Dubai-based global developer Emaar Properties has announced the appointment of Veresh Sita, an international technology professional with deep expertise in developing customer-oriented solutions and experiences, as its chief digital officer.

Sita joins Emaar from Alaska Airlines, where he was chief information officer (CIO), responsible for overseeing an organisation of 300 IT professionals and investing in the airline’s infrastructure, enterprise systems and technical innovation, said a statement from Emaar.

Bringing nearly 25 years of experience in information technology, Sita is mandated with developing a new digital strategy that will drive Emaar’s growth. He will also prioritise Emaar’s technology roadmap to assure seamless customer service delivery and strengthen the company’s agility and responsiveness in a fast-changing landscape, it stated.  

Announcing the appointment, Mohamed Alabbar, the chairman of Emaar Properties, said: "We are moving into the next era of growth centred on the new digital ecosystem that is shaping customer outlook and preferences. In today’s fast-evolving world, organisations that lead are the ones that can automate at scale, are agile and highly responsive to the needs of customers."

"With our strong international footprint and diversified business competencies, Emaar’s strategy to create long-term value will be led by innovative, tech-driven business and enterprise systems. Sita has proven its global expertise in re-engineering technology platforms that will contribute tremendously to the organisation’s growth," he stated.

Born and raised in South Africa, Sita has a bachelor’s degree in commerce/business information systems from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is involved in mentoring youth and business professionals.

He has also worked as director (global business systems solutions) at Starbucks Coffee Company.

In his new role, Sita will be responsible for developing systems that assure exceptional client service across multiple geographies. He will also work to deliver the highest level of IT services and availability on a day-to-day basis needed by the group’s overall operation. He will also be a key contributor to the company’s strategic business decisions.

"It is an honour to lead the technology and digital transformation for Emaar Properties, a developer of architectural icons, and the pioneer in developing integrated master-planned communities. It gives me the opportunity to be part of a global company with a truly global technology mandate," remarked Sita.

"Emaar’s success is led by its relentless focus on customer-service excellence that will continue to be the key objective of our new digital strategy. My focus will be on building high-performance teams that love working together and deliver digital transformation through customer-oriented digital platforms, automation at scale, product-based developments, and velocity and continuous service delivery," he added.-TradeArabia News Service