Courting checkbooks

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: Houthis attack southern Saudi cities for second consecutive day

Good morning, friends. We’re closing out the week after a second night of attacks on sites in the Kingdom. Houthi rebels struck more targets in Saudi Arabia last night, as we note below. The rest of the issue runs on a slower clock, and today it points in one direction: it is the end of the phase where building the thing was the achievement.

Seven says so out loud. The pitch to global entertainment brands used to be a plan and a balance sheet. Now it’s venues that exist and doors that open. That’s a different sell, and it comes with a different discipline — building is a capital problem with an end date, running is a programming and footfall problem that never has one. The partner talks get easier, and the performance bar gets higher at the same moment.

You can see it in the aggregate too. Contracting award value halved month-on-month while the project count went up, and against last August the value is flat on more than double the volume. But it’s not a sign of cooling — it’s a market doing more, smaller things, which is what the operating phase of a build-out looks like from the awards data.

Attacks continue

The Houthis attacked southern Saudi cities with missiles and drones for the second day in a row, including Abha, Khamis Mushait, and Jazan, Reuters reports, citing the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen spokesperson Turki Al Malki. The Kingdom lifted its alerts in Khamis Mushait and Abha yesterday, with Al Malki saying that the coalition would “responsibly” respond.

ICYMI- The group attacked several energy facilities and civilian locations in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, targeting Abha, Najran, Jazan, and Khamis Mushait and injuring 73 civilians. The group said its missiles and drones hit Aramco facilities, setting off fires and forcing a “temporary halt” in operations.

The Kingdom is hitting back: Saudi-backed forces launched 54 airstrikes across Yemen’s provinces, including Al Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah, Saada, and Al Bayda, Houthi spokesman Nasruddin Amer said, citing Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Yahya Saree. The strikes on Al Jawf resulted in at least 32 casualties, the Houthi Health Ministry said.

Covering the risk

Saudi Arabia has approved a national initiative to provide ins. for cargo and vessels against war risks, the Ins. Authority said on X. The Saudi Pool for Marine Ins. will cover cargo, hull, charterers’ liability, protection, and indemnity ins., arranged by Saudi Re under Ins. Authority supervision, with local insurers participating. The pool is meant to expand the market’s capacity to absorb war and political risk through a public-private structure, Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan tells SPA.

BACKGROUND- The Kingdom was reportedly exploring a state-backed war and political risk ins. pool last month to cover ships in the region, with discussion taking place with London brokers. The Finance Ministry was considering a scheme offering up to SAR 700 mn in commercial cover per insured event, such as a ship seizure or missile strike.

The timing is critical: War-risk premiums for vessels transiting Hormuz rose to 3-10% of vessel value, from c. 0.25% pre-conflict, Asharq Business reports, citing Marsh data. Insuring a single large tanker can now cost USD 3-10 mn. Underwriters have also grown more wary of Saudi-linked vessels as Houthi attacks escalate, treating them increasingly like high-risk Israeli and US assets.

Houthi strikes on energy facilities and civilian sites in Abha, Najran, Jazan, and Khamis Mushait this week — which injured 73 people — point toward rates climbing further, not stabilizing, with Hormuz still closed.

Making the rounds

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is courting Wall Street’s biggest alternative managers this week. Senior executives from the fund and portfolio companies including Humain, King Abdullah Financial District, and Red Sea Global are set to meet Apollo, Blackstone, Brookfield, Carlyle, KKR, and Stonepeak in New York, Semafor reports. No specific transaction is attached, Semafor’s sources say, pointing instead to relationship-building ahead of future debt or equity raises.

Why it matters: PIF is shifting from funding megaprojects outright to recycling capital through them — using government assets to pull in private money rather than carrying the balance sheet alone. PwC Director Musab Akbar frames it on LinkedIn as “Build. Monetize. Reinvest” — the main constraint is about unlocking capital from what’s already built.

The pattern is already visible in the numbers: PIF’s May bond drew a USD 29 bn order book on a USD 7 bn raise; PIF-owned Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company pulled USD 16.75 bn of demand for a USD 2.75 bn sukuk in July; and LIV Golf is hunting a new lead investor to replace PIF funding outright, targeting USD 250-350 mn for its next phase. This tracks with the tighter capital-allocation discipline we flagged in June.

Back to business, but bruised

Ades Holding is bringing 10 rigs back online this month, recovering from a regional conflict that cost it roughly USD 30 mn a month in foregone revenue for an entire quarter, CEO Mohamed Farouk tells Al Arabiya. The impact is already showing in Ades’ numbers, with the drilling services giant reporting a 31.9% y-o-y decline in 2Q 2026 net income. Farouk expects the drag to bleed into 3Q and hit harder in 4Q — even with resumption notices for every suspended offshore rig.

The war-risk premiums that spiked regional shipping and ins. costs are starting to unwind. Some oil shipments saw ins. costs hit 6% of cargo value, with war-risk premiums alone reaching 10%, Reuters reports. Ades says its own ins. costs have already fallen c. 75% from the peak of the conflict.

The pipeline backs the recovery story: Contract backlog (excluding its USD 285 mn acquisition of Saipem rigs) stands at roughly SAR 34 bn, with SAR 17 bn expected to convert to liquidity over the next five years. The rig acquisition should add USD 50 mn to next year’s EBITDA, while Ades’ earlier acquisition of Shelf Drilling already contributes USD 400 mn, plus a broader global customer base.

Further afield: Ades’ gas production contract in Syria, worth around USD 20 mn annually once it comes online in 2H 2026, is a small but early bet on Syrian reconstruction.

Heading for the exit?

Chemicals firm Dow Inc. is considering exiting its 35% stake in Sadara Chemical, its USD 20 bn chemicals joint venture with Aramco, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. Aramco could acquire Dow’s stake and raise its ownership, while other strategic or financial investors could also bid, the people said.

It’s part of a broader portfolio shift: Dow is redirecting capital toward higher-return businesses, and exiting Sadara would cut its exposure to the venture’s future funding needs — including a guarantee Dow holds on a USD 500 mn revolving credit facility meant to cover Sadara's shortfalls. Sadara drew USD 80 mn from that facility in 4Q 2025, according to Dow.

REMEMBER- The impact of the regional disruptions on the regional supply chain might be part of the equation, as Sadara previously pulled the plug on production at its Jubail complex due to the conflict and its impact on shipments. The flow of critical feedstocks like crude oil and naphtha through Hormuz negatively affected many local players, including the chemicals giant.

Space ties

Saudi Arabia and Egypt are working through the roadmap for designing and building their first jointly developed satellite. A Saudi Space Agency delegation met Egyptian Space Agency CEO Maged Ismail on the sidelines of the El Alamein International Airshow to discuss its implementation plan, according to a LinkedIn post. The project is pitched at using space technology for sustainable development and shared priorities across the two countries, though the statement gave no budget, launch timeline, or technical specifications.

REMEMBER- The satellite comes as Egypt is being considered as a candidate for the Makkah defense pact, amid a widening slate of Egypt-Saudi cooperation across real estate, energy, and education. Recent developments include a partnership between PIF and Talaat Moustafa Group to expand the developer’s presence in the Kingdom, alongside a 3 GW electricity interconnection project the two countries are advancing.

Data point

SAR 37.6 bn — that’s how much e-commerce sales via Mada cards reached in July 2026, up 11.8% m-o-m and 26% y-o-y across 197.6 mn transactions, according to the Saudi Central Bank data (pdf). 2Q sales rose 3.1% q-o-q to SAR 101.4 bn.

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The big story abroad

In the absence of a major story dominating the front pages today, we’re diving into three of the most notable developments in the business press.

Washington steps up debt housekeeping: The US Treasury Department announced it will buy back up to USD 6 bn of government debt to keep bond markets functioning, resulting in yields rising to their highest level in almost three years. This move—part of an operation to halt rising borrowing costs—marks an increase from the Treasury’s previous pledge to “at least” double its long-term bond acquisitions to USD 4 bn.

Meet the new iPhone: In a launch event yesterday, Apple announced the iPhone Duo — its first foldable smartphone — among a spate of new products, including the iPhone 18 Pro, Airpods 5, and Apple Watch Series 12. Its latest lineup sees a USD 100 price increase for the iPhone 18 Pro and Max, while the foldable Duo starts at USD 2k.

From the world of AI: Google will invest USD 15 bn in AI infrastructure in Finland over the next two years to develop three data centers, along with a 22-year agreement to purchase up to half the power generated by one of the country’s two nuclear plants. This marks the search-engine operator’s first nuclear energy agreement outside the US and its biggest European investment.

PIF’s Seven is courting new IP partners as its Saudi rollout grows

Saudi Entertainment Ventures (Seven) is in partnership talks with new global entertainment brands now that it has venues on the ground to show them, Chief Projects Officer Abdulelah AlFawzan tells EnterpriseAM. The PIF-owned operator is preparing to open at least two more entertainment destinations this year and shift from building its SAR 35 bn-plus portfolio to running it. Seven is part of PIF-owned Qiddiya Investment Company. Its nationwide rollout is part of the Kingdom’s push to build a domestic entertainment industry, keep more consumer spending at home, and diversify economic activity beyond oil.

Having open venues changes the pitch. Seven’s first entertainment hubs in Abha and Tabuk are now operational, giving the company something tangible to show potential international partners after years spent developing the network. “Now, as we move to operation, more and more IPs believe in what we are doing,” AlFawzan said. “At the beginning, we were a newly established company, so people [asked], ‘Why give you my name?’ But now Seven is on the ground.”

AlFawzan says discussions are underway with “a couple” of international intellectual property owners, but declined to identify them before agreements are signed. Seven already works with brands including Warner Bros. Discovery, Hasbro’s Transformers, and Formula E, alongside attractions developed in-house.

The venues so far: Abha and Tabuk have drawn more than 82k visitors between them to date — 48k in Abha and 34k in Tabuk — and built operations teams totaling 364 employees, 191 in Abha and 173 in Tabuk, according to figures provided by Seven.

More openings are near. At least two more destinations are expected to open this year, with Madinah, Yanbu, and Riyadh among the projects approaching delivery. Seven currently has 14 destinations under development across 13 Saudi cities, backed by more than SAR 35 bn in direct development capital, AlFawzan says, part of a broader investment program previously put at more than SAR 50 bn. AlFawzan says the longer-term ambition remains at least 21 destinations, with further expansion dependent on demand.

But Seven isn’t spending equally everywhere. Investment decisions are being made city by city, based on population, purchasing power, expected demand, and returns. The investment in Tabuk, AlFawzan says, is less than a third of what Seven is putting into its Riyadh projects. “We didn’t build a huge development in a smaller city. That’s the most important investment decision,” he says. “There is a balance between enhancing the quality of life, being a national champion of entertainment, diversifying the economy, and making sure that the return on your investment is acceptable to your shareholders.”

How does Seven decide what to build? The company surveyed more than 24k people to understand entertainment preferences and developed 19 attraction types that can be combined differently depending on the market. They range from cinemas, bowling, and golf to water parks and ski slopes, allowing Seven to vary both the size and attraction mix of each destination.

KEC puts another Madinah land parcel into partner-funded development

KEC runs same playbook for third time: Knowledge Economic City (KEC) has partnered with Kaden Investment on a SAR 2.5 bn mixed-use extension of its Multaqa Al Madinah project, Multaqa Al Madinah 2, according to a Tadawul disclosure. The project spans around 92k sqm with more than 1.5k residential units plus commercial and office space, and it uses the same structure KEC has now deployed across a string of Madinah developments: contribute the land, keep the majority stake, and let a partner carry the funding and construction.

How the split works: The project runs through a closed-end real estate fund financed by equity, bank debt, and off-plan sales. KEC contributes the land, valued at SAR 692.3 mn, for a 75% stake; Kaden puts in SAR 208.2 mn for 25% and acts as development manager, handling construction, leasing, property management, and residential sales. Capital Hill is the proposed fund manager. Residential units are built for sale, including off-plan during construction, while commercial and office space is leased and operated until stabilized, then sold.

What KEC gets: Roughly SAR 67.8 mn in banknotes plus fund units valued at SAR 624.6 mn, against a land cost estimated at SAR 64.2 mn. The structure is subject to definitive agreements and regulatory approval, with a 90-day exclusivity window.

REMEMBER- This mirrors KEC’s Multaqa Residences agreement with Alrashid Properties, where Alrashid funds, builds, and sells while KEC keeps the land and a share of the upside. There, the 149.5k-sqm site was valued at SAR 9k per sqm, around SAR 1.35 bn, against a book value of just SAR 94 mn. KEC is using the same model for the 332k-sqm Knowledge Gardens, with Fourmen funding and developing while KEC and Algharraa contribute SAR 1.66 bn worth of land and retain 39.9% of the fund.

Saudi construction shifts to smaller, phased projects as mega-awards fade

Saudi contracting awards fell off a cliff by value in August compared to July, while volume actually climbed. August awards totaled SAR 4.86 bn across 13 projects, down 50% by value from July’s SAR 9.75 bn, even as the project count rose from 11. Zoom out further and the picture gets more benign still: On a y-o-y basis — compared to August 2025’s six projects worth SAR 4.81 bn — last month’s value is essentially flat, while volume is up 117% y-o-y, according to a Saudi Contractors Authority report (pdf).

The real story here is deal size, not dealflow. More projects are coming to market than a year ago — they’re just smaller and more numerous, marking a sharp reversal from June (SAR 29.5 bn) and May (SAR 30.04 bn), when a handful of mega-awards drove the total. Compass Project Consulting VP of Operations Hamed Aljufairi tells EnterpriseAM this reflects a shift from launching multiple mega-programs simultaneously to a phased, disciplined rollout: “The main change is the phasing and timing of projects coming to market, rather than any fundamental weakening of the Saudi construction sector.”

The August pipeline skewed commercial and regional: All 13 awards fell under buildings and construction, led by four commercial projects worth more than SAR 1.5 bn, alongside residential, hospitality, and a 500 MW AI data center in the Eastern Province tied to Humain and Nvidia. Riyadh took seven projects worth SAR 3.39 bn (54% of the month’s value), while the Eastern Province took the other six, worth SAR 1.46 bn. Riyadh Holding led project owners by value, with five projects worth more than SAR 3 bn, ahead of Al Khafji Joint Operations, Refad Real Estate, and Ajdan Real Estate Development.

Much of what’s been awarded won’t break ground for years — one SAR 300 mn project is due for completion in 2028, while six projects worth more than SAR 1 bn are scheduled for 2029 and another six, worth around SAR 3 bn, for 2030. “The next phase, therefore, is less about announcing bigger projects and more about delivering committed projects, controlling costs and bringing developments to market on a commercially sustainable basis,” Aljufairi adds.

The authority expects eight new awards this month, more than half in buildings and construction and roughly half split between Riyadh and the Eastern Province. Potential project owners include PIF, Aramco, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, Qiddiya and Saudi Arabia’s railway operator.

PIF increases Umm Al Qura stake, tightens control of critical assets

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) raised its stake in Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction (Masar) to 20.7%, buying an additional 4.4% stake from undisclosed sellers, Al Arabiya reports. The fund had sold down a 3.3% stake in the same company through an accelerated bookbuild on Tadawul last November, raising more than SAR 950 mn.

Umm Al Qura has a costly pipeline ahead: Masar can use every bit of liquidity it can raise, with a project pipeline packed with sizable developments. These include a partnership with Al Rajhi United Real Estate to develop the Hindawiya West and South sites in Makkah, with an initial cost of SAR 6 bn, while seven hotels and two shopping hubs are due for delivery in less than three years under construction contracts worth around SAR 4.1 bn.

Another day, another data center

KSA is adding another data center project: Saudi-listed Edarat Communication and Information Technology has secured a SAR 197.8 mn award from Al Moammar Information System (MIS) to provide design, construction supervision, testing, and commissioning services for an AI data center with 200 MW of planned capacity, according to a Tadawul disclosure. The company received a separate SAR 72.4 mn AI data center award from MIS in March — covering the same engineering and commissioning services, according to a separate disclosure.

The latest award adds another 200 MW to Saudi’s fast-growing data center pipeline. MIS said it would invest USD 1.2 bn to expand its data centers to 192 MW, while NHC Innovation committed USD 880 mn for 65 MW at Khuzam Digital Valley. Humain and DataVolt also started construction on the first 100 MW of DataVolt's planned 1.5 GW Oxagon campus.

Takween wraps up SAAF’s acquisition

Takween Advanced Industries finalized its acquisition of Advanced Fabrics Factory, according to a Tadawul disclosure. The company bought the remaining 70% stake in SAAF, following a share purchase agreement with its Chinese partner Jofo Nonwovens in April to fully acquire the company. It completed the regulatory procedures, including amendments to SAAF’s commercial registration, converting it into a single-shareholder limited liability company.

Acwa steps up Syria water work

Acwa to develop water solutions in Syria: Acwa Power, in consortium with Water Transmission Company (WTCO), has signed a technical services agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Energy and engineering firm Fichtner to assess the country’s water resources and develop seawater desalination and water transmission solutions, according to a press release.

The projects will be mapped based on priority: The study will be carried out in coordination with Syrian authorities and will produce a roadmap for the country’s water system, ranking potential projects based on their impact, deliverability and speed to market.

REMEMBER- Acwa and the Water Transmission Company previously agreed in February to study a seawater desalination plant with a planned capacity of about 1.2 mn cbm per day, alongside a related transmission pipeline. This joins a growing pipeline of Saudi investment in Syria across infrastructure, energy, aviation, telecoms, and real estate.

Egypt and India propped up the region’s rising share of global FDI in 1H 2026

It’s been a good FDI year so far for Egypt and India, but not so much for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. The five markets together, however, saw greenfield investment remain broadly flat in 1H 2026, even as global activity fell 38% to USD 538.2 bn, lifting their share of global FDI to 10.5% from 6.5% a year earlier, according to Emirates NBD Research (pdf).

Fewer projects, bigger cheques: Average project value across the five economies rose to USD 56 mn from USD 33 mn, driven by AI infrastructure in India and Chinese and Gulf megaprojects in Egypt.

India was one of the clearest winners: Greenfield FDI rose 23% y-o-y to USD 32.8 bn, doubling its share of global flows to 6.1%. Data centers did much of the lifting, with AWS alone accounting for around 40% of recorded inflows after announcing a USD 8.3 bn investment in Maharashtra.

Egypt had the fastest growth: Egypt’s investment plans surged 77% to USD 12.4 bn even as project announcements moderated. China became the country’s largest source of greenfield FDI at USD 4.9 bn, while UAE commitments rose almost tenfold to USD 4.3 bn, helped by Majid Al Futtaim’s USD 3.1 bn Cairo development. The China number is only going up from here, it seems — during Xi’s Cairo visit earlier this month, we saw agreements for a third-phase expansion of the Teda industrial zone and a widening cluster of Chinese tire manufacturers in Sokhna.

Not everyone bucked the slowdown: UAE inflows fell 46% y-o-y to USD 5.3 bn, with activity dipping in March before picking up through the second quarter to nearly triple its March level. The country counted the highest number of project inflows after India, at 360, with Dubai accounting for around seven in 10 projects. Saudi inflows also dropped 59% to USD 3.8 bn, with investments shifting towards industrial supply chains and away from service projects. Meanwhile, Turkey recorded a 39% slowdown in inward investment to USD 2.1 bn.

BACKGROUND- The UAE drop is a sharp reversal from the record USD 48.24 bn the country pulled in for all of 2025 — and it’s close to what UNCTAD warned about back in July, when it flagged energy and infrastructure investment — the same categories driving the UAE’s prior boom — as the most exposed if the war dragged into 2026. Saudi Arabia’s own Gastat data also showed net FDI cooling through 1Q.

There is a disclaimer, though: “First-half 2026 figures probably understate total cross-border deals: data aggregators append deals over time, and comparable figures from the first half of last year were later revised up by around a quarter,” the report explains. That means that the full-year data might still come in higher.

The Gulf story is increasingly outbound: UAE companies poured an estimated USD 11 bn of greenfield investment abroad, roughly double the USD 5.3 bn flowing into the country, led by renewables and real estate — though it’s still “far below” its outbound FDI in 1H 2025 of USD 92 bn, suggesting UAE companies pulled back on overseas investment as hard as foreign investors pulled back on the UAE, if not harder. Saudi Arabia was the only market tracked where outbound investment increased, rising 90% to USD 3.3 bn as renewables developers pushed into Spain and Italy.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian stocks fell in early trading, with South Korea's Kospi down 1.4% and Japan's Nikkei down 1%. The losses track Wall Street performance, as surging oil prices stoked inflation concerns and as Treasury yields rose.

TASI	11,016	-0.2% (YTD: +5.0%)
MSCI Tadawul 30	1,478	-0.2% (YTD: +6.6%)
NomuC	21,660	-0.2% (YTD: -7.0%)
USD : SAR (SAMA)	USD 3.75 Sell	USD 3.75 Buy
Interest rates	4.25% repo	3.75% reverse repo
EGX30	56,501	+0.6%(YTD: +35.1%)
ADX	10,107	+0.9% (YTD: +1.1%)
DFM	5,927	-0.3% (YTD: -2.0%)
S&P 500	7,636	-0.5% (YTD: +11.6%)
FTSE 100	10,670	-1.3% (YTD: +7.2%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,312	-1.6% (YTD: +8.9%)
Brent crude	USD 101.21	+3.4%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.81	-0.6%
Gold	USD 4,449	+1.0%
BTC	USD 77,965	-0.9% (YTD: -11.2%)
Sukuk/bond market index	904.14	-0.3% (YTD: -1.6%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	150.68	-0.0% (YTD: -0.8%)
VIX (Fear gauge)	16.46	+4.7%(YTD: +13.4%)

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI fell 0.19% yesterday on turnover of SAR 3.6 bn. The index is up 5.0% YTD.

In the green: Armah Sports (+10.0%), Arab Sea Information System (+6.8%), and Saudi Fisheries (+5.5%).

In the red: Al-Etihad Cooperative Ins. (-7.3%), Walaa Cooperative Ins.(-4.8%), and Amana Cooperative Ins. (-2.9%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC fell 0.22% yesterday on turnover of SAR 16.4 mn. The index is down 7.0% YTD.

In the green: Knowledge Tower Trading (+30%), Albattal Factory for Chemical Industries (+9.4%), and Taqat Mineral Trading (+9.1%).

In the red: Rawasi Albina Investment (-7.4%), Basma Adeem Medical (-6.4%), and Service Equipment (-5.3%).

Mohammad Nabhan and Saed Khawaldeh, co-founders of Desaisiv

Desaisiv started out in basic analytics and grew into an AI-backed InsurTech platform, helping companies manage ins. costs and portfolios while expanding into fleets, leasing, and property and casualty risk. Its services automate underwriting, policy benchmarking, negotiations, and claim audits.

Mohammad Nabhan and Saed Khawaldeh, founders of Desaisiv: My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. This week, we sat down with Mohammad Nabhan (LinkedIn) and Saed Khawaldeh (LinkedIn), co-founders of Desaisiv, to discuss their paths into entrepreneurship, the company’s evolution into AI-driven InsurTech, and the lessons they’ve picked up along the way. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

EnterpriseAM: How has each of your careers evolved to culminate in founding Desaisiv?

Mohammad Nabhan (MN): I started out in pharmacy, but an entrepreneurship program at Indiana University pulled me toward business. I compressed a six-year medical curriculum into 4.5 years so I could get into the commercial world faster. From there, it was enterprise sales at Pfizer, then a marketing agency that took on over 100 enterprise clients, and a run of commercial roles across different business models where I learned unit economics and distribution from the ground up. The venture before Desaisiv, my tenth, was the real test of cross-border execution — I scaled a product through Jordan, Iraq, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia and took the company to acquisition. That’s what gave me the confidence to build Desaisiv and go after InsurTech.

Saed Khawaldeh (SK): I come from a deep tech background. I did an engineering degree and then a PhD in AI at the University of Oxford, which gave me a real understanding of how to build products on top of AI. After that I spent more than six years as a chief engineer and VP of business at several tech startups in London, building SaaS products and launching them into the UK and US markets. Working side by side with founders that whole time is what taught me to think like an entrepreneur and eventually led me to co-found Desaisiv.

E: Take us through the life cycle of Desaisive since its inception. Where did it start and where is the company now?

MN: Since we launched in 2023, we’ve gone from an early-stage startup to AI ins. infrastructure. The pivot was into enterprise InsurTech, using our own AI to automate underwriting and bring corporate health premiums down by up to 50%. We’ve since moved past predictive analytics into autonomous agents that handle policy benchmarking, negotiations, and real-time claim audits, and we’ve scaled beyond health ins. into commercial fleets, leasing, and P&C risk management. Today we manage more than SAR 2 bn in portfolios across 600-plus tier-one corporate clients and 18-plus insurers, spanning Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the UAE.

We recently opened a USD 8 mn round, and the plan for it is focused on the Kingdom. We want to grow our enterprise base beyond those 600 clients across Riyadh, Jeddah, and the Eastern Province, deepen our integrations with licensed Saudi insurers and brokers — capturing large government, semi-government, and private-sector accounts. We’re also expanding the underwriting engine from corporate health into motor fleets, leasing, and general P&C, built for Saudi regulatory standards, and doubling down on our Riyadh R&D to push the autonomous ins. agent further.

E: What are the main challenges facing the InsurTech sector today in Saudi Arabia?

MN: I see the challenges in Saudi InsurTech falling into a few key areas. There’s evolving regulatory compliance — licensing, solvency, and data residency under the newly unified Ins. Authority. There’s the friction of connecting modern AI pipelines to the legacy, closed core systems of traditional insurers and TPAs. Data quality is fragmented, so cleaning up non-standard medical coding and inconsistent health records is a constant job before you can train accurate models. There’s a mindset shift needed, moving enterprise buyers and brokers from manual, relationship-driven negotiation toward automated decision-making. And talent is scarce. You need people who understand both advanced machine learning and local actuarial and CHI compliance, which is a rare combination.

Looking further out, the biggest opportunity is in hyper-personalization and real-time decisioning. As the data infrastructure matures, ins. will move from a static annual policy to dynamic, risk-adjusted coverage. AI will let claims get approved instantly at the point of care, which removes the paperwork entirely, and predictive health monitoring will let insurers shift from paying for illness to rewarding wellness and prevention.

E: What does a typical day in your life look like?

MN: My routine is built around focus and execution. I start early, no screens for the first 30 minutes — physical training, a look at my top priorities, and then the high-cognition work like strategy, key hires, or product architecture before the noise starts. Midday I'm in execution mode: aligning with my executive team, B2B sales meetings, investor and partner conversations. Late afternoon is for unblocking the team, reviewing metrics, and product reviews. In the evening I disconnect, read, and spend some time reflecting on the bigger picture to make sure we’re actually moving the needle.

SK: My day is about strategy and alignment. I set the company’s direction and work with the heads of department to execute it. I meet existing and potential clients to understand how our products are helping them and gather the feedback that shapes what we build next. I meet partners to establish new relationships, and I spend time managing our current investors and meeting new ones to plan the company’s growth. A big part of it is keeping the vision current and making sure the whole team is following it in their day-to-day work.

Nabhan and Khawaldeh’s favorites

MN: I listen to The Game with Alex Hormozi for no-nonsense scaling and sales tactics, and the All-In Podcast for macro tech and venture trends. On the reading side, I’m into USD 100 mn Offers by Alex Hormozi for structuring big B2B deals, alongside Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson on positioning and storytelling in high-ticket sales.

SK: I’m reading Zero to One and The Lean Startup, and I listen to The Diary of a CEO and Y Combinator.

A piece of advice that stuck

MN: Focus on the inputs, not just the outputs. In entrepreneurship you can’t always control the immediate result or every market variable, but you can control your speed, your focus, and your work ethic. If your inputs are relentless and high quality, the outputs take care of themselves.

SK: Build a product that solves a major problem no one has solved before. If you do that, you're not competing with anyone — you own the entire market opportunity, and you’re expanding the pie rather than building a replica of something that already exists. The problem just has to be one that genuinely matters in your clients’ lives.

CALENDAR

SEPTEMBER

8-10 September (Tuesday-Thursday): The WTM Spotlight Riyadh, Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center (RFECC), Riyadh.

9 September (Wednesday): CyberHero x Riyadh, Riyadh.

14-17 September (Monday-Thursday) The fourth Unesco Global Forum on the Ethics of AI (GFEAI), The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh.

15-17 September (Tuesday-Thursday) The Global AI Summit, King Abdulaziz International Convention Center, Riyadh.

23 September (Wednesday): Saudi National Day.

28 September-1 October (Monday-Thursday): The International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV), Prince Sultan University, Riyadh.

OCTOBER

25-26 October (Sunday-Monday): The Global Proptech Summit, Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh.

26-28 October (Monday-Wednesday): ACHEMA Middle East, Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center.

26-29 October (Monday-Thursday): The Future Investment Initiative, King Abdulaziz International Conference Center, Riyadh.

28-29 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Procurement and Supply Chain Futures Forum, Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh.

28-29 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Real Estate Supply Chain Forum, Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh.

30 October-1 November (Friday-Sunday): The New Global Sport Conference, Sofitel Hotel & Convention Centre, Riyadh.

NOVEMBER

11-12 November (Wednesday-Thursday): Aluminum Arabia, The Arena, Riyadh.

16-19 November (Monday-Thursday): Cityscape Global, Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre (Malham), Riyadh.

29 November-1 December (Sunday-Tuesday): The UN Trade and Development Global Supply Chain Forum, Riyadh.

29 November-1 December (Sunday-Tuesday): The Global Logistics Forum, King Abdulaziz International Convention Centre, Riyadh.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2026:

2H: Sabic’s USD 6.4 bn Fujian project in China to start production;
November: The Esports Nations Cup, Riyadh;
The World Economic Forum’s Global Collaboration and Growth Meeting, Jeddah;

2027

FEBRUARY

1-3 February (Monday-Wednesday): Energy Regulators Regional Association annual conference, Riyadh.

MARCH

21-25 March (Sunday-Thursday):The World Water Forum, Riyadh.

22–24 March (Monday-Wednesday): Capital Markets Forum, Four Seasons Hotel, Riyadh

APRIL

26-29 April (Monday-Thursday): World Energy Congress, Riyadh.

JUNE

1-3 June (Tuesday-Thursday): The Saudi Entertainment and Amusement Expo, Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2027:

The Ocean Race finishes in Amaala on the Red Sea;
Riyadh-Kudmi transmission line to be completed;
Aero Middle East and Sand & Fun takes place in Thumamah Airport, Riyadh.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2Q 2027:

The Hail Region Water Networks Project is expected to be completed.

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