December signals the close of one season, but for many of us, it’s a time when planning the following year truly kicks in. So what if you could gain not one, but three thinking buddies as you plan your 2026?

For our season finale, we gathered three leaders who are knee-deep in planning, to give us the numbers and market insights needed to navigate what comes next. Like Patrick, you may consider this your 2026 Cheat Sheet.

Bringing the series full circle, this episode features Todd Wilcox, CEO of HSBC Egypt; Laila Hassan, General Partner at Algebra Ventures; and Ahmed Badreldin, Director at Arkan Palm.

They move past the generalities to tackle the specifics of resilience, breaking down the boring currency and inflation forecasts you should pencil. And in the process they reveal the unexpected, whether that’s reverse brain drain, or the fact that companies that aren’t AI-enabled become "uninvestable."

And amidst all the strategy talk, they land on a singular truth: in a world marred by volatile markets and generic AI, our main anchor is human connection — and that’s what makes a business last.

Forum Playback is an eight-part series capturing the definitive conversations we hosted as part of our annual EnterpriseAM Business Forum.

A big thank you to our sponsors: Banque Du Caire, Beltone, Banque Misr, HSBC, Mashreq, Post for Investment, Arkan Palm, Global Corp, MNT-Halan, Sodic, CI Capital, BCG, and Baker McKenzie.

For additional coverage from the forum, go to: https://enterprise.news/egypt/en/archive/list/1/16/forum-2025/0/0/25/1

The full forum agenda is available on: https://egyptforum2025.enterprise.news/

To learn how you can advertise with EnterpriseAM, get in touch with Moustafa Taalab: [email protected]

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