Have you considered that it might actually be a breach of his legal obligation if he admitted Saif's point? The man is literally paid not to understand this. If he admitted that he believed his strategy would destroy the business strategy of the organizations he's working with, he might conceivably be liable for fraud and breach of contract. 

 He didn't avoid the discussion, he got defensive, challenged Saif head on, staw manned him repeatedly, and made the debate personal. 

Sometimes it's worth reading between the lines. Sometimes your heroes aren't as smart as you think.  

 You could be right 

 Time will tell. I imagine they will both look back at that conversation and laugh 🙂