Engineering leadership that already spans the GCC.
Most Middle East technology companies aren't single-country businesses: they launch in the UAE, expand to Saudi, serve Egypt and the Levant, and hire across South Asia and Europe. I've led engineering in exactly that shape for eight years, and I've shipped into the region's banks, governments and enterprises.
The regional context
The GCC is one market with six regulators. A product that works in Dubai has to pass Saudi data-residency rules, clear Qatari and Bahraini banking requirements if it touches money, and handle Arabic and English everywhere. A regional CTO has to design for that from the first data model — where data lives, how identity works across countries, which messaging channels customers actually use (WhatsApp, in practice).
The talent map is distributed by default. Leadership sits in Dubai or Riyadh; engineers are in Cairo, Amman, Karachi, Lahore, Bangalore and increasingly Eastern Europe. I led 32 engineers across Europe, MENA and India from DIFC and ran a 15-person team in Islamabad before that. Hiring, managing and shipping across those time zones is normal for me, not a stretch.
The region's AI moment is real and unevenly distributed. The UAE is investing at a national scale (G42, where my Etera AI work sat), Saudi is funding aggressively under Vision 2030, and everyone else is buying. A regional CTO needs to know which AI work is production-ready and which is still a demo — I've built both and I'll tell you the difference.
My Middle East record
- UAE: Head of Engineering (AI) at G42-powered Etera AI; Head of Engineering at AllStars Digital (DIFC); Dubai Municipality cloud platform; Mashreq Neo and Digital Onboarding at Mashreq Bank
- Saudi Arabia: took Searchie AI to market under MENA data regulations with Saudi Aramco and Jumeirah Group as clients; MISK Foundation Fellowship mentor to 50+ founders since 2019
- Egypt: panelist and speaker at the United Nations Future Leader Alliance Conference, 2024
- Cross-regional leadership: 32 engineers across Europe, MENA and India; 15-person team in Pakistan serving 300+ clients worldwide
- 2026: six production products from Dubai, including Switchboard (WhatsApp/SMS with multi-provider failover) and VoDialer AI (voice agents on live PSTN calls)
Every item above is on the about page and the CV; the 2026 products each have a case study.
How it works in the Middle East
Engagement models, the 90-day plan and the full FAQ are on the main hire-me page. Founders who need part-time leadership can read the fractional CTO page.
“Within 3 months of launch, we raised our profit 1000% thanks to the infrastructure and visionary structure Moeid set out for us.”
Kamran KiyaniCo-Founder, Atrix DigitalQuestions from the Middle East
Can you lead engineering for a company operating in several GCC countries?
Yes. I design for multi-country data residency and identity from the start, and I've shipped into the UAE and Saudi Arabia under their respective regulations. Multi-region leadership — not just multi-region deployment — is what I've done since 2021.
Where would you be based?
Dubai by default, with on-site time wherever the team and customers are. For a full-time role I'm open to relocation within the Middle East.
How do you handle teams in Egypt, Pakistan or India?
I've led them directly — 32 engineers across Europe, MENA and India from DIFC, and a 15-person team in Islamabad. The operating model is written decisions, weekly demos and a delivery cadence that doesn't depend on everyone being in one room.
Do you do technical due diligence for regional investors?
Yes, as an advisory engagement: architecture review, team assessment, AI claims versus production reality, and a written report the investment committee can act on.
Hiring a CTO in the Middle East?
Book a 30-minute call and I'll give you a straight read on your architecture, team and AI roadmap.