Haitham Al Humsi

Haitham Alhumsi leads the strategic development of the KAUST innovation ecosystem. The KAUST ecosystem embodies an open innovation funnel and looks for the best founders, ideas and technology driven startups globally. Haitham oversees a set of programs aimed to create, accelerate and scale startups; as well as the supporting capital and facilities infrastructure to act as a catalyst for startup growth and acceleration. The ecosystem key objective is to act as a catalyst to demonstrate technology based solutions against real world challenges that will create a value added impact in the Saudi economy and beyond. An engineer by profession, Haitham is passionate about the application of technology in entrepreneurship and innovation. He has helped several boot-strapped startups address consumer and business needs, developing his expertise in product development, digital marketing, and content creation. His most recent venture was a performance-focused digital marketing agency serving public and private entities across KSA and UAE. Haitham holds a master’s degree in electronics from Washington University in St Louis, is a Google & HubSpot certified marketer as well as a Stanford certified practitioner in machine learning & design thinking. Haitham is also certified by the Institute of Directors (IoD) to support public and private companies in their quest for tighter governance, reduced risk, improved strategic direction and enhanced performance.