What does financial freedom actually look like — and how do you get there?

In this episode of The Mal Show, Youssef sits down with Sherine Kabesh, founder of Flash, Egypt's leading financial wellness platform and Ex - Uber. Shireen brings rare honesty to the conversation — from the social challenges of being a woman in fintech, to how she walked away from a Dubai salary to build a startup, to her take on investing, data privacy, credit culture, and what it really means to be financially free.

If you've ever spent money to impress people, avoided saving because of what others might think, or wondered how to start building real financial wellness — this episode is for you.

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CHAPTERS:
0:00 Introduction
1:06 Women in Fintech: The Real Challenges
4:23 Where Do Women in Finance Disappear To?
5:34 From Finance to Marketing — Numbers Are Everywhere
6:53 What Is Financial Wellness?
10:45 How Shireen De-Risked Before Starting Flash
13:23 Breaking Free From Social Pressure
14:10 Confidence Comes From Within
15:52 What Is Financial Freedom?
18:37 Ethics & Investing — Is the S&P 500 Halal?
22:00 How Flash Uses Your Financial Data
25:04 The Culture of Credit
29:54 Why You Should Trust QR Code Payments
32:26 Digitization Is Like Electricity
34:35 Uber, Safety & Moral Responsibility
36:46 One Step Towards Financial Freedom

To get in touch with us:
podcast@mal.ai

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To get in touch with Sherine Kabesh
https://eg.linkedin.com/in/sherine-kabesh-9b385860

#TheMALShow #financialfreedom #Startup #Fintech #IslamicFinance #UAE #entrepreneurship #business

In this episode of The MAL Show, we sit down with Dr. Vishnu Katara — GM of SMEs at MAL, investor, operator, and former finance leader at companies like Flipkart, Noon, and Ola — to explore how AI, ethical finance, and SME banking could completely reshape the future of business.

We discuss why traditional banks continue to fail SMEs, why 90% of the economy is powered by small businesses while only a tiny percentage gets funded, and how AI-native banking could change underwriting, collections, payroll, and business operations forever.

Dr. Vishnu also explains how companies like Flipkart, Noon, and Ola competed against Western giants like Amazon and Uber — and won through local understanding, speed, and entrepreneurial culture.

The conversation also dives into:

The transformation of the UAE into a global business hub
Ethical and Sharia-compliant finance
AI agents replacing entire business functions
What founders actually need to raise capital
Angel investing and startup evaluation
Why learning and curiosity matter more than ever in the AI era
The mindset shift from employee to entrepreneur

This is a deep conversation about the future of finance, startups, technology, and building meaningful businesses in the Middle East and beyond.

Don’t forget to subscribe for more conversations on business, finance, technology, and culture.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:56 From Heavy Industry to Startups
5:05 Being Entrepreneurial Inside a Corporate
6:19 The Non-Unicorn to Unicorn Secret
8:06 Competing With Western Giants
11:22 Why the Middle East?
13:26 UAE as a Global Business Hub
15:38 From CFO to Running a Business Segment
17:23 The SME Funding Gap
18:26 Why Banks Fail SMEs
20:08 MAL's AI-Native Banking Vision
26:17 AI Agents Working for Your Business
29:44 Competing With Traditional Banks
36:48 Sharia Compliance & Ethical Finance
44:23 MAL's Hiring & AI-Driven Recruitment
49:51 The Obsession With Learning
53:49 Angel Investing: How to Start
1:06:36 Finance Career Advice: From CFO to CEO
1:17:42 Advice for Founders Raising Capital

To get in touch with us:
podcast@mal.ai

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To get in touch with Dr. Vishnu Katara
https://ae.linkedin.com/in/vishnukatara

#TheMALShow #AI #SMEs #Startup #Fintech #IslamicFinance #UAE #Entrepreneurship #Business #ArtificialIntelligence #MiddleEast #MAL

In this episode of The MAL Show, we explore the world of private credit, SME financing, and alternative investments in the Middle East.

Why are startups and SMEs still massively underserved by traditional banks in MENA? Why does the region allocate only around 2% of financing to SMEs compared to nearly 28% globally? And why are private credit and alternative financing becoming one of the biggest emerging opportunities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia?

Our guest is Omar Alyawer, Partner and Chief Capital Formation Officer at Ruya Partners, with more than 25 years of experience across global firms including J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Franklin Templeton, and Man Group.

We discuss:
• The SME funding gap in the Gulf
• Why banks avoid startups and SMEs
• Private credit vs venture capital vs growth debt
• How returns of 15–18% are generated
• Direct lending vs sponsor-led deals
• The impact of mega projects on capital demand
• Sovereign wealth funds and institutional capital
• Why private credit is booming globally
• The future of alternative finance in MENA

This is a conversation about where money is really moving — and how the financial system is changing in the Gulf.

Subscribe to The MAL Show for more conversations on money, business, technology, and the human side of finance.

To get in touch with us:
podcast@mal.ai

Follow us on Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/themal.show/
https://www.tiktok.com/@themalshow.podcast
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566478614883

To get in touch with Yousef Salem
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To get in touch with Omar Al Yawer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/omaralyawer13/

#themalshow #islamicfinance #ai #podcast #fintech #shariafinance