Katja Smuk

katja smuk

Managing Partner at Smuk Consulting

United Arab Emirates

Bio Summary

Ex-Bain Senior Manager with a passion for Digital transformation and its ability to create a customer excellence in organizations. Extensive experience in strategy, digital and customer transformations, customer service 2.0, and commercial due diligence. Based in the Middle East and looking to bring top-tier calibre advisory with the flexibility and close relationship of a small company to businesses in the region and beyond.

Employment History

Smuk Consulting

Managing Partner

Smuk Consulting

September 2020 - present

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Running my own consulting business focusing on topics within Digital across industries, including Digital strategy and transformation, and incorporating and implementing Digital within the broader scope of strategic initiativ ...see more
Cleo AI

Head Of Operations

Cleo AI

January 2020 - September 2020

London, UK

I was Head of Operations at Cleo AI, a fast-growing Series B scale-up in the PFM sector in London. I was responsible for the management of the company's largest team in Ops across Customer Support and Customer Experience, inc ...see more
Bain & Company

Senior Manager

Bain & Company

September 2011 - January 2020

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

I joined Bain & Company Nordics as an Analyst straight out of university and transitioned to a Senior Manager role in Dubai over the course of the 8+ years I worked there. In my last 2 years at Bain I worked in a full project ...see more

Selected Project Experience

Project Description:
Project Manager for full transformation of customer servicing model for retail segment of major GCC bank. Project scope included customer servicing process and operating model redesign (channels, categorization, empowerment and decision rights), creation of a new centralized team, and coordinating new CRM design and implementation by providing business requirements and managing multiple internal stakeholders, vendors, and other third parties. Project spanned both design and initial implementation phases.

Industry: Financial Services

Topic(s): Organizational Transformation

Project Description:
Project Manager for development of digital transformation strategy for a Middle Eastern bank. Project scope included internal and external assessments of point of departure, articulation of digital vision, strategic options, design of value proposition and target operating model, and market forecasting under a number of scenarios.

Industry: Financial Services

Topic(s): Digital

Project Description:
Project Manager for commercial due diligence on behalf of a major investment fund, looking at a target in the aviation space for a potential minority stake purchase. Project scope included market and competitor assessment including extensive primary research (100+ interviews), outside-in assessment of target, and value creation plan. Resulted in successful deal at one of the highest M&A deal valuations in the past 5 years.

Industry: Principal Investors

Topic(s): Transactions

Project Description:
Led support on new growth acceleration strategy development for Stokke, a Nordic juvenile durables branded goods business. Worked with Head of Strategy and full Leadership Team to devise new strategy pillars and initiatives, define roadmap, and support on select initiative execution as well as full strategy PMO.

Industry: Consumer Products

Topic(s): Strategy & Planning

Education

Master's in Business Administration/Management

INSEAD

2017

Bachelor's in Business Administration/Management

Stockholm School of Economics

2011

Language Skills

Country Experience

Belgium Denmark Finland Germany Norway Sweden United Arab Emirates United Kingdom

Skills

Business

Operational Excellence,

Digital Maturity,

Digital Strategy,

Digital Transformation,

Change & Implementation,

Transformation Management Office,

Dashboard Development,

KPIs,

Monitoring & Evaluation,

Strategy Execution,

Project Management,

Benchmarking & Best Practice,

Business Case,

Business Planning,

Business Unit Strategy,

Corporate Strategy,

Growth Strategy,

Operating Model,

Scenario Planning,

Strategic Management,

Strategic Planning,

Operation Management,

Support Functions,

Commercial Due Diligence,

Education and Training

Program Management

Data Analysis

Data Analytics

Information Technology

Machine Learning

Industry Experience

Principal Investors

Venture Capital,

Sovereign Wealth Fund,

Private Equity