Leaders

In the past, the understanding of dimensions and measures in healthcare was quite traditional, while today, investments in innovative medical technology serve as a critical advancement in patient care. Many medical equipment providers are already doing much for the betterment of healthcare, and Ajyad Medical is one of them. Headquartered in Dubai, the firm makes one's life better by providing innovative medical solutions that benefit industrial athletes and patients' health, safety, and well-being.

Nagham Hadi, Founder & C.E.O. of Ajyad Medical, focuses on improving people's lives through meaningful medical innovation.

The Women Entrepreneur Magazine team conducted an indepth conversation with Nagham, where she spoke to us about her professional journey and company Ajyad Medical. Here are excerpts from the conversation.

Take us through the early years of your educational and professional journey. What compelled you to venture into the medical care sector?

I'm a pharmacist by education and have a decade's experience within the pharmaceutical industry commercializing medicines in the U.A.E. market. While working in the pharmaceutical industry, I also pursued a Master of Business Administration from Manchester Business School.

During my M.B.A., my final project, my entrepreneurial journey started where I developed an innovative concept of a driving safety solution.

My motivation behind venturing into the medical care sector is driven by providing a better quality of life to all. Today, health is defined as the absence of disease. We believe health is much more than that. It's how you're moving, working, and essentially how you're living.

Everything we do is centered around improving people's lives through meaningful innovation. We strive to know the latest in ground-breaking, cutting-edge solutions to the delight of our industrial athletes and patients.

Throw some light on the innovative healthcare related products you are currently developing.

In our supplemental health division, one of our first products is Tigovit (a green tea complex) with a highly concentrated green tea- suitable for women's health- treatment of uterus, fibroids, endometriosis, HPV and to improve their general health. I'm very passionate about promoting this innovative product across the G.C.C. as I care about immensely enhancing women's health and well-being.

In our technology division, we are the first to launch exoskeleton technologies in the Middle East. Medical exoskeletons for patients suffering from strokes, spinal cord injuries, and musculoskeletal disorders to help them through their rehabilitation journey. Industrial exoskeletons to augment workers who are performing specific and repetitive physical tasks.

Our focus currently is to bring industrial exoskeleton to market. We are committed to augmenting human strength and endurance with ergonomics and industrial exoskeletons at the workplace, leading to productivity gains, work quality improvements, and reducing the risk of work‐related musculoskeletal disorders. We serve various industries like logistics, construction, healthcare, military, aviation, airlines, and manufacturing.

What are the different roles that you play within the organization currently? Also, mention the challenges that entail and how you overcome them?

As an entrepreneur, I take on all the roles that are needed. When possible, we work with partners and specialists to help us further. We are bringing innovative products to market; hence devising the right strategy is crucial.

As you can imagine, one of our biggest challenges is to generate the necessary brand awareness. Therefore, a lot of time is spent on educating our customers and stakeholders about our products and its benefits.

We are speaking to the leaders in every industry to be our ambassador, partner and connecting with the policymakers here in U.A.E. to explain how critical it is to adopt these innovations to promote a healthier and safer community. At the same time, we raise awareness by speaking at events and doing interviews, like we are doing today.

What steps do you take as a leader and as an entrepreneur to keep yourself well aligned with the different evolutions within the healthcare sector and the technology trends that help?

There's plenty of coverage and chatter on innovations in medical care and technology in general. That's a good thing because technology becomes more integrated with every aspect of our daily lives.

As we aim to be at the forefront of innovation, we need to keep updating ourselves with upcoming trends. Hence, we prioritize learning, connect with social media, engage mentors, attend industry conferences and events. We participate in almost every relevant event and avail any opportunity to meet people and network. We are building an eco-system of ambassadors, partners, and stakeholders with whom we collaborate seamlessly to achieve our mission.

“Today, health is defined as the absence of disease. We believe health is much more than that. It's how you're moving, working, and essentially how you're living.”

What's the vision you have for the company and the products you're developing?

Our vision is to make the world healthier by pushing the boundaries through innovation. Our mission is to bring innovative solutions to market that benefit our industrial athletes and patient's health, safety, and well-being, with the purpose to make their life better. As this is quite broad, we decided to narrow our approach by focusing on industrial athletes, patients, and women.

Through ergonomic optimization and our exoskeleton technologies, we improve the lives of our industrial athletes by protecting and promoting their health. We improve the lives of our patients, suffering from strokes, spinal cord injuries, and M.S.D.s, helping them through their rehabilitation journey with our best-in-class medical exoskeletons.

Last, through supplemental health products we improve the lives of women by restoring their health and improving the quality of life.

As a successful business leader, what would your advice be to young women aspiring to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

Entrepreneurship is not a straightforward journey; it entails doing a lot of homework to learn about the trends of your market, the needs of your customer, and responding adequately to them. It's about leaving one's comfort zone, pivoting when necessary to keep up with market demands and needs ensuring that you achieve the much sought-after product-market fit.

The reality is that starting a business and being an entrepreneur is not easy nor financially rewarding. Entrepreneurship is about solving one problem at a time and hitting milestones. I would advise to stay true on your path, do the right thing because if you have the willpower, and you keep learning, adapting, and improving your value proposition everything will fall into place.

Nagham Hadi, Founder & CEO, Ajyad Medical

A Pharmacist and M.B.A. from Manchester Business School, she is a passionate medical care professional. Hervision is to make the world healthier by pushing the boundaries through innovation. She believes that there is an excellent opportunity to innovate with the consistent belief that there are always ways to improve life.