Ramez Youssef is the Founder & CEO of Society of Play and Tayarah World. A former architect and comedian, he previously led transformation across Philips Lighting’s Africa markets, where he built a train-the-trainer program that developed internal capability across the region — early proof of something he’s spent the last five years chasing: that how people learn together matters more than what you hand them.

That question eventually narrowed to a deceptively simple one: what happens when adults are given permission to play?

What began as informal game nights in his living room evolved into Society of Play, and later Well Played — a corporate play program built on the belief that play is not simply a break from work, but a tool for connection, communication, trust and culture.

With employee engagement in the MENA region standing at just 14%, Ramez’s work challenges how organizations traditionally approach engagement and team culture. Through Well Played, Society of Play has worked with 10 companies over the past two years, using intentionally designed games to create environments where hierarchy softens, people connect beyond their job titles, and teams are given something increasingly rare at work: permission to play.

His work sits at the intersection of play, human behavior and workplace culture, exploring how something as simple as a game can reveal — and reshape — the way people show up together.