In the ever-changing and sometimes complex environment of today’s digital age, where market moves occur in minutes and technology is constantly rewriting the playbook, Ahmad Dwidar has a firm belief: “Leadership today is about being adaptable, empathetic, and having clarity of vision, but, above all, it is about people and teams.” He recognized early on that the frenetic pace of the digital world necessitates a counter to that pace—an internal culture that is strong and cohesive. Ahmad understood that for him, this is about leading with intention and a consistent, deliberate attempt to foster a deep sense of belonging.
This approach stands in stark contrast to an antiquated command-and-control style. It is a philosophy forged in the hard work of collaboration in his “true learning home,” Cisco, where hierarchy mattered less than enablement. Ahmad understood clearly that when people feel they are part of something bigger than themselves, the natural ability to be creative is accelerated along with their sense of ownership. Interestingly, his primary concern is not taking charge of people; it is a serious, firm level of trust to engage in real collaborative work. This is really the essence of his leadership style. Ahmad’s leadership is engaged and creating the environment where everyone is heard, everyone matters, and shared objectives move the group forward.
The Anchor of Belonging in a Digital Sea
Ahmad is the Accounts Director of Sales at Nintex, with over 18 years of experience leading global and regional technology organizations. He has held leadership roles at Cisco, Oracle, IBM, Nutanix, Veeam, HPE, and HSB, consistently bridging the worlds of business strategy, customer success, and enterprise technology.
With a degree in Computer Engineering and an Executive MBA, Ahmad combines technical expertise with strategic leadership, enabling organizations to accelerate digital transformation through intelligent automation.
At Cisco, his true learning home, Ahmad developed his leadership DNA, earning trust through innovation and teamwork. At Oracle, he learned the discipline of scaling enterprise solutions. Nutanix sharpened his agility to compete in disruptive markets, while Veeam taught him execution, resilience, and what the company proudly called ‘Veeam Speed.’ IBM reinforced the value of orchestrating people, culture, and processes in enterprise-scale transformation. At HSB, Ahmad led mega-project orchestration across diverse teams, and at HPE, he built trust and unity across Middle East and Africa teams by resolving conflicts and aligning everyone under one vision.
Today at Nintex, Ahmad focuses on aligning automation with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, ensuring that solutions not only address today’s challenges but also empower organizations to sustain innovation on their own. His leadership philosophy is rooted in teamwork, belonging, and empowerment—because technology may enable change, but it is people who make transformation real.
The Architecture of Shared Success
Ahmad’s leadership is anchored by three immutable principles: integrity, accountability, and collaboration. He views organizational success not as a destination for the individual, but as a ‘shared journey, not a solo act.’ His method is to institutionalize trust by promoting radical transparency across his teams. He insists on recognizing and celebrating small wins, believing that when people feel their efforts are seen, their creativity thrives and results become truly sustainable. For Ahmad, this approach ensures that the foundation of his leadership is built on “Respect, trust, and open communication.”
Feasibility Meets Foresight
His authority, spanning both the boardroom and the technical trenches, stems from a powerful duality. His engineering background provides the bedrock of technical credibility, while his Executive MBA sharpens his strategic vision. Ahmad doesn’t see these two domains as separate; they are profoundly complementary. On any given day, his work pivots seamlessly from meticulously reviewing workflow designs and system architecture to sitting with executives to align automation roadmaps with ambitious Vision 2030 initiatives. His technical depth ensures feasibility, while his strategic foresight guarantees relevance, allowing him to effectively ‘earn trust across IT and business leaders alike.’
The Precision of Listening
Ahmad understood that no single technology could solve every problem; the key to resonating with clients was to practice ‘listening first.’ He knew that every organization was a distinct ecosystem, complete with its own unique culture and hidden pains. Before aligning any solution, he dedicated himself to understanding the reality—both the struggles clients voiced and ‘the ones left unsaid.’ Once this comprehensive picture was clear, he could strategically deploy Nintex’s capabilities—whether to integrate siloed systems or enable complex compliance. Crucially, he always communicated the solution in the client’s business language, ensuring its relevance extended far beyond technical specifications.
Redefining Transformation: From Weeks to DNA
This philosophy brought about transformations that resonated deeply. He recalled a pivotal moment with a large public-sector customer in Saudi Arabia, crippled by procurement onboarding delays due to disconnected systems. Leveraging Nintex K2, Ahmad’s team automated complex workflows, integrating their entire digital landscape, from ERP to Active Directory. Processing time plummeted from weeks to days, boosting compliance and transparency.
However, the most profound outcome was the human one: the teams’ frustrations were eased, restoring their sense of belonging to a solution that worked for them. The final achievement was empowerment: thanks to the low-code approach, other departments soon began building their own workflows. This, Ahmad concluded, is ‘true transformation,’ when technology becomes part of the organization’s DNA.
The Doctrine of Capability
Ahmad defined a truly effective solution not by its features, but by its outcome. He insisted that in a competitive landscape, the ultimate test was ‘adoption and sustainability.’ A platform had to be holistic, scalable, and empowering—a concept he refined across his career. At Veeam, this was crystallized as ‘Veeam Speed,’ the discipline of delivering fast results ‘without compromising trust.’ He applied the same philosophy at Nintex, ensuring that clients using low-code could move quickly while still relying on enterprise-grade reliability for mission-critical processes. Ahmad firmly believes that when a customer can move fast, scale confidently, and sustain their automation journey, “you know you’ve delivered more than a solution, you’ve delivered capability.”
The Synthesis of Global Leadership
Ahmad’s leadership DNA is a mosaic of lessons learned across the world’s most influential tech companies. His journey instilled crucial disciplines: Cisco taught him to build trust through innovation; Oracle grounded him in enterprise-grade scalability and governance; and Nutanix showed him how to thrive in disruption by learning to challenge the status quo under pressure. His time leading global teams at HPE taught him the necessity of resolving conflict and unifying diverse teams under one vision. Across every role, from IBM to HSB, the core truth remained the most profound lesson: the technology must be orchestrated with people and culture, because “technology alone doesn’t guarantee success, people do.”
The Forging of Resilience
Ahmad’s defining moments were not found in flawless triumphs, but in early setbacks. A failed project, particularly, became a crucible that taught him humility and the critical necessity of communication and absolute alignment. This experience, coupled with his foundational years at Cisco, crystallized his view that leadership transcended rank. He learned that “leadership is not about authority but about empowering people, fostering trust, and enabling collaboration.” These powerful lessons shaped him into a more resilient leader who embraced challenges not as obstacles, but as essential opportunities for growth, not just for himself, but for his entire team.
The Dual-Lens Perspective
His comprehensive approach to transformation is rooted in his powerful dual education. His engineering background instilled the ‘problem-solving discipline and the ability to face complexity head-on.’ This technical grounding provides the hard reality of what is feasible. Overlaying this is the strategic sweep provided by his Executive MBA, which armed him with the ‘bigger picture, strategy, leadership, and business acumen.’
This unique combination enables him to ‘link the dots,’ forging a formula that is both logical and highly impactful. His dual perspective allows him to effortlessly bridge developers’ language with the boardroom, ensuring that every digital transformation he champions is both technically sound and strategically relevant to the organization’s long-term goals.
The Unshakeable Partnership
For Ahmad, the foundation of any lasting professional relationship is built on trust, empathy, and a partnership mindset. He firmly believes clients do not want vendors; they want partners. His strategy is to approach every engagement as ‘one team solving challenges together.’ By cultivating an atmosphere where clients feel valued, respected, and possess a true sense of belonging, he ensures their voices are heard and incorporated into the solution. This process transforms mere transactions into strategic, sustainable alliances.
Innovation Through Empowerment
Ahmad’s innovation process begins with profound observation. He understands that the ‘stated problem is just the surface,’ requiring him to dig deeper to uncover root causes. Once the solution’s foundation is set, his priority is empowering the client to take ownership. Leveraging platforms that allow organizations to expand automation themselves, he minimizes dependency and champions self-sufficiency. This philosophy is also central to his mentorship: coaching is not about control, but about creating “belonging and helping people see themselves as part of something meaningful.” Ultimately, this empowerment is what differentiates lasting success, because “Innovation without empowerment is temporary; innovation with empowerment is sustainable.”
Human-Centered AI: The Seamless Future
Ahmad sees the most exciting opportunities lying in human-centered AI and intelligent automation—technologies designed to augment, not replace, human potential. In Saudi Arabia, these applications are vast, directly supporting national transformation. He envisions AI-driven services in healthcare and aviation, alongside automation that makes the journeys of millions of pilgrims during Hajj and Umrah ‘seamless.’ Beyond that, the impact on mega-events and sports is enormous, transforming everything from fan engagement to stadium operations, allowing the region to deliver ‘world-class, end-to-end experiences.’ This focus ensures technology serves the citizen, anticipating needs and delivering frictionless service.
Translating Global Trends to Local Impact
To stay ahead of emerging trends, Ahmad employs a strategy of linking the global to the local. He combines macro-level learning, gathered from global summits and research, with crucial, granular insights revealed directly by customer challenges. His personal approach is to ‘link the dots,’ ensuring he doesn’t just follow trends but translates them into practical, logical strategies for clients. His final advice to aspiring technology leaders is equally firm: lead with purpose, embrace failure, and never forget the core mission. He asserts, reflecting on his journey from Cisco to Nintex, that one truth remains constant: “Technology may enable transformation, but it is people, empowered, trusted, and united, that make it real.”
