After helping launch Google Assistant and advancing Amazon Alexa, Thabet Alfishawi ’03 is building the next generation of enterprise AI
Thabet Alfishawi ’03 has spent his career helping build some of the artificial intelligence products that defined the 2010s. From YouTube’s recommendation engine to Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, he has been at the forefront of consumer AI’s rapid evolution.
Now Alfishawi is helping shape its next chapter as chief product officer of AI startup Intelmatix. Based in Riyadh and London, Intelmatix developed EDIX, an AI platform that acts as a company’s digital brain. The company raised $20 million in the funding round and was named a 2025 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.
“It’s like an AI chief of staff — somebody you could not only chat with but also call or send a voice note to on WhatsApp,” Alfishawi said.
Born and raised in Cairo, Alfishawi became interested in technology when a childhood friend got an old Sakhr computer and the two spent their summers playing programming games.
Alfishawi studied at AUC as the internet was beginning to spread across Egypt, where he says being surrounded by highly ambitious young people shaped his career outlook. A conversation with a friend who had returned from the United States after a summer abroad working on software for a NASA satellite proved especially influential.
“My ambition really changed during my time at AUC,” he said. “I told myself, ‘Hey, if my friend can go to the United States and work on this satellite software, I can maybe work for Google there.’”
After graduation, Alfishawi built a career in product management and private equity before earning an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and moving into the heart of the tech industry in Silicon Valley. It was there that he witnessed the rise of consumer AI firsthand, working on YouTube’s video recommendation algorithm and helping launch Google Assistant, the company’s voice-activated AI.
“When I joined YouTube, the standard use of AI was machine-learning recommendation engines,” Alfishawi said. “To go from that to chatbots like Google Assistant, to the ambient computing Alexa was trying to achieve, and now to LLMs [large language models] — it has honestly been a crazy ride.”
For Alfishawi, Intelmatix represents the next evolution of AI. Its flagship product, EDIX, combines internal company data with regional context — including migration patterns, location data and industry statistics — to help executives identify growth opportunities and make informed decisions.
As AI continues to evolve, Alfishawi encourages business and computer science graduates to harness the entrepreneurial mindset and dream big. “The barrier to building and pursuing your vision has never been lower, so I think it’s an exciting time. Pursue your dream and what excites you. That’s what people hire for; that’s what people invest in,” he said.