Brilliance Awards Winners 2015

Awarded to Muhanna Baqer, Director of E-Payments, Information Technology Authority, Oman

Muhanna Baqer received this award for his visionary orchestration of Oman’s national digital transaction framework, establishing the critical foundation for the country’s emerging digital economy in 2014. As the Director of E-Payments at the Information Technology Authority (ITA), he managed the strategic rollout of the National Payment Gateway and the implementation of the national Donation Portal across banking, public, and private sectors. To ensure sustainable, long-term operational success, he systematically drove institutional capability by leading a team of ten key colleagues through the rigorous COB Certified E-Business Manager program during 2012-14. By combining infrastructure development with a comprehensive workforce upskilling initiative, Muhanna Baqer empowered his business development team to advise local enterprises effectively, setting a definitive regional standard for sovereign digital growth leadership.

Awarded to Anne Le Scouezec, EMEA Marketing Director and the EMEA Marketing Team, Seagate, Europe, Middle East & Africa.

In 2014, Seagate experienced consultative training blending bespoke, strategic and official content from The Certificate in Online Business series. Seagate EMEA won this award in 2015 for successfully modernising its downstream channel network and transforming third-party retail pages into highly optimized digital storefronts. The EMEA marketing team deployed an active, data-backed channel strategy using competitor analytics and high-efficiency banner advertising to funnel consumer traffic directly to partner retail sites. By standardizing digital asset distribution and optimizing online product positioning, they empowered multiple external partners across fragmented regional territories to maximize product visibility autonomously. This comprehensive commercial alignment ultimately solidified Seagate’s position as an industry leader in regional channel optimization and e-commerce excellence.

Awarded to Mathias Deleu, European CRM & E-Commerce Manager, Brady Corporation, Belgium

Further to successful completion of his COB Certified E-Business Manager certification program, Mathias successfully rolled out advanced customer experiences across Brady’s global B2B digital commerce footprint.  Mathias and the wider corporation’s efforts led to substantial online revenue gains. that scaled localized digital revenues from $18 million to $21 million. This digital optimization successfully protected online growth and profitability despite broader corporate revenue adjustments from $1.23 billion in 2014 to $1.17 billion in 2015.

Awarded to Periscope, USA

Periscope pioneered the real-time mobile interactive video wave, prior to it’s acquisition by Twitter and it’s public launch in early 2015, it’s innovative model that enabled users to broadcast live from their phones while a global audience interacted with live “hearts” and chat overlay streams, completely altered the landscape of citizen journalism, digital media networks, and social connectivity.

Awarded to Ayden, Netherlands

Dutch Fintech company Ayden, transformed global checkout experiences through seamless, single-click digital interfaces. By engineering customisable, invisible front-end UI components, Adyen allowed users on apps like Uber and Netflix to pay instantly without jarring third-party redirects.  In 2015, this smooth digital experience eliminated cart abandonment, doubled transaction volumes to $50 billion, and secured a massive $2.3 billion unicorn valuation from elite Silicon Valley investors.