Written by Rahim Hirji, author of SuperSkills (Kogan Page, 2026), founder of The SuperSkills Intelligence Company. The research is published openly with every source graded. Found an error? Tell me and it is corrected on the page.
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Available in DohaA London-based speaker on AI, work and human judgement, available for conferences, board sessions and leadership offsites in Doha.
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A feel for the room before you put me in front of yours.
Qatar’s ministerial AI guidance requires that AI systems not autonomously make decisions of significant consequence, and that people be able to appeal or override those carrying substantial impact. Humans keep control.
What it does not do is require anything of those humans. There is no obligation that they be trained, assessed or kept current. Control without competence is the least stable arrangement of the lot, because it satisfies a governance checklist while changing nothing about whether the oversight works. That is the argument at human in the loop is not a safeguard.
The phrase human in the loop appears nowhere in it. The operative concepts are human intervention, override and ultimate accountability.
And its human-centred principle is not an oversight principle. Its items concern cultural and religious values, feedback, diverse teams and accessibility. Anyone citing Qatar’s human-centred principle as an oversight duty has misread it. The guidance is also legally non-binding and carries no publication date, version number or reference number.
Qatar’s national AI strategy remains a 2019 blueprint written by a research institute and adopted by the ministry. It has never been publicly revised, and its labour analysis rests on a 2016 survey. There is no official Qatari statistic on AI adoption or AI-related employment.
For a Doha audience that is an opportunity rather than a criticism. An organisation that decides for itself where judgement stays human is ahead of its own regulator. The full verified picture, with every document read at the issuing body’s own page, is at AI and work in the Gulf.
Rahim Hirji is a London-based keynote speaker on AI, work and human judgement, and the author of SuperSkills (Kogan Page, 2026). He travels to Doha for boards, executive teams, leadership offsites and conferences. His argument is that AI comes for judgement before it comes for jobs.
No. All keynotes are delivered in English only. He travels from London to Doha and delivers in person or online. This page carries an Arabic summary because the reader may read Arabic, not because the keynote is delivered in it.
That it keeps humans in control and requires nothing of them. The guidance says AI systems should not autonomously make decisions of significant consequence and that people must be able to appeal or override. It sets no obligation that those people be trained, assessed or kept current. Two corrections travel with it: the phrase human in the loop appears nowhere in the document, and its human-centred principle concerns cultural values and accessibility rather than oversight.
Three to six months ahead for an in-person date in Doha. Shorter is often possible for a virtual session, and sometimes in person where the diary is free and the talk already exists in the form you need. Ask earlier rather than later. There is one of him, he carries advisory clients and other commitments alongside the speaking, so not every date can be taken.
Fees are not published, and not withheld to create a negotiation. What they depend on is whether the talk already exists in the form you want or has to be built for your audience, and how much preparation the brief implies. Tell us the room, the date, the audience and what you need them to do differently, and you will get a number quickly. Schools, universities and charities are quoted differently. On travel there is one rule: outside London you book it and you pay it, because your rates are better than his and nobody is out of pocket waiting on a reimbursement. From London Heathrow to Doha that falls in the five to eight hour band, so an economy plus fare, arrival the night before, and normally two nights in a standard room at or near the venue. A London booking carries no travel, accommodation or expenses at all.
When the decision has already been made and the session exists to announce it. When the audience has no authority over their own work, because the talk asks them to decide which repetitions are worth keeping. When the slot runs under twenty-five minutes, because the turn needs setting up. And when the session follows a vendor pitch, since order matters more than programmes usually assume. Where the conditions are wrong we will say so, and sometimes that means reshaping the session. Occasionally it means recommending somebody else.
رحيم هرجي مؤلف ومتحدث رئيسي مقيم في لندن، يتناول الذكاء الاصطناعي والعمل والحكم البشري. مؤلف كتاب SuperSkills الصادر عن دار Kogan Page عام 2026، ومؤسس شركة The SuperSkills Intelligence Company.
حجته: الذكاء الاصطناعي يطال حكمك قبل أن يطال وظيفتك. معظم المؤسسات تنجرف إلى تبنّي الذكاء الاصطناعي عبر مئات القرارات الصغيرة التي لم يتّخذها أحد بوضوح، بدل أن تُقرّر مسبقاً أين يجب أن يبقى الحكم البشري.
يقدّم محاضرات لمجالس الإدارة وفرق القيادة والمؤتمرات، مدّتها من 40 إلى 90 دقيقة، حضورياً أو عبر الإنترنت. متاح للسفر إلى دولة قطر.
ملاحظة مهمة: يقدّم رحيم جميع محاضراته باللغة الإنجليزية فقط.
Written by Rahim Hirji, author of SuperSkills (Kogan Page, 2026), founder of The SuperSkills Intelligence Company. The research is published openly with every source graded. Found an error? Tell me and it is corrected on the page.
Tell me the room, the date and the shift you need. A reply within 24 hours.
Part of speaking across the Gulf. See also Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Browse every topic, audience and region. دليل المتحدثين بالعربية.
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