Our practice
Strategy & Growth Advisory
ICAN MENA provides independent strategy and growth consultants to governments, banks and family holdings across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC — for corporate and business-unit strategy, market entry, operating-model design, and M&A.
25+ transformations delivered
Strategy is only worth what it changes on Monday morning.
Where to play and how to win. We define direction, priorities, and the structural choices that drive sustainable competitive advantage.
Work is scoped before it starts and delivered by consultants from ICAN’s vetted network of independent experts — senior specialists matched to the brief on practice area, sector, market and language, and interviewed by you before anyone starts.
What we do
How we help.
Corporate & Growth Strategy
Where to play and how to win.
- Corporate and business-unit strategy
- Growth pathways and market expansion
- Competitive positioning and GTM logic
Enterprise & Performance Strategy
How the enterprise is set up to deliver results.
- Enterprise design, governance & decision rights
- Leadership and management effectiveness
- Performance architecture & execution readiness
Venture, Innovation & Startups
How new growth engines are created.
- Venture and innovation thesis
- New business design and portfolio logic
- Build / buy / partner strategic decisions
Capital, Investment & M&A
How growth is funded and accelerated.
- Fundraising and capital strategy
- M&A and strategic investment decisions
- Portfolio optimisation and deal logic
Tech startup acceleration programme
Venture advisory supporting a Series A raise and strategic market expansion across three MENA markets.
FAQ
Strategy & Growth Advisory — common questions.
What does ICAN MENA’s strategy practice actually do?
Corporate and business-unit strategy, growth and market-entry decisions, enterprise and operating-model design, governance and decision rights, venture and innovation strategy, and capital, investment and M&A decisions. The output is a decision a board can act on, with the structural changes that make it real — not a deck.
Can ICAN help with entering the Saudi market?
Yes. Market entry is part of the growth mandate: sizing the opportunity, choosing the entry route, the partnering or licensing decision, and the operating model and organisation needed to stand it up. ICAN has advised across eight GCC and MENA markets, including Saudi Arabia.
Do you work with government entities?
Yes. A large share of ICAN’s work is with government entities, sovereign groups, banks and family holdings — organisations where the constraint is usually governance and delivery rather than analysis.
How quickly can I see a shortlist?
Days rather than weeks — usually inside a week of the brief being agreed, and often faster for a practice area where the network is deep. That is possible because the experts are already screened and contracted: ICAN is matching a brief against people it can put to work, not starting a search. Where a mandate needs a profile the network does not already hold, ICAN says so at the scoping conversation rather than after it.
How long is a typical engagement?
It depends on the shape of the work. A diagnostic or assessment usually runs a few weeks. A defined project — a strategy, an organisation design, a rewards review — usually runs one to two quarters. An interim or fractional placement runs for as long as the role is needed, on a rolling monthly basis. ICAN scopes the engagement before it starts, so the duration and the cost are agreed up front rather than billed open-endedly.
Do consultants work onsite or remotely?
Both, and the mix is set per engagement. ICAN is headquartered in Dubai, so UAE work is routinely onsite. Work in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC is usually delivered as a mix of onsite visits at the points that need people in the room — interviews, workshops, steering committees — with the rest delivered remotely.
How are ICAN consultants vetted?
A consultant is screened before they are put in front of a client: a reviewed CV and track record, a screening conversation with an ICAN advisor covering the sectors, markets and languages they have actually worked in, and a signed master consultancy agreement — covering confidentiality, data protection and conduct — before any client work starts. Consultants are only proposed for work that matches evidence already on their record, and the client interviews before anyone starts.
How do I start an engagement with ICAN MENA?
Send the brief — the problem, the market, and the timing — to info@icanmena.com or through the contact form at icanmena.com/contact. An advisor comes back with a scope, the consultant profiles that fit it, and a price. There is no charge for the scoping conversation.
Explore the practice