Spotlight in Nina Dubash, Dubai UAE

Nina Dubash shares her 20 Year journey as senior learning and digital capability leader in the UAE

SPOTLIGHTS & INTERVIEWS

ME-HR & Learning

9/9/20263 min read

Tell us about you, your core experience, and your professional journey in the Middle East.

For over two decades, I have been leading enterprise-wide learning and digital transformations across UAE's core sectors—including banking, aviation, energy, and government. My focus has been to transition workforce capabilities into the digital age and adapt to changing market demands for measurable business growth. I bridge the gap between emerging technologies and human performance by embedding learning in the flow of work that include regulatory requirements, industry trends, audit recommendations, etc.

I began my career in the region by commercializing digital learning solutions with XpertLearning, helping organizations evolve from traditional training to embracing digital learning. Currently at one of the top Islamic banks in the region, I govern the enterprise-wide compliance, digital learning, and Compliance training requirements for BOD / Senior Management. Over the years, managing learning needs, driving digital learning culture and building enterprise capability have become my forte.

How would you describe the underlying culture of your business?

A strong business culture, to me, is built on open communication and continuous learning. It’s about creating an environment where people feel valued, supported, and encouraged to do the right thing with integrity. This is very well advocated in my organisation and the learning needs are met through competencies, organisation and individual needs and career aspirations. This includes organizational values, work ethics, diversity and inclusion and ethical behaviour; to name a few areas.

Initially, there was resistance towards learning from the employees. We have built the learning culture by organizing open houses / workshops, creating learner guides, and providing user friendly learning options along with coaching / mentoring.

How easy is it for you to get direct access to the decision-makers in your company?

There’s often a perception that senior decision-makers can be difficult to reach, and while there are certainly protocols to follow, I believe the right approach and genuine relationship-building can make all the difference. I approach decision-makers with a clear understanding of the organisation’s strategical priorities and demonstrate how I can shape up Learning to support the business, thus access becomes much more natural.

As a learning enabler, my role is to position L&D as more than just delivering training. I am seen as a business partner and catalyst, where I work closely with leaders to identify capability gaps and design solutions that address real business needs (the know-how).

When I clearly articulate the value that learning brings to the organisation, by usage of digital technologies effectively and measuring the impact through meaningful business outcomes, it becomes much easier to gain the trust and sponsorship of seniors. Ultimately, it’s about having a value proposition that helps in securing executive sponsorship.

What do you foresee as your biggest industry challenges over the next 5 years?

Five years is still a long way ahead. I believe our focus should be on staying agile and being ready to respond to what comes next. For example, the shelf life of technical skills – by the time you design, develop and launch; the technology is updated and the training may become obsolete.

Another one would be to overcome employee fatigue and keeping up with their engagement levels. With the increased number of notifications, completion reminders, byte-sized learning snippets all over the internet; it is going to be challenging to address this digital overload and employee expectations.

We need to focus on inculcating and fostering intrinsic motivation; a learning culture where people want to learn.

The real test is not the lack of content, but identifying, curating, and delivering content in a simplified manner to help build the capabilities to navigate and embrace AI tools and enhance their learning journey.

What are the skills and competencies that you would need to train to meet the region’s talent requirements?

The region has always aspired to be at the forefront, and in recent years, we have seen a tremendous emphasis on education, learning, and talent development. To meet the evolving talent needs of the region, I believe our learning priorities will need to focus on areas such as digital innovation, sustainability and ESG, leadership, and cross-cultural awareness.

But beyond skills and competencies, I suppose learning also complements the kind of person we choose to be. Values such as integrity, kindness, courage, and consideration are just as important in shaping individuals and leaders.

For me, it’s about finding that balance—continuing to grow myself while making a meaningful difference to the people I work with and the learners I support. I believe in giving my time, talent, and energy to help others grow and uplift those around me. Eventually, that is what makes learning truly meaningful - when it creates a positive impact not just professionally, but personally as well.

Nina’s profile

linkedin.com/in/nina-dubash-digitallearning