Ali Al Mansoori, Group Chief People Officer at e&, shares how the company’s cultural shift – powered by people-first thinking and AI grounded in trust – is redefining what transformation means.
At a time when Digital Transformation is often measured by the number of platforms deployed or algorithms trained, e& has been quietly flipping the script. As one of the most recognisable brands of the UAE, the organisation chose to reimagine something more foundational: how people think, work and lead in a world increasingly shaped by machines.
What followed was not just a business reinvention but a cultural one. Since 2021, the organisation – formerly Etisalat Group – has been building a future-ready workforce equipped not just with skills but with purpose. Its transformation strategy prioritises emotional intelligence, trust and inclusive growth alongside automation and scale.
The shift is visible in everything from its revamped values and learning programmes to the creation of an AI Academy designed to teach not only algorithms but ethics. Thus, when Ali Al Mansoori, Group Chief People Officer at e&, spoke about transformation, he shared the importance on investing in future-ready people to build a future-ready business.
A mindset overhaul, not just a business plan
“Transformation isn’t just about what you do. It’s about how you think,” said Al Mansoori as he recounted the internal overhaul that began in 2021.
e& launched a cultural reboot centred around three values – Dare to Be Bold, Be Customer Obsessed and Unite as One – now embedded across its operations in 38 markets. These values were not introduced in isolation; they were linked to programmes aimed at shifting behaviour and language throughout all levels of the business.
Whether shaping strategy in Abu Dhabi or testing products in Morocco, teams were encouraged to think boldly, challenge conventions and lead decisively. This cultural repositioning was accompanied by a new employee value proposition (EVP) centred on purpose, growth and belonging. Gone were the days when compensation alone was enough to retain talent.
Employees today want to feel invested in, heard and part of something meaningful. To meet that need, e& introduced clear policies, including hybrid work arrangements, improved parental leave and ‘Green Fridays’ to encourage balance and care for the environment.
Engineering trust in the age of AI
Among the most prominent examples of e&’s human-first approach to future readiness is its AI Academy – an ambitious effort to build AI literacy and ethical fluency at scale. More than a skills factory, the Academy is part curriculum, part culture shift.
“Our aim wasn’t to teach algorithms,” said Al Mansoori. “It was to build trust – trust in tools, trust in each other and trust in the decisions those tools inform.”
Employees can progress from basic AI literacy to high-level technical and leadership skills through tiered training, including a flagship ‘Chief AI Officer Programme’ developed in collaboration with Kellogg at Northwestern University. Employees are trained to recognise bias, articulate the rationale behind AI decisions and evaluate the ethical implications of automated tools.
Importantly, e& also developed an AI governance platform in collaboration with IBM – an internal system designed to ensure transparency, compliance and ethical alignment in the use of AI across products and operations. AI, in this context, isn’t a buzzword; it’s a living practice that requires oversight, education and ethical courage.
Humanising upskilling: From fear to confidence
Upskilling entire teams in data science, automation and AI comes with its own set of emotional challenges. Not everyone starts from the same baseline – and not everyone is eager to change.
“We’re very conscious that transformation challenges comfort zones, not just capability,” Al Mansoori explained. “That’s why we meet people where they are.”
This thinking led to the creation of flexible, psychologically safe learning journeys. Within the AI Graduate Programme, tailored for Emirati nationals, participants work on real-world AI challenges from day one. Through internal competitions like HackAI and ThinkAI, they solve live business problems and present solutions to senior leadership.
Notably, 81% of the participants in this programme to date have been women – a figure that speaks to both the appeal of the programme and e&’s commitment to inclusive tech leadership.
From theoretical to transformational: Developing tomorrow’s leaders
Beyond technical acumen, the company is focused on growing leadership capacity. Its flagship development programmes – Licence to Lead, GOLD, and She Leads – combine hard and soft skills with live business exposure and peer mentorship.
Take the GOLD programme, for instance, which identifies high-potential talent and immerses them in strategy projects across markets. Participants are not only trained in resilience and critical thinking, but they are also actively solving cross-border operational problems and presenting to board-level executives.
The ‘Bidayati’ programme, meanwhile, provides early-career professionals with a crash course in digital leadership, often through AI assignments that require both technical rigour and people skills.
“Learning doesn’t end in the classroom,” Al Mansoori adds. “It begins there.”
Scaling inclusion across 38 markets
Inclusion isn’t a sidebar – it’s baked into the operating model. NoorAI, one of the company’s innovation initiatives, integrates assistive technology for people of determination into mainstream digital platforms. Another, Wider Web, focuses on adaptive design and multilingual accessibility, ensuring platforms serve a broader user base – across age, ability and language.
“We don’t see inclusion as an initiative,” Al Mansoori says. “It’s a design standard.”
Internally, this mindset is reflected in a workforce representing over 90 nationalities. Initiatives such as cultural secondments, youth councils and storytelling features ensure that diversity isn’t just a recruitment statistic but a daily lived experience. Whether through peer-to-peer coaching platforms or digital collaboration on Viva Engage, the goal remains constant: to enable human connection at an enterprise scale.
Listening that leads to action
e& treats employee feedback not as sentiment analysis but as strategic insight. Through Microsoft’s Glint and internal platforms like the Innovate& Hub, the organisation captures engagement trends, ideas, and concerns – and then acts on them.
With an engagement index currently at 79% and voluntary attrition well below the regional average, the results suggest a simple truth: when people feel heard, they stay.
From national vision to talent incubator
As a UAE-headquartered group, e& aligns closely with national strategies, from Emiratisation targets to the AI Strategy 2031. The company’s partnership with the Federal Youth Authority has led to the creation of Nukhbat Al Watan – a programme offering skills training to UAE nationals before national service begins.
This pipeline isn’t symbolic. It is strategic. “When we invest in national talent, we invest in the region’s competitiveness,” Al Mansoori stated.
A leadership philosophy in practice
For Al Mansoori, whose career has spanned policy, people and technology, transformation must be ethical and intentional. “We are building progress that people can believe in,” he says. His north star? Empathy, purpose and integrity. “Leadership isn’t about being followed. It’s about creating the conditions for others to thrive,” he reflected.
As e& moves deeper into its global tech era, it is doing so with an unusual focus – less on disruption for its own sake and more on building a resilient, ethical and deeply human workplace.
And in a world where digital ambition often overshadows organisational soul, that approach may prove to be the most enduring advantage of all.
