Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh Had just moved there a few days before the call, separated while there and Dubai.
After nearly a decade in the US, including a stint at AI scale, he will bring that experience to his next venture: 1001 ai the company creates AI infrastructure for critical industries in the Middle East and North Africa (MAA).
The startup recently raised a $9 million seed round, a public catalyst, and lux capital. Other backers include global and regional angels such as Chris Ré, Amjad Masad (replit), Amira Sajwani (Damac), Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud (Hidham technology).
Abu-Ghazaleh said the two-month company promised to cut the inside in the sector at stake like aviation, logistics, and oil and gas through decision-making to make decisions.
“Just looking at the top three or four industries like airports, ports, construction, and oil, we see more than $10 billion in an interview with techcrunch. “This is only in markets like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Even if we don’t count other sectors, this industry represents a lot of opportunity.”
For example, any efficiencies found in airport operations may spill over into those savings, impacting both the airport and the airline. Meanwhile, he said nine out of ten regions in the month of Mega-Project Mega fell on schedule or launched the budget, which means that a small increase can save the project seriously.
1001 AI hopes to sell to make decisions for new projects after launching the first product, which is scheduled for the end of the year. The startup is in talks with several construction companies and Gulf airports, Abu-Ghazaleh said.
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Born and raised in Jordan, Abu-Ghazaleh moved to the US for college and later joined the Bay startup scene. After an initial role in the computer Startup hive AI, he joined the scale of AI in 2020 during a rapid expansion. There, he rose through the ranks from associate operations to the company’s genai operations director, expanding the network of contributions responsible for data training.
He was then set to join an international public sector unit, which builds AI solutions for foreign governments. But when Meta invests in scalethe company moved in the direction, and Abu-Ghazaleh left to meet 1001 AI.
The Gulf, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, has been one of the most aggressive proponents of AI. From the G42-backed venture in Abu Dhabi to Saudi Arabia’s National Center for AI, the government has invested in building local infrastructure and attracting global talent.
For Abu-Ghazaleh, the combination of appetite, budget, and urgency made the area the perfect test. But unlike those that have started from software or companies, 1001 targets real-world physical operations, an area where corporate investors believe there is greater potential in the Middle East.
“We are very bullish on AI solving real-world problems on a scale IE, optimizing airports, how to build construction sites,” said Deena Shakir, Partner at COUB CAPTOWIR. “The MENA region offers significant potential in this space with mission-critical infrastructure being digitized and ripe for transformation.”
While the product is still being developed, Abu-Ghazaleh offers a testimony of how it works. The system pulls data from the client’s existing software, models operations, and issues real-time directives to improve efficiency.
“Today, an operations manager might manually call someone to move a fuel truck or send a cleaning crew to another gate,” Abu-Ghazaleh said. “With the system, that orchestration happens automatically. The AI orchestrator uses real-time data to deploy vehicles, and adjust crews without human intervention.”
Unlike early AI startups that target specific industries, Abu-Ghazaleh says 1001 is accessible to many because the flow of operations often looks the same.
The model borrows from the passion of consulting and contracting. The team spends a week with the client, implementing a template resource for each operational reality, says the CEO.
“Bilal created a decision engine to automate that complexity with the execution of scale and regional gravity to create 1001 platforms in the market,” manages the director at the general catalyst.
The new funding will accelerate the initial deployment through aviation, logistics, while fuel recruitment in engineering, operations, and moving roles to the team across Dubai and London.
1001 AI plans to start deploying its first customers by the end of the year, starting with construction. Over the next five years, Abu-Ghazaleh wants the company to become a gulf orchestration layer for this industry before expanding globally.