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Bahrain’s standing as a regional hub for digital innovation has been reaffirmed with the inclusion of two prominent local figures in Forbes Middle East’s inaugural ‘Top Tech Leaders 2026’ ranking.
The list, which tracks the decision-makers driving the region’s technological shift, features 53 leaders across eight countries, with Bahraini excellence represented in both the government and corporate sectors.
In the ‘Top Tech Leaders in Government’ category, which spotlights senior public-sector officials regulating and securing technology ecosystems, Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) chief executive officer Mohammed Al Qaed secured 10th place. Mr Al Qaed, a veteran of Bahrain’s digital transformation, has led the iGA since the 2015 merger of the eGovernment Authority and the Central Informatics Organisation.
Under his leadership, Bahrain has made significant strides in AI integration, highlighted by the December 2025 announcement to incorporate Amazon Bedrock into the government’s AWS cloud to accelerate generative AI development.
Mr Al Qaed’s influence extends through several high-level roles, including chairing Silah Gulf and the ICT eGovernance Committee, as well as heading the Government Service Centres Evaluation Committee (Taqyeem).
Representing the kingdom’s corporate sector, Andrew Kvålseth, group chief executive officer of Beyon, was ranked 16th in the ‘Top Tech CEOs’ list. As the sole Bahrain-based CEO in the ranking, Mr Kvålseth leads a diversified technology portfolio that includes Batelco, Beyon Solutions and Beyon Cyber.
His tenure has been marked by rapid infrastructure growth, most notably the November 2025 opening of the Group’s second fully solar-powered data centre at the Beyon Solar Park.
Beyon’s financial performance remains robust under his guidance, generating revenues of $971.6 million with total assets of $3.4 billion in the first nine months of 2025. In addition to his group role, Mr Kvålseth chairs the Digital City Company and serves on the boards of multiple financial and technology-focused subsidiaries.
The ranking features three distinct lists, ‘Top Tech Leaders in Government’, ‘Top Tech Leaders of Global Companies’, and ‘Top Tech CEOs’.
In compiling the list, Forbes considered only the leaders based in Mena, and their impact, experience, company size, achievements, technological initiatives, and investments were taken into account.
Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, head of cybersecurity for the UAE Government, topped the ranking in the ‘Middle East’s Top Tech Leaders in Government’ list, whereas Ronaldo Mouchawar, vice-president for the Middle East, Africa and Türkiye at Amazon, ranked first in the ‘Middle East’s Top Tech Leaders of Global Companies’ list.
Peng Xiao, group CEO at G42, ranked first in the ‘Middle East’s Top Tech CEOs’ list.
The UAE dominated the 2026 ranking, being home to 25 leaders, accounting for 47pc of the total listees, while Saudi Arabia stood second with 15 listees, making up more than 28pc of the cohort. Egypt is home to four, followed by Kuwait with three, Oman and Bahrain with two each, while Morocco and Qatar are each represented by one executive.
The ranking comes at a time when the Middle East is outpacing global markets in technology adoption.
According to Deloitte’s 2025 State of AI report, 80pc of regional organisations feel pressure to adopt AI, while consumer usage in the GCC remains significantly higher than in Europe.
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