Ariel Engel began his career at Elbit Systems as a legal counselor, but aspired to enter new territories. During the last 2.5 years, Ariel and his family have been living in the UAE, where he is developing the business market as a C4I and Cyber division representative.
My story
Ariel grew up in Herzliya to older parents. His mother was a high school principal and his father an economist who made a career switch to law. “At the age of 60, my father established his own law firm. There were expectations that I would join him, but I wanted something different,” he says. During his MBA studies, he came across the opportunity to join Elbit as a legal adviser. After two years, following strategic change and the acquisition of IMI, the division was spun off but Ariel decided to stay with the C4I & Cyber division.
“From the start I knew my goal was to shift to the business side. I began as a lawyer at a law firm, moved to a startup company, then legal counselor at Elbit and now I’m fulfilling my present role,” he says. Upon the appointment of Haim Delmar as CEO of the C4I & Cyber division, Ariel saw an opportunity and asked for additional roles, more business-oriented. “Haim gave me the opportunity to take part in the division’s strategic meetings. Every few months, I’d ask him to add variety to the role.” Finally an offer that captivated him arrived – to serve as the division’s representative in the UAE. “Relocation to the USE at the peak of the Covid pandemic. Who could have ever imagined such a thing? I went home and told my wife. She agreed on the spot.”
Ariel began his new position in the UAE in January 2021, spending almost all of his first year flying back and forth to Israel, where his family had stayed. “Any relocation is tough for the family at first, but we got here at the peak of the pandemic, with the kids studying via Zoom without understanding the language,” he says. “It was even more complicated for my wife, who had to leave an excellent job and stay with the kids 100% of the time in a foreign country, coping with the difficulties of acclimating and isolation while I went to work every morning.”
In his job, Ariel plays a number of roles, in marketing, operations and financing aspects as well. “It’s a very exciting time for me,” he says with satisfaction. “I didn’t think my career would take a turn like this, but it was worth it. The skills I arrived with, together with the skills I’ve developed in the last 2.5 years, gives the added value to the job. I am grateful to Elbit for the amazing opportunity and the trust they place in me.”
