Tareq Al-Ghazzi

Head of Cloud Services, MENA

I build cloud platforms that actually survive reality.
Not slideware. Not best-effort. Not “it works in the lab.”

Since 2001, from Abu Dhabi, UAE as network engineer and domain admin to Head of Cloud Services at Mobiz IT in Riyadh.

Riyadh

About

I build cloud platforms that actually survive reality. Not slideware. Not best-effort. Not “it works in the lab.”

I have designed, governed, and delivered secure Azure environments for banks and regulated organizations across Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region. The work covers Cloud Adoption Framework and Well-Architected landing zones, infrastructure migrations, identity and access, FinOps, and governance that holds up in production and audit.

I currently lead Cloud Services for MENA at Mobiz IT. Previously I served as Lead Cloud Architect at Bank Albilad, driving multi-year Azure transformations.

My focus is simple: platforms that stay reliable when things break, stay compliant when auditors arrive, and stay cost-efficient when scale hits. If your cloud has to work in production — not just in a proposal — that is the work I do.

“Migration volume does not define maturity. Operational discipline, cost transparency, and architectures that survive Dev, SIT, UAT, and Production do.”

Experience

The record, newest first.

Now

Chapter 6 · A regional capability

Head of Cloud Services, MENA

Mobiz IT

Head of Cloud Services · November 2025 — Present, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Leading Azure strategy, architecture, and delivery across MENA. Landing zones, migrations, security remediation, FinOps, and practical AI platforms for regulated clients. The work has to hold up in production and in audit.

Established a regional cloud governance model aligned to CAF and the Well-Architected Framework
Implemented FinOps discipline for cost visibility, accountability, and optimization across markets
Standardized landing-zone architecture and operating models across Dev/SIT, UAT, and Production
Enabled AI platform readiness for advanced workloads and enterprise LLM initiatives
Led regional security and IAM standardization across jurisdictions
Designed the resilience strategy, including disaster recovery and high availability
Built and scaled cross-functional cloud and platform engineering teams

CAF / WAF governance

FinOps discipline

AI platform readiness

Resilience by design

Building teams

2022

Chapter 5 · Cloud at bank scale

Riyadh, from alliance to the bank

Bank Albilad

Lead Cloud Architect · June 2022 — February 2026, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Led multi-year Azure work for a regulated Saudi bank: landing zones, migration programs, security and compliance alignment, and internal capability building. The focus was platforms that survive operations and audit, not slideware.

Designed and evolved CAF and Well-Architected landing zones and core services for multi-environment estates
Drove automation, DevOps, and AI-driven improvements to cut manual operations and speed delivery
Embedded FinOps and guardrails so cost, reliability, and performance are part of the design
Aligned VPs and chiefs on trade-offs, and turned incidents into standards

Ajlan & Bros Holding Group Abilitii

Cloud Solution Architect · March 2022 — December 2022, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Reported to the CEO of AjlanTech. Led the cloud solution offering with a new cloud vendor, aimed at Vision 2030 work across industries.

Positioned offerings across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, plus AI and IoT
Worked with the commercial team from greenfield creation through to acquisition contexts

2016

Chapter 4 · The architect years

Pre-sales architecture for enterprise and FSI

Crayon

Cloud Solution Architect · March 2018 — February 2022, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Cloud pre-sales architect for enterprise accounts and financial services. Owned the technical path from feasibility and architecture to PoC, compliance, and the decision in the room with senior executives.

Architected Azure and Microsoft 365 / EMS workloads, including hybrid estates
Chose between lift-and-shift and new Dev or Production platforms
Led compliance assessments on proposed Azure architectures
Ran technical and economic value discussions that drove implementation decisions
Owned onboarding quality with Microsoft Services or partners, and the usage targets after

Dimensions Cloud

Cloud and Infrastructure Architect · September 2016 — March 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Microsoft cloud pre-sales and P-Seller. Advised on architecture and deployment of workloads to Office 365 and Azure, and carried the customer engagement through PoCs and executive value discussions.

End-to-end cloud deployment experience for Office 365 and Azure
Implementation projects and proofs of concept
Technical and economic conversations with senior customer executives

2012

Chapter 3 · Meeting Microsoft

Office 365 and early Azure in Jeddah

Alnafitha International Information Technology

Microsoft Cloud Solution Architect · July 2014 — August 2016, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Advised on architecture and deployment of cloud workloads to Office 365 and Azure, from feasibility and proposal through compliance, migration approach, and onboarding.

Technical architecture for selected applications and workloads
Compliance assessments on proposed Azure designs
Hybrid Office 365 architectures, and lift-and-shift or new-platform paths to Azure
Documented practices for client engineering and architecture teams

R-Tech Saudi Arabia

Microsoft Engineer · October 2012 — July 2014, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Technical Solution Professional, on the Microsoft engineering side of customer work in Jeddah.

Technical solution work ahead of the later pre-sales architecture roles

2005

Chapter 2 · Wires and phones

Networks, Cisco phones, and a BMW showroom

United Al-Saqer Group

Senior Technical Engineer · July 2010 — December 2011, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Planned and implemented a purpose-built application estate for Abu Dhabi Motors: BMW showroom, maintenance, and service.

Built and rebuilt servers, hardware, storage, and services to project standards
Installed systems infrastructure and asset-management applications
Wrote installation and configuration procedures and kept system standards current
Ran project segments to the agreed commitments, and kept suppliers and the steering committee aligned

Nevotek

Customer Service Engineer · March 2007 — May 2010, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Planned and implemented purpose-built applications for Cisco IP phone systems.

Delivered project segments to the stated objectives and resources
Directed technical and personnel resources against quality, time, and budget
Kept results legible to management and the steering committee

Bin Salmeen Computers

Senior Network Engineer · June 2005 — June 2006, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Designed and installed customer network projects, and administered the internal network and website.

Network project design and installation
Internal network and website administration

2001

Chapter 1 · Where it began

Labs, websites, and a CIS degree

LI Group

Network, Database and Website Administrator · January 2004 — June 2005, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Network administration, website work in FrontPage and Flash, and small operational databases in Access.

Network administration
Website design and build
Access databases for day-to-day operations

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Network Administrator · September 2001 — December 2003, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Administered the university network labs: performance of the network, and support for students using the labs and equipment.

Network lab administration
Student support on lab equipment

Education

Bachelor's degree, Computer Information Systems · 2001 — 2004

Ajman University of Science and Technology.

How I work

I start from the reality of production, not the ideal architecture diagram.

Most cloud problems are not technical in isolation. They appear when landing zones are incomplete, identity is an afterthought, migrations ignore dependencies, security controls exist only on paper, or cost is never owned. The platforms I design assume failure, expect auditors, and treat cost as a continuous concern.

The work is opinionated where it needs to be, on security baselines, landing zone structure, and identity patterns, and flexible where the business requires it. The goal is always the same: a platform that the organization can actually operate, that survives incidents, and that passes scrutiny.

If a design only works in a workshop or a proposal, it is not finished.

Expertise

Practical cloud architecture and delivery for organizations that cannot afford failure or non-compliance.

Azure landing zones and architecture

CAF, WAF, and landing-zone designs that are implemented, not only documented. Identity, networking, security, management, and governance from day one.

Large-scale migrations

Controlled IaaS and VM migrations with cutover planning, dependency mapping, and a rollback path.

Security and compliance

Security remediation and audit-ready evidence for regulated markets. Controls that exist in the platform, not only on paper.

Identity and access

Identity architecture and privileged access for regulated environments.

FinOps and cost governance

Cost visibility, rightsizing, and ongoing optimization so the platform stays efficient as it scales.

Governance and operating models

Ownership, policy, monitoring, and the processes that keep the platform healthy after the project ends.

Engagement design

Gap analysis, realistic scoping, and statements of work that align effort, risk, and deliverables.

Certifications

Certificates beside the work.

Named as earned on the CV. The CV does not date them, so they are not pinned to a chapter year.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer AssociateAZ-300 Microsoft Azure Architect TechnologiesAWS Certified Solutions Architect – AssociateMicrosoft Private Cloud Professional 2012 SP1MCPS: Microsoft Certified Professional

Languages: English and Arabic. Top skills: Microsoft Azure, Artificial Intelligence, Azure DevOps.