Ex-Sandsoft CTO Launches Think AI Startup in Riyadh, Targeting GPU Efficiency and AI Infrastructure Costs

Think AI startup, a new company focused on artificial intelligence infrastructure, launched publicly on March 31, 2026, founded by Ahmed AlSharif, former CTO of Sandsoft and a veteran of PlayStation, EA, and Meta.

AlSharif spent 16 years in engineering and technical roles across the games industry before pivoting to AI. He said his background in squeezing maximum performance from constrained hardware directly shaped Think’s approach to solving AI infrastructure problems.

Games Industry Roots Drive Think AI Startup’s Engineering Philosophy

“I’ve spent close to two decades as a software engineer and engineering leader, and the games industry has been optimising GPUs and extracting maximum performance from constrained hardware for over forty years. So in reality, my core discipline was to solve compute problems,” AlSharif said. “The rush to build datacentres and roll out AI platforms has led to shortages and fast-rising costs for memory and GPUs, so I thought, why not apply the same engineering philosophy I’ve learned from games to the AI infrastructure problem?”

“Where AI companies are seeing a hardware procurement challenge, we saw a GPU efficiency challenge, and that’s what Think is focused on.”

Ahmed AlSharif, Co-founder and CEO, Think

Co-Founder Brings 30 Years of Regional Technology Sales Experience

AlSharif’s co-founder is Ammar Enaya, who brings more than 30 years of experience leading sales teams at technology companies across the Middle East, including Cisco, HPE Aruba, and Vectra AI. Enaya said the company has already held several positive conversations with regional businesses facing the same infrastructure constraints.

“With Think, we have a huge opportunity to work with companies that see the potential for AI, but are constrained by the rising cost of hardware, the dominance of a handful of cloud-based AI companies, and concerns around the security and sovereignty of their data and infrastructure.”

Ammar Enaya, Co-founder, Think

Enaya added that conversations with companies of all sizes in the region confirmed that the same data security and infrastructure issues affect businesses broadly, not just large enterprises.

Products Address Cooling, Power Efficiency, and GPU Utilisation

Think is building a unified software and hardware AI infrastructure platform designed to be significantly more efficient than current technologies. The company’s products target three specific performance bottlenecks: cooling, power efficiency, and GPU utilisation. Think already has patents pending on several of these products.

The Riyadh-based company plans to unveil its products at LEAP, the technology conference held in Riyadh, scheduled for August 31 to September 3, 2026. LEAP has grown into one of the largest technology showcases in the Middle East.

Funding Round in Progress as Think Signs Multiple MOUs

Think has been bootstrapped by its two founders since inception. The company is now actively exploring an initial funding round to support the rollout of its new products. AlSharif and Enaya have already signed several significant memoranda of understanding with prospective partners, though specific names were not disclosed.

The company positions itself as an alternative for organisations seeking to reduce dependence on major cloud providers and maintain sovereignty over their data and infrastructure. Think is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and targets enterprises, organisations, and government entities across the region.