BEIRUT (LEBANON), Thursday September 22nd 2022 — Today, Artefact, a major player in data and digital consulting services, announces the full commissioning of its office in Beirut, its third location in the MENA region, where it also has operations in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Riyadh (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). The Lebanon subsidiary will be a strategic talent hub that supports Artefact Group’s intensive expansion, both in MENA and other territories (Europe, USA, and Asia); the company now employs more than 1000 people in 16 countries.
The Lebanon office is a key milestone in Artefact’s ambition to become a global leader in data consulting services through rapid organic growth and an active M&A program, supported by the company’s two private equity investors, Ardian and Cathay Capital.
Artefact’s Beirut-based staff provides a strategic and elite talent pool for the entire company thanks to their multilingual capabilities and high level of education obtained at major local universities, such as the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese American University, the Université Saint Joseph and the Lebanese University.
The new office is helmed by two experienced Artefact Consulting Partners, Christelle Salame and Oussama Ahmad. Lebanese citizens educated in the country, they have been working in the MENA region for 12 and 15 years respectively on strategic and transformational projects for major brands; they will bring extensive expertise to the team. Lebanese employees will be trained, mentored and professionally developed within the company under the close supervision of highly skilled leaders, and also be promoted to managerial positions or transferred to other locations, as opportunities arise.
Christelle Salame, Partner at Artefact MENA, says: “Our office in Lebanon allows Artefact to leverage its large and expert talent pool. It also creates very attractive job opportunities for experienced professionals and new graduates, enabling them to increase their expertise in superior data domains, like data engineering, data science and analytics.The Beirut team is an extension of our United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia teams and will be vital to the rapid expansion of the company.”
Oussama Ahmad, Partner at Artefact MENA, adds: “Artefact provides a great opportunity to Lebanese data scientists, data engineers, data analysts and digital marketers to join a fast-growing and global company that offers vast possibilities for career growth, exciting projects with reputable clients and a dynamic and young corporate culture. This is our way of emphasizing that despite the current economic downturn in Lebanon, we still believe in this country and the outstanding capabilities of its people.”
Current and future hires will include data analysts, data scientists and data engineers, digital marketers and data consultants. They will collaborate with Artefact Group peers on data-driven missions to deliver business value for enterprises, from data strategy to the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) projects. With a broad-ranging involvement, they will work on cutting-edge data transformation models (data governance, data platform implementation, data factory, data acculturation and change management), data consulting solutions by industry (such as FMCG, luxury goods, tourism, banking and insurance, healthcare, and governmental institutions), as well as data and digital marketing, and data services for ethics and sustainability programs.
Rahul Arya, Managing Partner of Artefact MENA, explains: “Artefact’s expansion in Lebanon is very important to sustain our global growth ambitions. Given its strategic location in relation to our key European and MENA markets from a time zone perspective, and the depth and diversity of talent pools available in Lebanon, the Artefact Lebanon office will be key to our development in the region and globally. We are committed to making significant investments in hiring, training and retaining the top talent in data consulting and AI in our Lebanon office.”
Artefact Lebanon is already being appointed on data acceleration programs for major clients located in Europe and Dubai. Collaborators working in the Beirut office will embark on exciting career paths and best-in-class learning experiences by participating in challenging projects using pioneering AI technologies.