Gamechangers: AIREV's Muhammad Khalid

A seasoned blockchain consultant who was also an early adopter of Bitcoin, Muhammad Khalid is an entrepreneur who has always wanted to harness the power of emerging technologies to address global challenges and build a more inclusive future. Khalid found his calling in artificial intelligence (AI), and in 2023, he founded AIREV, a UAE-based startup that is pioneering AI innovations, including decentralized large language models (LLMs), deep learning frameworks, and computer vision, all while utilizing blockchain technology.

AIREV’s solution, OnDemand, is the region’s first decentralized LLM operating system, and it can today lay claim to tens of thousands of users and enterprise pilots. “The GCC today grapples with fragmented AI pilots, rigid data sovereignty regulations, and disconnected toolchains across critical domains,” Khalid explains. “OnDemand’s decentralized LLM operating system remedies this by unifying retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) workflows, vector search, and generative AI applications programming interface (API) orchestration, along with plug and play integration with external services, agentic automation, and end-to-end orchestration of processes.”

Looking at the ecosystem at large, Khalid—who previously founded the AI-driven edtech startup, School Hack, which secured strategic funding from Abu Dhabi-based group G42— states that the MENA region is becoming a trailblazer when it comes to AI. (“The MENA is on track to become the world’s premier AI sandbox and standards setter,” he says.

And while chatbots may be the trend dominating AI today, he believes that unified AI layer agents will transform how the technology is used in the future. “Beyond chatbots, the next frontier is AI agents that autonomously manage internet of things (IoT) networks, robotic fleets, and enterprise systems end-to-end,” Khalid says. “In a region racing to deploy humanoid robots, drone logistics, and smart grids, a unified agent layer—blending vision, RAG, and reinforcement learning—can unlock exponential gains in operational efficiency, resilience, and cost savings.”

Pictured in the lead image is the founder and CEO of AIREV Muhammad Khalid. Image courtesy AIREV.

Muhammad Khalid was one of the artificial intelligence (AI) innovators celebrated in Gamechangers, a special feature built for Inc. Arabia's April/May 2025 issue. For the full list of Gamechangers, please click here.