Tell us about your career journey in business.
I’ve spent most of my career building customer first operations in high growth, brand led environments. I started as an entrepreneur in retail, later on I did B2B with Computer Associates, and in my early 30s transitioned to global retail, working with adidas and later Nike. Those were foundational years that taught me how big brands scale globally while staying locally relevant, and how operations and customer experience go hand in hand.
At adidas, I focused on developing retail in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Israel. At Nike, I led direct-to-consumer efforts across the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa. We launched stores, digitized operations, and streamlined the customer journey both online and offline. Then I joined GMG, where I helped transform the operations of Sun and Sand Sports and other brands in their portfolio. That was when I really immersed myself in the Middle East’s retail and e-commerce ecosystem.
Joining Desertcart brought all of that together: global expansion, operational scale, and customer centricity, all within a digital-first business.
Tell us about Desertcart.
Desertcart is the Middle East’s largest cross border e-commerce platform. We help people find and buy products they can’t get locally by connecting them with global inventory, over 100 million items and growing. Whether it’s a hard-to-find wellness supplement or a cult beauty product from Korea, we make it available, affordable, and deliver it straight to your door.
We started in the UAE back in 2014, and now we serve over 100 countries, with strong growth in the GCC and India. What sets us apart is that we’re solving a real problem – limited product availability in emerging markets. Most e-commerce platforms work within local inventory. We open that up entirely.
In your current role as COO at Desertcart, what strategic initiatives have you implemented to increase growth?
Probably the biggest one has been the focus in India, where we were really small and we started putting focus and energy to scale it to be our biggest market.
Another big focus has been expanding our global sourcing. We recently added direct sourcing from Korea and Japan, which unlocked over 10 million new products in high demand categories like beauty, wellness, and electronics. This gives customers more choice, better prices, and faster delivery.
We’ve also scaled up our operations. This year alone we’ve fulfilled over a million orders, up seventy percent from last year. That’s taken serious upgrades in logistics, warehousing, and shipping intelligence.
On the customer side, our Pro Member community is now over 30,000 strong. These are high-value repeat shoppers who get access to faster shipping, better deals, and more personalized experiences. That kind of loyalty drives long-term growth.
What has been your biggest achievement in your current role?
Hitting one million orders this year was a big moment. But what I’m proudest of is how we grew without sacrificing quality. We scaled fast, but kept our delivery times, platform stability, and customer satisfaction high, especially in a cross-border environment where complexity is the norm.
Just as important, we’ve shifted our mindset internally. We’re no longer thinking in terms of transactions. We’re thinking about long term value, retention, and making it easy for customers to discover products they didn’t even know they needed.
What projects are you currently involved in?
Right now I’m focused on three things. One is personalization; we’re using machine learning to tailor product discovery, shipping options, and promotions to each user. The second is speeding up deliveries with regional fulfillment hubs. And the third is market expansion, especially in smaller cities across India and Saudi Arabia, where demand is rising fast but product access is still limited.
How are you tracking your current KPIs to ensure success?
We look at things like order growth, delivery speed, and repeat purchase rates. But we care just as much about what’s behind the numbers, are customers happy, are they finding what they want, and are they coming back.
We have dashboards and monthly reviews like most companies, but we also listen carefully to our users. Feedback from reviews, support tickets, and even social media helps us spot patterns early and course correct fast.
What current trends do you see in the e-commerce industry in the UAE?
Shoppers here are more global than ever. They want brands and products that aren’t easy to find locally. There’s also a big shift toward premium, especially in categories like skincare, wellness, and lifestyle. People are willing to spend, but they expect real value.
Delivery has also become non-negotiable. Fast and reliable is now the bare minimum. And on the tech side, AI is changing how people shop. Customers don’t just want to browse, they want relevant, smart suggestions that actually save them time. Probably the advent of AI as an aid towards product discoverability and an effective price-delivery equation is a big thing to which we are dedicating a significant amount of thought.
How are you revolutionizing the e-commerce industry in the UAE? How do you see the industry changing over the next five years in the Middle East?
We’re redefining what access means in e-commerce. While most platforms focus on local stock and competing on price, Desertcart opens the door to global discovery. If someone wants a niche supplement from the US or a cult beauty product from Korea, we make it available quickly and affordably.
Looking ahead, e-commerce in the Middle East will be driven by seamless cross border experiences. Customers will expect platforms that not only deliver products but also inspire, guide, and personalize every step of the journey. Hyper-personalization will be the norm, everything from content and pricing to delivery options and support will be tailored to individual needs.
We see the industry evolving from transactional marketplaces into experience driven platforms that truly understand and serve their customers’ unique preferences and lifestyles. At Desertcart, we are building toward that future every day.
What are your current and future goals in your role at Desertcart?
Right now, my main focus is scaling our operations and technology to keep pace with rapid growth without compromising on quality or customer satisfaction. We want to make sure that as we grow, deliveries get faster, product discovery gets smarter, and the shopping experience gets smoother.
In the medium term, I want to deepen customer loyalty and retention, building a community of repeat shoppers who trust Desertcart for all their global product needs. And looking further ahead, my goal is for Desertcart to become the first name people think of when they want access to products they simply can’t find locally, whether that’s in the Middle East, India, or beyond.
Where can readers find out more about you and Desertcart?
You can visit desertcart.com to explore our wide range of products and services. We’re also active on social media platforms where we share updates, promotions, and industry insights.
