Leadership series: Marie-Louise Ek

Our Leadership series features in-depth interviews connecting you with exceptional industry leaders. 

In this episode, our founder Krishnan Doyle sits down with Marie-Louise Ek, Vice President of HR for Middle East & Africa at Hilton. 

Coming from a non-hospitality background, Marie-Louise shares her evolving perspective on the sector, her transition from recruitment to HR leadership, and her passion for female empowerment. 

The conversation delves into talent dynamics across Africa and the GCC, including Hilton’s retention strategies and approach to Saudiisation, as well as how the group leverages AI, prioritises workforce wellbeing during challenging economic times, and navigates modern HR leadership.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘰𝘯: 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘶𝘹𝘶𝘳𝘺, 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭-𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘈𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 (𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵-𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴), 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪 𝘈𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘈𝘌 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘚𝘶𝘣-𝘚𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘹𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.