DUBAI, UAE // Muhammad Ali (Mali for short) is on a quest to pop up first when you google his name— he’s about 72,346,787 hits away.
His creative philosophy is simple: Real, great work works real great.

Ranked as the #1 ECD in the region and Top 30 in the world, Mali’s 17 years in advertising have seen him make Kevin Hart the world’s first-ever Chief Island Officer for Yas Island, create three of the region’s most viral summer hits (featuring the Bee Gees, Vanilla Ice and Firkat Miami), inspire a multi-million-dollar Netflix show for Porsche, give birth to Subway’s first-ever sandwich nation, send the UAE flag to space for Hilal Bank, turn Lebanon’s bullet-ridden walls into musical notes for 7-Up, give traumatized toys a web series that broke YouTube viewership records for Yas Theme Parks, and create Carlsberg’s most successful ad ever – and it originated from KSA.

In his time at LEO UAE, Mali has been fortunate enough to lead teams that have created ground-breaking work for McDonald’s, Heinz, Puma, NBA, ENBD, e&, Home Centre, Omantel, Pepsi and Six Flags.

Mali’s work has been recognized across multiple award shows, including Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD, Dubai Lynx, MENA Effies, Loeries, Young Lions, Young Lynx, IAA, MENA Cristal, MEPRA, MENA Digital, MMA and others. He has also been selected as a Jury member at Cannes Lions, IAA, New York Festivals & Young Lions.