Ahmed Kamha Appointed Director of Sales & Marketing at The Chedi Al Bait, Sharjah

The luxury resort The Chedi Al Bait, nestled in the heart of Sharjah, is thrilled to announce the appointment of Ahmed Kamha as its new Director of Sales & Marketing. With nearly two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, particularly in the UAE and the wider GCC region, Kamha is poised to bring a wealth of expertise to the role. His appointment is expected to play a key role in enhancing the resort’s commercial strategy and solidifying its standing as Sharjah’s premier cultural retreat.

Extensive Expertise in Luxury Hospitality

Ahmed Kamha’s professional journey in the luxury hospitality sector spans nearly 20 years, during which he has held senior roles with some of the most respected global hotel brands. His experience encompasses working with renowned names such as Marriott Hotels, Jumeirah Hotels, Oberoi Hotels, and Hilton Hotels, where he played an instrumental role in driving revenue growth and enhancing brand positioning across various markets.

In his new role at The Chedi Al Bait, Kamha is expected to utilize his strategic sales expertise to elevate the resort’s visibility and presence within Sharjah’s competitive luxury hospitality market. His focus will be on implementing key commercial initiatives that will enhance the guest experience while reinforcing The Chedi Al Bait’s reputation as a luxury destination blending culture and modernity.

A Unique and Cultural Heritage Destination

The Chedi Al Bait, part of the prestigious portfolio of Chedi Hospitality, stands as a striking example of heritage preservation combined with luxury hospitality. Located in the Heart of Sharjah, which is known for its ambitious historical preservation project, the resort is a sanctuary that offers a seamless blend of traditional Emirati craftsmanship and modern design.

The resort itself is housed within a collection of 65 meticulously restored heritage homes, each reflecting a unique chapter of Sharjah’s rich history. These seven heritage houses offer guests an immersive experience into the cultural fabric of the emirate, while ensuring that modern luxury and comfort are never compromised.

This dedication to preserving the past while embracing contemporary hospitality makes The Chedi Al Bait not only a luxurious destination but also a place of historical significance. Kamha’s appointment will help ensure that the resort continues to deliver a world-class experience that celebrates Sharjah’s heritage while meeting the expectations of today’s luxury travelers.

The Role of Sales & Marketing in Elevating the Resort

As Director of Sales & Marketing, Kamha’s primary responsibility will be to oversee the resort’s commercial strategy. His role will involve leading key initiatives aimed at elevating the property’s brand positioning and increasing its visibility within Sharjah and the broader UAE market. He will also focus on fostering strategic relationships with clients and partners, while creating targeted campaigns that resonate with the resort’s luxury clientele.

The goal of Kamha’s leadership in this role is to reinforce The Chedi Al Bait’s identity as a cultural retreat, ensuring that it stands out as one of Sharjah’s most exceptional and highly regarded destinations. His deep knowledge of the hospitality sector and his proven ability to drive sales will be critical in achieving these objectives.

Contributions to the Hospitality Sector

Throughout his career, Ahmed Kamha has made significant contributions to the hospitality industry, particularly in the realm of sales and marketing. His ability to adapt to changing market dynamics and develop innovative strategies has earned him a reputation as a leader in the field. Kamha’s experience in luxury hospitality and his strategic approach to market development will be key assets as The Chedi Al Bait seeks to expand its influence within the competitive UAE hospitality market.

Kamha’s expertise will also be instrumental in maintaining and enhancing the resort’s brand presence, ensuring that The Chedi Al Bait remains a preferred destination for guests seeking a blend of history, culture, and modern luxury.

A Cultural Sanctuary in the Heart of Sharjah

The Chedi Al Bait is a true embodiment of Sharjah’s cultural heritage. As the emirate’s most ambitious historical preservation project, it provides an exceptional setting for both local and international guests to immerse themselves in the rich traditions of the UAE while enjoying modern luxuries. The resort’s unique concept, which combines heritage homes with contemporary hotel amenities, provides guests with a truly authentic experience of Emirati culture.

Each of the seven heritage houses within the resort reflects a different chapter of Sharjah’s history, making The Chedi Al Bait an ideal place for those seeking to experience the emirate’s past while enjoying the comforts of a luxury resort. Under Kamha’s leadership, The Chedi Al Bait is poised to further elevate its position as a top-tier cultural and luxury destination.

Chedi Hospitality’s Dedication to Excellence

Chedi Hospitality, known for its legacy of excellence, continues to manage The Chedi Al Bait with an unwavering commitment to providing guests with an unparalleled experience. This commitment to timeless elegance and cultural richness is at the heart of the resort’s identity.

Through the guidance of Chedi Hospitality and Kamha’s strategic leadership, The Chedi Al Bait will continue to preserve the heritage of Sharjah while offering guests an extraordinary experience that blends contemporary comfort with cultural authenticity.

Other Key Appointments at Chedi Hospitality

The announcement of Kamha’s appointment follows a series of notable leadership changes within Chedi Hospitality. Mahmoud Sakr was appointed General Manager at The Chedi Muscat, and Karim Bizid was named Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company. Additionally, Stephan Schupbach assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), further strengthening the leadership team within the organization.

These appointments reflect Chedi Hospitality’s commitment to enhancing its leadership and ensuring that its properties continue to offer exceptional service and experiences for its guests.

Conclusion

The appointment of Ahmed Kamha as Director of Sales & Marketing at The Chedi Al Bait represents an exciting development for both the resort and Chedi Hospitality. With his extensive experience in the luxury hospitality sector, Kamha is set to drive key initiatives that will elevate the resort’s visibility and brand positioning. His leadership will play a crucial role in ensuring that The Chedi Al Bait continues to stand as one of Sharjah’s most distinguished cultural retreats, offering guests a blend of heritage, luxury, and modern sophistication.

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Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2025 with our curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The Crunchbase Megadeals Board.

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

This was another active week for large startup financings. AI data center developer Crusoe Energy Systems led with $1.38 billion in fresh financing, and several other megarounds were AI-focused startups. Other standouts hailed from a diverse array of sectors, including battery recycling, biotech and even fire suppression.

1. Crusoe Energy Systems, $1.38B, AI data centers: Crusoe Energy Systems, a developer of AI data centers and infrastructure, raised $1.38 billion in a financing led by Valor Equity Partners and Mubadala Capital. The deal sets a $10 billion+ valuation for the Denver-based company.

2. Avride, $375M, autonomous vehicles: Avride, a developer of technology to power autonomous vehicles and delivery robots, announced that it secured commitments of up to $375 million backed by Uber and Nebius Group. The 8-year-old, Austin, Texas-based company said it plans to launch its first robotaxi service on Uber’s platform in Dallas this year.

3. Redwood Materials, $350M, battery recycling: Battery recycling company Redwood Materials closed a $350 million Series E round led by Eclipse Ventures with participation from new investors including Nvidia’s NVentures. Founded in 2017, the Carson City, Nevada-based company has raised over $2 billion in known equity funding to date.

4. Uniphore, $260M, agentic AI: Uniphore, developer of an AI platform for businesses to deploy agentic AI, closed on $260 million in a Series F round that included backing from Nvidia, AMD, Snowflake Ventures and Databricks Ventures. The round sets a $2.5 billion valuation for the Palo Alto, California-based company.

5. Sesame, $250M, voice AI and smart glasses: San Francisco-based Sesame, a developer of conversational AI technology and smart glasses, picked up $250 million in a Series B round led by Sequoia Capital. The startup is headed by former Oculus CEO and co-founder Brendan Iribe.

6. OpenEvidence, $200M, AI for medicine: OpenEvidence, developer of an AI tool for medical professionals that has been nicknamed the “ChatGPT for doctors” reportedly raised $200 million in a GV-led round at a $6 billion valuation. Three months earlier, OpenEvidence pulled in $210 million at a $3.5 billion valuation.

7. Electra Therapeutics, $183M, biotech: Electra Therapeutics, a developer of therapies against novel targets for diseases in immunology and cancer, secured $183 million in a Series C round. Nextech Invest and EQT Life Sciences led the financing for the South San Francisco, California-based company.

8. LangChain, $125M, AI agents: LangChain, developer of a platform for engineering AI agents, picked up $125 million in fresh funding at a $1.25 billion valuation. IVP led the financing for the 3-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

9. ShopMy, $70M, brand marketing: New York-based ShopMy, a platform that connects brands and influencers, landed $70 million in a funding round led by Avenir. The financing sets a $1.5 billion valuation for the 5-year-old company.

10. Seneca, $60M, fire suppression: Seneca, a startup developing a fire suppression system that includes autonomous drones that help spot and put out fires, launched publicly with $60 million in initial funding. Caffeinated Capital and Convective Capital led the financing for the San Francisco-based company.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Oct. 18-24. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

By Shafqat Islam

As startup and larger company CMOs debate AI’s value and utility in marketing, it’s marketing itself that is in need of disruption — or, at least, a rebrand — in the AI era.

Marketing is too often oversold. We talk about it as a mystical force that transforms brands, moves markets and rescues struggling businesses. But in our eagerness to champion its potential, we’ve created a credibility crisis. By overpromising and, sometimes, underdelivering, marketers aren’t just disappointing investors, clients, boards and CEOs — we’re eroding trust in our own discipline.

It’s time to reset expectations: Marketing in the AI era is powerful, but — like AI itself — only when we’re honest about what it can’t do.

The overpromise problem

Marketers love big ideas, including the belief that a viral campaign or clever tagline can single-handedly save a business.

The reality is far less glamorous. When these overhyped initiatives inevitably fail to deliver the promised results (because no marketing can compensate for a flawed product, poor market fit or operational failures[SI1]), marketing gets blamed for shortcomings that were never within its control. This creates a vicious cycle where executives grow increasingly skeptical, viewing marketing as more art than science, more cost than investment.

What makes this situation worse is how we respond. Instead of confronting these unrealistic expectations, we double down on proving our worth through increasingly complex attribution models and vanity metrics that only other marketers care about. We track click-through rates, engagement scores and brand lift studies while the rest of the business cares about one thing: Are we driving sales and pipeline? If we can’t answer that question clearly, we’re failing at our most fundamental job.

The real limits of marketing

This isn’t to diminish marketing’s importance. When aligned with strong products and operations, it’s incredibly powerful. But its power comes from working in concert with the rest of the business to drive something bigger, not from some mythical ability to transcend business realities.

Marketing can amplify strengths and expose weaknesses, but it cannot create substance where none exists. No amount of clever branding can fix a fundamentally broken product. No social media strategy can compensate for terrible customer service. No viral campaign can save a business with flawed unit economics. Marketing acts as a magnifying glass — it makes good things better and bad things worse.

Another limit for marketing is that, to the untrained eye, marketing isn’t the most technical business function. No matter where anyone sits in the organization, you can bet they have an opinion on marketing. Everyone is an expert in marketing, no matter how much they actually know about it.

In short, marketing gets mislabeled and misunderstood all the time. Too often, it’s presented as the solution to every business problem, which only reinforces the understanding that marketing is fluff rather than a core driver of disciplined, scalable growth.

The uncomfortable truth about the path forward

The path to marketing’s credibility begins with a simple but tough idea: We need to stop talking and start listening to the numbers, to our colleagues and to the market itself. When our marketing works, we won’t need to shout about it. I’m a firm believer in “no marketing our marketing;” it should speak for itself, with results reflecting a growing pipeline, increasing revenue and organic advocacy from customers.

And when something isn’t working, we should be the first to raise our hand and say so, not the last. The most respected marketers I know aren’t the ones who always claim success; they’re the ones who can clearly articulate why something failed and what they learned from it. Marketing should be a laboratory where we test hypotheses, not a stage where we perform predetermined successes. The key is ensuring that every experiment, whether it succeeds or fails, teaches us something valuable about our customers, our messaging or our channels.

This honesty transforms perceptions across the organization. When we swiftly sunset failing campaigns, prioritize business outcomes over vanity metrics, and deliver unfiltered customer feedback, we shift from being seen as a cost center to becoming true strategic partners and business drivers.

By focusing less on proving our worth and more on driving results, we actually become more valuable. And by treating marketing as a discipline of continuous learning rather than perfect execution, we make it far more likely that we’ll eventually find those breakthrough ideas that truly move the business forward.

When we can look our peers in the eye and say, “Here’s what worked, here’s what didn’t, and here’s what we’re doing next,” we’re no longer just marketers — we’re business leaders who happen to specialize in growth.

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Shafqat Islam is the president at Optimizely. A lifelong builder of marketing technology, he co-founded and served as CEO of Welcome (formerly NewsCred), a global leader in enterprise content marketing, from 2007 to 2021. Under his leadership, Welcome pioneered the content marketing platform category, now known as Optimizely CMP. Following Optimizely’s acquisition of Welcome in 2021, Islam served as general manager and CMO before being elevated to president in 2024.

Illustration: Dom Guzman