Tech talent, hiring trends, and workforce development
The World Bank put Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the world’s top 25 for model work and heavy computing, and first in the region on data-centre capacity. A jobs lift of up to 20 percent is a forecast. The report announced no new spending.
Rela took an undisclosed strategic investment from Yazeed Al Rajhi and Brothers Holding to grow licensed workforce housing in Saudi Arabia. Ticket and stake were not published. The company launched in early 2026 under Salman Al Jabrain.
FAST has tapped Hashim Mahmood, a seasoned human resources leader from TikTok and ByteDance, to serve as head of people and culture. The Dubai headquartered marketing technology group is expanding rapidly with over 200 people and 180 AI agents working together. This appointment focuses on blending human teams with artificial intelligence for sustainable growth.
Most companies, once they cross a few hundred employees, quietly accept the arrival of middle managers and layers of approval. Kalshi has decided to resist all of that on purpose, running a flat structure where its two founders hold roughly 150 direct reports.
While much of the world frets that AI is coming for everyone's jobs, Jeff Bezos has staked out the opposite position. Speaking at VivaTech in Paris, the Amazon founder said AI will create a labor shortage rather than replace workers, arguing humanity has an endless list of problems left to solve.
Something has shifted in the MENA startup ecosystem, and founders who have been through previous downturns can feel it. Funding activity slowed sharply as geopolitical tensions intensified and capital paused across the region.
Most founders misread MVP as an excuse to ship something rough. It's not. It's a discipline of focus, cutting everything that isn't essential and doing the core thing well. This piece breaks down how to define your MVP properly, how long it should realistically take to build, and why the feature graveyard exists in the first place.
The difference between pre-money and post-money valuation is four words and one equation, but getting it wrong on a term sheet can cost a founder several percentage points of their company before they have signed a single customer. Understanding which number you are negotiating and what it implies for your ownership is not optional financial literacy. It is the most basic thing you need to know before you sit across from an investor.
Meta Platforms, Inc. has rolled out new tools for Facebook creators to report impersonators more efficiently, alongside stricter policies aimed at reducing the prevalence of unoriginal content. These measures are designed to safeguard creator identities and promote original content creation on the platform.
Oman has launched comprehensive labor licensing reforms that streamline work permit processes and reduce processing times from 45 to 15 days. The digital platform aims to boost private sector employment while maintaining Omanization targets across industries.