“Leadership needs to be held to professional standards”

Asked how he became a manager, Dr Ayham Ammora FCMI recalls making the shift from scientific research at Cambridge to industry, with an R&D role at Castrol. This was the start of a 25-year journey that took him “from working in an energy company’s laboratory to executing world-scale projects and leading continents for the world’s largest multinational energy companies”.

Ayham’s first mega task was to oversee the project execution for Shell’s $18bn Pearl Gas to Liquids (GtL) project in Qatar, a “technological marvel” that converted natural gas into high-performance and low-emission products, including jet fuel, diesel and base oils.

It was a huge project: a site of 3km2, which used enough structural steel to build the Eiffel Tower 20 times and enough cabling to circle Earth twice.

“It was a baptism by fire,” says Ayham. “And it elevated my skill set significantly.”

Step by step

Ayham had studied science at Cambridge and business management at Oxford. He joined the energy sector because he didn’t believe in research for its own sake. He wanted his work to have a societal impact.

• Read more: “Management was a natural extension of my love of science”

“Scientists need to be thinking of ideas that no one else has thought about, and trying them to see if they work,” he says. “That can open up really important avenues for industries and even for humanity. I've always liked turning practical ideas into solutions for the benefit of society.”

He cites one example of working at Castrol, where he focused on formulating lubricants that reduced fuel consumption and, by extension, emissions as well as reducing engine wear and tear, protecting the engine and reducing ownership costs. Another, the Pearl GtL project he oversaw in Qatar, used groundbreaking technologies to convert gas molecules into superior performance and more environmentally friendly products than those typically produced using crude oil.

Ayham’s career is a brilliant case study in how each step on a management journey simply leads to bigger, more rewarding challenges. Having moved to Shell, he found himself liaising between the Qatari government, Shell’s technical team and eight different multinational contractors – an experience that helped reinforce his management and leadership skills.

He then became Shell’s global strategy leader.

“I learned all of the strategic tools and frameworks at Shell,” he recalls. “We looked at mega trends. We looked at scenarios of how the world will evolve in 100 years. And we examined our competitive landscape, the moves that ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP were likely to make. We used all that information to set a new trajectory, developing strategies that covered 150 countries, right across the value chain.” It was, he says, a $350bn strategic plan to 2035.

Tenacity and resilience

Ayham would go on to pivot – first, by applying all that expertise to transforming companies in the Middle East, including in Egypt, when the country faced a severe devaluation in its currency. He has also led national energy transitions, advising governments and delivering on ESG, sustainability and net zero agendas.

“I don't think I've ever had an easy role,” he reflects. “But all these experiences really developed my tenacity and resilience. Every single role gave me different skill sets and strengths, whether that’s communication, management, technology or how to approach markets.”