Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mahmut is Head of Technology Strategy at Tech & Digital Sector of NEOM spearheading strategy formulation, domain exploration, and ecosystem mapping of new tech. Prior to that, he was Head of Emerging Tech Policy & Regulatory Experimentation including digital sandboxing at the NEOM Authority. Earlier in his career, Mahmut served as Senior Advisor for Economic Development in the Vision 2040 Office in Oman. As an industry expert, he co-produced Oman’s Industrial Strategy 2040 with UNIDO. He advised on Local Manufacturing contributing to Economic Diversification Programs. Globally, Mahmut gained experience as Management Consultant at Accenture in Germany and was Supplier Developer for Local Content Creation at Mercedes-Benz for Emerging Markets. Mahmut holds a PhD in Management Science, a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Germany, a Master’s in Public Policy & Economics with High Distinction from the London School of Economics. Mahmut is a graduate from Executive Programs at MIT (Technology Forecasting, Strategy, and Management) and Harvard (Economic Development, Private Sector Incentive Mechanism, and Regulations). Mahmut has a diverse series of postgraduate degrees: - PhD in Management Science (Brian Kingsman Award for Best Doctoral Researcher) - Executive Masters in Public Policy & Economics (Distinction) - Executive Masters in Behavioural Science & Psychology (High Distinction, Top Performer of the Year) - MSc in Procurement and Supply Chain Management (Distinction) - MSc in Industrial Engineering - MSc in Mechanical Engineering / Operations Management Mahmut has also graduated from various Executive Leadership Programs in MIT, NUS, Oxford, and Harvard in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Platform Economies, Collaborative Governance, Tech Governance, Technology Foresight, Management, and Development.
◼ Conducted Advanced Domain Exploration Studies Venture Investing such in Next Generation Energy Generation and Efficiency Technologies for Informed Investment Thesis ◼ Developed a series of Ecosystem Maps for Informed Venture Incubation and Acceleration ◼ Drafted Technology Foresight and Strategies covering the utilisation of AI-adided approaches in Venture Design and Development as well as Tech & Digital Sector Asset Development ◼ Particpated in the evaluation of hundreds of Venture Concepts and Global Venture Competitions ◼ Co-drafted to a Series of Strategic Documents about Sustainability and Sustainable Investment backed-up by Technology Studies and data-driven Innovation Foresight. ◼ Established the Framework for Technology Assessment in Venture Building involving: Taxanomies, Tech Types and Clustering, Matrices, Techology Management Frameworks, Dependency Structure Matrices, Vector Charting, Modelling and Extrapolation of Technology Trajectories, Development of Technology Roadmaps, and Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) for Ecosystem Dyanamics.
This working group titled "Fostering Technology Convergence" is concerned with the convergent applications that span AI, robotics, bioengineering, quantum computing, advanced energies and more. These technologies are anticipated to form a new foundation for future growth and breakthroughs. This working group seeks to map the enablement, interoperability, and synergistic matters that these domains will have, thereby providing a new roadmap, and set of solutions for our most complex challenges today.
The governance track aims to define and recommend governance frameworks that prioritize the prevention of harm, risk mitigation, equity, and interoperability within the AR/VR/XR space. This track focuses on establishing guidelines and frameworks to ensure a safe and inclusive metaverse for all stakeholders involved and provide recommendations that promote the sustainable and responsible development of the metaverse. Specific focus is given to opportunities and challenges of the metaverse interoperability. Moreover, the working group explores and defines governance frameworks in privacy and safety that are technically grounded and globally applicable.
The AR/VR value creation working group aims to explore economic and social value creation in the metaverse and provide guidance for organizations to prepare for disruption and value creation. Starting with an exploration of the consumer-facing solutions. This track also investigates the industrial and enterprise AR/VR/XR solutions in the future. Additionally, it does research the opportunities and trade-offs in access, inclusion, sustainability, and well-being for those seeking to use the AR/VR/XR platforms. This track explores the metaverse stack, technologies driving the expansion of AR/VR/Xr, and explores and defines the roles of the metaverse and stakeholders.
◼ Managed international benchmarking of AI Regulations ◼ Lead international benchmarking of AI Ethics Principles ◼ Produced the NEOM AI Regulatory Policy Paper ◼ Studied organisational level AI Governance Framework including sub-structures for development and deployment as well as governance involving stakeholder outreach and inclusiveness ◼ Researched National AI Ecosystems and Produced Policy Papers ◼ Contributed to AR, VR, and XR Governance Framework for Risk and Privacy (WEF) ◼ Contributed to AR, VR, and XR Economic and Social Value Creation (WEF) ◼ Managed the development of an AR, VR, and XR rules engine-based sandboxes and proof-of-concepts (POCs) for Property Digital Rights ◼ Managed the "Metaversation" of a large-scale real-estate property at NEOM.
◼ Initiated the creation of the Behavioural Economics Unit in 2017 ◼ Drafted the RFQ, managed the tendering and contracting processes for engaging a European top-tier behavioral science consultancy to assist the capability development of the Unit ◼ Developed reporting structures, secured budgeting, managed the hiring process (drafting job descriptions, reviewing CVs, conducting interviews) ◼ Co-developed the vision, mission, objectives of the Unit ◼ Co-managed 30+ stakeholder meetings with public and private sector players to identify and prioritized policy challenges for evidence-based behavioural informed policymaking ◼ Published policies briefs related to behavioral science in government, policy making cycle ◼ Re-designed Oman's Utility Bills using Psychology (e.g. Cognitive Processing Fluency) and evidence-based research technics.
◼Analysed global, regional, and domestic trends in economics, demographics, international trade, and technology leadership. Managed empirical baseline studies for informed Vision 2040 formulation and target setting ◼ Analysed domestic policies and Visions of neighbouring countries. Identified constraints and emerging policy challenges for mid and long-term economic development ◼ Served as a focal-point for Vision 2040 Office and project teams related to Climate Change, Oman National Spatial Strategy, and Industrial Strategy 2040 ◼ Facilitated Scenario and Strategic Foresight workshops. Co-managed Horizon Scanning, Visioning and Back-casting exercises. Performed Wind-tunnelling of mid and long-term policy options in utilities, and health.