Dr Manal Alassaf
Executive Director of Digital Delivery in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt

“What I love most about my job is integrating innovative ideas into our day to day work.”

Manal joined Worley in 2024. She’s responsible for driving digital delivery across our projects in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.

“Our digital solutions allow our customers to make smart and data-led decisions, automate their assets, and optimize performance, while reducing their environmental impacts.

“Part of my role is identifying opportunities for technology and digital tools to empower our team, maximize productivity and enhance the quality of the work we do,” she adds.

The role of artificial intelligence in project delivery

Manal believes unlocking the potential of digital technologies and tools, like artificial intelligence (AI), will require a shift in perception.

“Across the Middle East, and in particular Saudi Arabia, there’s growing interest in using such technologies to perform complex data analysis to drive decision making in new and more effective ways,” she explains.

“The main challenge here is shifting mindsets from conventional methods to digitally enabled approaches across everyday work. I see generative AI playing a growing role in creating designs from scratch, analyzing data and supporting decision making. That’s where the biggest improvements in project accuracy and efficiency will happen.

“But this opportunity depends on transitioning projects from document-centric to data-centric, by adopting digital tools and providing user training to unlock their full potential. This is a key part of what we do.”

Driving digital delivery forward

This next decade is critical to achieving net zero goals. But it won’t happen without greater use of digital technologies in project delivery.

“Achieving net zero is in large part an infrastructure challenge. And if we continue to deliver infrastructure at the rate we always have, we won’t achieve these goals. In fact, we might not even get halfway,” says Manal.

“Digital technologies drive speed and scale in delivering net zero infrastructure. And they will be the foundation of transparency, community trust, and, ultimately, shared value.

“Emerging technologies and innovative ideas are paving the way for sustainable transformation. There’s never been a better time to be working in digital.”