Microsoft’s Mirna Arif On Career Growth, Perspective, And “Getting There”
"The learnings from the path are way, way, more valuable than those from you just getting what you want.”
At the 2025 edition of the Women Empowerment Convention (WE Convention) in Dubai, Inc. Arabia asked accomplished female leaders speaking at the event to reflect on the experiences that shaped their careers—and what they know now that they didn’t then.
Just a cursory look at Mirna Arif’s LinkedIn profile is enough to chart the career-defining wins and senior mandates that have paved her path to her current role as General Manager –Middle East and Africa Growth Markets at global tech giant Microsoft.
But when Arif takes a moment to reflect on the pace of the journey she’s had, she wishes she had taken more time to appreciate it as it unfolded. “I’d have told myself to slow down,” Arif tells Inc. Arabia. “Seriously, just slow down, take it easy, and enjoy the journey. Because the learnings from the path are way, way, more valuable than those from you just getting what you want.”
Here, Arif admits that for a long stretch, urgency defined her mindset, as she pushed professional advancement forward at the same pace as the milestones unfolding in her personal life. And that intensity explains why, if Arif were able to revisit that period, the reassurance she would offer the woman she was then would be a simple one: “You’ll get there”—a message that women setting out on their careers today might also keep in mind.
This article first appeared in the Dec 2025-Jan 2026 issue of Inc. Arabia. To read the full issue online, click here.
