I have been Head of Strategic Planning at ITHCA Group since February 2025. ITHCA Group is the ICT investment arm of the Oman Investment Authority. Its portfolio has more than 20 companies. My job is to lead the group strategy and keep it aligned with Oman's national ICT and innovation goals.
This essay explains the work in general terms. It uses only facts that are already public on my CV. It says nothing internal.
What a sovereign tech fund is for
A private fund invests mainly for return. A sovereign technology fund also has a national purpose. It invests to build a digital economy at home. It also helps close gaps in national capability.
That second purpose changes the planning work. A deal can be attractive on return and still be a poor fit for the national goals. The opposite can also happen. Strategic planning helps the group see both sides before it commits money.
The group strategy comes first
The first part of my role is the group strategy itself. A portfolio of 20+ companies needs a clear direction. Each company has its own plan and its own board. The group needs to know how these plans add up.
In practice, this means a few questions, asked again every year:
- Where should the group invest more, and where less?
- Which national ICT and innovation goals does each company serve?
- Where do two companies overlap, and where is there a gap that nobody covers?
The answers become a group strategy that the board can approve and follow. A strategy is useful only if the board can track it. For that reason, I care a lot about clear targets and short scorecards. I wrote about that in a separate essay on board KPIs.
Screening the investment pipeline
The second part of the role is the investment pipeline. Since I joined, I have screened a pipeline of over USD 2.5 billion in potential investments.
Screening is the early filter. It happens before the full due diligence. At this stage, the planning team asks simple questions:
- Does the opportunity fit the group strategy and the national goals?
- How big is the market, and how does the company compare with its peers?
- What are the main risks, and can the group manage them?
Market analysis and benchmarking do most of the work here. We compare an opportunity with similar companies. Benchmarks show quickly if a growth plan is realistic or not. Many opportunities stop at this stage. That is normal, and it saves time for the ones that deserve a full review.
Where the board work fits
Since October 2023, I have also served as Secretary to the Board of DataOm, ITHCA Group's submarine cable company. I was the founding board secretary and helped set up the company. That role taught me how a board uses strategy papers in practice. A board needs short papers, clear options and a decision to make. I try to write group strategy papers in the same way.
What earlier roles taught me
I did not start in investment. I worked at EY, at Oman Aviation Group as a business planner, and at Oman Broadband. Before ITHCA, I was seconded to the Oman Vision 2040 Office. There, I helped narrow the National Investment Strategy from 43 priority sectors to 8.
That work showed me one rule that I still use. A national plan works only when it makes choices. The same rule applies to a portfolio. A group strategy that tries to cover everything will not guide anyone.
A note on what I share
The role touches sensitive matters by nature. I share the role, the title and the public figures on my CV. Everything else belongs to ITHCA Group and its companies.
Related: Board KPIs a board can use and my career.