Asma Siddiki

CEO Advisor

Asma A. Siddiki is an education executive and strategy advisor whose 30-year career spans leadership in higher education, organizational development and cultural exchange across the Middle East and beyond. She holds a doctorate in cognitive psychology from the University of Oxford. She serves as CEO Advisor at the Diriyah Gate Development Authority, where she is leading strategic initiatives including the establishment of a university in Diriyah, and she was previously Executive Director for Education and Research at the Diriyah Foundation, shaping its academic and outreach frameworks. At the Prince Mohammed Bin Salman College for Business and Entrepreneurship she served as Interim Dean, overseeing change management, quality assurance and the recruitment of the founding MBA class, and strengthening partnerships including with Babson College. Earlier she advised institutions and governments across the region on strategic planning, regulatory compliance, curriculum design and student development, and expanded programs for gifted learners in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. She began her career as a teacher, taught at Effat University, the University of Oxford and the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, and designed executive programs on women’s leadership. She served as Associate Dean at the Dubai School of Government in collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School and as Vice Dean at Effat University, and has held governance roles with The World Academy and Waad Holding Company. A World Economic Forum Young Global Leader from 2014 to 2021, she has spoken at the World Economic Forum, G20 forums and international conferences on education, workforce development and entrepreneurship, represented Saudi Arabia in high-level delegations and bilateral dialogues such as the Two Kingdoms Dialogue between the UK and Saudi Arabia, and written on lifelong learning, knowledge economies and education ecosystems in the Gulf. She has also served on advisory boards of organizations in health, technology and education.