Shant Oknayan has two decades’ experience in leading business development, with subject matter expertise in digital strategies across corporations and governments.

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Shant is currently the General Manager, Global Business Solutions at ByteDance and its leading entertainment platform TikTok, across APAC, MEA & Eastern Europe based in Dubai.

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Shant is the former Group Director for Meta’s (formerly Facebook) family of apps and services, heading business partnerships across multiple industries (FMCG, beauty & luxury, retail & ecommerce, telecom media and technology and real estate) across the MENA region. Prior to Meta, Shant was Google’s Head of Strategy and Operations, and Head of Marketing for Small & Medium businesses across MENA, focused on enabling emerging businesses across the region.

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Previously an Engagement Manager at Booz & Company (now Strategy&) as part of their Digital Business and Technology practice, Shant focused on digital transformation programs on behalf of governments.

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Shant was also the founding Chairman and CEO of GlamBox, the premier beauty ecommerce subscription service across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. After raising over $4m across 2 rounds of funding and being nominated a start-up to watch out for by Forbes in 2015-2017 as well as recognized as a Top 50 SMBE Executive by Arabian Business, Shant led the sale of GlamBox to a consortium of GCC investors in 2017.

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In 2019-2020, Shant was an Advisory Board member to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Doyof Al Rahman program as part of Saudi 2030 Vision, providing expertise and guidance on digital strategies and innovation.

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Shant holds a double Masters from MIT (MBA) and Imperial College London (MEng with Honors), grew up in Italy and has been living in Dubai for the past 15 years.

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