“Our global consulting strategy gives us scale, intellectual property and proven assets.” – Lula Mohanty, IBM

At GITEX Global 2025, Lula Mohanty, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting Middle East and Africa, spoke to CNME Editor Mark Forker, in an effort to convey what are key areas of priority are over the next 12 months, how IBM’s global consulting strategy fits into the regional nuances of the Middle East – and why so many enterprises are still getting it all wrong when it comes to digital transformation.

In February of this year, you were appointed as Managing Partner for MEA. What are your top three priorities for IBM Consulting in the Middle East and Africa over the next 12–18 months?

My priorities are clear. First, to help clients across MEA unlock the full value of AI by moving from experimentation to enterprise-grade deployment. Today, only 1% of enterprise data sits within large language models and our focus is helping clients access and govern the 99% that truly matters.

Second, building strong ecosystems with hyperscalers, regional partners, and governments, because transformation doesn’t happen in isolation, it happens in collaboration.

And third, accelerating talent and skills. The MEA region is ambitious and fast-growing, and our role is to equip organizations with both the technology and the people to sustain that growth.

IBM Consulting’s value is not just in strategy, but in making AI, hybrid cloud, and transformation real for clients in their industries.

The Middle East and African markets are incredibly diverse and rapidly evolving. With that in mind, how do you plan to balance regional nuances with IBM’s global consulting strategies? Can it be difficult to strike the right balance?

IBM’s global consulting strategy gives us scale, intellectual property, and proven assets, but in the UAE success depends on tailoring those capabilities to national priorities like the Digital Economy Strategy and the National AI Strategy 2031.

That is why our collaboration with AWS is so important. Together, we are localizing global capabilities to accelerate cloud and AI adoption in ways that matter to UAE clients.

This means solutions for smart government, healthcare compliance, banking modernization, and AI-powered citizen engagement that are aligned with national agendas. It also means investing in skills and certification for UAE practitioners so that the talent base grows alongside the technology.

The balance between global and local is achieved by building solutions with partners and clients in the UAE from the start, ensuring they are relevant, trusted, and ready to scale.

Beyond technology and skills, the evolving role of Chief AI Officers (CAIOs) in the region is critical. They serve as the bridge between national ambition and enterprise execution, ensuring AI adoption delivers measurable impact. Our recent global CAIO study with the Dubai Future Foundation highlights how CAIOs can align enterprise AI with national agendas, balancing innovation, governance, and trust.

Transformation is the name of the game. However, it’s fair to say that many organizations have struggled to execute on their digital transformation objectives What are the most common mistakes organizations make when it comes to transformation, and how does IBM Consulting help clients overcome them?

Many organizations treat transformation as a technology purchase rather than a business reinvention. Too often the focus is on tools versus data architecture, governance, culture, and change management.

In the Science of Consulting, we combine strategy with execution, supported by our IBM Consulting Advantage delivery platform and domain practitioners. We help clients sequence transformation properly: establish the right data backbone, deploy pilots with clear outcomes, and scale with governance. We stay close to adoption, reskilling, and accountability.

The difference is that we bring discipline and predictability along with creativity. That is how transformation moves from aspiration to impact.

The consulting industry is a big business, and it is valued at $366bn. Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities for IBM Consulting across the Gulf states and in Africa?

IBM Consulting is uniquely positioned here. We are client zero: we run our own business on AI, across 700+ workflows, on track to deliver $4.5 billion in productivity savings. That gives us real evidence of what works at scale. By bringing that experience into government, healthcare, financial services, and energy transitions in the region, we can help clients avoid common pitfalls and accelerate results.

The growth opportunity is clear: turning bold national ambitions into measurable, sustained outcomes.