With more than 20 years of experience in the airline industry and in logistics, 16 of these with DHL across three continents, Irina knows what it takes to keep things moving. As Head of Innovation in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region, she is responsible for setting up DHL’s MEA Innovation Center – a purpose-built platform to engage customers, startups, and industries with the future of logistics in what is a rapidly developing and highly diverse region.

Irina drives the innovation and operational digitalization agenda from a business perspective, with strong focus on enhancing the customer experience and increasing operational efficiency using technologies such as blockchain, data analytics, collaborative robotics, and IoT. Based in Dubai, Irina has an MBA from Lancaster University, UK.

With 7 years’ experience in logistics, Heba is passionate about digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics capable of positively impacting customers and society. In her current role, she connects with customers to jointly discover innovative solutions tailored to their needs.

Heba started her DHL career in Kuwait where she established and led the marketing department; she was also closely involved in top customer account management. Subsequently, she moved to Bahrain as the Middle East North Africa e-commerce product manager, deploying various e-commerce solutions and projects across the region and facilitating e-commerce lead generation, cross-border enablement, and cross-border payment.

Jemma holds the role of Customer Engagement Manager at the newly launched Innovation Centre in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region. With a keen interest in customer growth, she advocates for digital transformation, workflow automation, and highly effective customer experience (CX) strategies. Prior to joining the MEA Innovation Center team, Jemma specialized in cross-border enablement, solution design, sector development, project implementation, and client relationship management for DHL’s largest e-commerce customers.

She worked on global pilots such as landed cost solution and block chain where she led the development and commercialization within the e-Commerce vertical within the UAE. She has previous experience and held commercial and business support roles within the supply chain & logistics, automotive and retail sectors.

Vildan holds the role of Customer Engagement Manager at the newly opened Middle East & Africa (MEA) Innovation Center. Results-driven and highly motivated, she has a track record of successfully demonstrating the real value of doing business with DHL.

Enthusiastic about innovative logistics solutions and digitalization, Vildan has considerable experience of partnering and collaborating with many businesses, including DHL’s top strategic technology and retail sector customers. As an outgoing team player, she enjoys working with people and providing insightful and honest information to customers and colleagues alike.    

Obie drives innovation topics within operations, and he collaborates with customers and startups to identify and pilot new solutions while advancing DHL’s digitalization agenda. Key areas of interest include sustainability initiatives, robotics, and data analytics.

Having worked in various DHL roles within the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region over the past 7 years, Obie brings to the recently opened MEA Innovation Center vast experience and knowledge of business development, operational, IT/BPO, and logistics management. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. 

As an Innovation Manager, Emily is responsible for driving innovation projects in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region from the newly launched DHL MEA Innovation Center. She has a wealth of knowledge in logistics and digital transformation project management, acquired across this region over the past 10 years.

Emily is committed to accelerating digitalization initiatives from proofs of concept to the implementation of innovation technologies. She identifies value-adding solutions that continue to build DHL’s reputation for thought leadership in the future of logistics.