Where I work · United Arab Emirates
Platforms for UAE teams, designed around the data-protection rules, with the whole working day in common.
- Your week
- Monday to Friday
- Cities
- Dubai
- Language
- English and Arabic
- Currency
- AED
Sound familiar?
- You're launching a platform and need to know where data may be stored and processed, and whether the federal law or a free-zone regime applies.
- You want a partner who can join the workshops that matter in person, not only on video.
- Your product has to work properly in Arabic and English: right-to-left layouts, fonts and forms from the start.
Working across the time difference
| Market | City | Overlap, local time | Work week |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | Dubai GST | Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00 | Mon–Fri |
Work week: WAM: UAE Government announces four and a half day working week
Contracts and payment
Invoices in UAE dirhams or US dollars, per milestone, paid through Wise or Payoneer. I can work under your services agreement, with data kept in the region you choose.
- Intellectual property is assigned to you on payment.
- An NDA before we discuss details, if you'd like one.
- A written update every week, and a demo whenever there's something to see.
- Working hours that overlap yours.
The rules your product lives under
Federal Personal Data Protection Law
Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data sets the baseline for most of the country.
DIFC Data Protection Law
The Dubai International Financial Centre has its own data-protection law (DIFC Law No. 5 of 2020) and its own Commissioner of Data Protection, separate from the federal law.
ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021
Abu Dhabi Global Market's regulations follow the GDPR closely and are supervised by its own Office of Data Protection, so a product built for Europe needs little change to serve ADGM clients.
Source: ADGM: Office of Data Protection
Relevant work
- 2025 · Education platform
Vayudoot Aviations
One platform for an aviation academy: public site, online exams with automatic grading and certificates, and student management. - 2024 · Real-time voting platform
InfluencerX
A voting platform that stayed fast for all 22 days of a campaign. - 2024 · B2B SaaS platform
Exhibit Social
A B2B influencer-marketing platform built from zero: 10,000+ influencers indexed and 30+ brand campaigns run on it.
Ways to start
- Build
Web platforms and SaaS
Custom web applications, APIs and integrations, built to be inherited.Scoped per project, agreed before work starts - Fixed-price first step
Security audit and penetration test
An attacker's view of your application and infrastructure, and a fix list you can act on.Agreed per project after scoping - Scale
Launch-day readiness
Your biggest day shouldn't be your first real load test.Best started well before the event - Fixed-price first step
Architecture review and due diligence
An independent, written view of a system: what's solid, what's risky, and what it will cost to fix.Agreed per project after scoping
Questions
Can our data stay in the UAE?
Yes, if we choose a UAE cloud region and I work inside it. Where data lives and moves is the first thing I design, before the features.
Do you build in Arabic?
I build bilingual products with proper right-to-left layouts. The Arabic copy itself should come from a native writer.
Do you work on-site?
Mostly remotely, with in-person visits for workshops where they are worth it.
Where else to find me
Other markets: United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea.
Working from the United Arab Emirates? Start with a brief.
Tell me about the problem. I’ll reply with the smallest useful first step, when I could start and how our hours line up.