Very often we find ourselves looking for inspiration. What we fail to realize is that real-life heroes exist between us. These are the heroes we should draw inspiration from. One such contemporary leader is Saifi Ismail. An adept and industrious individual, Saifi is a revolutionary in the world of technology and innovation. A leader with a passion and purpose, Saifi, lies at the intersection of creative thinking and the ability to drive a positive change. Let’s dive into the story of his life and the years that shaped him into the bright individual he is today.
THE INCEPTION OF HIS JOURNEY
Saifi enrolled at the Jordan University of Science in Technology to study Computer Engineering. He found himself particularly drawn to the study, which prompted him to pursue a career by gaining practical and relevant experience in the field. Saifi was quick to understand that technology would shape the future in the years to come. From a young age, Saifi had succumbed to the charms of the corporate world and the thrill of entrepreneurship. His interests drove him to become a serial entrepreneur in the process. The idea of having and owning a business always fascinated him as he was, and continues to be, interested in all aspects of how to run a business, from leading personnel, maximizing a business’s capabilities to increase sales, as well as maintaining a healthy and productive work environment. He believes that ambition is what made him enjoy working at various successful companies throughout his career, leading up to his joining Yalla Group Limited as its Group President.
Throughout his 18-year career, he has had the pleasure of working at great companies such as Huawei, Etisalat and Netcomm, before joining Yalla Group Limited at the end of 2019 as its Group President.
Saifi considers it a great honor to lead the company since its inception, steering it during its IPO launch at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), making it the first UAE-based “unicorn” (worth over $1 billion) to be listed in a US stock market. Since then, Yalla Group Limited, under his esteemed supervision and guidance, runs seven mobile apps and games targeting various regions but primarily focused on the Middle East and North Africa region.
Looking forward, Yalla Group Limited is excited about their upcoming mobile apps and games launches which they are sure will meet and exceed the needs and wants of their valuable and loyal user base.
AN ACUTE LEADER
Saifi visualizes that modern management concepts have evolved to a great extent and require deft changes, especially in the technological sector. The leadership ability mandates a rapid work pace, flexible decision making, a delegation of responsibility and focuses on specialization. These qualities are essential to any business leader. He firmly believes that a key ambition backed by a sound futuristic plan helps in motivating their employees to result-oriented performance across various disciplines. Saifi is a leader who not only leads the team but also creates other leaders in the process. His personality and the commitment he bears to his trade serve as a source of inspiration to those who work around him. Saifi earns his respect not only through his intelligence, professionalism and humble personality but through the hard work and loyalty that he demonstrates to his peers. He is very well respected within the industry and proved to be a valuable asset to NetComm Wireless, as well.
SAIFI, A VISIONARY
Saifi is a man guided by high morals and ideals. Not only does he practice what he preaches but also encourages people to carry out business with honesty and loyalty. His vision is to be an honest, empathetic and impactful project leader and to be recognized internationally within my industry. He is committed to growing as a leader and delivering value-added projects to end-users. Saifi constantly encourages his teams to lead by example and has them play to their strengths. In addition, it is important to him that everyone is contributing to their full potential; where each person uses their intrinsic genius and leadership to deliver outstanding value-added projects.
THE UNIQUENESS OF YALLA GROUP LTD
The market is fierce and to stand out, everyone needs something that sets them apart. At Yalla Group Limited, their vision is to build the largest destination for online social networking and entertainment activities in MENA. Social gatherings for group chatting and other casual entertainment have been a long-standing tradition in MENA. Majlis, the gathering event of friends and neighbors to socialize, exchange gifts and play casual games, is deeply ingrained in the cultures of many countries in MENA and has remained popular for centuries. Since the founding of their business, they have been helping the local people in MENA to bring their traditions online and continue their social enjoyment in the mobile Internet era. Their products mirror what people enjoy doing in majlis, cafes and other offline leisure and entertainment settings and make social interactions more convenient.
Leveraging their cultural insights, they identified voice chats to be uniquely suitable for online social networking and entertainment in MENA and pioneered the development of a voice-centric mobile social networking and entertainment platform in the region.
RECOGNIZED AND ACCREDITED
Yalla Group Limited has since won further awards from various business magazines such as The Global Economics Awards, Business Tabloid Magazine, International Business Magazine, as well as Estesmarat Magazine (UAE-based). The awards were for their two flagship apps, Yalla and Yalla Ludo. Saifi has also had the honor of being awarded the Middle East’s Personality of the Year in the digital entertainment domain by Estesmarat Magazine as well as Best Emerging Leader in the Digital Entertainment Sector by The Global Economics Magazine.
YALLA GROUP LIMITED IN THE YEARS TO COME
AT Yalla Group Limited, they have constantly utilized the best of their creativity to enhance their products and make themselves lucrative not only for their stakeholders but also for their customers. Their focus has always been on creating apps that cater to the needs of their loyal user base while respecting their cultures and traditions. They believe in creating applications that people keep coming back to for recreational and business purposes. They are also constantly launching social networking apps catering to the native MENA target audience.
To clarify, they launched “YallaChat” which is an instant messaging app that facilitates voice and video calls and also permits the usage of extensive features for group chats. This app has been developed and customized to meet and fulfil the needs of users in the MENA region. Ever since its launch in the first quarter of 2022, its team has been constantly researching the market to improvise the application following the user’s feedback.
Keeping up with the contemporary times, they understand that the Metaverse is seen as the next major evolution of the internet. Therefore, their team has been researching multiple social networking opportunities to provide their users with the highest level of freedom and extensive socio-digital experiences. They, fortunately, have an R&D team dedicated to this new dimension and have launched “WAHA” in March 2022. “WAHA” is a cutting-edge social networking mobile app which includes the first-ever social metaverse – specifically designed for the MENA region, with industry-leading voice chat capabilities and 3D avatars exploring curated virtual venues.
PASSING ON INSIGHT TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS
Saifi’s advice to young entrepreneurs comes with the accumulated experiences of Yalla Group Limited’s business model since its inception to become the leading Arab platform in digital entertainment and social networking and boils down to several insights. Saifi feels that adopting a method of innovation is one of the most important features of the digital age, as it is the main factor in the successive developments the digital entertainment sector witnessed in the Arab region. Another important piece of advice that he would offer to the growing youth is to seize every opportunity they can at the earliest possible moment as indecision or late decision-making will lead to having competitors appear or catch up.
The next is to improve efficiency as and when required. Flexible planning that can be transformed and changed according to market data, constant readiness with alternative plans, as well as not resorting to rigid plans that do not embrace development and innovation as the digital age is based on rapid changes and advances. Apart from these, Saifi strongly believes in continually educating yourself about the market you operate in and constantly thinking about how you can solve a problem that the people are facing. Duly studying the target markets for your idea/product is one of the most important stages in the business sector as it is the base of all business plans and objectives regardless of the sector, but especially in the digital sector.
