Gabriel Kalisse, General Manager of our Generic business, has been a part of the Hikma team for more than 18 years. During this time – he has benefited from the high priority we place on education. He has participated in numerous training courses, lectures and seminars that have helped him to develop both personally and professionally.

Trained as an engineer, Gabriel was invited to join Hikma in 1989 after working for two years as a consultant on an IT project for the company. Four years later, he was offered the opportunity to earn his MBA at the Paris-based INSEAD, one of the world’s most well-respected and challenging business schools.

Gabriel embraced the experience wholeheartedly and spent a year at INSEAD sponsored by Hikma, taking full advantage of the opportunity.

“My engineering background was helpful in many areas and it was both interesting and valuable to learn where my strengths and weaknesses were,” explains Kalisse. “My systematic thinking process and strength in numerical analysis meant that areas such as finance and business modeling were easy for me. Other disciplines, such as organizational behaviour, were more challenging, but very interesting.”

“I enjoyed the case-study based system which INSEAD uses, and the programme enabled me to meet and work with a broad cross-section of people from different cultures – all within a very challenging environment where I was able to drive myself forward in learning,” says Gabriel.

Gabriel says that his MBA was a major turning point in his career. “I was able to better understand the business environment dynamics after I’d been to INSEAD,” he explains. “It was a real transition in how I understood business – both from a practical and theoretical point of view.”

“I am very grateful to Samih Darwazah and to Hikma for my invaluable INSEAD experience and for its contribution to my career. I have no doubt that it has had an enormously positive influence on the way I think and work.”