In partnership with

BOARDING CALL ✈

Welcome aboard, and welcome to the Departure Brief

If you’re reading this in the cab to the airport, in the lounge, or halfway through boarding EK819, you’re exactly where we imagined you’d be.

Departure Brief was built for consultants in the Middle East who want to start their week a little sharper, without digging through the noise of the countless news sources out there. Every Monday, we’ll bring you a fast, focused update on what actually matters for you, plus a few tools and insights that will make you look good in front of your client, manager, director, partner… or whoever’s reviewing your slides. And if you’ve had enough of airplanes, we’ve got you covered with the latest exit opportunities.

Highlights this week:

I got a sponsor this week! Also, some really cool jobs this, highly recommend you them out… a part from that, a new PIF strategy in the making, Humain deals, and Saudi hosting world cups of a bunch of random stuff

Enjoy your read!

Your career will thank you.

Over 4 million professionals start their day with Morning Brew—because business news doesn’t have to be boring.

Each daily email breaks down the biggest stories in business, tech, and finance with clarity, wit, and relevance—so you're not just informed, you're actually interested.

Whether you’re leading meetings or just trying to keep up, Morning Brew helps you talk the talk without digging through social media or jargon-packed articles. And odds are, it’s already sitting in your coworker’s inbox—so you’ll have plenty to chat about.

It’s 100% free and takes less than 15 seconds to sign up, so try it today and see how Morning Brew is transforming business media for the better.

Check it out

SECTOR SCAN 🔭

Your weekly rundown of the most relevant business news in the region - for the sectors that matter to you

Public Sector & Government

• Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit widened to $23.6 bn in Q3 2025, up 157% QoQ, as oil revenue fell 21% YoY and spending rose 6%; the government now projects a full-year deficit of SAR245 bn (5.3% of GDP) despite solid non-oil GDP growth (full story)

• Al Ula will open SAR 6 Bn worth of tourism and infrastructure projects to private investors as it looks to diversify funding which is now mainly driven by the kingdom’s finance ministry - 1 million visitors are expected by 2030 so could get a nice ROI in case anyone is interested (full story)

• PIF is finalizing a new strategy (or a strategy refresh as we like to call them) - in which the fund will re-focus on six main sectors: travel, tourism & entertainment, urban development & livability, advanced manufacturing & innovation, industrial & logistics, clean energy & renewable infrastructure, and NEOM - my God these sectors sound like they came in straight from one our pretty slides with icons (full story)

Energy & Resources

• The US and Abu Dhabi governments will invest $1.8 bn into mining and refining projects across the globe through private equity fund Orion Resource Partners to strengthen Western countries’ access to lithium, rare earth, and other critical minerals and counter China’s export curbs - we keep on seeing it here… Minerals is the new oil (full story)

• Maaden awarded a SAR391 mn ($104 mn) contract to US firm Bechtel to develop the Ar Rjum gold mine in Makkah as part of its plan to double gold output by 2030 - I’ll give you a quick fun fact here: if you invested in Gold in January 1st of this year, you’d have a return of +53% today; but if you invested in Gold Miners (for example the UBS Solactive Global Pure Gold Miners ETF), you’d be at ~100% (full story)

• Abu Dhabi launched the world’s largest solar + battery project; a $6 bn Masdar-EWEC project set to power the grid 24/7 and cut 5.7 mn tonnes of CO₂ annually by 2027 (full story)

Technology, Media & Telecommunication

• PIF’s Humain signed a $3bn deal with Blackstone-backed Air Trunk to build a large-scale AI-ready data center campus in Saudi Arabia (full story)

• A new Dentsu report shows anime has become a core part of Saudi youth culture, with 70% of fans responding positively to anime-linked brands and 21% spending over SAR2k a year on merchandise — signaling big marketing opportunities for brands as Saudi looks to move from consuming to producing anime content under Vision 2030 (full story)

Financial Services

• UAE-based Qashio acquired Saudi fintech Sanad Cash to deepen its footprint in the Kingdom. Qashio is a corporate spend management platform that helps businesses control expenses and issue smart corporate cards - check out their website.. it’s actually quite cool what they do (full story)

• Goldman Sachs is expanding its wealth management division in Saudi Arabia to target the ultra-rich, launching the first phase of its local private banking services in Riyadh - Hope Departure Brief will put me in their target audience bracket soon… (full story)

• Saudi Arabia is preparing to launch the Elaf Fund, worth billions of riyals, to finance strategic projects in Syria across infrastructure, energy, real estate, and logistics — part of a broader push to deepen Saudi-Syrian economic ties and move from MoUs to concrete investments (full story)

Transport & Logistics

• PIF-backed EVIQ partnered with Apsco to roll out 5,000 fast EV chargers by 2030, integrating its tech across Apsco’s nationwide network — a bigr step toward 30% electric vehicles in Riyadh (full story)

Consumer Products & Retail

• Amazon launched a 15-minute delivery service in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to start competing with Noon-minutes and and Careem’s quick (full story)

Others

• Property Finder announced an investment in Stake, the fractional real estate investment platform we spoke about a few editions ago (remember?) - the idea is to make the real estate market in the UAE more liquid and more accessible to all (full story)

• Saudi Arabia will host the Entrepreneurship World Cup 2025 finals during Biban 2025 in Riyadh, bringing together 100 startups from 46 countries to compete for $1.5 mn in prizes - had no idea that existed… (full story)

• Riyadh just hosted the world fire and rescue championships with Russia and Belarus finishing top of the tournament - I guess that’s even cooler than the Entrepreneurship World Cup (full story)

THE EXIT ROW 💼

Your bosses might not like this section, but that’s alright. Every week, we’ll provide you with a list of curated job openings for any of you that are tired of the travel routine and looking to have a life again after 7 PM - includes opportunities for all levels

FREELANCING

There is a bunch of freelancing opportunities I’ve been made aware of. If you’re interested, please register your profile on Ultra (“join Ultra”) - a top EMEA freelancing platform that connects you with an extensive portfolio of clients in the region for freelance consulting projects. You can also book a call with Valentin Reyx, co-founder, to learn more.

UAE

1. Deliveroo | Head of Strategy & Initiatives Middle East (Apply here)

2. Mastercard | Manager, Strategy, APEMEA (Apply here)

3. ADNOC | Analyst, Strategy (Apply here)

4. Etihad | Customer Journey Strategy Manager (Apply here)

5. Blue Heron Capital | Chief of Staff (Apply here)

6. Siemens Energy | Strategy Leader (Apply here)

7. Bank of Sharjah | Manager - Strategy & Business Management (Apply here)

8. Keeta | Merchant Operations Strategy (Apply here)

9. Jacobs | Associate Director - Business Strategy & Finance (Apply here)

10. Talabat | Sr. Specialist, CX Strategy (Apply here)

11. Property Finder | Commercial Strategy & Operations Lead (Apply here)

12. KodeKloud | Business Strategy Associate (Apply here)

13. Careem | Senior Commercial & Strategy Leader (Apply here)

14. Sundus | Sr. Strategy Specialist (Apply here)

15. AI71 | Product Strategy & Operations Associate (Apply here)

16. Noon | Assistant Manager Growth Strategy (Apply here)

17. Emirates Development Bank | Manager, Strategy (Apply here)

18. Dubai Air Navigation Services (DANS) | Strategy & Performance Manager (Apply here)

19. VentureOne | Manager, Business Consulting (Apply here)

20. Al Futtaim Automotive | Transformation Manager (Apply here)

21. Animoca Brands | Senior Associate, Strategy Ops / BD & Partnerships / Investments (Apply here)

22. Revolut | Strategy & Operations Manager (Apply here)

KSA

1. Mandarin Oriental | Director of Commercial Strategy (Apply here)

2. Islamic Development Bank | Senior Strategy Management Specialist (Apply here)

3. Entaj | Senior Strategy Manager (Apply here)

4. Flyadeal | Corporate Strategy Specialist (Apply here)

5. Tamer Group | Business Analyst, Strategy & Transformation (Apply here)

6. Webook | Chief of Staff (Apply here)

7. Careem | Commercial & Strategy Leaders (Apply here)

CABIN DEEP DIVE 🔎

Every week, we give a focused look on a topic, news, trend that is shaping the region; no fluff, just the insights you need.

MADE IN SAUDI - A NEW WAY FOR YOU TO MAKE BANK (AND LEAVE CONSULTING)

So there’s a guy called Mustafa Hashmi. A Saudi who used to live in Dubai working for a multinational. Now he moved back home and started a company called Saudi Sustainability Technologies. The company has one employee and makes one thing: sensors that detect leaks and pipe damage, mainly for data centers and other facilities with heavy cooling systems.

Mustafa is tapping into a massive opportunity. The Saudi government is putting in place a growing set of incentives to make “homegrown” the default for many products. Under Vision 2030, local manufacturers are being supported through tariff exemptions on machinery, easing of Saudisation quotas, and even a “mandatory list” of 1,500 products that state-owned entities must source locally.

And the results are starting to show:

• Local content in government procurement hit 48% in 2024, up from 43% the year before — closing in on the 50% Made in Saudi target.

• The manufacturing sector grew nearly 6% YoY, with 83 new industrial licences and 58 new factories launched in June alone.

• The number of factories has now surpassed 12,480, an 11% increase year-on-year, according to Argaam and GASTAT.

So, long story short: find a niche product your client is importing, quit your job, open a factory in Saudi, start making it yourself, sell it, make money, retire, and live happily ever after.

And that’s a wrap…

Thank you for being on board the Departure Brief this week.

Let us know how we did!

Have a safe flight, an amazing week, and see you next Monday!