PwC Trainers: Experts in Tax, Cybersecurity & More

Our trainers reflect the strength and diversity of PwC’s global network. They build on their regional experience, industry expertise and business acumen to address the knowledge and skills gaps of our clients and create the right learning solution for maximum impact.

Ali Mehdi

Ali is the Head of Tax Training at PwC Academy and specialises in Taxation, Business Case Development, and Financial Reporting (IFRS), with over 12 years of experience designing and delivering solutions for a wide range of organisations.
Anu Liza Thomas

Anu is a senior professional finance and accounting trainer with 6+ years of experience in upskilling professionals and graduates in professional finance qualifications.

Anu has extensive experience in delivering training for Management Accounting, Performance Management, Audit and Assurance and Advanced Audit and Assurance, with an excellent track record on results. She is popular with the students for her mentor-like personality and for her exam tips and techniques.

She has trained thousands of students till date and is well-respected for her knack of giving individual attention and personalising the learning experience based on the students capabilities.
Ashutosh Yegnanarayanan

Ashutosh is a Manager at PwC Academy with significant experience within investment and corporate finance management.

Ashutosh has extensive experience designing and delivering training programmes in financial analysis, planning and management. As a strong supporter of individual financial empowerment, he has helped clients, colleagues and acquaintances understand the framework of the capital markets to make informed decisions.
Ashutosh started his career as an investment management analyst and worked in Derivatives and Fixed Income products at Goldman Sachs, later moving into the corporate financial management of SMEs in Dubai.
Dalia Qarawi

Dalia is a Tax Manager and Tax Trainer with 6+ years of experience, specialising in various direct and indirect tax regimes.

Dalia enhanced her clients’ tax performance, both in the UK and in UAE, by implementing effective improvements utilising her analytical capabilities. She specialises in indirect compliance, advisory and due diligence assignments
Dalia has experience in the UAE handling indirect tax including health checks, review of monthly and quarterly returns as well as providing upskilling for clients from different industries on indirect tax and ESR.
Failan Saleem

Failan is a senior leadership and management expert with 25+ years of experience in diverse disciplines across sectors.

Failan leads the HR, Marketing and Management qualifications at PwC Academy. He has trained 11,000+ students, professionals and C-suite level executives till date. Failan has a successful track record with a relentless focus on innovative strategy, growth, and profits for business units at various stages of growth.
Before joining PwC Academy, he pioneered the launch of CIM qualifications in UAE and has served as Director-Qualifications for CIPD courses in the Gulf.
Fareeha Hussain

Fareeha is senior trainer at PwC Academy. Her ability to influence and build trust with students and her approach to simplify difficult concepts has resulted in consistently high pass rates.

Fareeha specialises in high quality, interactive lectures on portfolio management, managerial accounting, corporate finance, derivatives and related investment topics. She is a strong content developer and has designed 3000+ vignette-format exam questions on CFA curriculum and delivered 2000+ training hours.
Fareeha is popular with the students for her ability to influence and build trust, her intensive problem-solving skills and her approach of simplifying difficult financial concepts into easy recallable steps.
Gavin Aspden

Gavin is a PwC Partner and Professional Development Head with 25+ years of experience as an upskilling and assessment specialist.

Gavin is an expert in the development of learning journeys for organisations and individuals, assessment and certification development and a finance and leadership expert. Before joining PwC Academy, he served as Director of Qualifications for ICAEW and as Director of Finance and Tax programmes for BPP Professional Education.Gavin has delivered training programmes to 30,000+ students and delegates from 3,500+ organisations across the globe.
Hassan Abdullah

Hassan is a finance trainer at PwC Academy and has an experience of over 5 years. He is an expert in Asset Management, Investment Management, Research, Audit & Assurance.

Hassan has expertise in identifying, selecting and modifying instructional resources to meet students’ needs with varying backgrounds, learning styles and special needs. He has provided continuous feedback on students’ progress through a variety of assessment tools, including tests, projects, assignments and other evaluation instruments.
Hisham Jiffry

Hisham is a senior trainer with 19+ years of experience, specialising in accounting, finance and management subjects.

Hisham is a strong advocate of the advantage of a sound and disciplined financial framework for business professionals running complex and diverse business entities from SME’s to MNC’s.

Hisham’s expertise includes ACCA and CMA programmes and other professional qualifications.
Huzefa Hydrie

Huzefa is a manager and trainer with 9+ years experience in accounting and finance. He delivers courses relating to ACCA, ASC, CIMA and CMA qualifications.

Huzefa consistently achieves exceptional pass rates due to his ability to deliver complex technical topics in an easy manner, coupled with accelerated learning methodologies and exam strategies. His ‘can-do’ attitude, his strong teamwork and collaborative skills make him an accomplished trainer.
Huzefa previously worked as a corporate trainer in Qatar alongside managing the budgetary and finance function of the organisation. He also delivers in-house professional qualifications training to public and private sector clients.
Maaz Barakat

Maaz is a finance and accounting trainer with 30+ years of industry and training experience.

Maaz has served in key positions in the professional services sector as well as the World Gold Council. He is an internationally accredited trainer specialising in professional qualifications in finance and accounting fields.

Maaz’s training career involves working with renowned universities including the American University of Beirut, American University in Dubai and many other leading training institutes in the region. He also serves as a speaker at various international conferences, workshops and seminars in the Middle East.
Malek Al-Zewairi

Malek is our Digital Training Senior Manager at PwC Academy Middle East. He has over ten years of experience in information security, digital forensics, incident response and ethical hacking. During his career, he worked in several fields of information security, including security operation, auditing, training, consultation and academia.
Areas of expertise:
Intelligence and Security Informatics
Information Security
Cybersecurity
Digital Forensics
Mobile Forensics
Penetration Testing
Ethical Hacking
RFID and NFC
Telecommunications
ISO 27001 audit and Implementation
GDPR CDPO
IoT/OT