Nanotech and state-of-the-art greenhouses: Inspiring young Omanis to innovate and dream big

MUSCAT: The people who changed the world are the crazy ones who chase after their dreams and make their ideas into reality. For Ahmed al Kindi, a young Omani entrepreneur, he wants to be that for Oman. Ahmed believes that many of the innovations we see in the world today are because of people like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg who did not settle down to follow the common path. “If I’m not crazy enough, then I will not change the world. If I want to change it, I should be crazy enough as an entrepreneur,” he said. Ahmed said that he has studied the outline of Oman’s Vision 2040 and he believes that it is only achievable if the young people of Oman started taking it seriously as well. “We have so much catching up to do from our neighboring countries of Qatar and the UAE. When it comes to innovation, we are lagging. We have to improve the quality of the things we do if we are ever to catch up to them and make Vision 2040 a reality,” he said. At a young age, Ahmed is yet to graduate from his business course at the German University of Technology in the last quarter of 2021. But just because he doesn’t have his diploma yet doesn’t mean that he is incapacitated to put some of his projects to work. “I have so many ideas covering different aspects of the Oman society that needed improvement. I’m looking into nanotechnology and pioneer it in Oman. I’m looking at improving crop production through greenhouses but bringing the latest state-of-the-art technology to the country,” he said. “One of our problems right now is that a lot of the businesses in the country, they are a commercial copy of everything else. By this I mean, there is no innovation. A simple case study is a burger joint. There’s a lot of burger joint being built but nothing extraordinary from one restaurant to another. Our young people especially those who are in small and medium businesses must start at looking things from a different perspective — from an innovative perspective,” he said. “We can create crazier ideas for restaurants. Part of what I do is to share and foster this crazy ideas to inspire growth within the community,” he said. Ahmed includes being a life coach, a business mentor, and a communications trainer in his resume. He has organized more than 50 seminar-workshops teaching businesses and entrepreneurs like himself to be successful in their endeavors. “I create and customize the program depending on who the target audience is. It covers almost everything, from how to create a sustainable business model, to the fundamentals of digital marketing, to how to take their business to the next step,” he said. As of today, Ahmed is already the CEO of his very own company AK Enterprise that focuses on his passion for e-commerce, business motivation, leadership training, and entrepreneurship workshops. Simultaneously, he has founded 1-2 All Webinar and LightTk, the former focused on creating a seamless experience for webinars and the later, focused on enhancing commercial spaces lighting technology incorporating modern smart technology into the product. “I get all my ideas from everywhere. I have a connection with people who are experts in their fields. I study the latest innovation from Iran and other countries with the hope of bringing and making it a reality in Oman,” he said. “I wouldn’t quantify myself as a normal entrepreneur. A normal entrepreneur will not change anything. But I see myself as a crazy one who is not afraid to take things to the next step. We need more crazy business ideas in Oman so that we can make the Vision 2040 a reality,” he said.