Alaan

Last month, we hosted Youssef Salem, CFO of ADNOC Drilling, for a fireside chat with our CEO, Parthi. Since then, we have been getting many DMs asking for the full podcast, which is now live on YouTube (link in comments). Here is a snippet wherein Youssef talks about his experience of listing Swvl, MENA's first unicorn, on Nasdaq. 💯 Watch the full video to learn more about the evolution of AI in finance, its impact on business growth, Youssef’s journey of building Swvl, AIQ, and ADNOC, and his firsthand experiences of using AI across companies. We hope you find the insights as inspiring as we did. As always, a big thank you to Youssef for sharing his knowledge and experiences with us. ✨

Crunchmoms Summit, we are coming! 💫 This one is truly special as we will be attending a women-led event for the very first time alongside incredible industry leaders such as Liying Tay, Julie Nguyen, Elham Alqasim, Donna Benton, Yan Gao Narayan, and many more. Can’t wait to connect with all the inspiring women there and engage in meaningful work talk!

Anyone who has worked with petty cash knows it is not a petty problem. There are too many challenges associated with it. 😓 The finance team at SEE Engineering faced such challenges, including risks of fraud and the difficult task of tracking expenses using spreadsheets. To improve control and efficiency, they decided to switch to corporate cards. Here is how it helped them: 💳 Cash use was cut by 70%, minimising fraud risk ⏱ Real-time expense tracking for the finance team 🤔 Increased spending discipline among employees as cards record each and every expense Consequently, the finance team reduced their expense processing time by 50%. How? [Read the case study in the comments below].

Love Alaan's first brand awareness campaign! 💙 Finance teams - you don't have to ...'be that guy'! There is a simpler way :-)

If a picture says a thousand words; then a video should say much more! Here is a video summarising Alaan – what it is, how it works, and how it helps businesses save time and money. We are often asked what makes Alaan cards different from traditional cards or other corporate cards. Here is the answer – a big series of small things thoughtfully designed to help teams save more time. Whether it is automating data extraction from receipts or accounting integration, we use automation everywhere so your busy work can be reduced. See the video to know how!

"Tell me what you think about Dubai and I'll tell you what kind of person you are" In my experience, few places spark as much debate as Dubai. I’ve heard comments like "expensive and consumeristic", "lacking authenticity", "shallow", and the list goes on. But after spending time here, I wonder: how can these be the only impressions? While it does have its pros and cons, as any other city, my take on Dubai is different. To me, it embodies convenience, the kindness of its people, and stunning sunsets.  Everywhere I look, I see hardworking individuals striving to create change in their lives. It may not boast a rich historical tapestry and old monuments, but its rapid evolution becomes a testament of its own that nothing is impossible. 💭 I’d love to hear your thoughts. What’s your favorite thing about Dubai? Bonus photo: my happy face you don't see when we are chatting about Alaan expense management platform! 😊

For many finance managers, this is what a month-end looks like. 🗓 It often involves sifting through hundreds of receipts—some of which are barely legible—checking for inconsistencies, extracting key information like amounts, TRNs, and vendor names, and updating the accounting books. 😥 But it doesn’t have to be this way. With Alaan, employees simply take a photo of each receipt and upload it. Alaan handles the rest, instantly verifying the details and updating records in real-time. The result? Expense tracking and reconciliation becomes 10x easier—benefitting both employees and finance teams. 💁♀️

We just wrapped up our first-ever brand campaign at Alaan! 🎥 For the first time, we recorded video ads that: A) Didn’t star our own team (I’d like to think we’re good actors, but none of us made the cut this time) B) Weren’t shot in our office (jk, we’re a startup, so of course we used the space while everyone else enjoyed a WFH day) C) Didn’t use an iPhone and a tripod stand (felt almost weird not being the director, producer and actor all at once this time) Here’s what we did though: our small team of five came together to brainstorm, laugh, debate, and eventually create something fresh and relatable for people in finance. Going through rounds of casting to find the perfect characters, learning about art direction, and hacking our way through Temu for props and set design were just a few of the many firsts for me. While we had fun making these ads, it was extremely important to us that we truly understood the challenges finance teams face and addressed them. If we missed the mark or if there’s anything we could have done better, please write to me. I genuinely appreciate constructive feedback and would love to learn about more challenges finance professionals face daily. Here’s one of the ads—I hope it gives you a good laugh. 🤞 Pankaj Suresh Archi Mittal Manpreet Singh Prajwal Srinivas Vishnu Bala 🤝

When it comes to business spending, credit cards aren't enough. 🙅♀️ As a finance manager, you need to know beforehand where all employees can spend. But how can it be done without compromising on convenience? 🤔 By using smart corporate cards. With Alaan, businesses can issue corporate cards with built-in restrictions. For instance, restrict sales team cards to only work for taxis and specific restaurants within a monthly budget of AED 1500, while HR cards can be limited to grocery stores for office snacks. Set controls and limits as needed! Result? More control for finance teams. More convenience for employees. 🤝

So... what’s your OTP? In ❤️ with our new campaign.