Sam Blatteis

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.