Name: A New Era for Business
Uploaded: 2025-05-21
Duration: 14 min 10 s
Description: Lubna Olayan broke ground as one of Saudi Arabia’s first female business leaders. Now she’s focused on what comes next, backing a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. In this opening conversation, she’ll share insights on the country’s evolving landscape, the value inclusive leadership, and why she believes we’re entering a new era for business – and for women.

Lubna Olayan broke ground as one of Saudi Arabia’s first female business leaders. Now she’s focused on what comes next, backing a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. In this opening conversation, she’ll share insights on the country’s evolving landscape, the value inclusive leadership, and why she believes we’re entering a new era for business – and for women.

A New Era for Business

Conferences

Hello everybody. And I was just corrected backstage. hello Lubna, that it's Lubna Elean, right? um, you know, one of the one of the things that I, you were actually on our most powerful list 12 times, um, until 2018 if I'm not mistaken. So then why did you drop me? Well, I think we're about to discover whether we made a mistake. How about that. So, so let's start. I want to back in 2016 when you were at MPW, you spoke about, you said it was just after Vision 2030 and you said, I think women will be driving soon. Turns out you were right. So let's look at today, the landscape today for women and what you've seen. Are you surprised? Give us a sense of Where we are now, given where you thought we'd be in 2016. You mean in 2016 where we would yeah, here we are today. We've seen a lot of advances beyond driving, of course, and give us your sense of this. To be honest with you, I think the changes that had happened in the country is beyond my expectation. Now, uh, I think your colleague before said I was the first woman working in our company. And I started working probably before many of the people in the audience here were born. I started. So I started quite early and uh and I made it to a CEO and I was the only woman for 18 years and then in 2001 as a group we started hiring women even before Vision 203016, but the I. And in '04 I gave a speech where I said my vision for my country and I was advocating for gender remembered for your, for my head actually it was remembered for my headpiece falling down rather than the content of the speech, which I really worked so hard. But it, I guess the appearance was more important than than the content of the speech, but uh and I also said the key thing my message was there can be truly no progress without change and what we're seeing here is the tremendous progress that we've seen. Since 16 is because of this mindset, the change in mindset that we have to change. We have to progress. To go to your question, I truly I wasn't expecting that we would be where we are. The goal for women employment in the workforce has already been met for 2030. It's already met and exceeded, so we have to put a new goal for that. In our company we have around 36% women employment. I I wasn't even. From 2001 employee number 2 who's a woman now today you're 36% and uh I mean we have more than 1000 women in the company, so just to put it in so. And you know, I'm now also I have the honor of chairing a bank where you're the 1st, 1st, you're the first Saudi woman to chair a bank, right? And you're also the first Saudi woman to join a public a Saudi company public board as well. So breaking. OK, so let's go back to where you are today. Can I make you a soothsayer since you talked about plans? Let's take a What you call it vision 2040, but let's say where we are today, how do we create this infrastructure for all these women entrepreneurs, leaders to get to the next level where they will be running companies as large as the one that you did? What what would be your priorities if you were giving advice? I'm sure a lot of people ask you. I think to keep doing what we're doing, we have to bring women to leadership position, invest in them. I mean, in the bank we in the bank that I'm chairing, we have 36% of minus 1 are women. They're going to be the future leaders. We were 42. I joke with some of my friends in the banks, whether Brian Moynahan, Bank of America, which have the honor of. On the advisory board or a city we are in Saudi Arabia in that bank ahead in N minus 1. I love that. Take that Brian Moyna. How does he respond to that? Oh, he loves it and he is the most person who encourages and is all for women empowerment, so. He is a great example for all of us. You know, one of the things I want to recognize is you joined the company that your father started in 1947. There is this power it feels with family businesses in this region as incubators of talent for women. Is that something you feel because I know your sister as well has been my sister Hadam is the CEO and now she's the chair of the shareholders board of our group. Uh she was the chair of the corporate board and we switched just so we are both quite actively involved and yes, our father encouraged us both to join the group and and it was a great platform for us to keep growing with the 2nd generation handing over to the 3rd generation. But yes, to go back, family business is very important in the Arab world and I guess also in Europe and across, and women involvement is natural there for for women to be in, you know, to be involved either in governance or in leadership role. And so yes, and the Saudi Arabia has a lot of family businesses, so it's. Now you said, I know we said you were investing in the next generation of women. I think you're also investing in the next generation of men. What are you personally doing now in terms of Investments because I know in fact let me um after you answer that question, I know there's somebody in the audience who has been mentored by you, so, um, but what, what is your priority now and what kinds of companies you're looking for and where are you putting your energy and your. Capital. I, uh On the investment side, I think our group has uh Put in, you know, they've they've put the sectors they wanted to invest in. Which is in the technology, healthcare, renewables, and we just are investing similar to others how we are investing. Personally, Uh, I've always had, I'm the mother of three girls and I'm the grandmother of 1 girl and a grandson, so I'm not going to discriminate in gender, but it is natural that when you see the stakes are not equal to try whatever you can do in your power to. Equalize or give the opportunity for it. So I always say I, I really, if, if I'm given an opportunity equal and I look at it, one is led by women and one, but they are equal, I'll probably go for the women just because we're so much behind, but for the World Economic Forum, I mean, it's going to take 100 years where we're equal. I'm not gonna be there at that time. I take 100 years. I will be very disappointed if that is. I don't know where the statistics came from, and I think the audience in this room should prove that this is wrong. We should really try to fast track and make it as soon as possible. I don't think we can afford to wait that long. Now is Caroline Gs here? Can you pass the mic because I, because I discovered that um when I mentioned that I was interviewing you that you are actually a mentor to Caroline, so I'm gonna ask, I'm gonna just put you on the spot and ask you to say something or ask something. And by the way, Caroline is our artist in residence who's done the beautiful installation outside. She'll talk about that later, but There you go. Thank you, Diane. It's a pleasure um to be introduced that way and thank you, it's a pleasure to see you. I wanted to ask, as someone who's both been a pioneer in your field and a mentor and supporter to emerging leaders, how has your personal perspective on power and leadership evolved through your career? I should have asked that. Thank you, Caroline. It's a good question. So. You know, I think when you start working, you really don't think of power. What you, what you think about is getting the job done, getting it. The best your ability. That is the focus and I think I was talking to our young leadership in the company and they asked me a similar question, and I said I really never thought I will be where I am here, but now that I'm here, my role is different. The role now is, and I'll answer you why I'm not there, why I'm not on the list. My role here is really. To guide, to observe, to pass the baton, but I think also once you have achieved what you wanted to achieve, we should use our voices to make the change. You ask, can we make it less than 100 years? This is we can if we all work together and collaborate and Try to make the change before I let you go, I, I really wanna um get a sense of where do you get the most joy out of um your job right now, but also the most joy out of business because it strikes me, you start in '83, you could have retired a long time ago, you're incredibly active and you're still talking about what's next. So give me a sense of what inspires you at the moment. Uh I love to learn And I love to learn something new all the time, and I think being active you continuously learn. And maybe this is why I really enjoy talking to young people and spending so much time being challenged and being asked by them. So that would be one of my, I always tell our Olean Women Network forum is I'm always ready to speak to our young people there and being questioned and asked, we don't have it, of course, or like this, but we do have our conferences and I see many in the audience who's been to our own conference. Which is for that we've been having it for 12 years. I see the minister from Bahrain here, she was here in our last speaker and she was phenomenal, and that's an example of future leadership, but that is what energized me and what keeps me going. The other thing is what I say is we really, uh, I mean one thing I'm passionate about is inequality. And uh and and I'll bring it here and I think our responsibility is to make sure that people have jobs, but more importantly, I've always believed that the middle class is, is the pillar, is the backbone of any society and any society to thrive, we should strengthen that middle class. And uh and I think this is exactly what's happening in our part of the world and and we're seeing more people getting disposable income and all and that is something that I think. We should all work or strive for and I would be remiss because this is fortunes, our first MPW here and we're going to revisit those last 8 years where you were not on the list or 7 so let me ask you, what do you, what's your hope, the importance of an event like this, what do you hope this achieves? Well, we've had many conferences here. We've had many FII conferences. We've had the World Economic Forum here, but it's, I think this is the first really high caliber women conference in the region in the Middle East, so I really encourage. The international women here to get together with all the women here and really try to make that 100 year goal much achievable, much quicker for all of us. With you, I think it will be a decade. Please join me in thanking Lubna thank you so much.