Client growth
I build senior client relationships and partnerships that keep growing well past the first brief.
Chief Client Officer · Viola Communications
Where creativity meets client ambition.
I've spent nearly twenty years where creativity, media, PR, social and technology meet. Today I help brands and agencies build the relationships that great work depends on.
Mohammed Ajawi is a Dubai-based Chief Client Officer and Cannes Lions juror, focused on AI, creativity and client growth.
Philosophy
Storytelling with data. Technology with human insight. Creativity with outcomes that matter.
About
I'm the client's voice in the room.
As Chief Client Officer at Viola Communications, I lead how we grow with our clients. I shape client strategy, evolve what we offer, and make sure innovation reaches the boardroom, not just the brief.
My job is to bring creative, media, social, technology and data together around one question: what does the client need to achieve? I work closely with C-suite clients as a trusted advisor on transformation, marketing effectiveness and integrated brand communications.
Everything I've learned since 2007, from global networks to running my own teams, comes back to the customer. I build customer-first ecosystems where storytelling and data work together. I also make time to mentor the next generation of leaders, because the best work comes from collaboration and curiosity.
BasedDubai
ExperienceNearly 20 years
LanguagesEnglish, Arabic
StudiedMarketing
Expertise
Four disciplines, one outcome.
Creative that works
I champion brave ideas and protect them, connecting creative, media and social so the work earns attention and delivers results.
CX transformation
I design omnichannel strategies that change how brands meet their customers.
AI & personalisation
I put AI to work in campaigns and personalisation, always paired with human insight.
Point of view
What I believe.
The strongest work comes from the strongest relationships.
Trust gives agencies and clients the room to be brave together.Customer experience is the brand.
People judge a brand by every moment they have with it, not just the advertising.Technology should serve the human, not replace it.
AI and data matter most when they sharpen insight and creativity.
Career
Nearly two decades, one city.
Every role I've held has been in Dubai, and each one brought me closer to the client.
- 2025Chief Client OfficerViola Communications
- 2022Director of Digital ExperienceOgilvy
- 2021Senior Vice President, DigitalBCW Global
- 2019Managing DirectorRAW & Spark ME
- 2016Director of Client ServicesPENSO
- 2012Client Services DirectorHavas Worldwide UAE
- 2011Senior Account ManagerPublicis Sapient
- 2009Account ManagerMRM//McCann
- 2007Senior Account ExecutivePublicis Graphics
Insights
What I'm thinking about.
Perspectives on client leadership, creativity and AI in the Gulf.
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November 2026Stop selling hours. Start selling outcomes.
AI makes the work faster and better, so billing by the hour now punishes good work. How agencies move from inputs to outputs to outcomes.
Read on ajawi.com → -
November 2026Arabic-first is a strategy, not a translation job
71% of young Arabs prefer media in Arabic, yet 67% find it outdated. Why that gap is the region's biggest creative opportunity.
Read on ajawi.com → -
November 2026In an AI-made world, human is the premium
AI has made content almost free to produce, and trust expensive. Why the most human work wins, from the Cannes Lions to the Gulf.
Read on ajawi.com → -
June 2026AI didn't kill creativity in the Gulf
Generative tools didn't make creative work obsolete. They exposed how much of it was already formulaic, and shifted the advantage to judgment, culture and strategy.
Read on Campaign Middle East ↗
In the press
From the archive
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February 2021How the pandemic accelerated digital
A Q&A from my time leading RAW: the pandemic didn't invent new behaviour, it fast-forwarded changes already underway.
Read on Campaign Middle East ↗ -
June 2020The rise of programmatic communication
My op-ed on how software-driven buying replaced manual negotiation, and why programmatic's full potential was still ahead.
Read on Campaign Middle East ↗ -
June 2020Launching Matic: results on a reduced budget
The launch of Matic at RAW, a data-led product built to keep marketing performance high while budgets were under pressure.
Read on Eye of Dubai ↗ -
February 2020"AI will be in the spotlight for the coming few years"
An early call on AI, data and the shift from personas to behaviour, made in a Q&A with Campaign Middle East.
Read on Campaign Middle East ↗ -
October 2019Trends in social interaction
Chatbots, AR and the end of public likes: an early look at how brands would talk with people, not at them.
Read on Campaign Middle East ↗
Recognition
Judging the work.
I'm proud to help decide what great looks like in our industry.
Social & Creator Lions jury at the International Festival of Creativity.
Awards for PR and communications across the region.
Customer Experience Professionals Association.
Contact
Let's talk.
I'm always open to conversations about growth, transformation, and how creativity and technology build lasting connections. I welcome speaking and panel invitations.