Dubai headquartered marketing technology group FAST has appointed Hashim Mahmood as Head of People and Culture. The company announced the appointment on 15 July as it continues to expand its workforce alongside a growing network of AI agents.
Hashim Mahmood joins FAST from TikTok and ByteDance, where he served as Regional HR Director for the Middle East, Turkey, Africa and Pakistan, as well as Central and South Asia. According to FAST, his experience includes building people functions and organisational capability across high growth and emerging markets.
Hashim Mahmood to lead FAST’s people strategy
At FAST, Hashim Mahmood will oversee the group’s people agenda across its ecosystem of companies. His responsibilities cover culture, leadership, talent and the management of both employees and AI agents working across the business.
The company said its workforce now includes more than 200 employees and more than 180 AI agents. FAST stated that the AI agents handle work that previously slowed growth, allowing teams to focus on higher value activities. As a result, the company said it is hiring more people than at any other point in its history.
According to FAST, Mahmood will also oversee how human teams and AI agents are structured, managed and measured together. The company said this operating model introduces new people management questions earlier than many organisations adopting AI.
Leadership focuses on integrating people and AI
Waseem Afzal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FAST, said the company’s growth strategy depends on combining AI enabled teams with continued recruitment.
“We are hiring more AI equipped people now than at any point in our history, and the agents are the reason why,” Afzal said. “They take on the work that was holding the business back, which frees our teams to do the work that grows it.”
Afzal added that managing a workforce that includes both people and AI agents requires new approaches. He said Mahmood’s experience at ByteDance made him well suited for the role.
Mahmood said FAST presented an opportunity to address practical workforce questions that many organisations are only beginning to explore.
“FAST has 180 plus agents across the business and is hiring more people than ever, which tells you the two work together,” Mahmood said.
He added that organisations now need to consider how careers, team structures and performance evolve as software takes on more routine work.
FAST expands its marketing technology ecosystem
FAST describes itself as a Dubai headquartered marketing first technology group serving brands across the Middle East and North Africa.
The group’s businesses include Platformance, PULSR, PerformR, Radius, LION, MATTE MENA and Calibrate Commerce. According to the company, these businesses cover performance marketing, affiliate marketing, creator economy services, retail media, AI enabled creative, AI automation and early stage growth services.
Mahmood’s appointment aligns with FAST’s focus on developing its people strategy as it expands both its human workforce and its AI capabilities.
