Karim Hyatt
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Karim is a seasoned business and technology specialist with 20 years of executive experience growing and developing businesses using a systematic approach—quickly and positively impacting the bottom-line. Focused and insightful with acute business acumen in a broad array of functions, Karim's worked cross-culturally and operated in complex environments while helping businesses reach objectives by finding solutions.
Project Highlights
Expertise
Work Experience
Executive-level Due Diligence Expert
Intuitus
- Oversaw, audited, and ran pre-and post-deal due-diligence engagements on behalf of Intuitus for various private equity clients in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland.
- Compiled a detailed report on business strategy, tech strategy, roadmap, development operations, and financial plans/financial health; also presented the results to potential investors.
- Advised on post-acquisition risks, challenges, and opportunities.
- Helped a number of companies improve their technology product operation prior to exiting.
- Delivered value to private equity clients, potential investors, and targets on how to leverage their tech operations and derive value post-deal.
COO | CTO
Cogneum Ltd
- Delivered version 1 on time and 20% under budget.
- Established strategic partnerships with major technology firms to help fund initial development.
- Oversaw the development and deployment of product and ran company operations.
- Developed SaaS (Azure, AWS, and private cloud) platform supporting the process of creating corporate sustainability reports using different frameworks such as GRI and UN Global Compact (sustainable development goals).
- Developed a consultancy with a focus to help organizations achieve faster growth by aligning areas of function to work more efficiently.
Executive VP
ESW Capital
- Improved business operational engagement across 120 software products operationally active in over 40 countries worldwide.
- Produced a business transformation plan which spanned the whole organization with prospective cost savings of up to 40% in some areas.
- Delivered a massive business transformation program in six months across a vast array of operational levels for an organization spread across multiple geographies.
Management Consultant
Energinet
- Consulted a facilitating company to formulate and develop a product strategy.
- Conducted a product and capability investigation and strategy review of multivendor initiatives.
- Developed and implemented the overall vendor management strategy.
- Performed a cost analysis for cross border Scandinavian R&D programs achieving a modest 10% saving across four countries.
- Investigated and analyzed company projects which allowed Energinet to meet government targets within the set budget.
- Developed strategies to strengthen partnerships with third parties to track cost-effectiveness and productivity.
Managing Director
Smiths Detection (Smiths Group Plc)
- Revamped a high tech manufacturing site in Paris with a £100 million turnover.
- Renegotiated contracts with the main clients and accelerated payment terms to improve cash flow by 70%, reduced financial risk by 80% and like-for-like stock levels by £20 million.
- Led a major R&D restructuring by introducing new agile processes across the component information system.
- Developed new engineering and software solutions by leveraging existing component design elements and information databases,.
- Made changes so that the major outsourcing program achieved four releases a year instead of one and implemented continuous development processes across the department.
- Delivered improved quality, decreased costs, reduced design cycle times, and increased flexibility which produced a 20% increase in current gross margins and projected gains of 10% for 2014.
- Made changes that made it possible for the company to post the first operating profit in four years and first net profit in six years, delivering a £10 million turnaround in contribution and the basis for further growth in 2015-16.
- Took the business from loss making (-10%) to profit making (+15%) in two years.
Group COO
Innovo Network
- Created four new disruptive tech subsidiaries across several verticals (telephony, L&D, and tech consulting).
- Outsourced major operational areas to multiple vendors.
- Worked with emerging healthcare technology companies to provide commercial capability and developed new business travel product.
- Delivered first revenues and first investment into the group securing five blue chip clients.
- Enabled a multimillion-pound (£) deal at the board level between Pearson and Hitachi consulting.
- Turned the company from a startup with no revenues into a successful business with outside investment and a stable recurring revenue stream.
Project History
Sustainability Reporting Platform (Cloud)
Delivered a new SaaS (Azure) product under budget launching two months earlier than agreed.
It is a secure-and-scalable platform to boost efficiency and accuracy in reporting and information management and ensure organizations can actively manage reputational and financial risk. It saves time and drives transparency and accountability within organizations and between organizations and their stakeholders.
Asset Management Trading System
Led the team which released the very first asset management (fund) trading system for Schroders (2000).
We built the system in C++. It first imported a consolidated trade file in the client's format and then processed it into an early form of AI. Next, it created an automated map template for future imports, completed all the trades, and finally returned the file in the client's preferred format.
The cost of development was $500,000 over six months. In the first six weeks of operation, it produced $25 million in new revenue, and the cost of trades went from $5 to $0.30.
X-ray Cargo Scanner Business Turnaround
https://www.smithsdetection.com/product-finder/cargo-vehicle-inspection/Transformed a company making high-tech x-ray machines operating in 75 countries from loss-making (-10%) to profitable (+20%).
The product development process was broken and needed reorganizing from the product management team through to engineering and R&D and software development.
We implemented an agile process that involved the whole product organization and dramatically improved quality.
The project management group was reviewed to consider challenging geographies and we built a cost model for all the sub-contractors so that margins were protected.
Financial reporting was reviewed to give an understanding of where the largest financial risks were for every project. The sales department was also restructured to make it proactive and have it able to move into new markets.
We also implemented a digital marketing strategy with a close view on return on investment (RoI) which improved visibility and sales in the private sector.
Gaming Practice Creation and Development
Created a new gaming practice for Sierra Atlantic which delivered over $10 million in revenue in less than two years.
This business was acquired by Hitachi Consulting in 2010.
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Computer Studies
University of East London - London, UK
Certifications
Fellow of the Institute of Directors (FIoD)
Institute of Directors
Fellow of the British Computer Society
British Computer Society
Chartered Engineer (CEng)
Engineering Council
Chartered IT Professional (CITP)
British Computer Society