Robo.ai has appointed Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, the former president of INTERPOL, as chairman of Alif Holding, an Abu Dhabi-based industrial technology group that the company is establishing as a subsidiary. The appointment took effect on 30 July 2026.
Robo.ai said Al-Raisi will lead the board of Alif Holding as it builds a group focused on intelligent industrial technology in the United Arab Emirates. Alif Holding is structured around two platforms, intelligent software and intelligent equipment, and develops, integrates and manufactures artificial intelligence systems for government and public-sector projects. Its intended markets span energy, oil and gas, ports, public safety, utilities, mining, transportation, smart cities and other critical infrastructure.
Al-Raisi brings more than four decades of experience in public service and security administration. He served as president of INTERPOL from 2021 to 2025, the first person from the Middle East to hold the role in the organization's history. Before that he held senior positions in the United Arab Emirates, including inspector general at the Ministry of Interior, where his work centered on institutional oversight, digital transformation and security governance.
His appointment adds a globally recognized security figure to Robo.ai's leadership at a time when the company is expanding its work in AI systems built for sovereign and public-sector use. Al-Raisi also serves as chairman of Neurovia AI, another Robo.ai subsidiary, giving him oversight of two of the group's ventures.
In announcing the appointment, Robo.ai framed Alif Holding as a vehicle for developing AI capabilities suited to mission-critical environments, where reliability, data protection and compliance with national requirements are central. The company said Al-Raisi's experience in cross-border security cooperation and digital risk management would help guide the subsidiary as it pursues work in regulated and safety-sensitive sectors.
The move reflects a broader pattern of technology groups recruiting senior public-sector and security leaders to their boards as governments increase spending on AI, smart infrastructure and digital security. For Al-Raisi, the chairmanship extends a career that has moved from national security administration in the UAE to the leadership of the world's largest international police organization, and now into the governance of private-sector AI ventures based in Abu Dhabi. Alif Holding has not yet named its full leadership team or set a timeline for its first projects.
The appointment also underscores Abu Dhabi's growing role as a base for companies building artificial intelligence for defense, policing and public administration. Robo.ai has said it intends to expand Alif Holding's engineering and manufacturing capacity in the emirate, and to pursue partnerships with government agencies and infrastructure operators across the region as demand for sovereign AI systems rises.
