A CTO who has already shipped into Saudi Arabia — and mentored its founders.
Saudi Arabia is the largest technology build-out in the region, and it rewards leaders who understand both the ambition of Vision 2030 and the specifics of operating there: data residency, enterprise procurement, and a founder community that wants real mentorship. I've done the enterprise sales-to-engineering loop with Aramco, and I've been a MISK mentor since 2019.
The Saudi context
Vision 2030 turned Saudi Arabia into a market where a CTO's job is as much about trust as technology. Enterprise buyers — Aramco, the giga-projects, the banks — ask hard questions about where data lives, who can access it and how a vendor proves compliance. I learned that first-hand as CTO of Searchie AI, where I personally ran the DPIA and ISO work that let us sign Saudi Aramco and Jumeirah Group under MENA data regulations.
The startup side is just as active. Through the MISK Foundation Fellowship I've spent six years mentoring Saudi and regional founders on MVPs, team process, infrastructure and strategy — 50+ founders so far. That's given me a ground-level view of what Saudi companies actually struggle with: hiring senior engineers, choosing infrastructure that satisfies residency rules, and shipping fast enough to meet programme deadlines.
Riyadh is a one-hour flight from Dubai and one hour behind. For a full-time role I'm open to relocating; for fractional or advisory work I combine on-site weeks with remote delivery, which is how most Saudi companies already work with Gulf-based leaders.
My Saudi record
- CTO, Searchie AI (2020–2021): took an AI video-recruitment platform into Saudi Arabia under MENA data regulations — Saudi Aramco and Jumeirah Group as clients; ran DPIA / ISO compliance; built the WebRTC media server and Kubernetes infrastructure
- Startup Mentor, MISK Foundation Fellowship (2019–present): 50+ early-stage founders mentored on MVPs, tech-team process, infrastructure and strategy
- Head of Engineering, AllStars Digital (DIFC): led a 32-person cross-regional team — the same distributed model Saudi companies use
- Founder & CTO, Atrix (2026): six production products including VoDialer AI (voice agents on real phone lines) and Switchboard (WhatsApp/SMS with multi-provider failover) — both directly relevant to Saudi customer-engagement workloads
Every item above is on the about page and the CV; the 2026 products each have a case study.
How it works in Saudi Arabia
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.
“Moeid has been a savior in our time of need. His technical expertise and leadership transformed our platform architecture.”
Harvey BennetCTO, SearchieQuestions from Saudi Arabia
Have you worked with Saudi enterprise clients before?
Yes. As CTO of Searchie AI I led the engineering and compliance work that brought Saudi Aramco and Jumeirah Group on as clients under MENA data regulations, including the DPIA and ISO processes. Searchie was later acquired by oceain.ai.
Will you relocate to Riyadh?
For a full-time CTO or Head of Engineering role, yes — I'm open to it. For fractional or advisory engagements I work from Dubai with regular on-site weeks in Riyadh or Jeddah.
Can you help a Saudi startup in a MISK or accelerator programme?
That's exactly what I've done since 2019 through the MISK Foundation Fellowship: MVP scoping, first engineering hires and process, infrastructure choices and investor-ready technical strategy. Programmes can book me for office hours or ongoing fractional work.
Do you build for Arabic-first users and WhatsApp-heavy workflows?
Switchboard, the messaging layer I built in 2026, handles WhatsApp and SMS with Twilio, Telnyx, Infobip and Plivo failover, and RentGari signs users in with WhatsApp OTP. Voice agents from VoDialer AI run on real phone lines. Those are the channels Saudi customers actually use.
Hiring a CTO in Saudi Arabia?
Book a 30-minute call and I'll give you a straight read on your architecture, team and AI roadmap.