Tell us about yourself and how you got started in business/tech.
I started my entrepreneurship journey at a very early age through small gigs and contributing to open-source software. By the time I was 14, I had an idea for a portable, pocket-sized hard drive. It was a hit and when I was 16, I got acquired by the market leader in Digital Storage at the time. Since then, I have kept on investing and building entrepreneurial, deep-tech-based ventures.
What inspired you to found AHOY?
I always had a thing for coding and mathematics – not that I was good at it in school! But, in 2008, I was doing some work for a UN organization regarding earthquake recovery. I came up with an algorithm to automate the management of the aftermath, and I noticed a gap in mathematical skills among software engineers. It made me realize that not all software engineers are alike. So I started ideating a tech stack that levels the playing field in what is known as Operations Research Sciences which contributes a lot to any AI and Machine Learning (ML) infrastructure today.
What does AHOY do?
AHOY is more than just a company; on one end we offer developer tools that enable you to achieve AI and ML systems that can do anything from smart cities, aviation, and telecommunications, all the way to designing better sensors for infrastructure and energy. On the other hand, we built examples and use cases in various industries to inspire software engineers on the AHOY Motion Stack capabilities. Some of these exemplary use-cases thrived and today AHOY looks akin to Alphabet, the parent of Google, but home-grown in the GCC.
What makes AHOY unique in the marketplace?
Globally and regionally, AHOY is unique. We are the first GCC-backed deep-tech company in the region to be a fruitful business. Globally, our tech is quite distinct, and we bet that we are going to change the tech landscape over the next few years forever.
What has been your biggest success so far as a company?
It is hard to pinpoint one success factor! But if I had to choose between our technological breakthroughs, creating the business model, and figuring out the go-to-market strategy, I would say that the common theme in all of these is the people that made them happen. Hence, our biggest success was in attracting and motivating great people with a culture and environment to foster their potential to fruition.
And your biggest challenge?
Our biggest challenge is explaining something novel and new to a market that wants to hear that you are the ex-Silicon Valley clone for the Middle East; a trend that has been good in the nascent phases of the regional ecosystem development, but it is about time to grow out of it. About overcoming this, I do not think we have fully conquered this but we are in a natural growth cycle. As VCs become more specialized and less general, the market becomes more knowledgeable and informed and fund thesis’ become more focused. AHOY is the incumbent and we are trailblazing the next era of the regional ecosystem.
How does your Startup Builder Initiative work?
AHOY is a multi-sector, deep-tech unicorn originating from the Middle East, with no plans of slowing down. The Startup Builder Initiative is a catalyst that is bringing together potential unicorns across the region. Its success and impact depend on the shift in the quality of new companies AHOY will support to launch and go-to-market and funding, support their global reach, and then of course, through feasible growth and sustainability of these companies.
Tell us about your initiative to support 10,000 MENA Entrepreneurs and 30,000 Software Developers by 2030.
AHOY is paving the way for a future of intelligent, efficient movement by eliminating the need for outdated databases and inflexible logic. In the few weeks since the inception of AHOY’s Startup Builder Initiative, we already have close to 100 startups in KSA, UAE, Egypt, and more. We are about giving back; we are offering our tech stack and relevant talent and resources – plus funding – and more. Startups will be able to apply by attending a 24six9 meetup (our Founders Community), or fill the form (https://www.ahoy.technology/startup-builder-initiative) and we will provide all the needed factors to show their true potential.
What do you see as the future of the tech ecosystem in MENA?
We believe that the MENA region will surprise the world. We won’t continue following -we have the ropes and now MENA will lead. MENA exports energy that powers the world, AI needs energy. We have all this amazing variety of talent both locally and diverse, an international pool of talent with open hearts and doors. I am very bullish on the future of MENA.
What are your growth goals over the next five years?
AHOY is already a unicorn, while we think this is a vanity metric and we know we will exceed a record-breaking multi-tens of billions in valuation, we believe we will grow in adoption to exceed 200x our current utilization of the tech products.
Where can readers find out more about you and AHOY?
You can visit our LinkedIn accounts, while our website has some generic details but great technical documentation for code mongers like us who speak our language. We are friendly and don’t bite – anyone can bump into us in any ecosystem activity such as 24six9 and SourceHive meetups on a weekly basis.
