Intelligence, Access,
Execution.

H.E. Mohammed Rashid Al Kaabi serves as Chairman at Blackwatch Group. He is a senior Emirati security official whose career reflects a sustained, high-level commitment to national security and government service. Over decades in government, he has held positions of trust at the center of the UAE's security architecture, contributing directly to initiatives that safeguard national interests, strengthen institutional coordination, and support the country's broader strategic objectives.

Given the sensitive nature of his government responsibilities, detailed public information regarding his professional record remains limited by design. What can be said is that his presence at Blackwatch reflects the seriousness with which the firm approaches matters of governance, security, and institutional access. As Chairman, H.E. Al Kaabi provides strategic oversight and a depth of judgment that comes only from decades spent operating at the highest levels of national security, lending Blackwatch a degree of credibility and discretion that cannot be acquired any other way.

Abdulrahman Ahmed Al Rayyan serves as Chief Executive Officer at Blackwatch Group. He is a Qatari businessman, investor, and strategic adviser with more than fifteen years of experience spanning government relations, strategic investments, international business development, industrial enterprises, infrastructure, hospitality, commodities, and cross-border commercial engagements, trusted simultaneously by senior government officials, family offices, institutional investors, and multinational corporations across the Gulf and internationally.

His instincts were forged inside one of Qatar's most diversified family business ecosystems, including Bandary International Group, Bandary Engineering, Al Rayyan Industries, Al Rayyan Ready Mix, Al Rayyan Aqua Tanks, AGR Group, Bandary Hospitality, Bandary Food & Beverage, and Metro Pools, spanning industrial manufacturing, construction and infrastructure, water and utility solutions, hospitality and tourism, food and beverage, and strategic investment. Few executives arrive with that range of direct operating exposure.

At Blackwatch, Abdulrahman leads the firm's strategic direction across government relations, market access, investment facilitation, and corporate diplomacy. He is also Chairman of Al Rayyan Capital Holdings and Chief Executive Officer of Al Rayyan Jewelry & Art, and his network spans Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Europe, Asia, and Africa, the kind of reach that turns introductions into outcomes. As Abdulrahman puts it: "Long-term success is built upon trust, relationships, integrity, and the ability to connect people, capital, and opportunity across borders."

Giancarlo "GC" Ceci serves as Managing Partner at Blackwatch Group, where he sets the firm's global strategic direction and oversees execution across its advisory practices. He built his career at the intersection of institutional discipline and entrepreneurial execution: early on at Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest and most rigorous institutional investment firm, and later in healthcare private equity in South Florida, where he led due diligence, deal evaluation, and transaction execution across a series of complex acquisitions.

That combination of macro-level institutional judgment and hands-on transaction experience is what GC brings to every Blackwatch engagement: the ability to assess risk and opportunity with the same precision as a global allocator, and to execute with the speed and accountability of a principal. He concurrently serves as Managing Partner at Palm Beach Equity Advisors, giving him an active, cross-border view into institutional capital and deal flow that directly informs Blackwatch's advisory work.

Born and raised in Connecticut, GC now resides in Dubai, where he has built an extensive network across the region's investment, government, and advisory communities, positioning Blackwatch at the center of where international capital meets Gulf opportunity. Outside of work, he is an avid cyclist, runner, and golfer.

George Birnbaum serves as Managing Partner at Blackwatch Group. He came of age during the Reagan era and took his first paid campaign position in 1992 on Ohio Congressman Bob McEwen's hard-fought re-election race, followed by congressional campaigns across North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia. In the 1996 cycle he served as deputy political director and deputy director of survey research at the National Republican Senatorial Committee under Chairman Alfonse D'Amato; while the national ticket went down to defeat, his work across two dozen key races helped Republicans break the historical pattern with a net two-seat gain, preserving their hold on the U.S. Senate. He went on to manage Charlie Crist's 1998 challenge to incumbent Senator Bob Graham in Florida, a race that fell short against one of the few politicians in American history never to lose statewide, yet is widely credited with setting up Crist's later victories as Education Commissioner, Attorney General, and Governor.

After 1996 his career turned international when he agreed to consult for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, eventually serving a year and a half as Netanyahu's chief of staff. He has since consulted and managed campaigns throughout Europe and the Middle East, and is credited with helping elect Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer of Austria, Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev of Bulgaria, Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu of Romania, Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi of Kosovo, and President Boris Tadić of Serbia. In 2008 he helped elect Nir Barkat as Mayor of Jerusalem, and in 2009 he helped Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu become the third-largest party in Israel, a position of strength that carried Lieberman to the post of Foreign Minister in Netanyahu's cabinet.

Between 2003 and 2011 he worked closely with Edi Rama of Albania through three successful campaigns for Mayor of Tirana; Rama went on to become Prime Minister of Albania, a position he still holds today. In 2010 Birnbaum helped elect Prime Minister Petr Nečas in the Czech Republic when his free-market ODS party was on the verge of losing, and the same year helped the center-right Fidesz party win a sixty-percent majority in the Hungarian parliament, a record-setting achievement for any party in any country since the founding of the European Union. In 2014 he helped re-elect Prime Minister Viktor Orbán with a two-thirds majority, the first time in European history a prime minister had been re-elected by such a margin. That record of winning at the highest levels, across languages, systems, and political cultures, is what George brings to Blackwatch's clients.

Vlada Galan serves as Partner at Blackwatch Group. She is a globally recognized geopolitical strategist specializing in national security, elections, crisis response, Track II diplomacy, international lobbying, and sanctions strategy, advising Heads of State, senior government officials, and political leaders on complex geopolitical, security, and strategic challenges across five continents.

She has led strategic advisory initiatives in more than a dozen countries, including Ukraine, Israel, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, often in the world's most demanding political environments. Her work bridges intelligence, government relations, sovereign risk, and defense-related strategic interests, the same disciplines on which Blackwatch's mandates depend. She serves as President and Chairman of the Board of the International Ukrainian Crisis Fund and sits on the Advisory Board of Captis Intelligence, and previously held senior positions at the Washington, D.C. public affairs firms Mercury Public Affairs and Actum.

Originally from Odesa, Ukraine, Vlada holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Georgia State University and a master's degree in International Relations from Harvard University. She is a frequent commentator on CNN, Fox News, and Newsmax, and in 2023 was awarded a medal by the Ukrainian government for her contributions to Ukraine.

Ibrahim Al Amari serves as Director of Security and Risk at Blackwatch Group, where he oversees how the firm protects its clients, partners, and transactions. An entrepreneur and investor with hands-on experience across project management, business development, capital management, and digital assets, he brings a practitioner's understanding of where risk actually hides: in unvetted counterparties, opaque capital flows, and fast-moving markets where scrutiny lags behind opportunity.

His approach is grounded in a background in physical security, the specifics of which remain confidential by the nature of the work, giving him first-hand experience securing sites, assets, and operations on the ground. That foundation is matched by his work in cryptocurrency and digital-asset investment, which has given him a working command of the modern threat landscape, including fraud and scam typologies, wallet and custody security, anti-money-laundering exposure, and the diligence required before capital moves. Paired with his experience evaluating projects and matching them with investors and strategic partners, it gives him a disciplined eye for counterparty vetting, source-of-funds scrutiny, and the early warning signs that separate a sound opportunity from a liability.

At Blackwatch, Ibrahim leads due diligence and risk assessment on prospective clients, partners, and transactions, supports the firm's defense and security mandates with a structured approach to exposure and compliance, and ensures every engagement proceeds on a foundation of verified relationships and controlled risk. His extensive network of local and international relationships allows him to validate parties quickly and discreetly, the kind of judgment that protects both the firm's reputation and its clients' interests.

H.E. General Hadher Khalaf Mohammed Al Muhairi serves as Strategic Partner and Senior Adviser to Blackwatch Group through a formal joint venture. He is one of the UAE's pioneering military and national-security leaders, having served for more than three decades at the highest levels of decision-making within the UAE Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior, and he was among the foundational figures involved in establishing and developing the country's Armed Forces, intelligence and security agencies, and sovereign institutions.

His service spans the formative stages of the UAE and successive eras of national leadership, including work alongside the late Founding Father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. His family's record of national service predates the establishment of the UAE itself: his father served from as early as 1928, during the era of Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan, a legacy of loyalty and service extending across generations.

Through the partnership, H.E. General Al Muhairi provides senior strategic guidance and supports direct institutional engagement with the UAE Ministry of Defence and other competent government authorities, facilitating the communication of official requirements, coordinating the appropriate stakeholders, and identifying defence, security, and strategic projects the firm is qualified to support and deliver. His involvement places the partnership within a trusted institutional framework and significantly strengthens Blackwatch's ability to respond directly, professionally, and discreetly to the requirements of the Ministry of Defence and other relevant sovereign entities.