Samir Al Jiban

Samir Al-Jiban's journey with technology began at an early age when technology was still in its infancy. His passion ignited when his father bought him a Sakhr computer, an advanced device at the time. This sparked his interest in technology, leading him to learn popular programming languages of that era, such as BASIC.

During his university years, despite his passion for technology and computing, Samir chose to major in chemical engineering to secure a prestigious job. At the time, computer science was a new field with limited demand in the job market. However, after two years in chemical engineering, a coincidence changed his career path. While leaving one of the university’s laboratories, he noticed a group of computer science students carrying a familiar book—the same book he spent hours studying at home. That moment was enough for him to realize that his passion for technology was not just a hobby but a career path he needed to pursue.

After graduating from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Samir worked at Saudi Aramco for 10 years, leading multiple projects and technical teams. He also pursued a master's degree in computer science at the University of Colorado, USA. However, he felt that the routine corporate environment stifled his creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. As a result, he decided to leave the conventional career path and embark on his journey as an entrepreneur.

His entrepreneurial journey began in 2002 when he launched one of Saudi Arabia’s first e-commerce stores, pioneering online commerce at a time when it was still new to the region.

In 2004, he founded a software development company that became one of the leading firms in the region, contributing to the training and development of many Saudi tech talents.

In 2012, Samir and his partner, Saleh Al-Mutairi, launched Dafater, the region’s first fully integrated cloud-based SaaS platform for enterprise resource management, offering solutions for small and medium-sized businesses through a subscription-based model.

Thanks to his successes, Samir was recognized as one of the most innovative entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia by Forbes magazine in 2015.

More recently, Samir has been involved in several major digital transformation projects in Saudi Arabia, including the King Fahd Causeway digital transformation, as well as founding multiple tech startups such as Business Code and ProPay.

Today, Samir aims to leverage his expertise and passion for technology to help non-technical entrepreneurs build innovative tech solutions. This vision led him to establish Dream Makers.