The toughest times reveal the best in us and Mohamed Elnakib is no exception. From driving ambitious transformation programs to navigating complex marketplaces with limited budgets, his career journey shows a leader forged in adversity, not excess. Today he is the Regional Head of Enterprise Software Solutions at Rockwell Automation, shaping leaders for the future and championing the future of industrial operations where technology meets human potential.
A member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, he is also a technology entrepreneur and investor who continues to bridge innovation with impact. Featured in leading media platforms such as Dubai TV and MBC, he has spoken on how AI is shaping the future and redefining the way industries operate.
He, also credited with correlating creativity and compassion, has formulated a leadership philosophy of balance between sustainability and speed, vision and action, and technology and empathy. Apart from his business ventures, he is a writer and mentor who inspires young people to adopt honesty, courage, and inquisitiveness in the rapidly changing world. His story is about empowering individuals to develop and leave a lasting impact, rather than just creating industries.
From Challenges to Character
Elnakib’s path to leadership defied conventional trajectories. Early in his career, he found himself working across multiple markets, each presenting unique challenges and untapped potential. Resources remained limited, expectations soared high, and solutions demanded creation from ground zero. These moments were initially overwhelming, which became the crucible that forged his leadership philosophy.
“Growth never comes from comfort; it comes from challenges embraced with courage and purpose,” he reflects, his voice carrying the conviction of someone who has weathered storms and emerged stronger. Those early experiences taught him that leadership extends far beyond having answers requires listening, adapting, and building unshakeable trust.
The values instilled by my parents, the guidance of my mentors, and the rare support of people we’ve met along the journey — I call them ‘moonlight,’ as they continue to guide our path even through the darkness of challenges — have shaped both my character and my leadership. These influences remind me that while innovation drives the future, it is resilience, loyalty, and the bonds we carry with us that truly define who we become.
Philosophy Rooted in Balance
When steering teams through rapid changes, Elnakib employs a leadership philosophy that balances seemingly contradictory forces: innovation with execution, vision with discipline, speed with sustainability. His approach centers on empowering teams with crystal-clear clarity while granting them ownership of their domains.
“In a fast-changing world, leaders must create confidence and direction while giving their people room to innovate and grow,” he explains. This philosophy is particularly effective in his current role, where he drives transformation initiatives that span multiple industries and geographies.
His regional perspective adds another dimension to his leadership approach. Recognizing that the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa combine youthful talent with ambitious governmental visions and industries primed for change, he positions himself as a connector. He bridges global innovation with local opportunity, bringing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud-enabled enterprise software to factories, utilities, and infrastructure projects across these dynamic regions.
The Future of Industrial Operations
At Rockwell Automation, Elnakib champions the company’s vision of creating the Future of Industrial Operations, a bold strategy that merges cutting-edge technology with human ingenuity. This approach aims to build more resilient, agile, and sustainable manufacturing environments through seamless integration of operations, information, and people.
The strategy extends beyond mere technological implementation. It focuses on helping companies become more agile, transparent, efficient, and data driven. Connectivity, in his view, transcends technology, it enables collaboration across entire value chains and provides decision-makers with insights necessary for global competition.
His work takes on particular significance when viewed against the backdrop of national visions driving transformation across the region. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have established bold agendas for digital transformation and Industry 4.0 is serving as both compass and catalyst for his initiatives.
Abu Dhabi is leading this transformation with an impressive 19.7% compound annual growth rate in digital development, supported by an AED 13 billion Digital Strategy. The emirate aims more than double its manufacturing output to $46.8 billion by 2031 while creating over 13,600 skilled positions. Similarly, Riyadh is spearheading a digital and industrial renaissance under Vision 2030, with the Saudi digital transformation market experiencing 30.9% CAGR growth and expectations to reach nearly $69.8 billion by 2030.
Artificial Intelligence as the New Heartbeat
Elnakib sees artificial intelligence as the heartbeat of smart manufacturing, transforming how factories are operating through predictive capabilities and real-time optimization. AI applications now analyze legacy automation code for security and usability, optimize energy consumption in semiconductor manufacturing, automate human-machine interface design through generative AI, and enhance quality control across process and discrete industries.
These innovations augment human capabilities rather than replace them, making manufacturing roles more attractive and impactful. For the region, this represents a game changer, enabling companies to compete globally while building domestic resilience.
“AI is becoming the heartbeat of smart manufacturing. From predicting equipment failures before they happen to optimizing processes in real time, AI is transforming how factories operate,” he emphasizes.
The Human Element in Digital Transformation
Despite his deep involvement with advanced technologies, Elnakib maintains that people remain at the center of transformation. His approach to overcoming resistance to change combines transparency with empathy, ensuring teams understand the rationale behind transformation before embracing implementation methods.
His five-step methodology includes setting clear visions, engaging stakeholders early, delivering quick wins, investing in skills development, and measuring progress consistently. Clear vision builds trust, early engagement creates champions, quick wins demonstrate value, upskilling reduces fear, and measurement maintains momentum.
Leading diverse teams across the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa has revealed the power of diversity to him. Each culture is contributing unique strengths, and success coming from uniting people under shared visions while respecting local working methods. When people feel valued for their identity and believe their voices matter, they deliver their best performance.
Bridging IT and OT Integration
According to Elnakib, the convergence of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) represents where real transformation occurs. He focuses on building bridges by integrating machine data with business-layer insights, providing companies with connected operational views that enable better decisions, higher productivity, and greater sustainability.
Smart manufacturing platforms now bridge IT and OT through cloud-native, multi-tenant architectures that simplify deployment, automate updates, and ensure secure, scalable operations. These platforms free IT teams from infrastructure management burdens while delivering comprehensive operational intelligence.
Cultivating Future Leaders
Elnakib measures leadership success not by team size but by the number of leaders he helps create. Mentorship forms one of the most rewarding aspects of his role, extending beyond process coaching to challenging individuals to think bigger, take ownership, and envision themselves as future CEOs of their responsibility areas.
He believes the next generation of leaders must combine curiosity, resilience, and integrity. While technical skills remain important, true leadership always lies in the ability to inspire, connect, and stay grounded in purpose. He is creating opportunities for young talent to step up whether leading customer meetings, driving transformation initiatives, or presenting to executives.
“A leader’s real legacy is not the projects they deliver, but the people they empower. The best measure of leadership is how many others rise because of you,” he states.
Authenticity and Empathy in Action
Technology may be powerful, but Elnakib ensures people remain central to transformation efforts. He maintains empathy and authenticity by creating space for genuine listening, celebrating individual contributions, and communicating with honesty and clarity.
Leading teams across diverse regions has taught him that every person carries their own story, culture, and worldview. A leader’s role extends beyond aligning people with shared visions to honoring those differences, creating trust that drives performance.
“People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel,” he reflects, quoting a principle that guides his leadership approach. By leading with empathy, he ensures technology remains human at its core while teams feel seen, supported, and inspired to achieve beyond their perceived limits.
A Legacy of Empowerment
As Elnakib is looking towards the future, his advice to the next generation of IT leaders remains straightforward yet profound: stay curious, stay grounded, and always stay close to people. Curiosity drives continuous learning as technology evolves, while staying grounded reminds leaders that their role centers on people, not just technology.
His vision extends beyond individual success to collective achievement. “Success is not measured by how much you achieve alone, but by how many people rise with you,” he tells his teams. The next generation should not merely aspire to innovate but to inspire creating legacies that empower others to thrive.
In a region where bold visions like the UAE and Saudi Arabia’s national agendas transform not only economies but inspire individuals to reach higher, Elnakib represents the bridge between technological possibility and human potential. His story demonstrates how resilience and adaptability can transform challenges into stepping stones, and how authentic leadership creates ripple effects that extend far beyond organizational boundaries.
Through his work at Rockwell Automation and his commitment to developing future leaders, Mohamed Elnakib continues shaping not just companies but entire industries, proving that the most profound transformations occur when cutting-edge technology meets deeply human leadership.
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