Strategy as a main stream

Including long term strategies, annual plans & budgets, strategic performance Mangement & KPIs, strategy maps, strategic alignment, and others

Extensively diverse 16+ years of official strategy experience across 9 different strategy positions (1-3 years each) in a global financial entity (kfh.com; the second largest Islamic Bank in the world with assets of USD 128 billion as of Dec 2023), strategizing for 15,000+ staff and 30+ subsidiaries across the world in industries of banking, investment, insurance, healthcare, real estate, aircrafts, technology, and more.

Mahmoud's deep strategy experience has been backed by solid world-class strategy knowledge from world's best strategy consultants, from Deloitte, Arthur D. Little, Booz&co., Palladium, Harvard Business Publishing Education and others.

As such, Mahmoud has performed hundreds of strategy reports, 3/5 year strategies, annual plans, strategic initiatives, strategy maps, Business Model Canvases (BCMs), Balanced Scorecards (BSCs), strategic performance models, strategy awareness campaigns, and many others on organic levels such as routinely strategy work and inorganic like central banks and other regulatory requirements.

Mahmoud scored 97.5% in the GW Mastering Strategy Course (SMPS).

Mastering Strategy (SMPS) is an intensive hands-on strategy program designed for leaders scales strategy management approaches in 6 main phases from initial organizing and assessment way to post execution performance management.

SMPS brings together the top world's best strategy practices and models including but not limited to: Porter's Five Forces, BCG Portfolio, Peter Drucker's MBO, Collins Hedgehog Concept, Kaplan & Norton Balanced Scorecards, Bossidy & Charan Strategy Execution,  Kim & Mauborgne Blue Ocean Strategy, Doerr's OKRs, Business Model Canvas, McKinsey 7 S's, Ansoff's Grid, Porter's 3 choices, and many others.

Transformation & Change Management

Including project, program, portfolio and value management

In the cycle of 12+ years of hands-on experience in managing high-impact strategic projects, programs and portfolios, Mahmoud Skaf, had co-managed 3 mega transformation programs (each lasting for 3 to 5 years), meanwhile, Mahmoud had co-established Strategic Programs Management Office (SPMO) for KFH; the international bank along with many banking and non-banking projects and transformations on local and global levels.

PRINCE2, Project Management

Foundation

Practitioner

MSP, Program Management

Foundation

Practitioner

MoV, Value
Management

MoP, Portfolio
Management

APMG, Certified Change Manager
(Change Management - Foundation)

The founder delivering training on "Change Management" in Kuwait Regency

Additionally, Mahmoud has successfully managed multinational and culturally diverse teams on physical, hybrid and remote basis leading to architecting the unique framework MSK-RMA™ (Mahmoud Skaf Remote Management Approach™), a stress-tested framework backed by success stories from both the for-profit and non-profit sectors, delivering outstanding cost-effective outcomes.

As a dedicated learning professional, Mahmoud had acquired top project, program, portfolio management certifications , which he leverages to deliver official training on project, program, portfolio, and change management.

As a global manager for c-suite programs on transformation, M&A, and strategy, Mahmoud Skaf’s cultural agility, strategic thinking, and data-driven decision-making have been sharply honed through multiple executions over 16 years, covering geographies from the Far East to Europe.

Clients can now benefit from our extensive experience at MSK Holding through our global architectural product, MSK-IMF™. This framework has achieved significant success stories to date, with many more on the horizon, showcasing our ability and dedication to Unleashing Growth Within.

MSK-IMF™

Mahmoud Skaf International Management Framework™ (MSK-IMF™) is meticulously designed to address both long- and short-term corporate needs while accounting for human and cultural diversity, as well as the organization’s level of digital literacy.

Global Management

Part of the "Global Strategic Planning and Budgeting" session for KFH. Pictured with the founder are chiefs and VPs of strategy and financial control from Kuwait, Türkiye, Malaysia, and Bahrain, alongside global consultants from Strategy& (formerly Booz&Co.)

Knowledge Management & Innovation

Creating and chairing global Knowledge Committee, awarded & Certified in innovation

Knowledge Management

In his role as Chairman of the "Global Knowledge Committee," Mahmoud led streams of Knowledge Management, FinTech, RPA, Innovation, Idea Management, Talent Management, and Communication & Engagement, impacting 1,000+ staff across three continents.

In the Knowledge Management work-stream, Mahmoud created the "Global Centers of Excellence Framework" and, together with his team in Global Knowledge Committee, launched the "Global Trade Finance Center of Excellence" and the "Credit Administration (CAD) Center of Excellence." Mahmoud and his team also established the "Global Knowledge Single Source of Truth (SSoT)," formulated the "Global Knowledge Repositories Guidelines" and the "Global Knowledge Secondment Guidelines," and developed the "Global Knowledge Newsletter Framework." Additionally, they designed the "Global Training ROI Model," and served as the "Global Training Councillor" for 1,000+ global staff.

In the area of Knowledge Dissemination, Mahmoud served as a Training Councillor for teams ranging from 2 to 400+ staff for 8+ years, leading TNAs (Training Needs Analyses), designing and customizing special-purpose courses, evaluating trainers and ATOs (Authorized Training Centers), modeling the ROI of learning impact and aligning training programs with strategic goals. Mahmoud also evaluated and introduced eLearning platforms, Learning Management Systems (LMS), and remote exam proctoring services. Additionally, he established personal connections with world-leading agencies in leadership and management training.

Innovation, Human Centered Design, Systematic Innovation, Problem Solving, Applied Creativity

Mahmoud Skaf (the founder) receiving the Innovation Award for his idea on leveraging tech solutions to unleash growth within corporate's operational efficiency.

In the picture: Bank's Global CEO, Mazin Alnahedh (right), Bank's Global Chief Strategy Officer, Fahad Almukhaizeem (left), and Mahmoud Skaf, MSK Founder (center).

Mahmoud has spearheaded the global innovation workstream (as part of the global knowledge committee he chaired) focusing on the areas of Idea Management, FinTech (Financial Technologies) and RPA (robotic process automation). He has advanced this by implementing zero-cost RPAs utilizing available capabilities and resources, achieving average savings of 30-50% in time spent on the automated processes. Additionally, Mahmoud had evaluated group of FinTech solutions, some of which have already graduated from the sandbox of the Central Bank of Kuwait, including the "AKcess Solution" and others.

Innovation

In addition to earning the innovation certification from the prestigious Innovation Executive Program at MIT Sloan School of Management in the United States (see certificate), Mahmoud has received an Innovation Award for designing tech-based productivity solution (pictured). Additionally, he represented the global bank (kfh.com) at the Microsoft Innovation Center and participated in establishing both an Innovation Council and an Innovation Center.

Policies, SOPs and Cross-functional Committees

Including RPAs, SLAs, OLAs, BPM Technology, ISO9001:2015

Crafting a seamless rhythm across all parts of an organization is no small feat, but with the guidance of Almighty Allah, Mahmoud has mastered this art. Through his hands-on approach to scripting and revising hundreds of policies and SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), Mahmoud has orchestrated true harmony—ensuring that every function, from HR's functional statements and job descriptions to compliance with Shari’a guidelines, the bank's Delegation of Authority (DoA) matrix, and AML restrictions at KFH, aligns perfectly with broader governance standards such as central bank regulations, government directives, and more. His dedication goes beyond writing; Mahmoud engages directly in word-by-word discussions with governance bodies in Risk, Audit, Shari’a, AML, Compliance, and Legal, ensuring every detail resonates with precision.

Mahmoud received the certificate with score of 100% for the graduation project applying the full Lean Six Sigma DMAIC process.

In tandem with this, and in line with Mahmoud's personal dedication to #unleashing_growth_within, he has enhanced the visibility and utilization of policies and SOPs by creating the bank's first-ever business e-library. He automated the annual review process, developed consolidated document registries containing over 2,500 processes within 350+ documents, and implemented auto-reporting capabilities. Mahmoud rigorously tested multiple BPM software solutions, including SAP, Microsoft, Disco, monday.com, bpm'online, Oracle, K2, Jira, and ARIS (Software AG), ultimately self-developing an internal system using Microsoft Power Automate and the Microsoft Power Suite. Additionally, he spearheaded the alignment of the business library with ISO 9001:2015 standards.

Communication

Staff Engagement, Town-halls, Formal Events & Informal Gatherings

As a program manager for a 2+ year engagement program, and with the supreme support of Almighty Allah, Mahmoud achieved remarkable results by increasing satisfaction for 350+ staff by 10 complete percentiles, using communication as a core lever. The founder also led the first series of C-suite professional communication program (known as "town-halls") for the global bank, delivering change-driven and strategic leadership messages to over 3,000 employees.

In addition to formal events, Mahmoud placed significant focus on informal and private gatherings, recognizing their significant influence on team spirit and also professional outcomes, where he considered the outdoor and informal gatherings as a key aspect for each staff-driven strategy leading to tens of local and global private and outdoor gatherings managed and designed by the founder with profound outcome on team spirit level as well as the strategic outcomes.

In a private event, Mr. Mazin Alnahedh, Global CEO of KFH, and lately; Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Affairs, in the State of Kuwait (left), Mr. Mahmoud Skaf, MSK founder (right)