Kanwal Aalijah · AI consultant Dubai, UAE · working worldwide

Most AI pilots die in the slide deck. I get yours into production.

In ten years I've shipped 13 AI products for governments, enterprises, and funded startups, and I've sat on the government side approving other people's AI. Strategy, product, transformation, governance, or building your AI team: I take you from interesting demo to something real people use.

Taking on a small number of new engagements this quarter.
Dubai Future Foundation EY Nike PwC BlueCross BlueShield Saudi Customs Sila Insights Eightfold NZ Customs GCC Governments
The real problem

You don't have an AI problem. You have an AI follow-through problem.

The board asked for an AI strategy. You got a 40-slide deck and three pilots that never made it to a single real user.

Every vendor says yes to everything. Nobody tells you which use cases actually pay off, or which ones will quietly fail an audit.

Your team can build a demo in a weekend. Getting it past security, data compliance, and procurement takes a year.

How I can help

Four ways to work with me.

Fixed scope, clear deliverables, no open-ended hourly billing. Pick the one that matches where you are. Remote or on-site, UAE and worldwide.

AI Opportunity Audit

I look at your operations, your data, and your constraints, then come back with a short list of AI use cases worth doing, ranked by what they'll return and what they'll cost you to run. Plus the ones to walk away from. You get a roadmap you can fund, not a wish list.

2–3 weeks

Pilot to Production

We take one use case (yours, or one from the audit) and actually ship it. Built from day one to clear security review, data-compliance checks, and procurement. I work alongside your team, so the knowledge stays in the building, not with me.

6–8 weeks

AI Governance & Assurance

For regulated and public-sector teams, I set up the guardrails that let you adopt AI fast without getting burned: policy, risk and bias checks, decision logs, and an approval process mapped to ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI framework. The same standards I apply assessing AI for government today.

Public sector

AI Team Design & Hiring

I've built AI delivery organisations from scratch three times, most recently a team of 12 engineers and a PM that cut delivery costs by 50%. I'll design your team structure, write the role specs, technically screen the candidates, and set up the delivery process, so you end up with a team that ships rather than a headcount line.

4–6 weeks

Need someone in the room every week? I take on a small number of fractional AI leadership retainers: your Head of AI, without the full-time hire.

Kanwal Aalijah, AI consultant
Who you'd be working with

I've built the AI, and I've been the one approving it.

I started out doing data science in Karachi, spent a few years building AI consulting work out of New York, and I'm now a Programme Manager at the Dubai Future Foundation, inside the Dubai Centre for AI, helping shape how government adopts AI and certifying the solutions that get deployed.

That mix is the whole point. I've shipped AI products that made real money, and I've sat on the approval side deciding whether someone else's AI is safe to put in front of the public. So when I tell you a use case will or won't make it through, it isn't a guess.

I keep client work deliberately small, a handful of engagements at a time, so you get me, not a junior team learning on your budget.

Outcomes over hours Your team keeps the keys Built to pass audit ISO/IEC 42001 Lead Implementer
Credentials

Where the credibility comes from.

3× AI Innovation Award winnerRecognised for AI products deployed across government and enterprise in the GCC.
ISO/IEC 42001 Lead ImplementerCertified in AI management systems, the standard governments now expect.
MSc Computer Science · Cornell PMNUST and FAST engineering background, plus Cornell Product Management and PSPO.
Common questions

Things people ask before hiring me.

Do you only work in the UAE?

No. I'm based in Dubai, which puts me in the room for GCC government and enterprise work, but I run engagements remotely worldwide and I've delivered for clients in the US, New Zealand, and across MENA. Time zones have never killed a project; unclear scope has.

What kind of AI consultant are you, exactly?

The kind that ships. My background is product and programme leadership: I define the AI strategy, pick the use cases that will actually pay off, build and lead the team that delivers them, and set up the governance so it survives audit. If you need a research scientist to invent a new model architecture, that's not me. If you need working AI in production with a number attached, it is.

How do engagements work?

Fixed scope and fixed price, agreed up front. Audits run 2 to 3 weeks, delivery engagements 6 to 8 weeks, and fractional leadership is a monthly retainer. I keep only a handful of clients at a time, so you work with me directly.

Can you help us hire our own AI team instead?

Yes, and I'd often recommend it. I've built AI delivery teams from scratch three times. I'll design the structure, write the role specs, screen candidates technically, and hand you a team that ships. Consultants should make themselves unnecessary.

If AI is on your roadmap this year, talk to me before you commit budget.

A 30-minute call, no pitch. Tell me what you're trying to do and I'll tell you straight whether it's worth doing, and how I'd do it. I reply within one business day.