In April, Naif Sheshah, the assistant deputy governor for planning and development and chief digital officer at Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission, was named as one of 110 young global leaders by the World Economic Forum.
He joined the commission in November 2016 as general manager for strategic planning and development and acting GM of its postal and logistics services and was promoted to his current position in February 2021.
He has spearheaded the communications authority’s digital transformation strategy and helped in the launch of several industry reports including one into the advancement of the Kingdom’s internet and gaming performance.
He also played an instrumental role in launching IGNITE, a $1.1 billion program to transform Saudi Arabia into a leading digital entertainment and media production hub.
While managing the commission’s postal and logistics services, he restructured the sector and introduced a regulatory sandbox for delivery apps during the coronavirus pandemic.
He has also been the chief strategy officer at the Saudi Space Commission since May last year.
In 2012, he began his career as a business process analyst at Al-Elm Information Security Co. and in May of the same year joined Saudi Basic Industries Corp. as a senior business process controller.
From 2017 to 2019, he worked as an ambassador for the National Center for Performance Measurement. In addition, he has sat on the board of the National Information Technology Center since 2019 and has been a member of the International Data Corp. Middle East Advisory Council since 2021.
Sheshah gained a master’s degree in information technology and business process management from the Queensland University of Technology, in Australia, an associate degree in English from the University of Nebraska Omaha, and a management acceleration certificate from INSEAD in France.
