Rani Francois-Marie Saad

A passionate travel enthusiast, entrepreneur and lecturer with a career spanning across the aviation and travel industries, Rani heads Corporate Development and Abacus Ventures at Abacus International Pte Ltd. He also serves on the Boards of several Abacus International subsidiaries across Asia Pacific.

In his current role at Abacus Ventures, Rani is responsible for infusing nascent technologies into the business fabric at Abacus to ensure that the company’s current distribution model continues to innovate and grow. Abacus Ventures was set up as the corporate ventures unit and entrepreneurial arm of Abacus International which has grown to become the region’s leading travel technology provider. Rani’s credible background and rich experience help the business explore strategic partnerships, joint ventures, potential mergers and acquisitions within the travel industry to identify opportunities for funding projects that may align with Abacus’ own strategic roadmap.

Prior to Abacus, Rani was the Founding Partner at Novem Holdings and Oneairport. As a consultant he led the creation of a Joint-Venture with a Chinese Investment Fund which helped establish an executive jet company in Singapore and also enabled the launch and restructuring of four commercial airlines in Africa.

Early in his career, Rani had presided over the post-merger integration of Air France and KLM. His career thus reflects his interest in re-engineering established business models and launching new products and services.

Armed with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Economics, as well as a second Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management from Sorbonne Universités in Paris, Rani is often invited to share his wide breadth of industry experience and his opinions on Aviation and Travel Strategies at his Alma Mater and other universities around the world.