Dubai, UAE — 6 October 2026 — What happens when a room full of business leaders stops simply exchanging business cards and starts exchanging ideas?
At the latest CEO Clubs Lunch Meeting, hosted at SLS Dubai Hotel, the answer was clear: conversations become connections, connections create opportunities, and opportunities begin with people willing to share what they know.
Bringing together CEOs, founders, executives, entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the region, the gathering was designed around one central idea — the power of connection.
The session opened with Ms. Sarah Dong, Managing Partner, CEO Clubs Network, setting the tone for an afternoon focused on meaningful engagement, followed by a welcome address from Dr. Tariq Nizami, Founder and CEO, CEO Clubs Network.
Rather than following the traditional conference format, the meeting created multiple opportunities for members to put their own experiences at the centre of the conversation.
Leadership Lessons, Straight From the Boardroom
The Member Insights segment brought authentic voices from within the CEO Clubs community to the forefront.
Neetu Choudhary, Founder & CEO, Evolvitude FZE, and Akshay Kumar, CTO, Triway Technologies LLC, shared their perspectives and experiences, contributing practical business and leadership insights drawn from their own professional journeys.
The value of the session was not simply in what was presented from the stage, but in the exchange that followed — questions, perspectives and conversations between leaders facing different markets, challenges and opportunities.
From Financial Services to Travel: New Digital Platforms Enter the Conversation
The event also featured an introduction from category partner InsuranceMarket.ae, highlighting the launch of two new digital consumer platforms designed to simplify access to services in two major areas of everyday life.
CreditMarket.ae, focused on financial services and banking, and HolidayMarket.ae, focused on travel, were presented to the CEO Clubs community by:
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Shadab Ahamed, General Manager, CreditMarket.ae
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Rajesh Khare, General Manager, HolidayMarket.ae
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Their participation added another dimension to the meeting — connecting the executive community with emerging digital platforms and new consumer-facing business initiatives.
Wellness Meets Business
The gathering also featured the introduction of a new traditional herbal wellness product range, presented by Sarah Dong.
The products, including a herbal recovery infusion oil and a herbal soap, were introduced as part of a broader wellness-focused initiative, with the range positioned around traditional wellness practices and everyday personal care, including scalp and hair-care benefits.
It was a reminder that innovation within today's business community is not limited to technology or finance — it can also emerge from traditional knowledge, wellness and consumer products.
And Then, The Room Changed
The most dynamic part of the afternoon came with the CEO Clubs Speed Networking session.
The formal structure of the meeting gave way to rapid, focused conversations , leaders meeting leaders, businesses discovering businesses, and introductions happening at a pace that would be difficult to recreate in a conventional networking setting.
In those short conversations, there were no long presentations and no distance between the stage and the audience.
Just people.
What opportunities can we create together?
Where are you expanding?
What problem are you solving?
And, perhaps most importantly — how can we help each other?
That is where the real power of a business community becomes visible.