Lulwa Al-Hazzaa

Saudi Arabian tech pioneer driving inclusive innovation in the Middle East

Lulwa Al-Hazzaa is a Saudi Arabian entrepreneur leading the digital transformation in the GCC region through her company SAKHR. Born in 1988 in Riyadh, she broke gender barriers in 2010 by becoming the first woman to graduate from King Saud University's computer engineering program. In 2015, she founded SAKHR to create inclusive tech solutions addressing regional challenges like workforce diversity and healthcare access.

Al-Hazzaa's flagship product, Jobri, is a recruitment platform that anonymizes candidate profiles to combat bias. This has helped companies like Saudi Aramco achieve 30% female workforce targets. Her MediCare AI system, deployed in 120 hospitals, uses Arabic-language voice recognition to provide 24/7 medical consultations, especially beneficial in rural areas.

Her most revolutionary initiative is the Women's Innovation Hub, a co-working space with 200+ startups focused on gender-sensitive tech. This ecosystem has produced solutions like Moda Tech Abayas with embedded health sensors, and apps connecting female freelancers to global clients. SAKHR's 2021 partnership with IBM established the first Arabic-language quantum computing lab in the Middle East.

Al-Hazzaa's advocacy for tech inclusion led to her appointment as Saudi's youngest-ever board member at the National Center for Artificial Intelligence. She co-authored the 2022 GCC Digital Gender Gap Report, revealing that her platforms have closed 40% of the region's tech participation gap since 2018. Her TED Talk "Building Tomorrow's Tech with Half the World's Talent" has become a manifesto for inclusive innovation.

Recognition includes the 2020 MIT TR35 Award and 2023 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer designation. She recently launched Digital Nomad Visa initiatives attracting global tech talent to Saudi Arabia. Her vision of an Arab Silicon Valley continues to redefine technology's role in fostering social progress.