About
The Innovation Institute of Business
TIIB is a business institute in Dubai Knowledge Park, set up by founders who were tired of hiring graduates who had never done the work.
It is an approved Pearson centre, which is what lets it deliver and assess BTEC Higher National Diplomas.
- Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai
- 32 programmes
- Approved Pearson centre
What we are approved to award
Pearson awards the Higher National Diplomas, not TIIB. Being an approved centre means Pearson has assessed how we teach, how we mark and how we verify grades, and it samples student work to check. The Level 3 diploma is awarded by Gatehouse Awards in the UK on the same basis.
That separation is the point. Your certificate carries the awarding body’s name, which is why it is recognised in 70+ countries rather than only here.
The TIIB Exclusive and one-year programmes are different. They carry a TIIB certificate, and no awarding body sits behind them. Worth knowing before you pick one, rather than after.
Who awards what
The name on the certificate, by programme.
- 13 HND specialisms
- Pearson
- Level 3 business diploma
- Gatehouse Awards
- 16 TIIB Exclusive programmes
- TIIB certificate
- 2 one-year programmes
- TIIB certificate
Why it was built to reverse the order
The curriculum is built backwards.
Employers say what they hire for, and the programme is built to produce that. The usual order is the other way round: design the syllabus, then explain it to employers afterwards.
The internship is a requirement.
Every student on a two-year diploma does one, four months after they join, and it is paid. It is not an optional extra that the organised students find and the rest miss.
The mentors currently run companies.
They set the briefs, sit on the pitch panels, and say so when an idea does not work. A student hears that in year one rather than in a first job.
What we are trying to do
We want graduates who can run something and are worth hiring, and we would rather teach the people other institutions screen out. That means work answerable to somebody outside the classroom, and a place on the programme for anyone who can do it.
Mission
- Work backwards from industry to education, so a programme is built around what the market actually hires for.
- Make internships and live projects a requirement rather than an option.
- Build centres of excellence in innovation, research and cross-border collaboration.
- Put students in front of mentors who are running companies now.
- Run social impact work that changes something measurable.
Values
- Industry-first learning. Designed with employers, for employers.
- A global outlook. Partnerships and programmes that open doors across borders.
- Entrepreneurship over consumption. Students make things rather than only study them.
- Work tied to a real outcome. Every project answers to something outside the classroom.
- Standards that hold. Academic and ethical, including when a deadline is close.
300+ leaders behind the direction
The advisory board sets the direction and reaches well past the UAE: economists, educators, scientists and founders. Eleven of them are named here.
Dr Prashant K Mishra
Chief Operating Officer, Global College Malta
Jeremiah O'Brain
Global Thought Leadership Expert
Venture capital strategist
Mariam Kvlividze
Impact Entrepreneur
Dr K. R. Suresh Nair
Scientist
Innovator and entrepreneur
Fiona Garfagnini
Founder, FG Consulting and Be Next Agency
Simon Ballard
Global Economist
First Abu Dhabi Bank
Gemma Quinnell
International Educator and Lifestyle Coach
Anul Mundra
Founder and CEO
Xpatzhub
Louise Evans
Founder of The 5 Chairs
Rohith Verma
XR and AI Expert, CEO
Shona O'Callaghan
Founder, Empowering Creative Minds
35+ founders in the room
The mentor network runs businesses in the region: food, retail, automotive, logistics, media, gold. The company beside each name is the point, because without it this is a grid of strangers.
Shamsudheen Nellara
Managing Director
Nellara Foods
Fahiyas Pangatt
Group CEO
The Deep Seafood Company
PM Haris
Chairman and Managing Director
Bismi Group
Ayub Kallada
Chairman and Managing Director
Wyse Ventures
Sidheeq TV
Managing Director
Forum Group
Fazil Rahman
Executive Director
Classic Bullion and Jewellery
Mohammed Mubeer
Founder and CEO
Sonas Group and CKM
Abdul Latheef
Founder and Managing Director
CARWOX and Al Zarouni Automobiles
Usman VK
Managing Director
Jas Advertising
Noushad Aboobacker
Managing Director
Apotec Pharmacies
Pooja Ravinath
Founder and CEO
Green Aura and Nourify
Muhammed Madani
Founder and Managing Director
ABC Group
Steve Moore
Co-Founder
Xcite
Resh Noranho
Co-Founder
Symbiotix Education, UK
The team you will deal with
Leadership, then the academic team, then the people who answer the phone. These are the names on the emails you will get.
Nezrin Midhlaj
Director and CEO
Dr Rashi Singh
Academic Head
Ezzah Naeem
Country Representative, Pakistan
Zabih Ullah
Lead, International Student Recruitment
Aminath Mashooda
HR and Admin Executive
Adarsh Pariyaram Raj
Trainer and Assessor, Business
Noha Hasan Saoud
Trainer and Assessor, ECL
Ashfana Asker
Programme Associate
Angel Sebastian
Brand Relations Executive
Where we are going
This is intent, not a record. It is published because a family choosing a young institute is entitled to know what it is trying to become.
- 1
Year 1
Laying the foundation
The first year builds the campus and the network around it at the same time. Internships start from day one rather than in a final term, the first student ventures go into incubation with seed money behind them, and partnerships with universities in the UAE, the UK and Europe are put in writing.
- 2
Year 2
Building the platform
The second year is about reach. More Emirati and UAE-resident students on the roll, more paid placements across the partner network, additional awarding-body approvals alongside Pearson, and a presence in Ghana, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia.
- 3
Year 3
Expanding the ecosystem
The third year opens what the institute learns to other people. Social innovation labs on campus, transfers into partner universities in the UK and the UAE, programmes that run across the wider MENA region, and a funding platform that puts student founders in front of the companies in the network.
- 4
Year 4
Scaling and recognition
By the fourth year the evidence should be the argument: ventures that raised real money out of the TIIB network, and a position in industry-integrated education that does not need explaining.
Where we are
The campus sits in Dubai Knowledge Park, which is the education cluster on the Al Sufouh side of the city. It has its own tram stop, so getting here without a car is straightforward.
A question people ask
Is TIIB accredited?
The question worth asking is who awards the qualification, and the answer is Pearson: a UK awarding body that approves the centre, sets the standard and samples student work to check it is being held. Gatehouse Awards, also in the UK, stands behind the Level 3 diploma. Neither is TIIB, which is exactly why a certificate earned here is recognised outside the UAE.
Now look at what we teach
The catalogue says what each programme leads to, what it costs and who it suits. If two of them look close, admissions will tell you what separates them.
An admissions counsellor replies within one working day.