Breaking Down Barriers
Welcome to "Breaking Down Barriers," a podcast dedicated to uncovering the untold stories and invaluable insights from the visionary minds shaping the Middle East's vibrant technology landscape where we sit down with the region's most innovative Chief Technology Officers and Chief Product Officers, and executives from thriving startups, game-changing unicorns, high-growth scale-ups, and groundbreaking IPO companies.
Each episode will take you on an immersive journey through the personal experiences and hard-won wisdom of these extraordinary leaders. Discover the secrets behind their success in building and scaling companies that not only disrupt industries but also redefine the boundaries of what's possible.
Join us as we break down barriers and delve into the minds of the Middle East's most influential tech, product and executives on "Breaking Down Barriers."
We've made Breaking Down Barriers with our Supporting Partner AWS, and our Investment Partner Shorooq.
Breaking Down Barriers
McKinsey → CPO: Scaling MENA’s Fastest-Growing Wealth App
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Product Scaling in Fintech: How Sarwa Built a Multi-Product Wealth Platform with Robin Harb
Today’s guest is Robin Harb, Chief Product Officer at Sarwa, one of the Middle East’s fastest-growing fintech platforms.
Robin went from McKinsey consultant to leading Sarwa’s product team and scaling it from a single robo-advisor to a multi-product wealth platform that handles stocks, crypto, ETFs, and options and achieving over AED 15 billion in trading volume.
In this episode, Robin shares:
- How to scale fintech products fast without breaking the team
- Designing for first-time investors and building trust in wealthtech
- Lessons from a product decision that didn’t go as planned
- The future of AI in fintech and what products the MENA region still needs
- Advice for product leaders, founders, and C-suite executives
If you’re a founder, operator, or product leader in MENA fintech, this episode is packed with actionable insights you won’t want to miss.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
1:05 – Robin’s career journey: McKinsey → CPO
4:30 – Scaling Sarwa from robo-advisor → multi-product
9:15 – Product strategy & roadmap evolution
13:50 – Regional fintech challenges in MENA
17:40 – Lessons from failed product decisions
21:30 – AI & the future of wealthtech
25:10 – Rapid fire & executive takeaways
28:00 – Closing thoughts
Like, subscribe, and hit the bell to catch more insights from MENA’s top leaders.