H.E. Prof Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi: President of the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA)

His Excellency Prof. Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi is currently the President of the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), at the rank of minister, and serves as chairman or member of several boards and committees. He was formerly appointed Director of the National Information Center (NIC), at the excellent rank. His Excellency has over 35 years of broad experience in digital trans-formation, during which he has made many outstanding achievements at the national level. He led many pioneering national initiatives, most notably the establishment of SAIA, development of NIC's strategy and the National Strategy for Data & AI (NSDAI), and founding of the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP). In addition, he has served as a digital transformation consultant to several civil and military government entities.

His Excellency has received the King Abdulaziz Sash of the second class and the Moderation Award in its sixth edition. He also attained full professorship in Software Engineering in 2011 and a post-doctoral certificate in Web Engineering from the University of Ottawa, Canada, in 2005. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Distinction) in 1997 and an M.Sc. in Computer Science (Distinction) in 1993, both from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.

His Excellency has served as a visiting professor in software engineering at George Mason University, United States. He held several positions at King Saud University, such as Assistant Vice President for Knowledge Exchange and Technology Transfer, and Founder and Head of the Department of Software Engineering (the first software engineering department in the King-dom). He also founded and directed the C4I Center for Advanced Systems (C4ICAS), the second specialized center of its kind globally, as well as the AI Center of Advanced Studies (Thakaa).

Furthermore, he has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers in international journals and conferences and authored many books.

His Excellency has also worked as a consultant and held several executive positions in a number of international companies such as BAE Systems, IBM, and GeoSurvey. He was also appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI).