Ali Hamidaddin
Chief Digital & Info Officer
Over 20 years shaping digital strategy, building technology divisions, and managing global IT operations with direct value tracking.
Profile Highlights
01
Strategic Management
Digital Transformation
PMO Governance
Value Delivery (VDO)
Joint-Ventures (JV)
Executive Budgeting
- Value Delivery Office (VDO): Drove over 300 Million SAR in cost avoidance through disciplined portfolio governance and milestone tracking.
- Strategic Partnerships: Brokered JV structures with government entities, shaping commercial economics, operating models, and value realization governance.
- Corporate PMO: Standardized role-based PMO competency matrices and SaaS project portfolio tracking.
02
Data & AI Architecture
Generative AI Agents
Command Center AI
Data Warehousing
Power BI Analytics
Data Governance
- Generative AI Agent: Deployed a conversational 'talk-to-your-data' query interface within OSS, automating complex form-filling for logistics clients.
- AI Command Center: Deployed automated alert troubleshooting utilizing SCADA smart controllers, real-time security logs, and CCTV analytics.
- Corporate Data Warehouse: Seamlessly unifies ERP, OSS, and CRM datasets to provide automated KPI dashboards.
03
Hybrid Cloud & Infrastructure
Azure & AWS Cloud
VMware Virtualization
Infrastructure as Code
Dell Boomi iPaaS
Salesforce CRM
Cybersecurity Controls
- VMware & Azure Model: Containerized workload optimization across VMware server clusters and Azure Serverless backbones.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Fully scripted system deployment ensuring automatic documentation and 100% swift recovery.
- Secure WAN Backbone: Secure, cloud-integrated network backbones engineered for remote multi-zone scalability.
04
Business Applications Stack
Salesforce CRM
Salesforce Q2C
Custom Logistics OSS
ERP Integration
Fasah API Middleware
- One-Stop Shop (OSS) MVP: Built from scratch, integrating cargo management, custom clearances, and automated billing routes.
- Salesforce Integrations: Phase 1 (CRM lead pipe automation) and Phase 2 (OSS contract automation integrations).
- Salesforce Quote-to-Cash (Q2C): Led Salesforce Q2C implementation across sales, finance, and pricing modules.
Explore Experience
Chief Digital and Information Officer
Special Integrated Logistics Zone Company
Aug 2024 – CurrentEnterprise CDIO mandate spanning board-facing governance, startup-scale investment stewardship, and rapid build-out of SILZ’s digital operating backbone.
Executive Mandate & Governance
- Executive reporting: Report directly to the CEO, with regular executive reporting to the Board, external regulators, and media stakeholders.
- Portfolio accountability: Own SILZ's enterprise digital and IT agenda, governing an ~SAR 800M investment portfolio with a defined path to ~SAR 100M annual OPEX by year 5.
- Enterprise authority: Hold enterprise decision rights across architecture, cybersecurity, vendor strategy, and technology investment governance.
Enterprise Build & Operating Performance
- Organization build: Built and lead the Digital & IT organization from the ground up (30 people), hiring four directors and shaping broader senior leadership capability.
- Execution velocity: Delivered enterprise strategy in the first 90 days; launched the first One Stop Shop product and streamlined operations/finance processes within 180 days; completed team build-out in year one.
- Service outcomes: Reduced service time-to-market from 6 months to 1 month and achieved 99.9% service availability in year one.
- Scale trajectory: Scaled platform adoption from 20 to 200 users across years 1–2 and remain on track to reach 20,000 users by year 3.
Growth, Partnerships & Risk
- Strategic growth bets: Defined and executed three enterprise growth bets: seamless tenant attraction through automated One Stop Shop journeys; smart logistics performance through IoT and observability; scalable enterprise/system architecture to support multi-zone expansion into a holding model.
- Value realization: Drove >SAR 300M in cost avoidance through Value Delivery Office governance and disciplined portfolio execution.
- JV structuring: Brokered strategic partnership/JV structures, including commercial economics and operating model design.
- Risk leadership: Mitigated major regulatory and operational risk exposure and converted a strategic customer churn threat into growth.
Director of Technology Delivery
Special Integrated Logistics Zone Company
Aug 2024 – Oct 2025Led the operational spin-off and delivery of key digital products during SILZ's initial setup.
Key Accomplishments
- IT Separation: Oversaw SILZ's separation from parent company IT dependencies, building an independent Microsoft enterprise ecosystem and core collaboration services.
- OSS MVP Launch: Led the technology delivery and launch of SILZ’s initial One-Stop Shop (OSS) MVP, establishing core billing and cargo workflow capabilities.
- Network Backbone: Directed the design and implementation of SILZ’s secure, multi-site network backbone with cloud-integrated access, enabling operational continuity and remote scalability.
- Agile Spin-up: Recruited the initial product delivery and technology teams, setting up agile processes to kickstart early-stage software development.
Senior Manager, Enterprise Applications & BI
D2L Inc.
Jan 2022 – Jul 2024Leading business transformation through effective, value-driven IT, BI, and data governance frameworks.
Strategic Transformation & Scale
- IT Strategy Alignment: Led the development and implementation of a new IT strategy, aligned with company goals and vision.
- Cloud Migrations: Oversaw the migration of key applications to cloud-based platforms, resulting in increased scalability and cost savings.
High-Performance Division Building
- Vendor Partnerships: Led the evaluation and selection of new technology vendors, resulting in partnerships that drove innovation and improved service delivery.
- Talent Management: Built a high-performing IT team through effective recruitment and development strategies, and instituted training systems that boosted employee engagement.
Project Roadmap & Execution
- Portfolio Management: Oversaw the development and execution of the IT project portfolio, ensuring alignment with company goals and vision.
- Framework Redesign: Developed and implemented a project management framework, resulting in increased project success rates and improved stakeholder satisfaction.
- Service Delivery Model: Designed and implemented a service delivery model resulting in high cross-functional engagement and alignment.
Data Governance & Business Intelligence
- Data Maturity Roadmapping: Designed a data maturity model and used it to build a service roadmap.
- Data Strategy: Built the data strategy and designed BI services that enabled improved strategic and operational decision-making tools, facilitating business agility and scale.
Strategic Initiatives Program Manager
D2L Inc.
Feb 2018 – Jan 2022Leading disruptive, cross-functional strategic programs to transform operational margins and compliance models.
COVID-19 Market Readiness
- War Room Coordination: Led and managed a virtual war room for the CxO team to coordinate D2L market readiness and response to COVID-19.
- Market Enablement: Achieved complete alignment across divisions and enabled market responses that supported D2L’s customer base and introduced remote learning solutions.
Corporate Strategic Initiatives
- Margin Optimization: Achieved 25+% profit margin improvement through the development of an effective delivery model to international markets.
- Operational Acceleration: Developed and operationalized a cross-functional go-to-market process reducing market kickoff duration from 3 to 1 month.
- Performance Telemetry: Developed and operationalized product and market KPI reporting allowing cross-functional alignment on Pipeline, Revenue Analysis, and ROI planning.
Demonstration and Evaluation Ecosystems
- Cycle Reduction: Reduced evaluation site readiness to showcase new products from 6 months to 30 days.
- Self-Serve Provisioning: Enabled D2L to spin up cloud-hosted sites inclusive of all features and demo data within minutes in a self-serve model, reducing hosting costs by 20%.
Information Security and Privacy Regulation
- GDPR Alignment: Led cross-functional teams to revise, rewrite, and implement processes considering GDPR to ensure client data security and compliance.
- Automation & Savings: Automated data retention policies and Brightspace site cleanups, saving $500K annually.
Senior Project Manager, Corporate PMO
D2L Inc.
Feb 2015 – Feb 2018Managed strategic SaaS migrations, financial frameworks, and advanced analytics dashboards for Professional Services.
Key Projects & PMO Delivery
- AWS SaaS Migrations: Partnered with clients to migrate them to AWS, taking them through an end-to-end roadmap and coordinating cross-functional technical and business resources.
- Zero Downtime Redesign: Delivered a technical transformation project to AWS hosted DCs and successfully enabled Zero Downtime Maintenance through architecture redesign.
- Quote-to-Cash (Q2C): Led Salesforce Q2C implementation, increasing productivity and forecasting accuracy while supporting a new pricing rollout.
- MS Power BI Dashboards: Designed, configured, and rolled out advanced Power BI dashboards providing visibility on project earned value, utilization, and resource allocation.
- Financial Models: Created a project financial template guiding multiple project teams through business case approval and feasibility studies.
Project Manager, Global Initiative Portfolio
Procter & Gamble
Sep 2012 – Oct 2014Coordinated global IT and business resources to deploy unified portfolio management solutions.
Portfolio Deployments & Training
- Productivity Uplift: Increased optimization productivity by 70% as users adopted the newly deployed global portfolio optimization solution.
- Training Delivery: Led a delivery team to train 1,000 global users, leveraging wiki-based documentation and video guides, receiving corporate recognition for excellence.
- Unified Architecture: Designed a unified solution meeting the needs of 15 global business units, allowing categories to retire outdated legacy systems.
Regional IT Infrastructure Project Manager
Procter & Gamble
Jul 2010 – Sep 2012Oversaw IT infrastructure setups, networks, and telecommunications for factories with budgets exceeding $11M.
Factory Start-up & Expansion IT Services
- IT Services Blueprint: Led design sessions to build high/low level network infrastructure, server cabinet layouts, and managed print services for 8 start-up factories.
- SLA Handover: Handled vendor negotiation for regional SLAs, successfully handing over IT setups to ongoing site operations.
Portfolio Execution
- SME Integration: Implemented ~40 infrastructure projects in parallel, standardizing periodic vendor engagement to serve as a regional PMO.
- Project PMO: Improved delivery through coaching local project managers on planning and communication.
Budget Tracking & Forecasts
- Financial Controls: Managed annual budget forecasting and tracking of $11M.
- Corporate ERP: Coached local resources on budget tracking using advanced Excel models and corporate ERP systems.
Manufacturing IT PM / Site IT Manager
Procter & Gamble
Jul 2008 – Jul 2010Directed plant-level manufacturing execution systems, networking updates, and SLA vendor delivery.
Production Line Event Data Systems
- Proficy Platform: Led implementation of GE's Proficy event tracking platform on 24 production lines, integrating order management and quality assurance tools.
Productivity Solutions Projects
- Corporate Upgrades: Upgraded operating systems and office software for 1,500 employees, and designed the local SharePoint collaboration architecture.
Site IT Leadership
- SLA Management: Managed key IT vendor services (including BT, HP, and Xerox) to maintain strict site SLAs.
- Operations Alignment: Partnered with the plant manager to align IT services directly with monthly manufacturing productivity outputs.
Early Career & Internship
Procter & Gamble
Jul 2005 – Jul 2008Laid foundations in systems analysis, business specifications, and regional application delivery.
Sales Systems Manager (Jun 2006 – Jul 2008)
- Application Development: Led teams of systems analysts and business experts through the scoping, design, and implementation of core corporate sales platforms.
Systems Analyst Intern (Jul 2005 – Dec 2005)
- Functional Specs: Worked with regional application delivery leads to align and document functional specifications for localized corporate tools.
Credentials & Education
Ali Hamidaddin
QualificationsRigorous academic grounding combined with industry-standard project management certifications.
Academic & Professional Accreditations
B.Sc. in Management Information Systems
King Fahd University for Petroleum & Minerals
Class of 2006
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute
License #1718105 • Active since 2014