Rias Attar

Rias Attar is a business strategist, business operational excellence leader, program & change management professional, and keynote speaker. He serves as the president of sayAplus Business Consulting & Transformation and was a former VP of Transformation, Project Management, and Continuous Improvement at Caesars Entertainment.
Attar is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP), Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB), and Change Management Practitioner (CMP). He is best known for delivering strategic initiatives and helping his clients strategize business architecture.
Attar has over 20 years of experience as a corporate executive providing cross-functional programs while working collaboratively with diverse types of stakeholders and has worked with several Fortune 500 companies in a variety of industries in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada.
==Early life and education==
Attar acquired an MBA from the University of Texas at El Paso. 
==Career==
Attar started his career in 1998 as a project controller at ProComp Friede Goldman Halter in Houston, Texas, USA. He handled the financials, outsourcing, and logistics for a $7m Pressure Reduction and Metering Station project in the Middle East.
In 2001, Attar joined DHL in New York, USA then Toronto, Canada as an FP&A and project manager. He worked for five years at this multi-national firm and was responsible for delivering reporting, analysis, budgets, and process improvement initiatives to help build critical business plans, reduce cost, and improve business performance.
In 2006, Attar started working at General Electric Capital (Genworth Canada) as a sourcing and project manager. He worked for two years at this firm, managed a team of over 600 contractors, and built up a diverse portfolio of risk operation projects, sourcing, processes restructuring, and outsourcing. During his time there, he helped reduce monthly spending, improve performance, and minimize churn. Attar also drove consistent Lean efforts and outsourcing tactics which led to millions of dollars in cost savings and cost avoidance.
Attar became the general manager of Steel Tech in 2008, where he served for three years in the Middle East. During his tenure at this steel manufacturing and retail firm, Attar led the planning and delivery of a $30m plant and managed a $100m P&L operation, fostered a thriving company culture through the targeted hiring of 250+ employees, analyzed market and developed best entry strategy that led to accelerated gains of market share.
In 2011, Attar was appointed as the executive director of the project management team at Solidary in Canada. During his tenure of half a decade at this firm, he worked with several prolific firms with a net value of $100m to $1B including Dannon/Danone Dairy, Maple Leaf Foods Canada, DIP ‘n DIP, and others. He devised and directed strategies for a portfolio of strategic projects to reduce operational complexity, improve efficiency, and drive performance across multiple functions.
In 2016, Attar joined Caesars Entertainment Corporation in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA and served as the vice president for over four years. During his time there, he served as a member of the executive committee and led the highest priority, cross-functional business and IT enterprise transformation initiatives. He led the efforts in identifying and delivering initiatives that generated incremental EBITDA of ~$1 billion over four years.
In 2020, Attar started working at sayAplus Business Consulting as a president. He is responsible for helping the clients optimize, transform their operations and scale their businesses.
Attar also serves as a speaker for multiple organizations such as BTOES, IMH, DMA, and others. He addresses the topics of leading business change, cultural transformation, IT infrastructure & cloud strategies, robotic process & intelligent automation, and others. He has also contributed articles for the entrepreneur magazine. 
==Books==
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==Awards==
Attar is the recipient of the Best Achievement of Operational Excellence in Hospitality award. 
==Personal life==
In his free time, Attar likes to indulge in sports including Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, Swimming, and Weightlifting. He is also passionate about music and plays guitar. Attar is married and is a father of three children. He is fluent in English and Arabic.
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
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Category:Keynote Speaker
Category:University of Texas at El Paso alumni
Category:Authors