Majd Abbar

Experience

• 

  Microsoft

  Jan 1993 - May 2012

  Delivered the full global language plan for Windows, Windows Live and Internet Explorer through intensive research based on market data and BI from the Worldwide Microsoft subsidiaries.Established the international go-to-market rollout strategy for the Windows Store feature in Windows 8, as well as the content language plan for the Microsoft Developer Centers on MSDN.Delivered the new language-based localization vendor strategy for all of the WWLI product offerings including Microsoft’s flagship product, Windows 8; a strategy which was later adopted by the Office group, reducing number of partners from 60 to 5.Conducted and successfully completed multiple rigorous RFPs for the entire WWLI book of business, covering localization of software, in-box and online user assistance, marketing collateral, content and multimedia assets.Managed a team of Microsoft engineers and program managers and multiple partner teams around the world to deliver on the results. Show less Delivered and executed the full Windows 7 loc. and resource partner model which led to the unprecedented successful release of all 34 commercial languages simultaneously with the English version.Proposed and owned the unprecedented collaboration between the loc. and test teams which was critical to the successful release of Windows 7.Optimized the loc. partner outsourcing model by bringing about a 50% reduction in the number of vendors.Delivered and executed the Windows International Service Model for resource optimization, by partnering with multiple local resourcing agencies to provide Windows Intl with the required agile scalability at minimal cost and overhead.Delivered and executed the Local Language Program vendor strategy for Windows 7 covering over 60 partners for 60+ languages and managed the localization and resource vendors and outsourcing for all Windows International products. Owned the international quality of Windows 7 for all languages including real-time risk analysis and KPI tracking. Show less Designed and evaluated flexible localization options as part of the Localization Platform model (Pinta) yielding a patent and adoption by several groups including Microsoft Translator on Bing/MSNWas successful in convincing MS Japan to adopt Machine Translation to ensure up to date translation of Knowledge Base articlesConducted several pilots worldwide to evaluate the gains of Machine Translation and Centralized Data Repository and their reception by the international subsidiaries leading to their adoption by many groupsDrove alignment efforts with Office International group for the innovative technologies resulting in several prototypes and features including Captions for Language Interface Pack (CLIP)Delivered the Extent of Localization/componentization plan for Windows Vista and evangelized it to the stakeholders in the subsidiaries through prototypes, in-country presentations and conferences worldwide Show less Established the Complex Script localization team and the first Windows localization outsourcing strategy in MS headquarters at RedmondManaged product enablement for the support of complex script languages and drove the collaboration between the development, engineering, testing, subsidiary and localization teams to coordinate the release of the first complex script operating system localized by the Windows Localization teamKey contributor to the complete end-to-end Windows Localization Process and driver of the alignment of Windows/Office localization tools and languagesFounding member of the Local Language Program covering Windows, Office and the Public Sector. Created the LLP localization strategy and established the Emerging Markets localization team leading to the successful release of 45 Language Interface Packs for Windows XPCo-founder of the Language Interface Pack Kit for the localization of Windows 8 Language Interface PacksOwned and managed the Microsoft Community Glossary project, first crowdsourcing exercise in the MS Windows team, resulting in the creation of an IT glossary for several new minority languages and the refinement of existing languages. This project is now the core of the Microsoft Language PortalSuccessfully delivered, from planning to launch, the release of all major Bi-Directional (BiDi) products ahead of schedule and on budget; Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows XP, IE 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and a variety of smaller projects such as Personal Web Server, Windows Mail and Media PlayerManaged the Windows International Loc. tools team and liaison to the Core Windows Tools Development teamExtensive collaboration with the Windows Subsidiary Program Managers and Regional Marketing managers worldwide as part of a rigorous process for the approval of product and marketing collateralPackaging of both Arabic and Hebrew Windows including art creation, verification against product, QA at manufacturing in Dublin Show less

  • Senior International Project Manager - Business Management

    Jun 2009 - May 2012

  • Senior Group Manager

    Apr 2007 - May 2009

  • Senior Program Manager

    Sept 2004 - Mar 2007

  • Senior Localization Group Program Manager

    Oct 1997 - Sept 2004

  • Localization Program Manager

    Jan 1995 - Oct 1997

  • Software Test Engineer

    Jan 1993 - Jan 1995
• 

  Qatar Computing Research Institute

  May 2012 - Dec 2019

  Responsibilities as part of the institute’s leadership team include:- Annual strategy, annual business plan, scorecard, budget planning and HR related decisions.- Established and heading the government partnership initiatives across all government entities in the State of Qatar and handling of all high-profile tier 1 accounts at the Institute.- Established and strengthened QCRI’s collaborations with many global entities such as the UN, Boeing, BBC, Al Jazeera and Qatar Airways.- Oversight of daily operations and administrative staff for budget planning, procurement, communications and infrastructure.- QCRI’s official media spokesperson and member of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy for the planning of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.- Establishing the entrepreneurial foundation and the process to streamline the commercialization of QCRI research into commercial products and start-up companies.- Formulating partnerships and collaboration opportunities with local, regional and global strategic stakeholders and partners.- Creating awareness and generating demand locally, regionally and globally towards QCRI research and technology solutions’ output and owning and maintaining the IP portfolio of QCRI.- Establishing partnerships with incubators and investors to enable the development of research ideas into viable products.- Enabling and executing licensing opportunities across QCRI while maintaining and enhancing existing licensing engagements.- Drafting and pushing policies that are conducive to entrepreneurial activities. Show less Multiple initiatives to increase and enrich the digital Arabic content on the web:- Partnership with Wikimedia- Partnership with Arabic Wikipedia Community- Enriched Arabic Wikipedia with 5.5 Million words (10K articles)- Enriched Arabic Wikipedia with 100K seed articles- Full translation of the Mayo Clinic health libraryWorking at Qatar Computing Research Institute, a member of the Qatar Foundation, to own and drive the Arabic Content initiatives. Two main challenges to be addressed:- Lack of valuable Arabic content- Retrieval or relevant Arabic content when it is available** The Qatar Foundation Initiative to Enrich Arabic Digital Content ** Show less

  • Director of Commercialization and Business Development

    Jan 2014 - Dec 2019

  • Director of Arabic Content Initiatives

    May 2012 - Jan 2014
• 

  Microsoft

  Dec 2019 - now

  Technology advocate and trusted advisor, empowering our customers in MEC (Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Egypt) to realize the opportunities enabled by the Microsoft Cloud and solutions and modelling Microsoft’s technology vision and culture of growth and learning.- Delivered on successful launch of the Microsoft Cloud Region, Qatar Central, through the full orchestration amongst all stakeholders.- Joint execution with CELA and GA resulting in direct influence on the Cloud Policies in the region.- Secured the Certification of MS Online Services and datacenters on Qatar National Information Assurance (NIA) Policy from the National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) and the compliance attestation of MS Online Services and datacenters on the Qatar Cloud Security Policy, which were critical to EC and PS adoption of the Cloud.- Played a pivotal role and led the effort in securing and ensuring uninterrupted connectivity during the World Cup event through first of its kind implementation of Satellite connectivity with Azure orbital.- Led the Qatar National Transformation Plan (NTP) team to a successful implementation across the key pillars of Cybersecurity, Alliances, Sustainability and Skilling for employability. Show less

  • Regional Director of Customer Success - Support and Customer Success Account Management

    Apr 2023 - now

  • National Technology Officer - Middle East Cluster

    Dec 2019 - Jul 2023