Driving Procurement Excellence at Dubai World Trade Centre: Zyad Khan on Governance, Innovation and Event-Ready Supply Chains.
As Associate Director -Procurement, Contracts & ESG at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), Zyad Khan plays a central role in enabling one of the world’s most high-profile events and venue organisations to operate with speed, integrity, and strategic foresight. With a career shaped across aviation, government, retail, private office operations, and more than a decade at DWTC, his leadership brings together deep governance, ethical procurement, complex category management, and an acute understanding of the operational pressures unique to the global events and MICE sector.
Khan today oversees procurement for major exhibitions, venue expansions, and internationally recognised mega-events, including Expo 2020 and COP28. Under his leadership, DWTC has strengthened its ethical and responsible sourcing framework through CIPS Ethical Procurement certification, embedded sustainability into contracting, and advanced digital transformation across the procurement function.
His approach reflects DWTC’s broader ambition to elevate procurement from a transactional function to a strategic enabler of resilience, innovation, and ESG-aligned value creation. Through supplier development, localisation initiatives, digitalised governance, and a strong focus on stakeholder trust, Khan continues to shape a procurement organisation built for speed, transparency, and long-term impact across one of the region’s most dynamic event ecosystems.
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Career Journey: You’ve risen through Procurement & Contracts into leadership at DWTC. Can you walk us through your path, what drew you into this role, and which experiences have shaped the way you lead procurement at a high-profile events & venue organisation?
My career journey has been defined by resilience and reinvention. What began as a shift from professional cricket due to injury accidentally led me into procurement where my curiosity for how things work behind the scenes found a fresh purpose. Early roles in retail and aviation at Emirates expanded my exposure to global supply networks, risk management through contracts and compliance-heavy considerations. At the Private Office of the Ruler, I had to maintain a fine balance between procurement success and sensitivity, speed and trust.
Over the last decade at DWTC, leading procurement for mega-events like Expo 2020 and COP28 has reinforced procurement as a strategic enabler of resilience and innovation and not just a support function (especially when category ring-fencing is a challenge due to content/spend diversity). My leadership style has been shaped by adaptability, foresight and a strong belief in mentorship and stakeholder trust. Stakeholders/relationships create the bridge that complements your competence and experience to deliver high impact outcomes.
Ethical Procurement & Contracts Certifications: DWTC’s procurement & contracts team was certified by CIPS for Ethical Procurement, with all members holding the CIPS Ethics Certificate and Kitemark. How has that certification influenced supplier selection, contract negotiations, and operational practices?
Achieving the CIPS Ethical Procurement certification with the Kitemark elevated how we approach procurement at DWTC. It gave us a common ethical framework and CIPS-backed credibility. Our supplier selection prioritises transparency and integrity, filtering out risks tied to unethical practices (extending into maximum supply chain tiers/visibility). In negotiations, the certificate strengthens our stance on responsible business conduct, making clear that compliance, fairness and accountability are non-negotiables backed by a grievance committee to reassure vendors on process integrity. Operationally, it fosters a culture where the team actively challenges shortcuts, insists on supplier due diligence and promotes responsible sourcing. This is a great foundation which will enable us to continue building strategic partnerships as we work to new ESG mandates. .
This certification is not just a badge; it’s a mindset shift that underpins every decision we make ensuring procurement remains a driver of trust, accountability and sustainable partnerships. Hopefully in coming years, ESG will be embedded into the CIPS excellence program .
Sustainability in Events & Venue Operations: With DWTC’s strong sustainability pillars and Green Globe / LEED certifications (especially for the Dubai Exhibition Centre), how is your procurement strategy adapting to source more sustainable materials, local suppliers, and reduce carbon/waste? What challenges do you face balancing cost, scale, and sustainability in event supply chains?
Sustainability is central to DWTC’s strategy reflected in Green Globe, GBAC Star and LEED certifications at our designated venues across Dubai.
Procurement plays a pivotal role to work alongside specifications that embed circular economy principles to reduce waste. We actively partner with suppliers who share these values, aligning sourcing practices with the UAE’s sustainability agenda. The challenge is balancing sustainability with cost and scalability especially given the fast-paced, short span and high-volume (foot fall) nature of events. For example, single-use plastics reduction requires supplier innovation while maintaining affordability and it took some time for bottled water companies to make Recyclable-Pet (rPet) as an affordable alternate to single use PET bottles. The path isn’t without trade-offs and requires patience, however, economies of scale (to counter cost risk) shall prevail when ESG mandates will gradually transform cultures, mindsets and operating models. Embedding sustainability KPIs into contracts ensures suppliers co-own this journey which is a key review/negotiation element to identify your long-term partners (Remember, there is a customer at the other end where their choices have evolved and they do look out for green/responsible options).
Procurement is evolving from cost control to impact creation by delivering experiences that are not only spectacular, but responsible too.
Procurement & Digital Transformation: DWTC recently overhauled its digital infrastructure . How is digitisation reshaping your procurement/contracting process, contract tracking, supplier performance, automation, etc.?
Digitisation has reshaped procurement at DWTC by embedding agility, visibility and accountability into every process. With IoT-driven building energy systems and a headless CMS powering our digital infrastructure, Procurement now integrates seamlessly into the wider organisational transformation. In the coming few months, we plan to introduce automation in contract lifecycle management (including template standardisation/AI drafting abilities) improving accuracy, timelines and compliance monitoring (diligence applied off Policy manual). Digitisation isn’t replacing procurement judgment, instead it is enhancing decision-making with actionable data. Ultimately, technology has helped procurement shift from reactive to proactive, making us more resilient and responsive in supporting DWTC’s global event portfolio which carries sourcing/availability challenges (in high season) against tight timelines and an expectation of “close to perfect” commercial decisions.
Transaction/approval and delivery tracking has also become data-driven, moving beyond anecdotal feedback to real-time dashboards and eased out workflows. This allows us to anticipate risks, measure performance and hold suppliers accountable with clarity, which in turn helps to shape the right governance frameworks under formal contracts.
Supplier Relationships & Localisation: Given DWTC’s scale, especially with mega-events like GITEX, how do you build trust and capability in local suppliers and integrate them into high-performance contracts typically dominated by global vendors?
DWTC’s scale demands a balance of suppliers with global expertise and local capability, especially when it comes to time challenges. There’s a need for building stronger local/supply networks to accelerate the economy, strengthen the UAE’s supplier ecosystem and reduce over-reliance on international players.
For mega-events like GITEX, the key is to treat local vendors not as backup but as strategic partners, aligning them with global standards while retaining their agility. It’s about localisation with ambition to develop capacity that can eventually compete globally, hence one area of our recent focus/inputs has been data-backed projections/committed spend threshold (Local produce farming/yields – Farm to Fork). This enables local vendors to plan and improve their respective supply chain deliverables, which eventually builds into the cost/quality performance of the eventual show.
A transparent support system for SMEs/local vendors is mapped through transparent contracting, capability-building workshops, including open briefs on what is expected from supply chain partners (including ESG-related aspects). Local suppliers are often agile and collaborative but may lack the scale/ and innovation of global vendors, which is why integrating them into structured frameworks, phased contracts and performance benchmarks helps them to mature and succeed.
Risk Management & Operational Resilience in MICE: Events are often unpredictable.What procurement & contract clauses or practices do you insist on to ensure reliability, safety, contingency planning, and quality in large-scale events and construction/venue buildouts?
Events do carry inherent unpredictability, to manage these, we embed robust contractual safeguards that include contingency planning, penalty-linked SLAs, safety compliance mandates and mandatory insurance. We insist on supplier readiness through redundancy plans, emergency logistics and multi-vendor sourcing where critical.
Contracts now extend beyond cost and delivery timelines to include resilience metrics such as crisis response, health & safety protocols and ESG compliance. At DWTC, procurement’s role in resilience is clear: anticipate disruptions, build flexibility into agreements and ensure suppliers are not just delivering a service but are also taking co-ownership for safety, quality and continuity at scale ).
The most satisfying aspect of the above is that no two days are the same in our industry. The procurement domain keeps challenging you and monotony doesn’t creep in.
Contract Innovation & Governance: Can you share examples of how DWTC has innovated in its contract terms (e.g. sustainability KPIs, value-based criteria, ethical clauses, local content, green supply chain requirements) to align with UAE government policy and DWTC’s strategic goals?
Contracts at DWTC have evolved into tools for transformation and execution and not just compliance. We embed performance and sustainability KPIs covering waste reduction, carbon footprint and local sourcing targets (indirect inclusion of SME’s) into agreements ensuring accountability and a visible metric to persist with a culture of continuous improvement. Ethical clauses/Vendor Code of Conduct/Grievance Committee mandate anti-bribery, staff welfare standards and transparency aligned with the UAE’s broader guidelines and policy mandates. Value-based evaluation criteria reward innovation not just against the lowest cost but with long-term benefit (clean/green future) over short-term savings.
We also integrate local content requirements to stimulate the UAE economy, while clauses on green supply chain practices accelerate alignment with global ESG trends. Governance frameworks ensure these terms are monitored, enforced and responsibly reported by making contracts strategic levers for resilience, sustainability and competitive differentiation.
We will vet contracts further with the introduction of independent supply chain rating agencies (from due diligence/surveys to findings for client). This will create visibility and access to reporting elements that are instrumental for stakeholders to identify areas of focus/enforced measures and remain aligned towards the relevant frameworks.
Forecasting, Demand Planning & Cost Discipline: During high-velocity periods (e.g. ahead of major events like GITEX), how does your team forecast demand, manage inventory of services/materials, and ensure cost discipline without compromising speed or quality?
In high-velocity cycles such as the one in the lead up to GITEX, procurement must balance agility with commercial discipline which is why the SRM element is so crucial in events industry.
DWTC’s history of delivering events and exhibitions has a great track record of holding events and completing build-up as per calendar timelines. We are expected to achieve this through predictive forecasting using historical event data, supplier insights and digital demand planning tools but these have all been greatly complemented by the category teams and their strategic partnerships with key vendors.
This combination allows us to scale at speed while protecting budgets and maintaining quality with a transparent framework of order/deliveries/ratification and post-event reconciliation to address any significant spikes.
Procurement becomes a conductor orchestrating multiple moving parts into a seamless yet cost-effective delivery medium, which as a core competence is the most valued element in the events industry and amongst wider stakeholders. Even if we “fail to prepare” at times due to last-minute urgencies, the team is always ahead of the curve to manage and mitigate associated risks and are able to execute plans without compromising standards and timelines.
Advice for Procurement Leaders in the Events / Venues / MICE Sector: For those looking to lead procurement in large-scale event / venue operations, what skills, mindset, and exposure do you believe are essential, especially in areas like sustainability, ethics, digital capabilities, and supplier development?
Leading procurement in the events sector demands a unique blend of skills which are not very difficult to adopt. Agility is key as events operate on compressed timelines where adaptability outweighs rigid processes. Building trusted supplier relationships and mentoring teams for resilience is equally critical.
Exposure to a diverse supply base helps broaden perspective as procurement in events touches every domain from temporary build to catering and tech activations. My own personal growth has had a lot to do with the fact that I have never said no or been too busy to meet or network with any supplier .
It’s also important to focus on purpose, not just process or knowledge. View procurement as a value creator, and not as a cost centre, as we have demonstrated cross-selling revenues (adverts/sponsorships/visibility-based airtime/barters, etc) in the past which has transformed our identity as a strategic powerhouse.
The leaders who thrive will be those who combine strategic foresight with empathy, collaboration and the courage to innovate under pressure. Commitment to excellence and knowing there is indefinite value on offer (not just a transaction to close) is something to be mindful of everyday to keep abreast of the momentum and the unique learnings at the end of every event cycle.
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