Faizal Amod, CFO of E7 Group: 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 Faizal Amod (LinkedIn), the CFO of E7 Group. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

I don’t define myself by my title or job description. First and foremost, I’m a father, brother, and son. If the conversation shifts to what I do, I’ll mention that I’m the CFO of a listed company. If the conversation turns to my background, I’d say I’m a qualified chartered accountant. I’d been the CFO for a listed company in Abu Dhabi for about 13 years, and now I’m with E7 Group, which we listed through the UAE’s first de-spac listing in 2023.

Our transition to the public markets has been very smooth, because even prior to our listing, we operated with a strong governance framework — with the structure and strategic rigor expected of listed companies. We are pleased with the progress we have made on our strategy so far this year, as evidenced in our 1H 2024 performance.

Our de-spac listing was a first for the UAE and was supportive of Abu Dhabi’s ambition to expand its dynamic capital markets, while also accelerating our growth strategy and driving our ambition to increase market share by leveraging our brand, customer base and robust ecosystem.

E7 comprises four different units [across commercial printing, sustainable packaging, security solutions, and logistics]. Locally, our security solutions business prints passports, bank cards, telecom cards and national IDs and delivers them, providing the full spectrum of services. For school textbooks, it’s a similar situation — we print and deliver more than 20 mn textbooks to UAE schools every year. 

What sets us apart is that we are based in the UAE, a country highly regarded for security and innovation. When it comes to passports and national ID printing, there are maybe half a dozen companies around the world that do this, and we are one of the key players in this space. Having the benefit of being UAE-based gives us the opportunity to be able to target many more countries with our offerings.

We take pride in offering Abu Dhabi-made products to the world, with sales to about 25 countries globally across the Middle East, Africa, Central and East Asia, and Latin America. Our export portfolio includes passports, national IDs, driving licenses, bank cards, telecom cards, textbooks, exam papers, and even magazines through our distribution arm. On the packaging side, we’ve also seen sales in Europe.

We see significant growth potential in security solutions, particularly in system integration and biometrics, and in sustainable packaging, both by expanding the value chain in which we operate and by taking our solutions to more countries.

I see growth potential in packaging because it’s relatively new for us. But I’m particularly excited about the security segment, where I believe there’s a potential growth opportunity. It’s a segment that relies heavily on trust, and customer trust is paramount. We have all the necessary certifications at the highest level as far as security is concerned.

As part of our strategic expansion plans, we have recently announced a AED 182 mn investment in our security business. This investment will help boost our passport production capacity, in line with our goal to enter new markets, and help us enter the digital tax stamps segment, an additional product that we’ll add to our offering in 2025. This investment will allow us to produce stamps here and supply to the world.

E7 is eyeing inorganic expansion, hence we’re exploring potential acquisitions, primarily in the security sector as well as packaging. In packaging, we’re focusing on sustainable packaging and niche, higher-value segments like pharma and the beauty sector.

I believe there is still a great opportunity in textbook printing. Many countries have tried to go digital but have moved back to physical textbooks, so there’s still huge demand for textbooks both locally and internationally. We see the solution we offer locally as something that can be adopted and used in other parts of the world. We are targeting several countries in Africa to explore these opportunities. Specifically, we’re looking at Central Africa as a region with good growth potential for the traditional text printing sector.

My day at work is mostly just back-to-back meetings. Sometimes it’s meetings with teams, or one-on-one discussions that require decision-making. Often, I have to be fully briefed on some issues before offering my perspective. Other times, I’ll go ahead and accept subordinates’ recommendations.

The one constant about my workday is that whatever I plan to do doesn’t happen. I start the day with a list of tasks to accomplish, but by the end of the day, I look at the list to see I’ve managed to tick off one or two items out of half a dozen.

[My morning routine involves] reaching for my phone as soon as the alarm goes off around 6:30 to 7am. I immediately start checking any messages or emails that came in overnight. I have an X feed that I follow to catch up on financial news across the world. Depending on the length of the feed that morning, I might read the feed while doing light cardio on my exercise bike.

I try to meditate but I haven’t been very successful, because my mind drifts a lot and I have too many things on in my mind. There’s a guided meditation app I use which starts with a short, 10-minute session. What’s good about it is that it helps bring your thoughts back if they wander, so it’s almost like the guide is reading my mind.

My day at the office starts around 9am and typically ends around 7:30pm, though often it extends later, but very rarely ends earlier. Occasionally when my day runs later, I stay and end it with a game of table tennis with some of my team members at the office. It’s a routine we started doing a few months ago, so at least once a week I join them to play.

I don’t disconnect from work. The reality of being a CFO is that on evenings I still have work to do even if I’m back home, either with the board or a member of my team. Almost every night there will be something work-related to finish in the evening, or the CEO may call me in the evening.

I try to hang out with my wife a lot now that our two grown kids — a son and a daughter — are out of the house. We enjoy going out and eating out on the weekends. We also do activities together, like walking and kayaking when the weather is good. Sometimes I go shopping with her, which I find fun.

I don’t watch TV regularly, but I do enjoy watching series from time to time. I really enjoyed Succession. I also like to watch some of the popular comedies like Seinfeld, Friends, and Two and a Half Men. Recently, I watched Rules of Engagement, which I really enjoyed. Sometimes I just watch short clips of these shows on YouTube in the evening.

My favorite genre to read is non-fiction, focusing on business, finance, and self-help. Recently, I read Atomic Habits, which discusses how small changes in habits have incremental benefits. I also enjoyed Ikigai, which documents the lives of people on a Japanese island who live beyond 100 years.

The best piece of advice I’ve read is that what others think of me is none of my business. I can’t recall where I came across it, but I think it’s important. Another piece of advice I follow is not holding grudges or resentment, like what Nelson Mandela said: “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

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