CEO Insights Magazine

The role of a Chief Financial Officer for any organization is not one which can be achieved easily. It takes a lot of knowledge, skills, and perseverance to reach such positions. Nazmath, Chief Financial Officer of Starlink, a Qatar based Technology provider, founded in 2006, is a man of determination, finding ways to create positive change, empower his team, and make an impactful contribution for the betterment of the society in his capacity as a leader. Using his influence in an en-lightening fashion, Nazmath, is showing the world all that a good leader can be.

Here are some highlights from our interaction with him.

Could you give a brief account about your professional background and experiences and what inspired you to take up the role of CFO at Starlink?

My roots are from finance with qualifications in CIMA, CPA and CGMA. I started my career as finance intern at virtusa a technology company, and started being passionate about technology in parallel with my finance career. Over the decade I was able to ramp career experience with multiple domains working at RR Donnelley and Tedeschia construction before I moved to Starlink.

Starlink is a leading technology provider in multiple channels including B2B, B2C, ICT and Distribution, as far as my experience goes, I joined as a Chief accountant and got promoted to the role of a finance controller, with expansion in the organization again promoted as Director- Finance. As the company's further regional expansion plan took the organization to more countries like Oman, Kuwait and Egypt, I took on the role of Chief Financial Officer supporting the organization to implement the transformation strategy.

How would you define Starlink as an organization and its products or service portfolio that keeps it afloat in the industry?

Starlink is a billion-revenue company with over 1600 staffs offering multiple product lines through various channels including B2B, B2C, ICT, Distribution and e-commerce. our strategy is grow with people and part-nership, empowering our resources creating sustain-able partnership are key to be forefront in products are services portfolio.

With keen interest on ICT/B2B, I was passionate with technology and able to assist Starlink in being one of the fastest growing ICT solution provider in Qatar and taking forward to the regional growth offering end to end ICT solutions for customers with best customer experience.

As a chief financial officer, what changes did you bring into the organization and its financial structure and policies that are driving in the company to grow fast.

People are the core upon which any organization develops. As such, a leader must be efficient in managing them. Enabling people to develop a stronger knowledge and skill base, providing advice for them to grow is essential. It is important to cultivate a culture or an ecosystem where communication is transparent and open so that people can develop professionally and take on more responsibilities. Secondly, it is also my responsibility to assess how my organization is being perceived and ensure that it is stable in terms of deployment of the people across multiple divisions. Thereby promoting continuous training. As the staff grows, the company grows.

In my role as the CFO, I am involved in various activities including financial reporting, shareholder value creation, policies and governance supervision. Additionally, I am parallelly involved in cross functional BU, implementing new strategies, strategic transformation, stabilization of operations, supporting the organization, embedding a high performance management culture across various divisions. I have been an instrumental part in bringing about transformation at the C levels, acquiring the right resources, consumer transitioning, and ICT transitions. In the coming years I am hoping to further enhance performance, thereby driving forward the organization's cause.

In your opinion, what are the most promising prospects in the contemporary finance industry? What are your future objectives?

Every firm has to have a strong foundation in finance since it is a critical area of opportunity. This means that each and every stakeholder needs to be familiar with the financial strategies, governance policies, and practices. Finance leaders are also expected to manage governance with a balanced approach while simultaneously ensuring that policies are stable and assisting business partners to empower firms. Additionally, it's crucial to transform the organization's use of technology and open the door to new initiatives. Therefore, financial leaders must concentrate on industry disruption, technological transformation, and approaches to achieve this business disruption through partnerships, technology, and people empowerment.

What is the most difficult decision for a Chief Financial Officer to make?

For a CFO, there is no aspect of decision making that is difficult. My personal belief lies in collective decision making in an organization where governance needs to be met. A decision making procedure must be transparent and follow policies and procedures, communicated clearly to all the stakeholders. When an organization cultivates a culture of communication and alignment among people and resources like data, there are no decisions hard to make.

How has been your journey so far, and what has been the success mantra that constantly helps you to arrive at positive outcomes.

Positive outcomes are achieved by enabling people, putting the right people in the right place to get the job done. Working closely with them and providing the required training and guidance plays a key role in the success of any endeavor. This helps in building a strong organization, as working on people capability allows better integration of technology, easier transition in business, as well as transforming the business environment which ultimately leads to bigger business and company growth.

Based on your strong professional experience, what advice would you give to the coming leaders in the same industry?

Adopting an approach of continuous learning is important to grow in any field. Today the world is very dynamic with new things being discovered every day. Keeping yourself updated with the latest developments in your field of interest is key. Additionally, it is import-ant to empower your people or staff as a leader. Implementation of strategies by people empowers them to take on additional responsibilities which is reflective of a good leader. Training and putting the right people forward when interacting with stakeholders and clients helps in building trust.

Nazmath, Chief Financial Officer, Starlink

Nazmath resides in Doha. His professional interests lie in enabling business transitions which is why he had donned the role of a Chief financial officer. Outside of work, he is interested in Golf, Gym, Reading Articles, and socializing with friends. He believes in continuous learning and thus keeps space for himself to learn something daily.

Favorite Books: Reading real case scenarios and articles every-day to expand my knowledge and hence focus on reading the Harvard Business Review, and McKinsey's Review

Favorite Cuisine:  Arabic, Turkish, Chinese

Favorite Travel Destination: Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Tanzania & Male