The Guest – Omar Halabieh, Director of Software Development at Amazon
Omar Halabieh is a global technology executive with over 20 years of experience in tech leadership. As Director of Software Development at Amazon, he leads the Technology function for payments across the Middle East and Africa. Throughout his career, Omar has delivered award-winning transformational initiatives that have created competitive advantage, enabled business growth, and exceeded customer expectations.
In this episode of the Story of Software podcast, he shares a compelling journey through two decades of tech leadership – from early days in the energy sector to scaling Amazon Payments Services in the Middle East. With a focus on personal and professional growth, Omar unpacks his servant leadership style, the value of mentorship, and how to adapt leadership strategies across cultures and team dynamics. He also explores the necessity of continuous learning—highlighting communication and generative AI as current development priorities—and the importance of redefining success to include well-being, intentional reflection, and sustainable impact as a leader.
Some highlights of this episode include:
- Leadership style and evolution
- The importance of mentorship
- Situational leadership and wearing “multiple hats”
- Personal development through reflection
- What success means as a leader
- GenAI and leadership relevance
Q: How does a leader effectively adapt their leadership style across diverse teams and cultural contexts without losing authenticity?
“Certainly, I think leadership style evolves – whether you directly notice it or not – because every experience you have shapes your approach in some way. Over time, it can even become difficult to pinpoint exactly which experience influenced a particular aspect of how you lead.
The way I would describe it is, especially when operating in a diverse environment, it’s not necessarily that your core leadership style changes. Rather, it’s how you deliver that style; the ‘last mile’ of leadership that adapts to the situation and context. For example, if I’m leading a team in a different geography, I don’t suddenly become a different leader. I still lead the same way at my core. But maybe the words I choose or the way I run meetings shift slightly to better resonate with the team I’m working with.
That said, I truly believe you must remain your authentic self. Anything less means you’re not doing justice to yourself or your team and they can quickly sense that. Authenticity is fundamental to building trust.
So, to me, what matters most is that no matter who I’m talking to -regardless of geography, function, seniority, or background – they feel like they’re interacting with the same person. That consistency is what builds credibility and connection. You don’t want people to feel like you’re changing who you are based on the room you’re in.”
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