The falcon's discipline, brought to the boardroom.

Falconry Solutions is a GCC-native strategic advisory firm, working alongside the region's most ambitious institutions across governance, risk, resilience, cyber, technology and assurance.
Our Name

Why Falconry.

Falconry is the oldest partnership between human judgement and a creature built for precision. For centuries across this region, the falcon has stood for vigilance, mastery and trust earned over time — a partner that sees further, moves faster, and returns to the hand that trained it.

We took the name deliberately. The work we do is the same discipline in a different field: anticipating what others miss, acting with precision under pressure, and building a partnership of trust that endures well beyond a single engagement.

Vision

Seeing risk and opportunity before they arrive.

Precision

Acting decisively, proportionately, without waste.

Vigilance

Constant watch over what matters most.

Trust

A partnership earned, and kept, over time.

One firm. Four practices. Four ways to engage.

We help the region’s most ambitious institutions — sovereign funds, financial services groups, public sector entities, listed corporates, and the professional services firms that serve them — govern with clarity, manage risk with confidence, and build resilience that lasts.

We are practitioner-led. Our senior team has built, run and audited risk and resilience functions inside the region’s sovereign wealth funds and the major global advisory and audit firms. The work we deliver for clients is the work we have done ourselves, in environments that did not tolerate error.

Our expertise is organised around four practices — Transform, Govern, Protect and Sustain — and delivered four ways: consulting, managed services, the Falconry Academy, and, where it adds value, our own GRC platform, Falconry360. Trust is not a tagline. It is the operating discipline of the firm.

At a glance

Reach

GCC-native, working across the region

Practices

Transform · Govern · Protect · Sustain

Ways to engage

Consulting · Managed Services · Academy · Platform

Tagline

Trust at the speed of transformation

Our Values

What we hold ourselves to.

Five commitments that govern the engagements we take, the people we hire, and the standard we hold our work to.

Trust above all

We earn trust the way a falconer does — slowly, through reliability under pressure. We protect it in everything we touch, because for our clients it is the asset that matters most.

Mastery, not theory

We send people who have run the function and lived with the consequences. Craft over credentials; substance over slideware.

Precision under pressure

We act decisively and proportionately when it counts — calm, exact and accountable when the stakes are highest.

Of the region, for the region

We are GCC-native by conviction. We build local capability rather than substitute for it, and we measure success by what endures after we leave.

Independence of mind

We tell clients what they need to hear, not what is comfortable. Honest counsel is the most valuable thing an advisor can offer.

Leadership & Team

Advisors, engagement leaders and practice specialists in one view.
The people shaping the proposition are also the people clients meet, challenge and work with.

Dr Christopher Whittle

Senior Advisor
Enterprise Risk, Governance & ESG

Marwan AlKhouli

Senior Advisor GRC,
Digital Operations & Banking Transformation

Abdullah al Mukrami

Senior Advisor Assurance,
Financial Transformation & Governance

Imran Sadiq

Managing Director

Saad Bin Tariq

Director
GRC, Digital Solutions & Enterprise Resilience

Amine El Haimar

Principal
Risk Quantification & Scenario Modelling

Waqas Haseeb

Director
Cyber, IT GRC & Technology Assurance

Uzair Aman

Director
GRC Advisory & Controls Transformation

Muhammad Kakira

Manager
Advisory Delivery & Financial Analysis

Fatima Naseem

Manager
Strategy, Partnerships & Brand

Musawar Mustafa

Chief Technology Officer

Arvind Kumar Umedani

Director, Assurance & Financial Governance

Scott Whittlesea

Director
Investment Risk & Compliance Technology

Josh Deakin

Advisor

Hamad Khanzada

Chief Commercial Officer

Jireih James Williams

Platform Delivery Associate
Profile

Dr Christopher Whittle

Senior Advisor
Enterprise Risk, Governance & ESG

Dr Christopher Whittle is a senior advisor in ESG, enterprise risk management and governance, with more than 30 years of executive and advisory experience across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Indian subcontinent. He advises boards, audit and risk committees, and senior leadership teams on strengthening governance structures, risk maturity, ESG reporting and sustainability oversight.

Christopher has held senior leadership and advisory roles across public and private sector organisations, including executive roles in diversified investment, asset finance and corporate risk environments. His earlier experience includes senior credit and risk roles with Nedbank and Absa, where he worked on corporate lending, project finance and public sector risk assessment.

He holds a PhD in Management and Governance, an MBA, and postgraduate qualifications in Political Science. He is a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional and an Associate Member of the Institute of Risk Management South Africa.

Profile

Marwan AlKhouli

Senior Advisor GRC,
Digital Operations & Banking Transformation

Marwan AlKhouli is a senior banking, governance and transformation advisor with more than 30 years of leadership experience across the GCC and Middle East. His expertise spans banking operations, digital transformation, governance, risk management, internal controls, compliance, operational excellence and board advisory.

He has held senior executive and board-level roles across leading financial institutions, including Deputy CEO, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Officer, Group Chief Audit Executive and Board Member positions. His experience includes leading enterprise-wide banking transformation, centralised operations models, digital banking initiatives, payment platforms, customer onboarding, internal audit transformation and COSO-based control frameworks.

Marwan holds an MBA in Accounting and a BA in Accounting from the University of Jordan. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Risk Professional, Certified Risk Analyst, Certified Internal Control Auditor, Certified Project Manager and Fellow Governance Practitioner, with additional credentials in ESG and people management.

Profile

Abdullah al Mukrami

Senior Advisor Assurance,
Financial Transformation & Governance

Abdullah Ali AlMakrami is a senior assurance, finance transformation and governance advisor with extensive experience supporting boards, audit committees and executive management across Saudi Arabia and international markets. His expertise spans audit and assurance, financial reporting, IPO readiness, finance transformation, governance, enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance and business strategy.

He has held senior leadership roles in professional services and was formerly a Partner in Assurance Services at EY, where he led complex audits for large listed and IPO-stage organisations, advised on financial and regulatory risks, and supported quality management, digital transformation and data analytics initiatives. His sector experience includes banking, retail, mining, healthcare, asset management, transportation, manufacturing and contracting.

Abdullah holds a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from Boston College Carroll School of Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from The American University in Cairo. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a SOCPA-certified professional.

Profile

Imran Sadiq

Managing Director

Imran Sadiq is a senior strategy, governance, resilience and technology advisor with more than 20 years of experience supporting boards, executive leadership teams and regulated institutions across the GCC. His expertise spans corporate strategy, enterprise risk management, organisational resilience, business continuity, cyber governance, internal audit, transformation assurance and technology-enabled GRC.

He has held senior leadership roles across sovereign wealth, investment, and professional services environments, including Director of Risk Management & Resilience at ADQ, Head of Risk Management & Business Continuity at Oman Investment Authority, and Risk Services Leader for Qatar and Oman at PwC Middle East.

Imran holds a Doctorate in Business Administration with a focus on Organisational Resilience, a Master’s degree in Information Technology, and completed the Leadership Program for Directors at INSEAD. He is also a Certified Information Systems Auditor, Certified Information Security Manager, Certified ISO 31000 Risk Professional, and ISO 22301-certified business continuity professional.

Profile

Saad Bin Tariq

Director
GRC, Digital Solutions & Enterprise Resilience

Saad Bin Tariq is a governance, risk, resilience and digital solutions leader with more than 20 years of experience across sovereign wealth, real estate, retail, professional services and public sector environments. His expertise spans enterprise risk management, business continuity, internal audit, cyber risk, data analytics, GRC platforms, ERP controls, continuous control monitoring and risk quantification.

He has held senior roles across leading organisations including ADQ, Emaar Properties, Majid Al Futtaim Retail and PwC. His experience includes leading risk and BCM programmes for large investment portfolios, implementing Archer and Oracle Fusion GRC platforms, developing cyber and operational risk assessments, and using data analytics, automation and dashboards to strengthen governance and oversight.

Saad is an ACCA professional and holds a BSc in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University. He is also a Certified Information Systems Auditor, with certifications across ISO 31000, ISO 22301, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001, supported by additional credentials in cyber risk, cloud security, blockchain and Power BI.

Profile

Amine El Haimar

Principal
Risk Quantification & Scenario Modelling

Dr Amine El Haimar is a quantitative risk and scenario modelling specialist with deep experience in advanced risk analytics, stress testing, probabilistic modelling and model risk governance. His expertise supports enterprise risk management, portfolio decision-making, capital planning and scenario intelligence for complex financial and investment environments.

He has held senior quantitative risk and model validation roles across leading global financial institutions and sovereign investment environments, including ADQ, Credit Suisse, UBS and BNY Mellon. His experience includes investment banking stress testing, PPNR model development and validation, Value-at-Risk analytics, stochastic modelling, model risk management and quantitative decision support.

Amine holds a PhD and Master’s degree in Operations Research from The George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Industrial Management from Al Akhawayn University.

Profile

Waqas Haseeb

Director
Cyber, IT GRC & Technology Assurance

Waqas Haseeb is a senior cyber, IT governance, risk and assurance advisor with more than 19 years of experience across Pakistan, the GCC, Egypt and South Africa. His expertise spans cyber governance, IT GRC, privacy and data protection, AI governance, technology risk, internal and external audit support, third-party assurance, regulatory audits and transformation advisory.

He has held senior advisory and leadership roles across Big Four and industry environments, including EY, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Engro. His experience covers financial institutions, regulatory bodies, commodity markets, FMCG, petroleum, trading and manufacturing sectors, with a strong focus on technology assurance, cyber risk, IT audit, GRC implementation, infrastructure project assurance and emerging technology risk.

Waqas is a Certified Internal Auditor and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control. He also holds multiple senior PECB credentials across ISO 27001, ISO 22301, ISO 31000 and ISO 42001, covering information security, business continuity, risk management and AI management systems.

Profile

Uzair Aman

Director
GRC Advisory & Controls Transformation

Uzair Aman is a governance, risk and compliance advisor with more than a decade of experience across the GCC and Pakistan. His expertise spans enterprise risk management, corporate governance, internal controls, ICFR, compliance risk management, business continuity, process documentation, risk and control matrices, and GRC technology enablement.

He has supported boards, audit committees and executive leadership teams on the design and implementation of practical GRC frameworks, delegation of authority structures, risk taxonomies, risk appetite models, control testing programmes and remediation tracking mechanisms. His experience includes advisory and assurance roles with Falconry Solutions, PwC, PwC Middle East, Bank of Khyber and RSM, covering financial services, public sector, infrastructure, insurance, energy, real estate and not-for-profit organisations.

Uzair is an Associate Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.

Profile

Muhammad Kakira

Manager
Advisory Delivery & Financial Analysis

Muhammad Kakira is a project management and financial analysis professional with experience across consulting delivery, banking, financial reporting, budgeting, project operations and business analysis. His expertise spans project coordination, stakeholder follow-up, financial forecasting, performance monitoring, regulatory reporting and operational administration.

He has supported project delivery and business operations across Oman and international markets, with experience in banking, consulting, digital services, financial analysis and project supervision. His earlier experience includes roles with Jaiz Bank, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mazars and Muscat Securities Market, covering financial reporting, banking sector analysis, regulatory reporting, valuation support and business research.

Muhammad holds a Master of Science in Finance from Peking University HSBC Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. He is also a PhD candidate in Logistics, Materials and Supply Chain Management at Aston University, with certifications in SAP financial accounting and SAP project management.

Profile

Fatima Naseem

Manager
Strategy, Partnerships & Brand

Fatima Naseem is a strategy, communication and brand professional with experience across oil and gas, e-commerce, textiles and fashion, FMCG, media and the development sector. Her expertise spans brand strategy, strategic communications, stakeholder engagement, ESG communications, CSR, digital marketing, partnership support, proposal narratives and creative content development.

She has worked with leading organisations including Pakistan Refinery Limited, Daraz, Artistic Milliners, Hilal Foods, British Council, USAID and Deloitte, supporting executive communications, annual reports, media engagement, stakeholder campaigns, sustainability initiatives and brand positioning. Her work focuses on translating complex business, governance, resilience and sustainability themes into clear, structured and compelling narratives for clients, partners and wider stakeholders.

Fatima holds an MBA from the Institute of Business Management and a BSc in Social Development and Policy from Habib University. She has also completed the McKinsey Forward Program and holds certifications in ESG and digital marketing.

Profile

Musawar Mustafa

Chief Technology Officer

As Director of Technology at Falconry Solutions, Musawar Mustafa oversees the end-to-end engineering of Falconry360—covering ERM, Cyber, Audit, Resilience, Culture and E&C. A seasoned solution architect with deep expertise in C#, .NET, Web APIs, Azure/SQL, Angular and DevOps, he blends product vision with enterprise-grade delivery to ship secure, scalable platforms for regulated industries across the GCC.

Profile

Arvind Kumar Umedani

Director, Assurance & Financial Governance

Arvind Kumar Umedani is an assurance and advisory professional with more than a decade of experience in financial audits, reporting and special assurance assignments. His expertise spans external audit, IFRS reporting, International Standards on Auditing, regulatory reporting, audit planning, engagement execution, audit quality and client coordination.

He has worked with leading professional services firms including EY and KPMG, supporting full-scope audits and reporting engagements across diverse sectors. His experience includes designing audit approaches, supervising engagement teams, reviewing audit documentation, preparing audit reports and supporting clients in meeting financial reporting and regulatory requirements.

Arvind is an ACCA Member and a CA Finalist from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. He brings strong technical grounding in audit methodology, financial reporting and assurance delivery, with a practical focus on quality, timelines and stakeholder management.

Profile

Scott Whittlesea

Director
Investment Risk & Compliance Technology

Scott Whittlesea is an investment risk and compliance technology advisor with more than 20 years of experience across asset management, sovereign wealth and institutional investment environments in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. His expertise spans investment risk analytics, portfolio risk reporting, public markets oversight, liquidity risk, investment compliance, guideline coding and risk system implementation.

He has held investment risk and consulting roles across leading institutions including Oman Investment Authority, Wisayah Investment Company, Mirabaud Group and Schroders, and has supported major asset managers on risk and compliance platform implementation. His experience includes multi-asset and multi-region portfolio reporting, compliance limit monitoring, investment guideline coding, data analysis, testing and implementation of systems including Aladdin, Bloomberg AIM, Sentinel and SimCorp.

Scott holds a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Bristol and the Investment Management Certificate from CFA UK.

Profile

Josh Deakin

Advisor

Profile

Hamad Khanzada

Chief Commercial Officer

Imran is a seasoned transformation advisor with over 20 years of experience delivering complex, cross-sector projects. His expertise spans business transformation, enterprise risk, operational resilience, cybersecurity, and corporate governance, supported by a strong ability to execute large-scale programs. Known for his strategic mindset and deep understanding of regulatory environments, Imran has a proven track record of aligning commercial objectives with robust governance and risk frameworks. He has advised C-suite and board stakeholders on strategic programs involving transformation, resilience, and enterprise governance. His leadership has driven business-wide initiatives around digital innovation, IT-business alignment, stakeholder engagement, and the design of cybersecurity and operational resilience strategies in complex environments.

Profile

Jireih James Williams

Platform Delivery Associate

Jireih supports the delivery of Falconry360 across client engagements, helping translate governance, risk, control and assurance requirements into practical platform-enabled solutions. Drawing on his experience across IT audit, GRC and finance operations, he contributes to platform configuration, implementation, evidence structuring and client delivery across different business and regulatory use cases.

His background gives him a strong understanding of financial processes, controls, audit requirements and evidence management, enabling him to bridge operational requirements with technology-enabled GRC workflows. In his role with Falconry, he supports the effective delivery and adoption of Falconry360 while helping ensure that platform implementation remains aligned with client objectives, governance requirements and assurance expectations.

How We Think

Three convictions that define our work.

Trust is the GCC's competitive currency.

As the region transitions from resource-led to knowledge-led economies, trust becomes the substrate of every growth strategy. The Gulf will be defined by which of its institutions become known globally as trusted — and which do not.

Resilience is a strategic discipline, not a compliance task.

The institutions that endure treat resilience as boardroom infrastructure. It is the operating capability to govern through volatility — and what separates the institutions investors and regulators back from those they do not.

The work we deliver is the work we have done.

We are practitioner-led. Our consultants have sat in the seats our clients sit in. We do not send theory; we send people who have run the function and lived with the consequences.

Careers

Looking to make an impact with your next role?

Join a team committed to building resilience and managing risk for a better future across the region's most consequential institutions.

Our origin

A conviction, not a pivot.

Falconry360 was founded by practitioners — people who spent careers managing risk, compliance, and resilience at major financial institutions, regulators, and infrastructure organisations across the GCC.

We saw the same problems everywhere. Risk teams drowning in spreadsheets. Compliance officers spending more time compiling evidence than managing obligations. CISOs disconnected from the enterprise risk register. Boards receiving quarterly snapshots of data that was already stale.

"The GCC needed a GRC platform built for its regulatory complexity — not a global tool with an Arabic language pack bolted on."
So we built one. An AI-native, modular operating system designed around the specific regulatory landscape of the Gulf — SAMA, NCA, PDPL, UAE NIAF, and the full stack of GCC financial and data regulations — from day one, not as an afterthought.

Falconry Solutions established

Founded by a team of GRC practitioners with deep GCC market experience. Vision: build the governance platform the region deserved.

Falconry360 platform designed

Two years of co-development with GCC financial institutions, regulators, and risk practitioners. Five pillars. 30+ regulations. One unified operating model.

FalconryX intelligence engine launched

Embedded AI across every module — not a chatbot feature, but a genuine decision intelligence layer that predicts, prioritises, and narrates.

30+ enterprise clients across the GCC

Financial institutions, infrastructure groups, and government-linked entities across KSA, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman.

Expanding beyond the Gulf

Taking the GCC-native playbook global. ISO 42001, GDPR, and HIPAA now pre-mapped. Serving clients in Europe, Africa, and South Asia.

The principles that shape how we build.

These aren't values written for the website. They're the decisions we make every day about what Falconry360 is — and is not.

Practitioners first

Every feature is built with a real risk or compliance professional in mind — not a product manager's assumption. We prototype with CROs, not focus groups. If it doesn't solve an actual pain, it doesn't ship.
"Build for the person in the chair, not the person writing the spec."

Regional before global

The GCC has its own regulatory complexity, its own business culture, and its own definition of what "governance" means in practice. We don't globalise first and localise later. We build for this region and expand from strength.
"GCC-native means the regulations are first-class citizens not afterthoughts. "

AI that explains itself

In governance, trust is everything. FalconryX is built on explainable, auditable AI — every insight is sourced, every recommendation is traceable. No black boxes. Human-in-the-loop, always.
"If the AI can't show its work, it has no place in a boardroom. "

Connected by design

Risk, compliance, audit, and resilience are not separate functions — they are one system. Falconry360 is built as a unified operating model from the ground up. Integration is not a feature. It is the architecture.
"Siloed tools create siloed thinking. We refuse both."

Transparent with clients

Our clients are enterprise organisations with board-level accountability. We tell them what the platform can and can't do. We don't oversell features. We don't hide limitations. Trusted partnerships outlast impressive demos.
"A client who trusts you with their risk is a client for life."

Speed without shortcuts

We move fast — new modules, new frameworks, new AI capabilities. But never at the cost of reliability or compliance. In a platform used by risk and compliance teams, "fast and broken" is not an option.
"In GRC software, the fastest way is the right way."

Why the GCC

We didn't choose the GCC. The GCC is who we are.

Our founders, our team, and our first clients are all from this region. We understand the regulatory environment because we navigated it. We understand the culture because it's ours.

Regulator relationships

We don't just map SAMA and NCA requirements — we have practitioners who came from these organisations. That context is embedded in how we design.

Arabic-first, not translated

Full Arabic language support is not a localization effort — it was designed in from day one, including RTL layout, Arabic regulatory terminology, and bilingual reporting.

Data sovereignty by default

SaaS or on-premise. GCC-hosted cloud options available. All data residency requirements for Saudi, UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain met as standard — not on request.

6 Countries

Active client deployments across the GCC

30+

GCC & global regulations pre-mapped

Arabic+

Bilingual platform — not a translation layer

100%

Leadership team with GCC market experience