Aby Sam Thomas

It's one thing to be an iconic luxury auto brand; it's another thing altogether to be an iconic luxury auto brand that can boast of a 16-month run of consecutive growth.

Shailesh Dash shares the key to finding the right people and building a great set of team for an enterprising business.

Having deployed over half a billion dirhams in technology and e-commerce investments across the GCC, Gulf Capital is one enterprise that is making no secret of its concerted focus on the region's digital economy.

Here's a media exec who's well-versed with the changes happening in his sector, and he is making sure that his firm –a pioneering marketing services group in its own right- is in tune with the trends that are manifesting themselves in the MENA locale.

Cadillac is undergoing a transformation in terms of its image and messaging- and Ghrayeb wants to show that the brand is living and breathing what it stands for.

How this Swiss luxury watch brand founded in 1980 is using innovation to beat its older competitors in the market (and consolidate its future).

In an era where quantity over quality seems to be the norm, Karam is keen on moving in a different direction with what she does.

Even as the nature of the region's luxury sector changed, Manji smartly set herself to be one step ahead of these trends- and made herself a force to reckon with in the business of fashion.

Egyptian entrepreneur Omar Samra talks about his corporate career in finance before letting his passion for travel drive him to set up his travel company Wild Guanabana.

The Bahrain-based Annada made quite an impression when it launched in 2011 offering scarves featuring original artwork by two regional artists, and co-founders (and sisters) Nada and Noor Alawi have since proved themselves to more than just a flash in the pan.

We asked MENA's creative entrepreneurs about what works and what doesn't in turning a passion into a viable business.

Kerbache is very tuned in on the changing dynamics of the Middle East economies, and is keen on having his organization cater to the specific needs of this particular region.

Ask Moideen to what factors he attributes his company's success to, his modesty is easily apparent when he answers with a deference to the Thumbay Group's brand motto: Growth Through Innovation.

"The life of an entrepreneur is not an easy one, and it's not for everyone."

The Germanic brand has been making inroads into markets all around the world, and Chhatwal definitely seems to be the right person to help Steigenberger realize its global goals.

"We are on a journey to changing mindsets about cash through smaller achievements that began with one simple belief that payment is just a means– a facilitator of a specific, more meaningful experience."

Given the sheer scope and range of activities that Dubai Chamber associates itself with, and how successful they turn out to be, it must be said here that Buamim's leadership of the institution is, by itself, something that is worthy of praise.

If the rate of growth of Hashima's enterprise is any indication, then here's an entrepreneur who's well on his way to becoming one of the region's most prominent businessmen.

Faisal Al Bannai is perhaps best known for being the founder of Axiom Telecom, a US$2.2 billion company established in 1997 that is today the official regional distributor for some of the most prominent electronic consumer brands in the world- and it is probably this distinction that makes most of us curious about his latest venture, DarkMatter.

To say that Mashreq CEO H.E. Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair dreams big with whatever he does would probably be an understatement. Consider his latest endeavor, the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, of which he is the Chairman.