10 On The Weekend is a weekly (-ish) feature in IMI, the concept of which is simple: Each time, we ask the same ten questions of a different IMI Pro, letting readers get to know the interviewee on a more personal and informal level than they might during the ordinary course of business.
Our guest this week is Khatia Gelbakhiani, Chief Growth Officer at Nomad Capitalist.
How do you spend your weekends?
I wish I could say I have a routine, but that wouldn’t be true, especially this year. I spent most of my weekends in airports waiting for flights or exploring new cities, whether in Southeast Asia or Latin America.
Wherever I am, I try not to work and instead set myself up for a successful week ahead. If I’m home, I’ll unwind with a show or two before the Monday rush. My goal is always to recharge while still feeding the curiosity that drives Nomad Capitalist’s global mission.
What are your top three business goals this year?
Enhancing our client experience: Making every Nomad Capitalist engagement smoother and more personalized through smarter systems and communication.
Being a Nomad Capitalist client has never been just about lowering taxes or getting another passport – it’s about joining a community of like-minded people. I want to offer more opportunities and gatherings where clients feel cared for, listened to, and connected.
Scaling strategic partnerships: I took this on myself late this year and plan to build on it further next year. This industry is very niche but also truly global, so finding meaningful connections helps us expand collaborations that complement our holistic offshore services and sometimes even help partners solve complex client cases.
Continuing to perfect our product: This is our goal every year and will remain that way. Even though we already cover nearly all citizenship and residency programs, alongside global tax optimization strategies, I want us to keep finding, or even creating, unique, tailored solutions for our clients.
What’s your biggest business concern right now?
Finding the right balance between innovation and precision. At this stage, it’s less about growing faster and more about growing smarter, making sure every new idea, partnership, or market truly fits who we are.
We’re constantly evolving, but I always want that evolution to feel intentional and true to the standards that built our reputation.
Which book is on your nightstand right now?
From time to time, I go back to The Culture Map by Erin Meyer. When I first joined Nomad Capitalist, I was leading People Operations and scaling the team from 50 to over 100 people around the world, so I needed to understand cultural differences and how they shape communication and decision-making.
Even though my role is now much broader than HR, I still enjoy Meyer’s witty style and sharp observations, which help me navigate our multinational team.
How and when did you first get into the investment migration industry?
I studied international relations, so I always knew I wanted to work in something global and transnational. I was actually afraid of having a job that would lock me in one country.
I was approached on LinkedIn by Nomad Capitalist for an HR role. I led the HR department for over two years, and during that time, listening to my colleagues every day as they helped clients design global strategies got me deeply interested in this industry.
I started following industry news independently, and IMI was one of the first outlets I followed. Later on, we found a role that combined my skills and interests: Leading teams, serving clients, and researching new solutions.
Joining Nomad Capitalist let me merge my love for global mobility with growth and brand leadership, helping people design freer, more prosperous lives while scaling a globally respected brand.
What was your proudest moment as a service provider?
Seeing a client’s full Nomad journey come to life, from strategy to execution, is always rewarding.
When our team gets feedback about how transformative the experience was, both financially and personally, that makes me proud. But I’m proudest when we find unique, creative solutions for clients who thought there was no path forward.
Which investment migration market development has surprised you the most in the last year?
There have been a lot of changes this year, but what surprised me most was how quickly several African countries entered the citizenship by investment (CBI) space.
Three CBI programs were launched within one year. It marks a new milestone for the industry, and I’m genuinely excited to see how it evolves.
If you could go ten years back in time, what business decision would you change?
I would have invested earlier in data infrastructure and automation to support scale. Growth is exciting, but sustainable growth requires foresight, and it’s not easy to retrofit systems and processes as teams and client bases expand.
After COVID, we put a lot of work into fixing this, but doing it earlier would have saved time and made growth smoother.
What investment migration industry personality do you most admire?
It’s Andrew Henderson for me, not just as the founder of Nomad Capitalist but as a thought leader who made the once-fringe idea of “go where you’re treated best” widely respected.
His consistency and courage to challenge conventional systems are rare. He often sees the opportunities where others don’t, and as a leader, he challenges us to grow every day.
If all goes according to plan, what will you be doing five years from now?
It’s always hard for me to predict five years ahead, I change my mind daily about where I want to live, but I know what I want to do.
I’ll be continuing to build Nomad Capitalist into the most trusted and sophisticated global mobility brand, shaping not just where people move, but how they think about freedom, citizenship, and wealth.
Personally, I hope to still be learning, exploring, and helping the brand evolve in an increasingly borderless world.
