On this episode of The Feedback Loop, our host Mona Hamdy sits down with Hattan Ahmed of the KAUST Entrepreneurship Center for a riveting conversation about the deep tech startup ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, the digital transformation landscape of the kingdom and conscious investing in the MENA region. The region has recently seen a range of developments in finance, government strategy, project planning, and lawmaking that suggest that deep tech will play an influential role in the development and modernization of the government, commercial, and financial sectors across the Gulf in the coming years. Hattan delves deep into the role deep tech has in propelling these developments and shares his insights on the future of the innovation economy.
Hattan Ahmed is an Entrepreneurship Collaboration Manager at KAUST Entrepreneurship Center. Hattan has a diverse background in industry, startups and academia and as a start-up co-founder, he brings a wealth of successful entrepreneurial background to his role, having navigated early stage growth to acquisition in the kingdom prior to joining KAUST. He also is the recipient of numerous entrepreneurial awards on both a national and international scale.
This episode of #TheFeedbackLoop is available for video streaming on YouTube and across all the major audio streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
About the guest
Hattan is the current head of KAUST's Entrepreneurship Center and carries out the institution's entrepreneurship goal in Saudi Arabia. As a proponent of innovation, Hattan works across the full ecosystem of entrepreneurship in the Kingdom, imparting entrepreneurship knowledge, developing corporate innovation initiatives, and fostering companies that will advance the agenda for societal transformation.
Hattan has a broad range of experience in business, entrepreneurship, and academics. He co-founded a startup and has successfully navigated early stage growth to acquisition, giving him a successful entrepreneurial history. On a national and international level, he has won numerous entrepreneurial accolades. Additionally, he brings to his position a strong history in information technology, including expertise in system design, development, and implementation across a variety of sectors, including oil and gas, travel, and retail. Hattan has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Alabama and an MBA from the University of Leeds.