Background and Funding

Bilal Abu‑Ghazaleh, a Jordanian‑born entrepreneur who spent nearly a decade in the United States, most recently served as director of generative AI operations at Scale AI. After leaving Scale AI, he founded 1001 AI, a venture focused on building AI infrastructure for critical physical‑world industries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The startup announced a $9 million seed round led by CIV, General Catalyst and Lux Capital. Additional backers include angels such as Chris Ré, Amjad Masad, Amira Sajwani, Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud and Hisham Al‑Falih.

Target Industries and Market Opportunity

1001 AI’s initial focus spans aviation, logistics, construction, and oil and gas—sectors that Abu‑Ghazaleh describes as “high‑stakes” and riddled with inefficiencies. He estimates that the top three or four industries alone harbor more than $10 billion in inefficiencies across the Gulf, particularly in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The company points out that nine out of ten of the region’s mega‑projects fall behind schedule or exceed budget, meaning even modest gains in operational efficiency could translate into substantial cost savings.

Technology and Product Vision

The core of 1001 AI’s offering is an AI‑native operating system designed to automate decision‑making for complex physical workflows. The platform ingests data from a client’s existing software, models operational processes, and issues real‑time directives to improve efficiency. For example, where an operations manager might currently call a driver to reroute a fuel truck, the AI orchestrator can automatically adjust routes, reassign crews and balance workloads without human intervention. The company plans to embed its engineers with clients for co‑development sprints, tailoring the system to each organization’s specific operational realities.

Regional Context and Future Plans

The Gulf region has emerged as an aggressive adopter of AI, with sovereign‑backed ventures such as G42 in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia’s National Center for AI investing heavily in local AI infrastructure. Abu‑Ghazaleh believes this appetite, combined with sizable budgets, creates an ideal testing ground for 1001 AI’s technology. The startup aims to launch its first customer deployment by the end of the year, beginning with construction projects, and expects to expand into aviation, logistics and oil and gas over the next several years. The recent funding will accelerate early deployments and support recruitment across engineering, operations and go‑to‑market functions in Dubai and London.

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