About
I’m Waleed Albaddad.
For more than twenty years, I’ve worked across design, digital products, learning, and institutional change.
Today, I lead Smart Learning and E-Content Development at Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University.
My work has taken me from helping people use creative tools to building products and shaping the conditions that allow new approaches to take hold.
Professional experience
The roles behind the work.
From regional creative technology to digital learning products and university transformation.
2021 to present
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University
Director of Smart Learning and E-Content Development
Lead university-wide work connecting learning design, digital content, faculty capability, learning resources, and educational technology.
- Agentic content production, adaptive learning, and assessment that makes learner reasoning visible.
- Stackable learning pathways connecting badges, certificates, and microcredentials.
- Additional roles: Acting Director, Lifelong Learning Centre (2023 to 2024); Product Owner, LXP / EdTech.
2019 to 2021
Alef Education
Head of Teacher Training / Digital Learning Strategy
Led educator development and digital learning strategy around the practical use of technology in teaching.
- Educator development programs reaching more than 20,000 educators across multiple markets.
- Learning design and implementation support connecting platform capability with classroom practice.
2014 to 2019
Edraak
Senior Online Course Manager / Higher Education Partnerships
Managed online learning and higher education partnerships for an Arabic learning platform whose courses reached more than eight million learners.
- Partnerships with 32 universities worldwide at a platform whose courses reached more than eight million learners.
- University adoption and contribution to national e-learning policy.
2011 to 2014
Darebni TV
Co-founder / Product Manager
Co-built a paid Arabic platform for practical and vocational skills, connecting product direction, course development, trainer operations, and learner experience.
- A catalog of more than 200 courses and reach of more than 100,000 learners.
- A public-access route through Knowledge Stations in underserved communities.
2005 to 2014
Grapheast
Training, Product, and Business Development
Worked across creative technology, professional training, product enablement, and regional business development.
- Regional capability developed through a network of more than ten certified trainers.
- Training, consulting, and implementation support across creative technology.
What experience changed
The problem kept changing shape.
Close to the person.
My early work was close to the person using the tool. I could see where an explanation failed, where confidence broke down, and when something became possible.
Building trainer capability raised the next question: could that expertise travel without depending on the same person being in the room?
Beyond the product.
Digital products offered a way to reach people across places and schedules. But the vocational learning venture exposed conditions the product could not solve on its own: payment, connectivity, and market readiness.
A useful product still needed a practical route to the people it was meant to serve.
Around the institution.
University partnerships and policy work widened the problem again. Delivery depended on recognition, ownership, capability, and the rules around a new approach.
I still care about the quality of what is built. I also ask who will carry it, what it depends on, and whether it can continue when its creators are no longer close at hand.
Education & fellowship
A foundation in design. A continuing focus on learning.
- Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Middle East Professional Learning Initiative Fellowship
- Applied Science University, Jordan
- Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design
Writing & conversation
Some questions travel beyond the work.
Athar · أثر
My Arabic podcast explores experience, judgment, and the ideas that shape how we understand everyday life.
Explore AtharAfterhold / الارتداد
My exploration of what remains after an experience ends, and how that residue shapes judgment and action.
Explore AfterholdIf the work connects with a question you’re exploring, I’d be glad to hear from you.
Write to meinfo@waleedalbaddad.com