NYUAD Entrepreneurship Program

NYUAD Entrepreneurship Program Meet the Team

Have questions? Come chat with us.

Venue: Campus Centre · D2 Cafetaria

Explore Session 1 | Founders Unfiltered

Join a group of founders as they talk through what building a startup actually looks like, from the first idea to the moments that don’t go as planned. The panel is moderated by an NYUAD student, so you’ll hear direct answers on what founding a company really takes.

Time & Venue: 5:30 – 7:00 PM · startAD Central, A6 Building

Speakers:
Mohamed Amine Belarbi,
Founder & CEO of Cypherleak
Jeremy Hodara
Co-founder of Jumia
Jane Glavan
Co-Founder & CEO of Distant Imagery Solutions

Moderator: Kali Hailegiorgis, Stern NYUAD MBA’26.

Explore Session 2 | Zero to Founder.

Team up for a hands-on challenge that puts you in a founder’s seat for one evening. You’ll spot a real problem, test it against real customers, and figure out how to build something with next to no resources, then pitch it for a shot at a prize. Facilitators (with photos): Hana Barakat, Senior Associate Director, startAD; Qamar Rabah, Program Coordinator, startAD.

Time & Venue: 5:30–7:30 PM · startAD Central, A6 Building

Facilitators: Hana Barakat, Senior Associate Director, startAD, and Qamar Rabah, Program Coordinator, startAD

Validate

In this hands-on Saturday session, you’ll test your idea through customer discovery and turn what you learn into a working business model using the Business Model Canvas.

Time & Venue: 10:00 AM–2:00 PM · startAD Central, A6 Building

Facilitator:
Dr. Cintia Külzer Sacilotto
Assistant Professor of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, UAE University (UAEU).

Build Session 1 | Human-Centered Design

You’ll learn to design solutions that start with real people — the core UX steps of empathize, define, and ideate, applied quickly in a team setting with AI as a research and thinking partner.

Time & Venue: 5:30 – 7:30 PM · startAD Central, A6 Building

Facilitator:
Abdulrahman Aldhalaan
Growth Lead, Replit

Build Session 2 | Prototyping with AI

You’ll see how AI tools take a team from a concept sketch to a working prototype in under 90 minutes, covering what makes a good prototype (testing a single assumption) and hands-on use of AI tools that turn plain-English descriptions into working UI, no coding needed.

Time & Venue: 5:30 – 7:30 PM · startAD Central, A6 Building

Facilitator:
Abdulrahman Aldhalaan
Growth Lead, Replit.