Building Regional Operations, Market Leadership & Innovation Capability

From Zero to Regional Market Leader: Scaling National Operations, Driving Innovation, and Delivering Record Financial Performance

Challenge

United Safety was aggressively expanding across the Middle East and Asia but lacked fully established national operating structures in several key regions. In 2013, I was tasked with not only launching and growing United Safety’s UAE operations from zero revenue but also overseeing China, Iraq, and Yemen while maintaining operational continuity, leading innovation, and ensuring financial discipline in highly regulated and often volatile environments.

The mandate included:

Establishing UAE as a fully operational national entity capable of supporting 18 offshore rigs immediately, with plans to scale up to 27
Deploying thousands of critical life-support assets under tight startup deadlines
Building governance, training programs, workforce pipelines, logistics, QA/QC, and compliance systems from the ground up
Leading multinational teams representing over 14 nationalities
Managing P&L accountability across multiple countries
Innovating safety technology while executing flawlessly in high-risk environments
Achieving profitable growth despite significant CAPEX demands and price compression

Failure was not an option. An execution failure could have jeopardized customer trust, contractual penalties, regional credibility, and United Safety’s strategic position in one of the world's most critical energy markets.

Action

I led a two-year regional transformation that combined rapid operational expansion, disciplined execution, financial stewardship, and world-first technology commercialization.

Standing Up UAE National Operations

Launched UAE operations from ground up to full functionality within months
Established legal entity, infrastructure, warehousing, logistics ecosystem, QA/QC systems, and workforce capabilities
Mobilized and trained teams from Canada, US, UK, Romania, Italy, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Yemen, Angola
Built a lean-capability designed to scale quickly for major shutdown needs
Successfully staffed the initial 9 offshore rigs in <3 months, and the additional 9 rigs within 5 months
Transported 1080 SCBAs, 360 SABAs, 360 EEBAs, 60 cascades, and supporting assets into the country, securing duty exemptions to protect the financial profile
Increased headcount from 90 steady-state to over 400 during major projects

Market Expansion & Strategic Wins

Expanded offshore footprint from 18 rigs to 27 rigs
Secured entry into Al Hosn Gas onshore operations
Secured an exclusive contract for the region’s first vehicle-based breathing air and gas detection system
Partnered with Schlumberger to gain strategic capabilities, technical credibility, and deployment reach

Innovation Hub for the Eastern Hemisphere

I positioned the UAE as the hub for innovation and technology deployment in the Eastern Hemisphere.

World-first deployments included:

Air Qruise Trooper
Air Qruise Trooper-T
Air Qruise Utility
Air Qruise Electro Ex
Air Treq

In China, I managed the regional deployment of the Typhoon Community Protection System, enhancing community safety capabilities.

This transformed UAE from a “new operation” to a global innovation leader, where governments, operators, and international partners came to see what “best in class” looked like.

Financial Discipline & Governance

Full P&L ownership for UAE, China, Yemen; dotted-line oversight for Iraq.
Despite significant startup CAPEX in UAE, exceeded EBITDA targets by 12%, even under pricing pressure.
Developed and implemented an ISO-aligned governance framework, which later became the model for the Eastern Hemisphere.
Qatar and other regions subsequently adopted these operating standards.
Trained and prepared successors in UAE, China, and Iraq, ensuring leadership continuity and pipeline maturity.

Impact at a Glance

Commercial & Market Success

UAE grew from $0 → $4.3M revenue in Year 1
Grew another 175% to $7.5M in Year 2
Expanded market share across offshore and onshore
Secured strategic exclusivity and premium positioning

Operational & Delivery Excellence

Built a fully functioning national operation in record startup time
Mobilized 400+ personnel safely and effectively
Delivered high-risk operations without execution failure
Established new regional training, compliance, and QA/QC discipline
Enabled scalable, repeatable execution across multiple international environments

Innovation Leadership

Positioned UAE as a strategic innovation center for the company
Introduced multiple world-first safety technologies successfully to live environments
Innovation contributed to ~1/3 of Year 2 revenue growth
Strengthened customer stickiness, differentiation, and renewal strength

Financial Performance & Discipline

UAE exceeded EBITDA targets by 12%, despite heavy CAPEX
China and Yemen operated as CAPEX-light, highest EBITDA business unitsglobally
Built a financial and operational model that balanced growth and resilience

Organizational Impact

Created ISO-aligned governance adopted region-wide
Built succession and leadership depth in multiple countries
Strengthened company reputation as the partner who could execute where others could not

Insight

This experience reinforced a leadership principle that has shaped my career since:

Operational scale, innovation leadership, and financial discipline are not competing priorities.
They must be built together.

Market expansion succeeds only when governance, safety discipline, and capability maturity develop in parallel
Innovation leadership must be tied to commercial outcomes, not just technical achievement
Financial rigor enables credibility, not constraint
True leadership is proven when you build systems, leaders, and organizations that continue to perform after you move on

Ultimately, this body of work proved that with disciplined execution, strong governance, capable leadership, and strategic innovation, it is possible to launch national operations, grow aggressively, innovate globally, outperform financially, and leave a stronger organization behind.