My Morning Routine: Minoush Abdelmeguid, Axa Egypt CEO

Minoush Abdelmeguid, CEO of Axa in Egypt: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Minoush Abdelmeguid, Axa Egypt CEO (LinkedIn).

Edited excerpts from our conversation:

As an only daughter in a diplomatic family, my worldview was shaped early on. My father was a diplomat who rose to the rank of ambassador, and that exposure to different cultures and ways of thinking stayed with me.

My economics and international relations degree from the American University in Cairo gave me the foundation everything else was built on. I built my career steadily from there: started at the Commercial International Investment Company, then moved through corporate investment banking and private equity roles at major financial institutions in Egypt and abroad, including Goldman Sachs and Citibank, before spending many years as a managing partner at Union Capital. That path led me to Axa Egypt, where I took on the role of CEO in January 2026.

I’ve always been an early bird, up by 7am at the latest. When the weather is pleasant, I go for an outdoor walk before heading to the office. I do a quick scan of my phone — replying to messages and emails, and reading EnterpriseAM to catch up on market news — and I also check in on my professional WhatsApp groups for important updates. Since my commute is long, I use the drive to prepare for meetings and read through the files I need so I’m ready by the time I arrive.

As Axa CEO, my job starts and ends with one question: what do our clients need? Everything else follows from there — motivating the team, staying closely connected with regulators, and delivering the best possible service across our diverse customer base. Axa’s model is fairly unique in the Egyptian market — rather than a single ins. product, we hold a diversified portfolio spanning health ins. through our OneHealth clinics, life ins., and property and general ins., and we recently received approval to establish a microins. company. Digital transformation drives much of what I push for: the MyAXA app now offers such a complete customer journey that physical health ins. cards are no longer necessary, and we’re expanding automation across issuance, KYC, and claims to reach broader segments of the market.

I try to get to the office by 8am, traffic permitting. From there, it’s a string of back-to-back meetings, whether internally with the team or with partners and clients, and I try to return phone calls in between. My official workday usually wraps up between 6-7pm, but it can stretch to 11pm at most if there’s a corporate event.

Coffee is a constant in my day — well, except in Ramadan. Another constant is spending time with my family and playing with my dogs, something I always make sure to do on weekends, even when I’m traveling.

I’m a to-do week person. I review my schedule in the morning and set tasks to accomplish by the end of the week rather than cramming them into a single day. Long daily lists can be discouraging when they’re not fully checked off, while weekly lists build in flexibility and give me that sense of accomplishment by week’s end — a dopamine boost that keeps me motivated, much like exercise does.

My ambitions have merged with the company’s — these days, Axa’s goals are my goals. I no longer set the kind of long-term personal plans I did when I was younger; instead, my focus is on doubling the size of Axa Egypt’s business by 2030, or sooner. On a personal level, I’m working through a wish list of my own: reading more, hiking in Africa and Scotland, and visiting places with deep historical roots, like Granada and Andalusia.

Time balance means prioritizing, delegating, and working smart. Take something as simple as getting a document notarized: rather than lose a day off standing in line, I’ll arrange for a service that comes to me instead. Work naturally demands a great deal of my time, so I’m deliberate about protecting my weekends and public holidays for what matters most — exercise, meditation, and family.

Meditation has been part of my life for years, it clears my mind of noise and helps me see problems with a clearer perspective. Before bed, I like to watch something short, around half an hour, whether comedy or a thriller, just to fully disconnect from work. Most importantly, I put my phone and screens away an hour and a half before sleep, replacing that time with reading or talking with my family so I actually get a good night’s sleep.

My reading has shifted over the years — novels have given way to business books and memoirs. Given my background in investment, I gravitate toward books on value creation: Strategic Value Creation: Design and Execute Strategy for Breakthrough Returns, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders, Interpretation of Financial Statements, and The Intelligent Investor all make my list. More recently, I read The Key Man, which recounts the collapse of Abraaj Group — a compelling read, given how close I was to the market when those crises unfolded.

Podcasts are part of my routine, too. The Harvard Business Review podcast and David Rubenstein’s, where he interviews CEOs, are regulars for me. One episode that’s stuck with me is his interview with Phil Knight, founder of Nike, who spoke with real humility about building his empire and how an absolute focus on customer needs shaped a powerful brand.

Two mottos guide me every morning: give your full effort and talent to any task, and always work smart. A former colleague of mine in London gave me the second piece of advice, and it’s stuck with me ever since. We tend to equate success with long hours, but what matters most is the quality of the work and setting priorities intelligently.