“Amazing hurdles of learning”. That is how Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chair of the UAE Space Agency, will remember 2020. Speaking to The National for a podcast series reflecting on the past 12 months and the complexities brought about by Covid-19, Ms Al Amiri explains how she and her team were able to launch a probe to Mars at the height of the pandemic. “That is what space teaches you”, she says, “just by the nature of the risk that is in the business”.

She also gives management advice for those who have to lead a team through uncertain times: “Change is not something that comes naturally to us… but on the other hand, adaptability is something that does”, adding that we must learn to find balance between the two.

My 2020 is a seven-part series, speaking to leaders on how their lives and industries have been changed by Covid-19.