Strategic leadership
Digital transformation strategy, national AI and data strategy execution, IT governance, Prosci/ADKAR change management, cross-sector stakeholder alignment.
About
I build the institutions that make strategy real.
Executive leader in national AI and data capability development, technology governance and digital transformation — and a working software engineering researcher.
My career has run along three tracks that usually stay separate: executive leadership of national-scale programmes, hands-on practice in software engineering and AI, and a research record that now exceeds 140 peer-reviewed publications.
Today I serve as General Manager of the SDAIA Academy at the Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority, where I lead national capability development for data and AI. That means owning the strategy, portfolio and delivery of advanced training programmes, bootcamps and professional certifications; translating Vision 2030 and the Human Capability Development Program into a measurable portfolio with real KPIs; and building the partnerships with universities, research institutions and industry that let accredited learning pathways scale.
Before that, at Tahakom, I held a dual mandate as Director of the AI Academy and Acting Director of Technology Governance. I institutionalised a PMO playbook across the project lifecycle, raised enterprise-architecture maturity, rebuilt the SDLC with CMMI-aligned quality controls, and modernised delivery with CI/CD-enabled DevOps — while building a durable AI capability ecosystem through enterprise training, competency-based certifications and academia–industry partnerships.
Across nearly a decade at Prince Sultan University I served as founding dean of a new college, Dean of Quality Assurance & Development, Dean of Educational Services, Chief Information & Technology Officer, and department chairman. The through-line was institutional plumbing: quality systems that earned ISO certification and accreditation, an ERP that replaced paper, curricula rebuilt to ABET and ACM standards, and degree programmes that did not exist before.
I hold a Ph.D. in Software Engineering from North Dakota State University, an M.S. from DePaul University, and a B.S. in Computer Science from Prince Sultan University — where I am now a Full Professor. I am a Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner and completed the strategy specialisation at Harvard Business School Online.
What I care about, in one sentence: responsible, outcome-driven adoption of technology that leaves an institution more capable than it was.
Core competencies
Five capabilities, one operating system.
Governance makes AI adoption responsible. Engineering rigour makes strategy executable. Capability building makes both sustainable.
Operational excellence
Enterprise architecture, PMO and portfolio governance, programme design and delivery, KPI and performance measurement, budgeting, ISO- and CMMI-based quality management.
Technology
Software engineering, DevOps and CI/CD, data governance and stewardship, cloud and distributed architecture, cybersecurity, high-performance computing foundations.
Capability building
Curriculum and learning-programme design aligned to ABET and ACM, professional certification frameworks, talent-pipeline development, training evaluation, academia–industry partnerships.
Governance, ethics & risk
AI governance frameworks, responsible AI and ethics, privacy and data protection, regulatory compliance, governance audits and risk remediation.
Education
Academic foundations.
Ph.D., Software Engineering
North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND · 2011–2014
Thesis: A New Coupling Metric: Combining Structural and Semantic Relationships.
M.S., Software Engineering
DePaul University
Chicago, IL · 2010–2011
Requirements engineering, software design and architecture, project management, OO design patterns, testing and QA.
B.S., Computer Science
Prince Sultan University
Riyadh, KSA · 2005–2010
Software engineering, advanced software engineering, internet security and firewalls.
Certifications & executive education
Continuing practice.
- Prosci® Certified Change PractitionerProsci · 2025
Change management, the ADKAR model and organisational transformation.
- Learning Track: Specialization in StrategyHarvard Business School Online · 2024
Strategy Execution, Sustainable Business Strategy and Disruptive Strategy.
- Full Professor of Software EngineeringPrince Sultan University · since 2022
Associate Professor 2018–2022; Assistant Professor 2014–2018.
Where to go next.
The leadership record has the full detail of roles and mandates; projects and impact covers what was built; the publication list is searchable by year, venue and type.