#INTERVIEW: Women Who Build: Maha Al Shamsi, Emirati Entrepreneur

Tanja Beljanski: As an Emirati entrepreneur with experience across government, business and commercial ventures, what does Emirati Women’s Day mean to you personally and professionally?

Maha Al Shamsi: Emirati Women’s Day is very personal to me because it represents how far we have come but also reminds us of the responsibility we have towards the women coming after us. I grew up watching the UAE transform at an incredible pace, and Emirati women have been part of that transformation every step of the way.
What I appreciate most is that our leadership didn’t simply encourage women to participate; they created an environment where women could lead. Today, Emirati women are ministers, entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, lawyers and leaders across almost every industry.
For me, it’s a day to celebrate that progress, but also to ask ourselves what we are going to do with the opportunities we have been given.

How has your journey as an Emirati woman shaped your approach to entrepreneurship, leadership and building businesses in the UAE?

Being an Emirati woman has shaped almost everything about the way I approach business. I understand the culture, the people and the way relationships work here, but at the same time I’ve always had an international outlook. I’ve also never believed that leadership means being the loudest person in the room. I think leadership is about understanding people, knowing when to listen, making difficult decisions when necessary and being able to bring the right people together. My journey hasn’t been linear either. I’ve moved between industries, built businesses, started again and changed direction many times. Every experience taught me something different, and I think that has made me much more instinctive as an entrepreneur.

What do you believe are some of the biggest opportunities available to Emirati women today, particularly as the UAE continues to evolve as a global hub for investment and innovation?

The opportunities today are honestly limitless. We are living in a country that is actively investing in technology, AI, finance, sustainability, defence, real estate and so many emerging industries. But I think one of the biggest opportunities for Emirati women is actually our position between the local and international worlds. We understand our market and our culture, but many of us are also globally educated, internationally connected and comfortable operating across different environments. That combination is extremely powerful. We shouldn’t only be looking at participating in existing industries; we should be looking at ownership, investment and building companies that can grow beyond the UAE.

You have worked across diverse sectors, from fashion and HR to commercial brokerage. How have these different experiences influenced the way you approach business and leadership?

Every industry taught me something completely different. Fashion taught me creativity and the importance of understanding what people want. HR taught me how businesses actually function from the inside and, more importantly, how important people are to the success of any organisation. Commercial brokerage taught me relationships, negotiation and how opportunities are created. At first, my career probably looked like I was moving in completely different directions. Looking back now, I realise that everything connected. I don’t think you have to stay in one industry your entire life to become successful. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can bring into a business is knowledge from somewhere completely different.

As a co-founder of MSKD Global, you work with private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and family offices. What have you learned about building meaningful relationships and creating opportunities across borders?

I’ve learned that relationships are everything but genuine relationships take time. You cannot approach every relationship thinking about what you can get from it.
Especially when you are working across borders, trust is incredibly important. People want to know who they are dealing with, whether you understand their objectives and whether you can actually deliver. I’ve also learned that sometimes the biggest value you can create is simply connecting the right people at the right time. A lot of what we do is understanding both sides; what an international company or investor is looking for and what makes sense for the UAE and finding where those interests genuinely meet.

What role do you believe Emirati women can play in connecting the UAE with international investors, entrepreneurs and businesses?

A very significant one. Emirati women have a unique ability to act as a bridge between international businesses and the UAE. There is enormous international interest in Abu Dhabi and the UAE right now, but entering a market is not just about capital. You need to understand the culture, the ecosystem, how business is conducted and, most importantly, how to build the right relationships. Emirati women can play an important role in that because we understand our country from the inside while increasingly operating on an international level. I think you will see many more Emirati women becoming investors, advisors, founders and strategic partners in international businesses entering the region.

Your career reflects a willingness to explore different industries and opportunities. How important have adaptability and resilience been to your success as an entrepreneur?

Probably two of the most important qualities. My life and career have changed direction many times, and not everything I have done has worked exactly the way I imagined it would. I’ve had to start again, change direction and make difficult decisions. I used to think success meant having a very clear plan and following it. Now I think success is also knowing when the plan needs to change. Resilience doesn’t mean nothing affects you. Things affect me deeply. It means you keep moving, you learn from what happened and you don’t allow one difficult chapter to define the rest of your story.

What advice would you give to young Emirati women who want to pursue entrepreneurship but may be uncertain about taking their first step?

Start before you feel completely ready, because you will probably never feel completely ready.
You don’t need to have everything figured out from day one. Some of the most important lessons I learned came from actually doing things, making mistakes and adjusting along the way.
I would also tell them not to compare their beginning to somebody else’s tenth year. Build your network, ask questions, find people who are better than you in areas where you are weak, and don’t be afraid to change direction. Most importantly, take advantage of being in the UAE. There are opportunities and support available here that entrepreneurs in many parts of the world simply do not have.

With your background in business, leadership, sustainability and psychology, how do you believe emotional intelligence and understanding people contribute to effective leadership?

I think understanding people is one of the most underrated parts of leadership.
You can have the best strategy in the world, but ultimately businesses are built by people. Everyone has different motivations, personalities, strengths and ways of communicating. If you understand that, you become much better at building teams, negotiating and managing difficult situations. Emotional intelligence has also taught me that leadership isn’t always about reacting immediately. Sometimes it is knowing when to speak, when to listen and when to take yourself out of the emotion of a situation before making a decision. The older I get, the more I realise that understanding human behaviour is just as valuable in business as understanding numbers.

Looking ahead, what legacy would you like to build as an Emirati entrepreneur, and what do you hope the next generation of Emirati women will achieve?

I don’t necessarily want my legacy to be one company or one title. I would rather look back and know that I built things that created opportunities for businesses, for people and particularly for other women. I also want my children to see that your life does not have to follow one traditional path. You can reinvent yourself, change industries, fail at something, succeed at something else and continue evolving.
For the next generation of Emirati women, I hope they think even bigger than we did. I want them to enter rooms without questioning whether they belong there. Our generation was given incredible opportunities by the women and leaders who came before us. Hopefully, what we build now makes the next generation even more fearless.

@mahaalshamsi09