Shaheen Majeed is the global CEO and managing director of Sabinsa. He has held diverse roles, including sales, supply chain management, manufacturing, regulatory compliance, and global marketing. His innovative global strategies have expanded the company’s reach across multiple continents. For three decades, he has shaped Sabinsa into a global leader in healthcare ingredients.
Some achievements include ensuring the company’s adherence to quality manufacturing and regulatory standards, guiding numerous clinical studies, and launching products that are category leaders. He holds 75 US & International patents and has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications, showcasing his dedication to advancing scientific research and product innovation.
Honors and recognition include Honoris Causa (D.Litt.), University of Mysore, in Research and Innovation, the UNPA Excellence in Leadership award, and Nutritional Outlook’s 2024 Best of Industry – Industry Leader Award.
How do you balance the need for innovation with the responsibility of ensuring products are efficacious for the target consumer?
For me, there is no tradeoff. Efficacy must be the foundation on which innovation is built. At Sabinsa, we operate on a non-negotiable principle that marketing claims must follow science, not the other way around. Every ingredient we develop is supported by rigorous research and clinical validation before it reaches the market.
Over my career, I have helped drive more than 50 human clinical trials in collaboration with leading academic institutions, many of which have been published in peer-reviewed journals. While we hold more than 500 granted patents, patents alone do not ensure consumer benefit. What matters is whether an ingredient delivers measurable, meaningful outcomes. That is why our standardized botanical extracts are backed by evidence demonstrating both safety and efficacy.
Innovation without accountability is simply clever marketing. True innovation advances health outcomes. Whether we are developing new platforms or acquiring companies, the standard remains the same. If we cannot validate it scientifically, we do not bring it to market. This approach has fueled our growth while preserving trust, which ultimately is the most valuable asset in this industry.
What emerging technology will have the biggest impact on the global health and wellness industry in the next three to five years?
The integration of digital systems with advanced analytical technologies will have the most significant impact. These tools will fundamentally improve how we verify ingredient integrity, ensure quality, and personalize nutrition. At Sabinsa, digital transformation and supply chain agility are no longer optional. They are strategic imperatives.
The convergence of sophisticated testing methods, blockchain-enabled transparency, and data analytics will help address the industry’s greatest vulnerability, which is trust. As I discussed at the 2025 ACIL Annual Meeting, enhanced laboratory partnerships and testing protocols can dramatically improve our ability to verify ingredient authenticity and detect adulteration in real-time across global supply chains.
Equally important is the rise of personalized nutrition. We are moving beyond one-size-fits-all supplementation toward targeted interventions informed by biomarkers and individual health data. This requires computational power to analyze responses and optimize formulations. Companies that successfully integrate traditional botanical wisdom with modern analytical science will define the next phase of our industry.
Where does the health and wellness industry need to collaborate more to elevate its future and raise consumer trust?
The most critical collaboration gap is between industry and academia. Having worked closely with both, I see how siloed these worlds remain. We need academic programs that focus on solving real-world health challenges while maintaining scientific rigor. Industry must invite collaboration, and academia must embrace translational research that can be responsibly delivered to consumers.
We also need greater collaboration around quality and testing standards. Too often, best practices are treated as competitive advantages rather than shared responsibilities. Transparency in quality systems benefits the entire industry and protects consumers from the actions of bad actors. Platforms like our “Sabinsa Knowledge Day” foster scientific literacy across the industry because an educated market benefits everyone committed to excellence.
Regulatory collaboration is another priority. As companies expand globally, fragmented standards create inefficiencies and confusion. Industry leaders must work collectively with regulators to harmonize expectations while maintaining high safety and efficacy benchmarks. Sustainability should follow the same model. Responsible sourcing and environmental stewardship should be baseline expectations, not differentiators. Our Kunigal facility’s recognition for environmental sustainability in 2024 demonstrates what’s possible. There would be great benefit in an industry-wide commitment to ethical sourcing and manufacturing practices.
What gives you confidence that the health and wellness industry is positioned to weather the next wave of change?
My confidence comes from seeing how resilience is built into our industry’s DNA, but only for those who’ve earned it through principled action. I assumed leadership of Sabinsa after my father’s passing in 2024, during a period of profound organizational and emotional transition. What became clear is that organizations built on rigorous science and transparent relationships do not merely survive disruption. They emerge stronger.
Our global team of 1,800 families spans multiple continents and disciplines, creating resilience through diversification, vertical integration, and deep intellectual property. This distributed strength allows us to adapt quickly while remaining anchored to our values. I also see a generational shift across the industry, with emerging leaders recognizing that shortcuts erode trust and that regulatory scrutiny will continue to increase.
The future belongs to companies that view compliance as an opportunity, invest in validation, and commit to sustainability and quality. Trust is built one ingredient at a time, and those who prioritize science today will define the industry’s credibility tomorrow.