Al Akel joined RCU in 2017 as head of strategic delivery and took up her current role in March 2025 after serving as acting CEO since January 2024. In April 2024, RCU signed a strategic partnership with China’s Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration on cultural collaboration and heritage preservation. It entered into a new collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in May 2025 to support joint archaeological and conservation initiatives. Al Akel previously worked at HP, SAB, and PwC.