From Cisco to Zoom
A Deep Conversation with Mohannad AlKalash on Leadership, AI, and Digital Transformation
In a new episode of the DXTalks Podcast, we hosted Mohannad AlKalash, Vice President at Zoom for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa. In this episode, we dive into his career journey, major technology shifts, and how Zoom evolved from a meeting tool into a core platform for the digital economy.
A Career Built on Curiosity and Challenge
Mohannad spent nearly a decade at Cisco, building deep expertise in telecommunications, networking, and enterprise infrastructure. While Cisco offered scale and stability, the rapid pace of innovation pushed him to look for a new challenge.
Joining Zoom was not a conventional move. It was a strategic decision to be part of a company that was challenging incumbents, moving fast, and redefining how people connect. That shift gave him the opportunity to help build Zoom’s presence across an emerging and highly diverse region.
Zoom During the Pandemic
When Connection Became Essential
During COVID 19, Zoom became a lifeline for businesses, schools, governments, and families. The platform scaled to over 200 million daily users at peak and has since grown to approximately 350 million daily users, even in a post pandemic world.
This period reshaped how organizations think about work, collaboration, and flexibility, making hybrid work a permanent reality.
Why Zoom Won the Market
Mohannad highlights several key reasons behind Zoom’s success:
- High quality video even on low bandwidth
- Efficient protocols that reduce data consumption
- Simplicity for both consumers and enterprises
- Seamless transition from a consumer app to an enterprise platform
Today, executives use Zoom from planes, remote locations, and high pressure environments without compromising experience.
AI at the Core of the Platform
Zoom’s AI Companion 3.0 represents a major shift in how AI is delivered. It is embedded directly into the Zoom subscription with no additional license.
Key capabilities include:
- Automatic meeting summaries
- Task creation and calendar integration
- Context aware understanding of conversations
- Specialized AI use cases for healthcare and education
In healthcare, AI can understand clinical terminology, generate structured reports, and create follow up tasks for care teams.
The Arabic Language and Dialect Challenge
One of the most insightful discussions focused on Arabic language complexity. With dozens of dialects across the region, building accurate AI models is a significant challenge.
Zoom addressed this through AI Studio, enabling integration of localized and specialized AI models from different countries, delivering more accurate and culturally relevant experiences.
Zoom’s Strategy in the Middle East and Africa
The region Mohannad oversees stretches from Turkey to South Africa and from North Africa to Pakistan. Zoom’s expansion strategy focuses on three pillars:
- Economic size and growth potential
- Level of digital transformation
- Population size and user adoption
Zoom has also invested heavily in compliance and data residency, securing local licenses and deploying regional data centers, including in Saudi Arabia, aligned with Vision 2030 and other national digital strategies.
Zoom as a Verb
Zoom is no longer just a product name.
It has become a verb.
“Let’s Zoom” reflects how deeply technology can integrate into daily life when it truly solves a problem.
Watch the Full Episode
Watch the full DXTalks Podcast episode with Mohannad AlKalash here:
