Swedish born Johan Persson is the Chief Operations Officer at Careem, one of the fastest growing startups in the Middle East and the leading app-based car booking serving in the region covering 41 cities from Morocco to Pakistan.

Founded in Dubai in 2012, Careem is an app-based car service currently operating in 41 cities from Morocco to Pakistan. As a home-grown pioneer of MENA’s technology sector, Careem’s mission is to simplify people’s lives through reliable and affordable urban transport. In the last three years, the company has witnessed strong growth month on month of over 30% across its core markets of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Having delivered millions of successful rides with tens of thousands of ‘Captains’ (drivers).

Prior to Careem Johan worked at Al Ghurair Foods (AGF) as Supply Chain Manager and Continuous Improvement Manager. During his three year tenure he transformed the best business practices at AGF by implementing Lean Management Techniques, encouraging people development, building the organisation to learn and grow which lead to faster growth and exemplary business results.

Through out his career which includes leadership positions such as Improvement Manager, Site Manager and Lean Champion at Pilkington in Sweden his experience has exposed him to continuously contribute to the development of the industry. He earned his Master in Chemical Engineering (Polymer science) from University of Lund, Sweden in 2006; certified trained Black Belt Six Sigma professional from Lund, Sweden in 2006 and trained by direct ‘Toyota Lean Enterprise’ practitioners in London in 2012.

Johan has a constant push and energy for excellence and his experience push him to constantly contribute to the the development of the industry. Those benefitting from Johan’s fresh perspectives and initiatives will find him a visionary thinker and a team building champion who delivers technologically unparalleled outside-the-box solutions