Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh, a seasoned AI professional with nearly a decade of experience in the U.S., including a notable tenure at Scale AI, has recently launched 1001 AI. This new venture aims to develop advanced AI infrastructure for critical industries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The startup successfully secured a $9 million seed round of funding, spearheaded by prominent investors CIV, General Catalyst, and Lux Capital. Additionally, the round saw participation from a diverse group of global and regional angel investors, including figures like Chris Ré, Amjad Masad of Replit, Amira Sajwani of DAMAC, Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud of RAED Ventures, and Hisham Alfalih of Lean Technologies.

1001 AI, despite being only two months old, is poised to address significant inefficiencies in high-stakes sectors such as aviation, logistics, construction, and oil and gas. Abu-Ghazaleh, the founder and CEO, highlighted that these industries alone account for over $10 billion in inefficiencies across key Gulf markets like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. He emphasized the compounding effect of efficiencies in areas such as airport operations, which benefit both airports and airlines. Moreover, with nine out of ten mega-projects in the region reportedly falling behind schedule or over budget, even marginal improvements in efficiency could lead to substantial cost savings.

The company plans to introduce an AI-native operating system designed to enhance decision-making. This system will integrate data from clients' existing software, model operational workflows, and issue real-time directives to optimize efficiency. Abu-Ghazaleh illustrated its function by explaining that where an operations manager might currently make manual calls to reroute a fuel truck or assign a cleaning crew, 1001 AI's system will automate this orchestration. It will use real-time data to reroute vehicles, reassign crews, and adjust operations autonomously, minimizing human intervention.

Abu-Ghazaleh's background includes an early product role at Hive AI and a significant period at Scale AI, where he progressed from operations associate to director of the company's GenAI operations. He was instrumental in scaling Scale AI's contributor network for annotating and labeling training data. His decision to found 1001 AI came after a strategic shift at Scale following Meta's investment, which altered his planned move to Scale's international public sector unit.

The MENA region, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, is seen as an ideal testing ground for 1001 AI due to its aggressive adoption of AI, substantial government investments in local AI infrastructure, and a strong appetite for technological innovation. Unlike many AI startups focusing on software or enterprise tools, 1001 AI targets real-world physical operations. Investors like Deena Shakir from Lux Capital express strong confidence in this approach, noting the significant potential in the Middle East's mission-critical infrastructure, which is often under-digitized and ripe for transformation.

1001 AI's operational model is unique, borrowing rigor from consulting. The team embeds with clients for weeks, conducting co-development sprints to customize its systems to the specific realities of each operation. This approach, according to Abu-Ghazaleh, allows the system to be broadly applicable because fundamental operational flows often share similarities across diverse industries. The new funding will be crucial for accelerating early deployments in aviation, logistics, and infrastructure, as well as for recruiting talent in engineering, operations, and go-to-market roles across its Dubai and London offices. The company anticipates its first customer deployment by the end of the year, starting with the construction sector, with an ambitious five-year goal to become the Gulf's leading orchestration layer for these industries before global expansion.