Press kit.
Bios, topics, photography and contact details for journalists, podcast producers and conference organisers. Copy anything on this page directly.
Short bio
Approximately 50 words. Use as-is.
Faisal Karkoh is an AI product builder and digital strategist based in Kuwait, building AI products, agents, automation and bilingual digital experiences for businesses across the GCC. He has spent fifteen years in CTO, COO and CEO seats across media, eCommerce and technology companies in Kuwait and the UAE.
Long bio
Approximately 150 words. Use as-is.
Faisal Karkoh is an AI product builder and digital strategist based in Kuwait. He builds AI products, AI agents, automation and bilingual Arabic-English digital experiences for businesses across Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the wider GCC.
His background is operating rather than advisory. He is co-founder and CTO of Wavai, a Kuwait-based web and eCommerce practice; has been Chief Technology Officer of Al-Qabas, one of Kuwait's established newspapers, since 2016, leading its digital transformation; and has held CEO and COO seats at Menasa, Bleep and SHASHA. That combination — fifteen years of running the technology and operations side of real businesses in this region — shapes how he approaches AI work: start from the workflow that costs money, prove it with something running, then decide whether it deserves to become a product.
He works in Arabic and English, and argues that Arabic-first product design is architecture rather than translation.
Areas of expertise
AI product development — from business problem to a deployed, measured build.
AI agents — permissions, guardrails, monitoring and where autonomy is and isn't appropriate.
Business automation — removing repetitive work across CRM, messaging, support and operations.
Arabic-first AI products — RTL, dialect, bilingual retrieval and Arabic prompting.
Digital product strategy — deciding what should exist, and what shouldn't.
GCC digital products — building for Kuwait, the UAE and the wider Gulf market.
Speaking topics
Talks and panel subjects, each with a specific argument rather than a survey of the field.
Building AI Products in the GCC
What actually differs when you build here: bilingual defaults, WhatsApp as a primary channel, and systems that were never designed to be integrated.
Arabic-first AI Products
Why the translate-at-the-end approach keeps failing, and which architectural decisions determine whether an Arabic product feels native.
AI Agents for Real Business Operations
The nine things an agent needs before it runs unsupervised — only one of which is about the model.
From AI Prototype to Production
Why demos stall, and what separates a pilot everyone liked from a system people use daily.
How SMEs Can Use AI Without an AI Department
Starting from one measurable workflow instead of a strategy, and the cases where the honest answer is not yet.
Photography
Approved portrait: the image used across this site, including the social card at faisalkarkoh.com/og/social.webp. Please credit as "Faisal Karkoh".
For higher-resolution files, alternative crops or event-specific photography, get in touch and they'll be sent over directly.
Coverage
A verified list of press mentions and appearances is maintained separately and will be published here. If you have covered this work and would like it linked from this page, please get in touch.
Profiles
LinkedIn — Professional background
X — @faisalkarkoh
Instagram — @faisalkarkoh
Wavai — Co-founder & CTO
AhlanAI — Arabic-first AI tools directory
Reference
About Faisal — Full background
Expertise — What he works on, with evidence
AI — The AI practice
Work — Selected projects
Writing — Articles and analysis
Press, podcast or conference enquiry?
Press, podcast or conference enquiry?
Include your deadline and format and you'll get a straight yes or no quickly.