George Ioannou
Director of Innovation, King Salman International Airport
George Ioannou holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronic Systems Engineering from Simon Fraser University in Canada and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
| Website |
George Ioannou is the Director of Innovation at King Salman International Airport, a major airport expansion project in Riyadh, where he leads enterprise innovation initiatives focused on digital transformation, and new operating models across the aviation and transport ecosystem. He brings over a decade of international experience spanning innovation strategy, product development, and program delivery across the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.
An aviation enthusiast at heart, George works across business, technology, and people, with a strong belief in open innovation as a vehicle for real-world impact. His professional journey spans environments as varied as waterparks, eVTOL, startups, and digital agencies.
In his current role, George builds partnerships with startups, technology providers, and academia to bridge the gap between experimentation and real-world implementation. His focus is on translating emerging ideas into scalable, deployable solutions that meaningfully improve how staff operate and how passengers experience airports and travel. Over the course of his career, he has further developed his expertise through formal and applied work in Product Management and Artificial Intelligence.