Sam Blatteis

Bio

Sam Blatteis is an authoritative Middle East Public Policy Leader from Silicon Valley with 20 years experience in the project implementation and high tech economic worlds. The co-founder and CEO of The MENA Catalysts, a premium brand public policy and government relations firm advising senior leaders at technology multinationals expanding in the region on their public policy priorities, Sam has structured and led their Gulf government engagement, tracking regulatory issues and solving problems. The MENA Catalysts is also, at times, asked by senior Gulf government leaders to develop high tech legislation and national strategy that can withstand the scrutiny of stakeholders, to develop their digital economies.

Sam sat at the table representing Google as MENA high tech legislation sharing insights from the high tech sector, that experts say will affect the UAE and Saudi Arabia’s digital economies for years to come. As Google’s Gulf Countries Public Policy Lead, Blatteis was responsible for Google’s policy diplomacy in all the Gulf states winning policy wars, delivering public policy programs, and building up the Gulf’s region’s high tech ecosystem. Sam has received numerous national and departmental awards for his Gulf public policy development programs including the U.S. National Fulbright Scholarship and special honors from leadership in the American, Emirati, and Saudi governments. 

Blatteis is widely known as among the most well-connected people in Gulf government leadership circles and has been routinely interview by CNN, CNBC, The Economist, and The New York Times on Gulf strategic affairs. He previously worked in the U.S. Senate, the State Department, and Deloitte and Touché. Previous roles included advising on the White House, Fortune 500 Companies, and numerous head­-of­-state offices on the Middle East public policy landscape and regional innovation. Blatteis has a masters from Georgetown in Middle East Public Policy and studied Arabic and Chinese for five years, each. He has worked and lived in Washington, DC, New York, Los Angeles, Riyadh, Kuwait, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. Sam is from Silicon Valley, where his family has been north of 100 years.  

Latest

Leadership

The UAE Digital Economy: Weaving The Thread Between Innovation And Legislation

Modernizing the UAE's payments economy is probably in the country's business interests.

Technology

Inside The MENA High Tech Boom

Enabling the region's high-tech industry could pivot the region for years to come- empowering Arab businesses, equipping youth with critical ICT skills, and maybe fundamentally alter the region's economic trajectory.

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