Michael's story goes far beyond business. Adopted as a baby, he grew up with parents who went on to foster around 300 children. Their example helped shape his approach to leadership, honesty and how he treats people.

Michael also shares his experience of leading a business through a period of change,
the challenges of transforming its business model and the lessons he has learnt throughout his career.

Timestamps

01:54 - What Is Sim Racing?
02:41 - Inside the Simulator Experience
04:53 - The Sim Racing Market & Max Verstappen
07:01 - Michael's Journey to Dubai
08:08 - CIMCO Venue & Production City HQ
10:08 - Brand X Sims & Global F1 Partnerships
11:43 - Early Career & Law School Lessons
13:30 - Leadership Through Change
15:00 - Sales Lessons & Learning to Listen
17:41 - Personal Growth & Integrity in Business
20:24 - Building Company Culture & Managing Ego
22:47 - Managing a Multinational Team
25:20 - Hiring & Growing the Business
27:10 - Michael's Childhood & Adoption Story
35:34 - Host Shares Personal Story on Adoption
38:56 - Fostering 300+ Children: Parents' Legacy
48:08 - Drive, Ambition, and Personal Mindset
50:35 - Future Business Strategy & Personal Branding
55:12 - Advice for Business Growth & Closing Thoughts

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Michele Tarnow is the CEO and founder of Alliance Care Technologies, a company developing technology and partnerships to expand access to preventative health screening.

Michelle explains how her technology can screen people in minutes, even in communities with limited access to doctors and healthcare facilities. She shares the example of 800,000 people screened for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Lagos, where 60% of those needing follow-up were lost in the process.

00:00 - Introduction & ACT's Mission
01:53 - How AI & Tech Enable Universal Healthcare
04:05 - Preventive AI Screenings vs. Traditional Methods
09:57 - Gamification & Increasing Patient Engagement
11:27 - Data Privacy, Security, and Compliance in the UAE
13:30 - Safe Use of AI: Risk Assessment vs. Diagnosis
18:40 - Ecosystem Approach & Healthcare Adoption Challenges
25:48 - Will AI Ever Replace Doctors?
35:43 - Economic & Health Benefits of Early Detection
40:58 - Why ACT Chose Dubai and the UAE
42:49 - Michele Tarnow's Background & Peace Corps Experience
46:14 - Conclusion

Timestamps

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Technology is changing the way hotels operate, from how guests choose where to stay to how businesses manage pricing and performance. But as Raki Phillips explains, hospitality still comes down to the experience guests have and whether they want to come back.

Raki Phillips also shares his perspective on protecting room rates during periods of disruption, the resilience of the UAE's tourism industry, and the growth opportunities across the Middle East and Africa.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction
4:05 How hotel groups decide where to open new properties
7:34 The opportunities and risks of investing in Africa
14:50 Why the guest experience matters more than the numbers
16:20 How the UAE's tourism industry is handling disruption
28:49 Hotel occupancy, profitability and protecting room rates
32:02 What UAE travel figures reveal about the industry's recovery
40:32 How AI is changing the way people book hotels
41:26 Will hotel brands still matter when AI chooses where you stay?
43:55 Why hospitality still needs a personal touch
45:15 How technology could transform the hotel guest experience
48:25 Why hotel pricing needs to change
51:39 The difference between being an entrepreneur and a corporate leader
1:01:18 Why Rakki Phillips believes in the UAE's long-term future
1:03:01 How hotels can adapt and generate revenue during a crisis
1:08:52 What makes guests choose one hotel over another
1:10:04 Where Rakki Phillips would invest $500 million in hospitality
1:12:19 Why Africa could be the future of hospitality growth

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From alternative ports and rerouting cargo to rising freight costs, limited capacity and the importance of keeping essential goods moving, Ayman explains how logistics companies adapt when the usual routes are no longer available.

Ayman Kabbara also discusses pharmaceuticals, global trade, AI, blockchain and preparing for future supply chain disruptions.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction
1:08 What happens when Jebel Ali is disrupted
14:22 How the UAE keeps goods moving through alternative routes
21:48 Why freight and air freight costs can rise during a crisis
27:04 How logistics companies prioritise essential and life-saving goods
30:49 Why supply chain disruptions affect businesses far beyond shipping
33:24 Why blockchain could transform global logistics
36:36 How AI is changing freight forwarding
39:45 Preparing for the next "black swan" event
52:29 Why logistics is the engine behind global trade
55:17 What businesses should look for in a freight forwarding company

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Reda Raad has spent the last 20 years shaping how one of the world's biggest car brands is seen across this region, and picked up international recognition along the way for his work putting the Louvre Abu Dhabi on the map.

He talks to Spencer about the discipline he says most people are losing in the age of AI, and why some brands earn decades of trust in this region while others never get close.

Timestamps

02:00 – Starting a new podcast and personal motivations

03:07 – Working with his father and their early professional relationship

08:06 – Childhood memories, growing up in Dubai, and family dynamics

13:07 – Starting at the bottom as an Assistant Account Executive

22:50 – A humbling lesson from his father about consistency

26:33 – Nissan's long-standing history and brand loyalty in the GCC region

33:23 – Founding TBWA and gaining Nissan's trust

39:48 – Understanding agency identity: "The Disruption Company"

45:00 – The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in advertising and thinking

56:56 – Specific AI tools used in business (Omni, Claude, ChatGPT)

59:01 – Outdoor advertising and the Louvre Abu Dhabi case study

01:06:11 – Five key things to look for when choosing an advertising agency

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Dean McGrail has spent over two decades building his career in the Gulf, and today he leads WSP's operations across the Middle East and Asia.

He talks to Spencer about the humbling start that shaped his entire career, his approach to leading his team, and what it's actually taken, personally and professionally, to get to where he is now.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction
0:28 What WSP actually does
1:45 The landmarks across the region, Ain Dubai, Royal Atlantis, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and more
3:26 "We've been part of building a nation"
4:14 The scope of his role
5:47 Does he feel presidential
6:39 Imposter syndrome
7:39 Growing up in Aldershot
8:44 Rejected from the RAF and told he was "socially inadequate"
10:19 How he ended up studying fire engineering by chance
11:47 His first job overseas in Hong Kong
13:19 Joining WSP and his dad's reaction
19:01 His two mentors, Chris Cole and Norman Curtis
29:23 Why you can't fake thirty years of trust in ten
31:22 His warning to newcomers arriving in the Gulf
34:33 The hardest conversation he's had with his mentor
40:11 Would he give someone a blueprint for his job
41:06 Build your network, get uncomfortable
44:34 "Quality is the absolute cornerstone of everything we do"
46:20 What he's sacrificed for his career
48:58 Was it a price worth paying
50:07 Does he feel guilt
53:41 Who is Dean McGrail without the title
55:29 What AI has actually changed at WSP
1:00:00 What he'd tell himself at 19

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Jon Marchant is Group President at Memac Ogilvy, part of WPP, leading 450 people across one of the region's biggest advertising networks after 27 years in the industry.

Jon explains why he believes the real threat to the advertising industry isn't AI, it's mediocrity, and what that means for agencies trying to stay relevant. He also opens up about why he believes vulnerability builds more trust in leadership than authority ever will, and how his own definition of success has changed over nearly three decades at the top.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction and imposter syndrome about the guest list
1:07 Moving to Dubai and running an international agency for the first time
2:01 "Dubai is not a city, it's an attitude"
3:25 Temping as a secretary and falling in love with advertising
4:23 Fighting for a job on the Manchester United account
5:21 The 1999 treble shoot and sneaking in with the European Cup
9:06 What mental availability actually means
9:45 Why billboards still work in a digital world
14:36 Getting inspiration and using AI as a spark, not a replacement
15:32 "The enemy is not AI, the enemy is mediocrity"
21:07 Why being an introvert is an advantage in leadership
22:46 The call to the hospital and the hole in one that changed everything
24:41 His father was 45
29:01 The car accident that reminded him who he does it for
30:32 Redefining success: is the ladder leaning against the right wall
41:00 The misconceptions Brits have about working in the Middle East
43:00 Dubai as the shop window, Abu Dhabi as the strategic engine
46:31 Never been fired, but he has had to fire people
47:57 Three things that make a good leader
49:19 From British fell running champion to endurance sport as de-stressing
55:03 Running the Lebanon office during the conflict
1:00:01 What roles AI will actually replace
1:11:10 The Go Compare story
1:12:15 End

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Nick Watson is a former Royal Marine who moved to Dubai in the late 1990s and later founded Team Angel Wolf, a nonprofit built around his son Rio, who is 23 and lives with a rare chromosome condition. The wider mission behind Team Angel Wolf, teaching communities and schools across the UAE what real inclusion looks like.

Timestamps

0:57 Nick and Spencer meet after 21 years of near misses
2:12 Why Nick says the timing wasn't right before now
2:56 Growing up in Cornwall and his parents' cafe in Falmouth
4:06 Leaving school at 16 and the family's move to central France
5:38 Discovering art and the dream of designing cars
6:31 Finding triathlon and building a community in Toulouse
9:56 Choosing the Royal Marines over art school
10:35 Joining the Marines at 21
13:19 The hardest decision of his career, stay or leave
14:50 Meeting his wife Delphine on a personal training course
16:15 The conversation that led them to Dubai
16:56 Arriving in Dubai in 1996 with £850 to his name
18:41 What Dubai looked like before the Marina and the Burj Khalifa
22:06 Rio is born in 2003
23:44 "Something's not right"
24:18 The first time Rio stopped breathing in the bath
26:05 It happens again, and the hospital sends them home a second time
27:16 The four and a half year search for a diagnosis
29:41 The call from Paris confirming Rio's chromosome deletion
30:08 What Rio lives with today at 23
38:02 Holidays, and the last one they took 10 years ago
39:19 Delphine, the backbone of the family
40:30 Tia, and her bond with her brother
41:43 A day in the life of the family
44:37 Why Team Angel Wolf was founded in 2016
46:24 What inclusion actually means to him
47:56 Whether organisations are genuinely inclusive or just ticking boxes
48:44 The four step plan behind Team Angel Wolf
53:01 What it would take to fund the mission properly
55:56 Three practical tips to become more inclusive
58:29 Whether he sees himself as successful
1:00:22 How hard it is to ask for help
1:01:41 A brush with clinical depression
1:05:44 The conversations he has with Tia about the future
1:07:00 What he'd ask of Spencer's audience
1:09:37 How to follow and support Team Angel Wolf
1:11:38 The advice he'd give himself, looking back
1:12:58 End

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