Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 2026 — PwC Middle East has appointed Maria Lalousis as its Chief People Officer, entrusting her with leading the firm’s people strategy across 12 countries and supporting a workforce of more than 10,500 professionals. The appointment marks a significant leadership transition as Maria brings over 24 years of experience spanning capital projects, infrastructure, organizational transformation, and executive leadership.
Having built her career delivering complex infrastructure and transformation programmes, Maria now takes on the responsibility of shaping PwC Middle East’s people agenda. In her new role, she will focus on strengthening talent development, advancing leadership capabilities, accelerating AI-enabled workforce transformation, and creating an employee experience that matches the firm’s ambitious growth agenda. Her appointment reflects PwC Middle East’s commitment to aligning its people strategy with the rapidly evolving business landscape across the region.
Maria has been with PwC for nearly 12 years, joining the firm as a Director in 2014 before being admitted as a Partner in 2016. Throughout her tenure, she has advised organizations on large-scale transformation, complex capital programmes, and strategic delivery initiatives, earning recognition for translating ambitious business objectives into successful execution. Her experience leading high-impact engagements has reinforced her belief that sustainable transformation is ultimately driven by people, culture, and organizational capability.
Before joining PwC, Maria served as a Senior Manager at KPMG Australia, where she advised on major capital projects, infrastructure programmes, and government initiatives across sectors including utilities, energy, healthcare, and housing. Earlier, she spent six years as Project Director at Brisbane City Council, leading water infrastructure programmes, strategic planning, and civil asset management. She began her professional journey as a Geotechnical Engineer at Golder, building a strong technical foundation that later evolved into executive leadership across complex organizations.
Maria further strengthened her leadership capabilities through the prestigious Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School, equipping her with advanced expertise in executive leadership, organizational transformation, and strategic management.
About PwC Middle East
PwC Middle East is part of the global PwC network, helping organizations build trust and reinvent their businesses to create sustainable value. Operating across 12 countries with more than 12,000 professionals in 30 offices, the firm delivers services across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals, and consulting.
Combining deep regional expertise with the capabilities of PwC’s global network of more than 370,000 professionals across 149 countries, PwC Middle East supports organizations in navigating complexity, accelerating transformation, embracing emerging technologies, and achieving long-term business success.
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