Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh recently relocated to London, dividing his time between the UK and Dubai.
With nearly a decade of experience in the United States, including a significant role at Scale AI, he is leveraging that expertise for his new venture: 1001 AI. This innovative company focuses on developing AI infrastructure tailored for critical industries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The startup has successfully secured a $9 million seed funding round, led by prominent investors such as CIV, General Catalyst, and Lux Capital. Additional support comes from both global and regional angels, including Chris Ré, Amjad Masad (co-founder of Replit), Amira Sajwani (of DAMAC), Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud (RAED Ventures), and Hisham Alfalih (Lean Technologies).
Abu-Ghazaleh emphasized that his fledgling company aims to drastically reduce inefficiencies within high-stakes sectors such as aviation, logistics, and oil and gas by implementing an AI-native operating system to enhance decision-making processes.
“In just the top few industries—airports, ports, construction, and oil and gas—we’ve identified over $10 billion in inefficiencies within the Gulf region alone,” the founder and CEO stated in an interview with TechCrunch. “This figure is based on markets like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Excluding other sectors, these industries alone present a tremendous opportunity.”
For instance, efficiencies detected in airport operations can lead to substantial savings that benefit both the airport and the airlines utilizing its services. Additionally, Abu-Ghazaleh mentioned that nearly 90% of mega-projects in the region fall behind schedule or exceed budgets, indicating that even marginal improvements in efficiency can yield significant cost savings in these projects.
1001 AI intends to market its decision-making AI to new projects following the launch of its inaugural product, which is expected by the end of this year. Abu-Ghazaleh noted that the startup is actively engaged in discussions with some of the largest construction firms and airports in the Gulf region.
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Originally from Jordan, Abu-Ghazaleh moved to the U.S. for his education and later entered the Bay Area startup landscape. After an initial role in product development at computer vision firm Hive AI, he joined Scale AI in 2020 during a pivotal growth phase. He advanced from operations associate to director of GenAI operations, where he oversaw the scaling of the contributor network responsible for annotating and labeling training data.
Although poised to join Scale’s international public sector division—focused on building AI solutions for foreign governments—he eventually left to establish 1001 AI following a strategic investment by Meta that altered the company’s direction.
The Gulf region, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, has emerged as a frontrunner in AI adoption globally. Governments are channeling billions into projects aimed at developing local AI infrastructure and attracting top-tier talent through sovereign-backed ventures like G42 in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia’s National Center for AI.
For Abu-Ghazaleh, this blend of ambition, financial backing, and urgency makes the region an ideal testing ground. Unlike many AI startups that focus predominantly on software or enterprise solutions, 1001 AI is set to address real-world operational challenges—an area where investors believe the potential is especially pronounced in the MENA region.
“We have strong confidence in AI that tackles physical-world challenges on a grand scale, such as optimizing flight turnaround at airports, enhancing cargo movement at ports, and streamlining construction operations,” stated Deena Shakir, a partner at Lux Capital. “The MENA region has significant untapped potential in this area, particularly with its essential infrastructure that is markedly under-digitized and primed for transformation.”
Although the product remains in development, Abu-Ghazaleh offered insight into its functionality. The system integrates data from a client’s existing software, models operational workflows, and generates real-time directives to enhance efficiency.
“Currently, an operations manager may need to make calls to reroute a fuel truck or dispatch a cleaning crew to a different gate,” he explained. “Our system automates this orchestration. The AI orchestrator leverages real-time data to reroute vehicles, reassign personnel, and adjust operations without human intervention.”
Distinct from many early-stage AI startups that focus on specific industries, Abu-Ghazaleh asserts that 1001 AI’s approach is versatile, as operational flows frequently share similarities across sectors.
This model draws from the meticulous processes observed in consulting and contract work. The team immerses itself in client operations for weeks, conducting collaborative development sprints to customize its systems according to each operation’s specific realities, according to the CEO.
“Bilal is establishing an intelligent decision engine to streamline complexity using proven methods from Scale, positioning 1001 AI as the foundational platform for this market,” remarked Neeraj Arora, managing director at General Catalyst.
The recent funding will expedite early deployments in the aviation, logistics, and infrastructure sectors while facilitating expansion in engineering, operations, and go-to-market roles as the team grows across Dubai and London.
1001 AI aims to implement its initial customer deployment by the year’s end, commencing with the construction industry. Over the next five years, Abu-Ghazaleh envisions positioning the company as the premier orchestration layer for these sectors in the Gulf, with plans for global expansion thereafter.
