice Cream, Food, and Beverages. Her career trajectory saw her rise to the position of Ice Cream Brand Development Director for the North Africa & Middle East cluster, based out of Turkey, before she was confirmed on the board of Unilever Pakistan in 2016.

Since returning to Pakistan, Farheen has been instrumental in leading the Foods & Refreshment division as a board member for Unilever Foods Pakistan Limited, where she successfully revamped the portfolios of Lipton & Brooke Bond Tea, Knorr Foods, and Wall’s Ice Cream.

Currently, Farheen holds the position of President of Lipton Teas & Infusions, BSPAN (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan), making her one of the youngest female CEOs in the industry. Under her leadership, Lipton Teas & Infusions stands as the largest tea business globally, with renowned purpose-driven brands such as PG tips, Pukka, Lipton, T2, and Tazo. The company operates 11 production factories across four continents and maintains tea gardens in three countries.

In her role as President BSPAN & General Manager Pakistan for Lipton Teas & Infusions, Farheen oversees a business worth over €200 million and employs more than 300 people across the region.Adding to her accomplishments, Farheen was recently elected as the Chairperson of the Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) during its 26th Annual General Body Meeting held in December 2023. This position further solidifies her influence and leadership within the advertising and marketing industry in Pakistan.

Farheen is an alumna of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), where she completed her BBA and MBA. She is a strong advocate for women’s leadership in the corporate world, emphasizing that it is possible to achieve corporate success while maintaining a balanced family life.

Amir Paracha serves as the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at Unilever Pakistan Limited. Amir began his journey with Unilever in 2000 as an Assistant Brand Manager, advancing through various Marketing and Sales leadership roles in Pakistan and globally.

Amir spearheads the company’s “Unilever for Pakistan” vision, a purpose-driven movement aimed at strengthening Unilever Pakistan’s impact on the lives of Pakistanis through equitable opportunities and meaningful livelihoods. He has been recognized by the Government as a “Corona War Hero” and was awarded the Shan-e-Pakistan Award by the President of Pakistan for Unilever’s COVID relief work.

Amir served as the President at the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OICCI). He is on the boards of Shell Pakistan Limited, KVTC, Habib University Foundation and National Management Foundation. He also leads the Centre of Excellence for Responsible Business under the Pakistan Business Council and is a Male Champion of Change under Australia (MCC)’s Pakistan Coalition.

He obtained his MBA from the Institute of Business Administration. His professional journey began at The Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company in 1996. He has attended executive courses at Harvard, INSEAD, and London Business School.

Nadeem Zaman has more than 25 years of global marketing experience, including at Unilever, the Coca-Cola Company and Kimberly-Clark, where he is Marketing Head for their Baby and Child Care portfolio. He has extensive experience working in over 120 developed and emerging markets in Asia, Europe, Africa and the US. He is currently Kimberly-Clark’s Marketing Head for the Baby and Child Care portfolio, leading the turnaround of the $7 billion dollar portfolio to accelerated growth. While serving as the Country Marketing Head for the Coca-Cola Company in Pakistan, he also led the launch of Coke Studio.

Zaman has been an inspiring mentor for many at work as well outside work and takes pride in building some of the biggest brands and supporting most enterprising and successful talent along the career journey. He is on the Advisory board of Georgia State University, Alkaram Textile outfit as well as for AI CMO (an AI enabled end-to-end content studio platform)

Sudhir Sitapati is the Managing Director and CEO of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). GCPL is one of India’s largest consumer goods multinationals with a presence in over 85 countries, and serving 1.2 billion consumers. Sudhir is responsible for guiding the purpose and ambition of the company; to bring the goodness of health and beauty to consumers in emerging markets.

Prior to this, Sudhir worked at Unilever for 22 years where he led teams across several categories and functions in India, Europe, South East Asia, and Africa. His last job was as an Executive Director – Foods and Refreshments at Hindustan Unilever

He is current Co-chair of the CII FMCG Committee and a past Co-chair of the CII National Committee of Food Processing. Sudhir was awarded the ‘Young Alumni Achiever’ by his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in 2017. He is also the author of the best-selling book ‘The CEO Factory: Management lessons from Hindustan Unilever’.

Sudhir has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a B.Sc. in Math with Economics Honors from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Sudhir is married to Ketki and spends his free time trying to get his children, Sahaana and Kabir, interested in his own hobbies — tennis, Hindustani music, farming and scrabble. So far to not much avail.

Ali Habib is the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for HBL and leads the Bank’s Marketing and Corporate Affairs functions. He joined HBL in November 2018. Ali brings a rich experience of having worked in similar roles not only in other leading banks but also outside the financial industry.

Ali’s career spans 32 years – in Pakistan / Egypt / Yemen – of working in blue chip organizations like Procter & Gamble (P&G), Reckitt Benckiser, Standard Chartered, UBL and HBL.

Ali is an alumnus of IBA, Karachi, and Aitchison College, Lahore.