Post by Knauf Middle East, Africa & South Asia

META People Leadership Summit | Iphofen, Germany We have just concluded our META People Leadership Summit in Iphofen, Germany — the global home of Knauf. This year’s summit was especially significant, led by Hani Ismael, META Chief People Officer, as he steps into his expanded role as EMEA Chief People Officer. A meaningful milestone for our People function, marked in a place that reflects the heritage, culture and ambition of our business. Bringing our People leadership team to Iphofen was a deliberate choice. It created space not only for strategic alignment, but for deeper connection to the business, its people and the values that underpin Knauf’s success. Over the course of the summit, several moments stood out. Our exchange with Knauf’s Global HR Team, led by the inspiring Rikke Nickie Mortensen, and her team David Sandberg Larsen and Christoph Schulte-Cloos set a strong tone from the outset. The conversation was open, insightful and grounded in a shared commitment to strengthening people practices across markets and functions. We also had the opportunity to meet Jochen Janßen, DACH Regional CPO a key partner within our new business area to tie the realities, priorities and opportunities on the ground. A particular highlight was recognising our newly appointed EMEA People Centres of Excellence — Sneha Babusathiam, Alexander Alt and Markus Bankl. It was a proud moment to celebrate colleagues who will play an important role in shaping our people agenda across the region. Our session with the Corporate R&D Team offered a valuable reminder that innovation is not confined to products and technology; it also has a powerful role to play in how we think about onboarding, development and the overall employee experience. A visit to the Knauf plant provided an equally important perspective. Seeing the business up close brought greater context to our discussions and reinforced the importance of grounding People strategy in operational reality. We also benefited from a focused conversation with our Global Head of Corporate Strategy & Business Development Julian Schaefer, which helped sharpen our understanding of the business direction and the implications for our People priorities across the region. We closed the summit with a meeting with Jan Ellringmann, EMEA Business Area President, whose leadership, clarity and support for the People agenda left the team energised and aligned on the road ahead. Leadership gatherings like this matter. They strengthen trust, create alignment and ensure we continue to shape a People agenda that is both strategically connected and operationally relevant. My thanks to everyone across Knauf who contributed to such a thoughtful and well-hosted summit. Hani Ismael Sneha Babusathiam Ayah Youssef, MSc, CMI Busra Oral Noha El-Ashry Yasemin Güçlü Therese Magdy Rose Mero Rym Ben Rhaiem