Interview, Fireside Chat
Part 1: A Conversation with His Excellency Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Murhairi
Milken InstituteWaleed Al Mokarrab Al Murhairi, Hadley Gamble, His Excellency Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi
- Remote work is expected to maintain face-to-face productivity levels while pandemic-driven shifts in commercial real estate and reduced in-person interaction continue to evolve.
- Strategic investments in e-commerce, goods delivery, venture capital, and the convergence of artificial intelligence with biotech and life sciences are anticipated to generate outsized returns, with specific capital allocated to at least five to ten existing healthcare companies and plans to expand this portfolio.
- Organizational decision-making regarding business operations, such as restaurant openings and age-specific programs, will rely on massive testing data, supported by a record 150,000 tests conducted by Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and reference labs alongside a vaccine board guiding therapeutic choices until a vaccine is available.
- Commercial real estate may experience a temporary dip but will be reshaped by technology into satellite offices and campuses, positioning the sector for disruption and improvement through pandemic-related technological solutions.
- Future investment returns, particularly for vintage 2020 placements and the GEO venture with Mr. Mukesh Ambani, are projected to be defining and deliver significant performance over the next four to six years.
- Current operational focus includes concluding three or four large deals with an expectation of outsized performance despite potential uncertainties regarding their outcomes.
- Global investment strategies prioritize the United States as a stable epicenter, seek to understand Chinese and Asian regulatory environments for rapid growth, and target opportunities in undervalued French public companies via a billion-euro contribution to a Bpifrance fund, Berlin's active SME venture market, and Brazil's deepening investment pipeline.
- The organization will ignore macro-viral trajectory predictions or recovery shape assumptions to focus instead on identifying robust opportunities that remain viable under difficult circumstances, including the inexorable trend of remote medical interventions.