King Abdullah Financial District
People
Architects, developers and executives with a public role in the design, construction and management of the district. Links lead to official biographies or public profiles.
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia · 2005-2015
Monarch (2005-2015); the district carries his name and the 2006 royal approval was issued in his reign
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud
Government of Saudi Arabia / Public Investment Fund · 2016-present (KAFD-related statements 2016-2017)
Crown Prince and PIF chairman; set the 2016 Vision 2030 rescue of KAFD (special zone, visa exemption, airport link) and stated in 2017 that Saudi Arabia intended to hold the 2020 G20 meeting there
Yasir Al-Rumayyan
Public Investment Fund · 2015-present
Governor of the Public Investment Fund, the owner of KAFD DMC
Ibrahim Al-Assaf
Ministry of Finance · 2006-2007 (KAFD role)
Minister of Finance; spoke at the 9 May 2006 launch and sat on the KAFD executive committee that approved the masterplan in March 2007
Mohammed Al-Khrashi
Public Pension Agency · 2007
Governor of the Public Pension Agency (landowner and prime developer); member of the KAFD executive committee in 2007
Jammaz Al-Suhaimi
Capital Market Authority · 2006
Chairman of the Capital Market Authority at the 2006 KAFD launch
Abdulrahman Al-Tuwaijri
Capital Market Authority · 2007
Acting CMA chairman; member of the KAFD executive committee that approved the masterplan
Hamad Al-Sayari
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (now Saudi Central Bank) · 2007
Governor of SAMA; member of the KAFD executive committee that approved the masterplan
Eddie Pugh
Buro Happold · 2004-2010
Buro Happold engineer retained in summer 2004 as adviser to the CMA chairman to accelerate the financial district; Buro Happold then became masterplanning and traffic engineer
Louis Becker
Henning Larsen · 2006-present
Henning Larsen design principal and partner; presented the masterplan at the 2006 launch; KAFD listed among his projects
Jacob Kurek
Henning Larsen · c. 2008-2016 (reported 2010 and 2016)
Henning Larsen partner and head of Henning Larsen Middle East; responsible for the overall conceptual design of KAFD and member of the client panel reviewing individual projects for consistency with the masterplan
Roger Soto
HOK · c. 2009-2015
HOK design principal for the CMA Tower (now PIF Tower); presented the tower at the CTBUH 2015 conference
Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid Architects · 2013-2016
Founder of Zaha Hadid Architects; credited with Patrik Schumacher for the KAFD Metro Station design (competition 2013; she died in 2016)
Patrik Schumacher
Zaha Hadid Architects · 2013-2024
Principal of Zaha Hadid Architects; design credit for the KAFD Metro Station
Gianluca Racana
Zaha Hadid Architects · 2013-2024
Project principal, KAFD Metro Station
Filippo Innocenti
Zaha Hadid Architects · 2013-2024
Project director, KAFD Metro Station
Gian Luca Barone
Zaha Hadid Architects · 2013-2024
Project architect, KAFD Metro Station
Waleed Aleisa
Al Ra'idah (Rayadah) Investment Company · 2014-2018
Project manager at Al Ra'idah Investment Co. (2014, monorail unveiling) and later CEO of the developer; responded publicly to the 2016 Saudi Binladin work stoppage
Hilmi Ghosheh
Public Investment Fund · 2017-2018
PIF real estate adviser reported in November 2017 as the appointee to head KAFD after the PIF takeover
Aiman Al-Mudaifer
Public Investment Fund · 2018-2025
Head of PIF Local Real Estate Investment Division from 2018; cited in 2021 on more than SR 8 billion of KAFD contract awards; Saudipedia (2026) lists him as KAFD DMC chairman (not confirmed by KAFD); NEOM CEO since 2024-2025
Gautam Sashittal
KAFD DMC · c. 2021 - October 2024 (start year from secondary profiles)
Chief Executive Officer of KAFD DMC; former CEO of DMCC Dubai (2014-2019); stepped down in October 2024
Saad Abdulaziz Alkroud
KAFD DMC / Public Investment Fund · 2025-present
Chairman of the Board of KAFD DMC (appointed 4 September 2025); Head of PIF Local Real Estate Investment Division (from May 2025); former PIF Chief of Staff
Yasir Alsalman
KAFD DMC · listed October 2026
Vice Chairman of the Board, KAFD DMC
John Pagano
KAFD DMC · c. 2024-present (start date unverified)
Managing Director and board member of KAFD DMC (quoted in that role 2025-2026); previously CEO of Red Sea Global and Amaala, and Managing Director at Canary Wharf Group (per profiles)
Mohammed bin Turki Alsudairy
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Acting Chief Executive Officer and board member of KAFD DMC (listed October 2026); joined PIF in 2018 per Depa board profile
Faddy AlAql
KAFD DMC · 2025-present
Chief Asset Delivery Officer (2025), now Chief Projects Delivery Officer, KAFD DMC; spokesman for the Guinness skyway record and 2025 leasing figures
Sultan Alobaida
KAFD DMC · 2025-present
Chief Commercial Officer, KAFD DMC
Sultan AlShahrani
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Chief Corporate Officer, KAFD DMC
Ibrahim AlSughayer
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Chief Finance Officer, KAFD DMC
Maran Balasubramaniam
KAFD DMC · 2025-present
Chief City Management Officer, KAFD DMC (Acting Chief City Operations Officer in November 2025)
Abdulelah Altayeb
KAFD DMC · 2025-present
Chief Governance and Risk Officer, KAFD DMC (promoted May 2025)
Ayman Alawad
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Chief Legal Officer, KAFD DMC
Bander Bin Mogren
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Board member, KAFD DMC
Bassam Albassam
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Board member, KAFD DMC
Saleh Aloraini
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Board member, KAFD DMC
Hathal Alutaibi
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Board member, KAFD DMC
Turki Al Sudairi
KAFD DMC · listed 2026
Board member, KAFD DMC
Pierre Attendu
Bombardier Transportation · 2014
President, Systems Division, Bombardier Transportation; unveiled the first KAFD INNOVIA 300 monorail car at InnoTrans 2014
Michael Roberts
Thornton Tomasetti · c. 2009-2012
Principal (London), Thornton Tomasetti; lead contact for structural and facade engineering of Henning Larsen's Crystal Towers, Villas in the Sky and The Gem