COO Ahmed Diab outlines how deeper local investment, agentic automation, and vertical-ready solutions are positioning StarLink at the forefront of the Kingdom’s cyber resilience journey.
Saudi Arabia’s cybersecurity landscape is entering a defining phase, driven by rapid AI adoption, expanding digital infrastructure, and evolving regulatory frameworks across critical industries. Organisations are accelerating cloud transformation, building secure-by-design platforms, and preparing for AI-driven threats, which is creating unprecedented demand for integrated and adaptive security strategies.
Ahmed Diab, Chief Operating Officer at StarLink, spoke to Daniel Shepherd, Online Editor, about how the company is deepening its investment in the Kingdom, reshaping its operating model, and supporting enterprises with AI-enabled resilience, vertical-tailored solutions, and close alignment with national priorities.
Interview Excerpts:
How is StarLink adapting its regional strategy to support Saudi enterprises as AI adoption accelerates and new cyber risks emerge?
We continuously evolve our go-to-market approach to align with each country’s needs, and Saudi Arabia is our number one focus and the largest market in the region. This year, we introduced a five-year vision under the name StarLink 5.0 that is fully aligned with Saudi Arabia’s national digital and cybersecurity directions. To support this, we have restructured our offerings into five core practices that reflect the Kingdom’s priorities:
- Cyber Resilience
- Cloud Transformation
- Agentic Automation
- Enterprise AI
- Digital Infrastructure
“All our solutions now map to these practices, ensuring we stay in sync with Saudi Arabia’s fast-moving technology landscape and across MEA as well.”
What key operational priorities are driving StarLink’s growth in 2025, especially in high-demand markets like Saudi Arabia?
Our top priority is local investment. At Black Hat MEA 2025, we marked the grand opening of our new Saudi office, where we now have more than 110 employees. We aim to double our investment and workforce in the next three to five years. Operationally, we are transforming our entire ecosystem through platformisation—bringing all communication channels and service touchpoints onto one automated, intelligent platform. Our customers, partners and vendors will be assisted by a unified, automated digital platform supported by intelligent workflows and AI agents. This shift enables us to operate 24/7/365, scale efficiently, and deliver seamless, consistent service across the region.
How is StarLink helping organisations move toward predictive, AI-enabled cyber resilience, and what differentiates your approach from traditional integrators?
We act as client zero for the technologies we promote. Before offering AI-driven or agentic cybersecurity capabilities to partners and customers, we implement them internally across our sales operations and service workflows. Today, agentic AI is embedded across StarLink’s internal operations, powering automation, decision-making, and service delivery. This real-world use allows us to build practical use cases for our partners and guide them on how to adopt and operationalise advanced AI technologies. What differentiates us is this practical-first approach—we use it, refine it, and then help our partners apply it to their customers, ensuring the transition to predictive cyber resilience grounded in proven operational experience.
How are you working with global technology partners to keep their solutions aligned with Saudi regulations such as NCA ECC, PDPL, and the requirements of mega-projects?
We have direct, constant engagement with Saudi customers, and we understand the regulatory environment and industry needs very deeply. We have built six vertical-focused solution frameworks, including Public Sector, BFSI, Energy & Oil and Gas, Telco, Healthcare, and Education. Each vertical has its own compliance requirements, regulatory expectations, and market-specific needs. We ensure that every solution we design or bring to market adheres to those requirements so that our global partners can directly benefit from a framework already aligned with the necessary regulations. This verticalisation ensures partners enter the market with solutions that are pre-aligned with NCA ECC, PDPL, and mega-project mandates.
What outcomes is StarLink aiming for at Black Hat MEA 2025, and how does the event strengthen your engagement with customers and government stakeholders in the Kingdom?
Black Hat MEA is one of the most important events for us, and we have participated every year since it began. Our goals here are twofold:
- Showcase our solutions and services to partners and customers
- Listen closely to the market
Beyond presenting our capabilities, we use the event to understand customer challenges, partner expectations, and vendor priorities. Saudi Arabia is developing at an extraordinary speed, and Black Hat helps us stay deeply connected to the market’s pulse. The event gives us the opportunity to engage directly with customers, partners, and government entities, ensuring we evolve with the Kingdom’s momentum and support its ambition to be a global cybersecurity leader.
