Finance DirectorFintech · Lending

Finance Leader.
MBB Strategist.
AI Builder.

I'm Prateek Pipara. I run finance for a SAMA-licensed lender and build the AI tools my team runs on.

10+ years across EY, PwC, BCG and Tarabut · MBA, SPJIMR · Chartered Accountant

Portrait of Prateek Pipara
DFSA · CBB Approved Person

Based in Dubai, UAE

Equity raise co-led

Growth in monthly lending disbursements

Acquisitions — financial, tax and legal diligence

GCC regulators: DFSA, CBB, SAMA

01Expertise

At home in the boardroom and with investors.

Enabler of commercial and product teams.

Four disciplines. One seat.

  • Finance

    Tarabut

    The full finance function at a regulated lender and fintech.

  • MBB strategy

    BCG

    Three years on growth, M&A and transformation.

  • Taxation

    EY · PwC

    Cross-border tax, structuring and tax DD.

  • Accounting

    Chartered Accountant

    Close, and lead the audit review end to end.

02AI Lab

A finance leader who ships software.

Replacing spreadsheets with tools I build, used by real teams every day.

DealYieldStatus
Deal A13%Approved
Deal B11%Needs approval
Deal C9%Below floor
Built for a commercial teamIn use

Pricing engine & sales tracker

Puts pricing in the hands of sales, inside guardrails finance sets.

  • Sales price deals themselves, testing every variable instantly.
  • Yield guardrails: only well-priced deals get approved.
  • Exceptions go to an approver in the tool, not email.
  • Reps see their commission on each price, so incentives align.
AccountDrCr
Receivables412.0
Revenue412.0
Operating expenses96.5
Cash96.5
Balanced508.5508.5
Beyond accountingIn development

Finance OS

An ERP built around the business, not the other way round.

  • Fully customised to how the entity works.
  • Actuals and budgets together: end-to-end budgeting and reporting.
  • Treasury management built in.
  • One system instead of disconnected tools.
  • Board pack — Q3 draft
  • Reconcile lender statements
  • Debt facility term sheet review
My personal operating systemCase study

AI Chief of Staff

Runs my day like a chief of staff: daily briefings, follow-ups and nothing dropped.

  • Daily briefing of priorities, meetings and open items.
  • Follow-up tracking, so commitments never slip.
  • Capture anything in seconds, by voice note or Telegram.
  • Connected to Gmail, so emails become actions.

Secure by design.

Every tool ships on the same hardened stack.

  • Zero-trust access

    Private tools verify identity before the app even loads.

  • Edge protection

    Web firewall, bot filtering and DDoS shielding; servers accept no direct traffic.

  • Encrypted end to end

    Strict HTTPS everywhere, with automatic certificate renewal.

  • Hardened and backed up

    Key-only access, automatic intrusion blocking, security patching and daily backups.

Live demos launch here as each tool is ready, on its own subdomain of prateekpipara.com.

03Impact

Outcomes, not job descriptions.

Capital, scale, M&A and governance at a regulated lender.

Capital01

$50M

An equity raise, co-led

Worked alongside the CEO and CFO to shape the investor narrative, run due diligence and engage global investors.

Scale02

6x

A regulated lender, scaled

Run the full finance function of a SAMA-licensed SME lender through a sixfold increase in monthly disbursements.

M&A03

2

Two acquisitions, diligenced

Led financial, tax and legal DD on Vyne (UK payments) and Gulf Lifting Financial Leasing Company — now Tarabut Finance, one of the group's core revenue engines.

Strategy04

UK → KSA

The budget that moved the company

Three budget cycles with the CEO. The analysis drove the UK payments exit and the Saudi lending pivot, redirecting capital to higher-return markets.

Governance05

Sole lead

Ran finance with no CFO in place

With no CFO at the lending entity, I owned the quarterly KPMG limited review, audit committee sign-off and two board meetings myself — while managing a post-acquisition transition between the outgoing and new leadership.

In progress06

Debt

Funding the lending book

Structuring a debt facility for the loan book and building direct relationships with institutional lenders.

04Credentials

Accountable to three GCC regulators.

Approved Person with two regulators, in direct engagement with a third.

DFSA

Approved Person

Dubai Financial Services Authority

Dubai, UAE

CBB

Approved Person

Central Bank of Bahrain

Manama, Bahrain

SAMA

Direct engagement

Saudi Central Bank

Riyadh, KSA

MBA, Finance

SPJIMR · #26 globally, FT 2026

Chartered Accountant

ICAI

Global Fast Track

Cornell University

Bachelor of Commerce

H.R. College, Mumbai

05Journey

From advising on deals to owning the numbers.

Big 4 depth, BCG strategy, then full operating ownership.

Advisory→Strategy→Operating
  1. Tarabut logo2023 — PresentOperating

    Tarabut: Head of Finance

    Dubai & Saudi Arabia

    Promoted from Finance Manager within six months. Seconded to lead finance for Tarabut Finance, the group's SAMA-licensed lending subsidiary — the CEO's direct finance counterpart.

    • Own the complete finance function across four jurisdictions: accounting, close, FP&A, tax, budgeting and board reporting.
    • Co-led a $50M equity raise and am now structuring a debt facility for the lending book.
    • Built the finance and accounting team from scratch — and the AI tools it runs on.
  2. Boston Consulting Group logo2020 — 2023Strategy

    Boston Consulting Group: Senior Strategy Associate

    Mumbai

    Strategy work for C-suites and boards across financial services and industrials. Ranked in the top 25% of the cohort.

    • Assessed 35+ inorganic targets and 5+ integration opportunities to deliver 2–3x topline growth for an electronics player.
    • CX transformation for an $8B insurer, business transformation for a $15B steel company, and post-merger integration for a bank.
    • Learned to turn complex analysis into story-driven board narratives — a skill I use every quarter now.
  3. SPJIMR logo2018 — 2020Strategy

    SPJIMR: MBA, Finance

    Mumbai

    Postgraduate management programme specialising in finance, at one of India's top three business schools.

    #2 in India · #26 globally — FT Masters in Management 2026

  4. PwC logo2017 — 2018Advisory

    PwC: Associate, Tax & Regulatory Advisory

    Mumbai

    Investment structuring from tax and legal perspectives for 5+ clients, and tax due diligence on M&A transactions.

  5. EY logo2012 — 2016Advisory

    EY: Associate, Tax Advisory

    Mumbai

    Cross-border and domestic tax advisory and litigation for 10+ clients. Highest annual rating (5/5) and an EY Kudos award for record-turnaround delivery.

06Contact

Let's talk.

For roles, advisory work, speaking or a conversation about AI in finance — leave a note and I'll reply personally.

[email protected]linkedin.com/in/prateek-pipara

Dubai, UAE

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