PA Consultant Fahzan Khalid makes Talent 100 list

It was not on the cards that Fahzan Khalid would become a consultant at the global company PA Consulting.

He is not a "straight A kinda guy" from a higher education institution, but comes from the business world, where he quickly rose through the ranks at Falck and became a project manager. And then there is his background as a professional Thai boxer, explains Susanne Gildberg, partner and financial services expert at PA.

Today, Fahzan is passionate about transforming banking, insurance and pensions with a focus on new customer needs, technologies, regulation and sustainability. And this is where he uses his talents to win the trust of customers.

"He is eminently strong at putting himself in the shoes of customers, colleagues and partners and, in addition, brilliantly gifted and goal-oriented with a very high maturity and ability to adapt to the needs of different situations," she says.

She also highlights his great empathy and focus on decency – something that probably comes from his upbringing in a harsh environment in a suburb of Copenhagen.

"Here it was more the rule than the exception that you didn't care about your schooling and were against authority. However, his older brother always kept an eye out and made sure he didn't waste his opportunities for a better life."

However, these characteristics also reflect the impact of a tragedy. His younger brother died suddenly at a young age of aggressive cancer.

"All of that made Fahzan decide to pull himself together and finish school and make his family proud."

As a result, despite being only 34 years old, he has a "tremendous amount of wisdom," says Stefan Knapp, associate partner at PA Consulting.

"He lives his strong values on a daily basis – you can literally feel him in the room. In this way, he helps create a workplace that I am proud of – both because of his positive impact on everyone around him and because we can attract, retain and develop a person of his calibre."