Mahmud Jan Mohamed is a titan of the African hospitality industry and the current Chairman of Kenya Utalii College. He is best known for his transformative 25-year tenure as the Managing Director and CEO of Tourism Promotion Services (TPS) Eastern Africa, the parent company of Serena Hotels. Under his leadership, Serena Hotels expanded from a modest chain into the leading luxury hospitality brand in East Africa, with over 35 properties across Africa and Asia. He retired from the CEO role in July 2023 but was almost immediately tapped by the government to lend his private-sector discipline to the public sector. His career began in the mid-1970s as a Resident Manager at the Mombasa Serena (then Serena Beach Hotel). He rose through the ranks to become the head of the Tourism Department for the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). In late 2023, he was appointed as the non-executive Chairman of Kenya Utalii College with a mandate to restore the institution's fading glory and bridge the skills gap in the tourism workforce. He sits on several blue-chip boards, including British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya, and is a founding chairman of the Kenya Tourism Federation.