Egyptian talent key to attracting global companies to Egypt

Ahmed al-Zaher, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), said Egyptian talent is the key factor driving global technology companies to choose Egypt for expansion and international service centers. Speaking at DevOpsDays Cairo 2026 — the ninth edition of the conference — El Zaher linked the country’s growing appeal to advances in artificial intelligence and a concerted push to upskill local engineers through targeted programs such as ITIDA’s Software Engineering Competence Center (SECC).

"Egyptian talent is the key factor driving global technology companies to choose Egypt for expansion and international service centers," El Zaher said, framing the country’s competitive advantage in talent as central to continued foreign investment in technology and digital services.

At the conference themed "Sustainable DevOps in the Agentic AI Era," El Zaher warned that rapid advances in AI — and Agentic AI in particular — are reshaping software development and operations, creating demand for updated methodologies, governance and security frameworks, and specialized technical skills. He described SECC’s role in addressing that skills gap through "specialized training, consulting, technical capacity building, and international certifications," measures intended to boost the global competitiveness of Egyptian engineers and companies.

• DevOpsDays Cairo 2026 gathered 66 speakers, including 13 international speakers representing nine countries.
• ITIDA has hosted DevOpsDays Cairo since 2018, making Cairo the only Arab city to host the event, which runs in more than 60 cities worldwide.
• El Zaher cited recent engagement with NVIDIA as evidence of international confidence: NVIDIA’s programs now include more than 200 Egyptian startups and around 46,000 programmers.

El Zaher said global companies have repeatedly highlighted the quality of Egyptian talent in meetings with ITIDA. He specifically referenced a recent meeting with NVIDIA, noting the company "expressed appreciation for Egyptian developers and startup founders." That endorsement, he argued, is reflected in ongoing expansion by multinational firms establishing international service centers and engineering hubs in Egypt to serve global markets.

The conference agenda underscored the technical priorities driving that expansion: sessions on AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and the future of software development and operations signaled a shift in enterprise demand toward teams that can integrate secure, sustainable DevOps practices with AI-driven workflows. Organizers and speakers framed Agentic AI as a disruptor that will require new governance and oversight as well as investments in human capital.

ITIDA’s SECC initiatives aim to translate that market demand into measurable capacity. By offering international certifications and targeted technical programs, ITIDA seeks to both upskill current professionals and certify talent to meet multinational firms’ operational standards. El Zaher emphasized that this combination of talent, certification and institutional support positions Egypt to capitalize on continued foreign interest.

Looking ahead, El Zaher predicted sustained confidence from global companies will reinforce Egypt’s standing "as a global technology and digital-services hub." If multinational firms continue to expand local operations — backed by talent pipelines and formal certification pathways — Egypt could see further growth in international service centers and startup participation in global technology programs.