Talent, Leadership and Learning
Gulf CPO Community: CEO.works – Talent to Value Approach
In person Breakfast Briefing | 8:30 – 10:30am GST, Abu Dhabi
In this exclusive, invite-only CPO Community breakfast briefing, we’ll explore CEO.works ‘Talent to Value’ approach.
What We’ll Cover
The session will focus on Hiring to Value™. This is a fundamentally different approach to how organisations hire, assess, and mobilise talent into the roles that drive most value. We will explore:
- Why 40% of external executive hires fail within 18 months. How to shift from generic job descriptions and “best available candidate” thinking to evidence-based decisions built on Jobs to be Done and Superpowers
- How AI-enabled tools can accelerate and sharpen talent decisions. With the human firmly on the steering wheel. Turning weeks of assessment into days while improving precision and reducing bias.
What You’ll Take Away
A practical view on connecting your talent strategy directly to value creation. With real examples and data. Whether you’re navigating a leadership transition, scaling a transformation, or building your next bench, this session is designed to give you frameworks you can act on immediately.
The result we see: traction in weeks and months, not years. Momentum that is both immediate and durable.
Venue
Grand Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Residences
Emirates Pearl
West Corniche Corniche Road,
Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates
Speaker
Alex Kopitsas
Senior Partner, CEO.works
Alex has led both strategic HR and business functions during his 22-year career with Johnson & Johnson. His management and leadership have contributed to the successful turnaround and growth of business units in the Middle East and Africa, Europe, China, and the United States.
About CEO Works
CEO Works is the Talent to Value™ company. We partner with CEOs, CHROs, and investors at organizations like Maersk, Macy’s, Kraft Heinz, Phillips and Nord Anglia Education at decisive moments: a new CEO, a strategy reset, a merger, or a PE ownership change. We help convert inflection points into performance and sustained value creation.
Our Talent to Value™ methodology has delivered 3.3x MOIC (vs. 2.4x industry average), 2x return uplift in Year 1, and up to 6x compounded returns when embedded as an annual operating routine. We work with leading private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, and global enterprises across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
About CRF’s Gulf CPO Community
CRF’s Chief People Officer Community brings together a select group of senior HR leaders shaping the future of work across the UAE and wider Gulf. This exclusive, invite-only network provides a trusted space for CPOs to share experiences, test ideas, and explore solutions to the most pressing organisational challenges.
Combining CRF’s world-class research briefings with keynote contributions from global thought leaders and our partners, the Community offers a unique opportunity to gain insight into emerging trends while benchmarking against peers. Members benefit from candid discussions in a confidential environment, designed to foster practical learning and actionable takeaways.
With the UAE at the forefront of economic transformation and workforce nationalisation, this is the place for CPOs to build meaningful connections, exchange best practice, and ensure their organisations are future-ready.
If you are an in-house CPO/CHRO based in the Middle East and are interested in joining this community, please contact Michael Whelan.
