Meet the Team

Faysal is Managing Director of IDC and IDC Group CEO. He oversees the group’s business operations and drives strategic company growth, as well as overseeing the financial performance, business ventures and investments of the company. Faysal is also a member of the Board of Directors, keeping the rest of the Board informed about group activities, and directing the execution of the board’s strategic decisions.

Faysal's career spans 43 years and it began and grew in the U.A.E. He first started working as a Site and then Project Engineer in the Construction industry. He then took on a five-year role as a Project Manager with a major contracting firm before co-founding his own contracting company, Fast Engineering, as well as a building materials company, Rimal Engineering Products (REP). He was General Manager at REP for a few years before joining IDC in 1988. IDC already existed as an Oil & Gas supply company majoring in Project Development. Faysal worked alongside his partner Sulaiman Naim to grow it; IDC grew more than fortyfold since and has become a major regional player in the Oil & Gas industry.

Since then, Faysal has grown his portfolio of personal ventures and has established businesses in Food Processing, Property Development, Hospitality, FMCG, F&B and Retail. His industriousness and entrepreneurship has been an inspiration to many within the Group. Faysal has played a huge role in providing motivation and guidance to other leaders and managers in the Group and beyond.

Faysal is a proud graduate of the American University of Beirut with a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering; class of 1979.

Herald is IDC Group’s CFO and a member of the Board of Directors. He is responsible for the financial health and planning of all the group’s companies and divisions, keeping keen focus on profitability, operating efficiency and return on investments. He advises the board on financial matters to enable the Board to make informed decisions about the group’s investments. He also participates in strategic initiatives taken by the board and has special interest in the In-Country Value (ICV) program and its leverage for the Group’s growth and economic performance.

Herald joined IDC in 1993 and is one of the longest-standing team members. He started his career with IDC as an Accountant whilst completing his MBA, majoring in Finance. Throughout his tenure, he accelerated through the ranks as Senior Accountant, Accounts Manager, Finance & Administration Manager, CFO of IDC and then in 2018, he became CFO of the IDC Group.

Prior to his tenure at IDC, Herald worked in Mumbai, India from 1988 with a leading firms such as M/s Pulkar, Ghandi & Associates Chartered Accountants, Silver Line Construction Co. (Builders & Civil Contractors) and BITS India Limited.

Thamir runs IDC's sales and alliances, with a focus on maintaining strong relationships with principals and clients, developing the business by growing IDC’s partner and client base, as well as negotiating and agreeing contracts. He is also involved in determining annual budgets and driving the team to achieve them.

Thamir joined the company in 2006 as Sales Engineer and went on to become the Projects Development Manager in 2009, Business Development Manager in 2013 and the Oil & Gas Division Manager in 2017 before acquiring his current role as GM in 2021. His proficiency in staying attuned to the dynamic Energy sector has enabled him to drive huge progress within the business.

Thamir graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq.

Mohamad Abu Zeid runs IDC Group’s Legal division. He specializes in Companies’ legislation and is responsible for all types of contracts between IDC Group and the companies it works with. He runs the process of registering IDC’s partners with relevant Governmental bodies [such as DED (Department of Economic Development), MOEC (Ministry of Economy)] and obtaining licenses (trade, industrial…etc) on their behalf. Abu Zeid coordinates all dealings with other Governmental bodies as well as with IDC Group’s Board of Directors. He is also highly experienced with UAE’s Labour and Immigration laws and oversees the Group’s Public Relations divisions.

Abu Zeid joined IDC in 1998 and has been running IDC’s Legal division for more than 2 decades. Before this, he ran the Legal and Administrative division for an HVAC Contracting firm. Before moving to the UAE in 1994, Abu Zeid lived in Egypt and worked as a Sports Journalist, combining his adept writing skills with a profound knowledge of sports, particularly football.

Abu Zeid graduated in 1985 with a Bachelors in Sociology of Law from Mansoura University in Mansoura, Egypt.

Reef is responsible for expanding IDC Group’s scope of work and uncovering opportunities for new types of business and new partnerships within the Energy sector (with a focus on Clean Energy) and beyond.

Reef started her career in London, working in Product Strategy at a boutique consulting firm. She then entered the Financial Services sector, focussing her strategies and efforts on Financial products, specifically FinTech (Financial Technology) products. She began with overseeing the build of NatWest Group’s neobank, and ensuring its risks were in line with the Groups long-term strategy and risk appetite. After its launch, Reef then moved to a money transfer FinTech scale-up to run their Product Operations before moving to the UAE and to IDC Group at the end of 2021.

Reef holds a Master's degree in Industrial Design from Central Saint Martins University, London, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the American University of Beirut.

Houssam is the Division Manager of IDC Tech and helps bring innovative technology products and solutions to clients, along with implementation capabilities directly or in partnership with leading international companies.

Houssam manages business operations and drives the team to achieve the division goals. He recommends new strategies for performance improvement and diversification ensuring that the IDC Group business culture is upheld. Houssam has been a part of creating a positive work culture for the team, which has been key to optimizing their performance ultimately resulting in client satisfaction.

Houssam graduated with a Business Management degree and also holds a Diploma in Computer Science. He is also a Chartered Valuation Analyst. Houssam brings more than 17 years of experience in managing operations for various entities and has been associated with IDC Group since 2008.

Prashant Washimkar leads Technology and Professional Services at IDC Tech. His role entails identifying growth opportunities for clients that could be brought about using innovative technologies and solutions from the market and applied to their industries – namely Oil & Gas, Power & Energy, Water as well as Abu Dhabi’s Governmental Sector. Prashant develops creative engagement models that benefit clients by leveraging IDC Tech’s partner ecosystem. He also oversees and governs key engagements to ensure value realization for his clients.

He is a growth strategist with specific emphasis on alliances and partnerships. His expertise extends to delivering business value through technology-enabled business transformation and building differentiating competitive strategy for clients.

Before joining IDC, Prashant held various senior positions at global Consulting and Technology companies such as IBM and PwC during his three decade-long corporate career.

Prashant is a post-graduate of Computer Science and Management with professional qualifications as a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Project Management Professional (PMP).

Sudhakar Pemmasani is the Head of Digital Transformation and Projects at IDC Tech. He has more than 25 years of IT experience in industries that include Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Semiconductor, Energy and Government Sectors.

Sudhakar plays the role of a trusted Digital Transformation advisor to clients with a specialization in IT Strategy and Program Delivery Management. He directs project delivery through executive-level strategy and planning. His forte is in Digitalization, ERP, Cloud, IoT, Mobility and Business Analytics.

He has varied experience in past roles such as Vice President (IT), Delivery Head, Global Program Manager and Consultant in several different IT firms, and has conducted a lot of work around IT Strategy and Digital Transformation in alignment with business processes. Sudhakar also has extensive experience in seamless integration of data from plant automation to ERP to business intelligence platforms.

He is known to be enthusiastic, goal oriented and a team leader who loves nurturing and mentoring teams and building long-lasting relationships with his clients and partners. He is passionate about technology innovation and its applications.

Sudhakar has his post-graduate in Finance and Marketing with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Sciences. He is also a Project Management Professional (PMP) from PMI.

Saad is a subject matter expert in strategizing and planning of information technologies across the Oil & Gas upstream core functions, especially those related to exploration, production operations, reservoir development, drilling and completion.

As Division General Manager, Babu Ramasamy is responsible for setting the strategy whilst ensuring high performance, optimization and growth of IDC’s Engineering and Technical Services Division. He has more than 26 years of experience in the Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Refining, Fertilizer, Utilities and Renewables sectors, in various roles such as Consulting, Engineering, Contracting, and Proposal and Project Management. This has allowed him to successfully lead the division and diversify its business since its inception.

Before joining IDC, Babu worked in leading organizations such as SPIC, TECHNIP Group, NPCC, CCIC, MODEC International, JGC and ADNOC Group, in various senior positions that include Lead Engineer, Team Leader, Senior Technical Authority, Engineering Manager and Project Manager. His project experience spans Asia, Europe and the GCC.

His dynamic nature and expertise has allowed him to attract a great amount of new business and instill confidence in clients. He aims to maintain synergy amongst his team and to always keep them interested, informed, involved and inspired.

Babu Ramasamy holds a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S. in Engineering Systems, an M.D.S.E. in Software Engineering Solutions and an M.B.A. with an emphasis on Operations and Finance.

As Division Deputy General Manager, Raj is responsible for fine-tuning the division’s strategy and plans towards achieving more attainable targets. He supports implementation of these plans and ensures they run smoothly and are compliant and adherent to policies. He is also responsible for defining, developing, and delivering the overall Sales and Marketing vision and roadmap. Raj is also involved with organizing and acquiring approvals for budget and workforce for specific projects.

Regarded as a Business Growth expert, Raj is a highly qualified professional with an extensive background in streamlining functions, growing businesses and increasing productivity in line with business needs. He has spent more than 20 years at various organizations acquiring experience in Consulting, Manufacturing, Maintenance and Sales roles. He has worked with a range of products including Bulk Material Handling Systems, Rotating Equipment and Engineered Rubber products.

Raj takes pride in his listening skills, which allow him to truly grasp a customer's requirements, understand their problem and offer effective and sustainable solutions. Since joining the team, he has greatly supported the team in winning numerous Retrofit projects and developing strong, long-term partnerships within the Oil & Gas, Steel, and Aluminum industries.

Hussein heads up the IDC Chem division and along with his team, brings a wealth of experience with Oilfield Chemicals (upstream, downstream and midstream) to the business. Hussein has established a conventional and advanced cementing laboratory as well as an R&D laboratory to encourage innovation in their products. He works closely with clients to understand their issues in order to develop specific high-quality products that address their needs.

Hussein’s career in Oil and Gas has spanned 35 years. He worked as an Engineer in the U.A.E., Iran and Yemen for 16 years with Schlumberger. In 2002, he continued with them as a Field Service Manager in Syria, Sudan and Jordan, and then as an HSE Manager in Iran and Yemen. He joined Baker Hughes in 2011 as a Geomarket Product Line Manager then Operation Support Manager for the Middle East and Asia Pacific region managing Cementing, Stimulation, Coiled Tubing, Sand Control and Fracturing services as well as managing PP assets in the region. In 2018, he supported ADNOC Drilling in their JV with Baker Hughes, and in 2020, joined RSE as the Marketing and Business Development Director, where he was responsible for manufacturing new oilfield products, rebuilding oilfield equipment and finalizing a 7 million Dirham per annum 10-year contract with Baker Hughes.

Hussein graduated as a Petroleum Engineer from the Syrian Petroleum College and in 2010 acquired his Masters in Business Administration, with a Project Management emphasis, from Lawrence University. His achievements include producing the first light-weight cement for single-stage use in ADMA-OPCO’s cementing operation, and introducing new products ‘AccuSET’ and ‘FlexSTONE’ for SHELL in Syria.