Strategic Business & Marketing Leader

Building Systems,
Teams & Strategies.

Shared the strategic build of EG-GATE, a EGP 1.15B public-private partnership, with some of Egypt's largest industry names. Designed national incubation programs and negotiated fintech market-entry across MENA—combining strategy authorship with brand craft on a Computer Science foundation.

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Essam Hajjaj working on AI systems at his desk
Who you'd be working with

Strategy authorship, not slideware.

I work with leadership teams on the part that usually gets skipped: deciding who owns what after the strategy is agreed. The deliverable is a document that gets signed off and run — not a deck that gets admired.

Twenty years across strategy, marketing and engineering, on a Computer Science foundation. That combination is why the plan and the build tend to agree with each other.

Core Competencies

Innovation Strategy & Agenda Design
Business Case & Financial Modeling
Partnership & Deal Negotiation
Startup Incubation & Ecosystems
Market Research & Intelligence
Brand Positioning & Product Framing
Innovation Culture & Capability Building
Govt. & Enterprise Stakeholder Mgmt.

Career Journey

It began in broadcasting — launching 15+ satellite channels before "AI strategy" was a job title. Kuwait's ministries came next, then a run of marketing and business-development roles: EG-GATE's EGP 1.15B public-private partnership, Forx Studio's deals with Nahdet Misr and the Grand Egyptian Museum, and a stretch at CAT and Studio7 building the B2B pipeline behind 15+ client briefs a month. In 2025, that experience went into building something from the ground up — Cairo Production House, taken from a stalled pre-launch to a 25-person team and a live EGP 12M budget. Today it's channeled into independent strategy consulting across MENA, with AI adoption built into every engagement.

Selected Strategic Engagements

Incubation Program Architect

BLI Group for Consulting & Training (2021)

  • Designed end-to-end the incubation program for the Academy of Scientific Research & Technology's national tender (Incubator for Performing Arts in Cairo), building the full program concept, business model, and financial structure (~EGP 1.8M/ €97K).
  • Structured a two-phase journey for 30 beneficiaries with ~15 funded start-ups.
  • Assembled an international consortium of 8+ leading figures across entertainment and gaming, plus 5 partner organizations, scoring near-maximum on all technical evaluation criteria.

Fintech Market-Entry Strategist

Gemoji / Innova Solutions (2021)

Emoji platform with a fintech layer (custom emoji as payment shortcuts for Gen-Z banking).

  • Engaged by Innova Solutions (Saudi Arabia) to restructure a stalled market-entry deal.
  • Recovered previously-forfeited Egypt rights and royalties.
  • Negotiated Middle East territorial rights (~€25K + royalties and sub-licensing structure) under a phased, country-by-country launch plan.

Innovation Culture & Community

100+ Training Programs
15+ Uni Workshops
1000+ Participants Reached

Delivered professional training programs and guest-speaking engagements across Enactus, Rotaract, ASUA, and student communities nationwide. What started in 2013 with a Social Media Marketing workshop for 13 NGOs in Kuwait evolved into a decade of ecosystem and capability-building work with youth and entrepreneurs.

What Leaders Say

"I was very impressed by Essam's warmth, drive, and rarely seen intelligence. The more time I spent with Essam, the more I became interested in his passion for technology... Egypt should become an international hub for video games. I highly recommend Essam, as he will be the best at identifying emerging trends and knowing exactly how to leverage them!"

PM

Pierre Moisan

Senior Advisor, Creative Industries
CEIM, Montréal

"I sensed his dedication, passion and deep seated knowledge of whatever he undertakes... With his open mindedness to undertake any challenge, he is an asset to any entity. He is a strategist, talented marketeer... a guru in programming and an AI expert thus making him capable of taking your organization to the next level."

SA

Shereen Allam

CEO of Jzoor & Head of Board
AWTAD

Co-project with EchoWRX Studio

"We were genuinely impressed by the depth of your market research, the quality of your competitor benchmarking, your awareness of regulatory developments, and your understanding of modern e-commerce, digital marketing, and B2B growth strategies."

TDH

Group Management

Strategic assessment programme
Tiba International Trade, Delecato & Heimatmarkt

"He managed the operational coordination between the Kuwaiti and Omani delegations during the Kuwait–Oman Higher Joint Committee, where his calm leadership and sound judgment were instrumental in resolving a critical last-minute operational challenge… What sets Essam apart is his ability to combine strategic vision with disciplined execution."

ME

Mazin El Laham

Managing Director
Al-Raya Group, Kuwait

Background of Education

Strategic Business Management Track

2025–26 · In Progress

CMI (Chartered Management Institute) · delivered by Certifeka

Modules completed
  • Corporate Communication Strategy Certificate of Appreciation · 30 July 2026

BSc in Computer Science

2010

Modern Academy

Continuous professional courses: marketing, digital strategy, negotiation, business development, and content creation.

"Combining strategy authorship with brand & narrative craft on a Computer Science foundation."

Questions Worth Answering

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Don't just read about it.
Try my Prompt Matrix.

Role-specific master prompts for marketers, developers and consultants — with my Anti-BS Protocol baked in. No login, works with ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.

Launch the Prompt Matrix
master-prompt.txt
> role: consultant
> format: executive report
> protocol: anti-bs · zero hallucinations
> generating master prompt... done ✓

Paste it into any AI chat.
Watch the difference.
One question

What’s the decision you keep postponing?

Bring me that one. Three questions and I’ll show you where I’d start — and if I’m not the right person for it, I’ll say so rather than sell you something else.

Step 1 of 4

What are you trying to move?

The outcome, not the service. Pick the closest one.

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