Portrait of Najeeb Jarrar

Najeeb Jarrar

I am a curious technologist and marketer. I connect new technology with people across the world. I believe technology only matters when it literally speaks your language.
Najeeb Jarrar

I am Najeeb Jarrar, Google's CMO & Regional Product & Marketing Director across the Middle East & Africa. I build products and campaigns that work in the languages and cultures of my region, not just translated into them.

A Computer & Software Engineer by education, I began my career in engineering before moving into product and marketing. Since joining Google in 2008, I have worked on global app marketing at Google headquarters in California and now products & marketing for the Middle East and Africa.

In addition to my marketing leadership, I am proud to act as a Global Co-Lead and Executive Sponsor for the CAMENA Employee Resource Group (Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa), and the Arabs@CAMENA ERG advancing diversity and amplifying voices from the region globally.

Away from the screen, I restore old electronics and computers. My latest project was bringing a Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2, Egypt edition, back to life.

April 2025 — Present
Regional Director, Marketing, Middle East and Africa
Google
Leading marketing across Middle East and Africa: a team of product marketing managers who build and run the strategy and execution for Google's products and online advertising business, driving user growth, retention and engagement.
January 2023 — April 2025
Regional Product & Marketing Director, Middle East and North Africa
Google
Align marketing strategy with product innovation across MENA. Led a diverse team and multimillion-dollar budgets, and served as one of Google MENA's spokespeople on technology and product trends.
August 2013 — January 2023
Group Product Marketing Manager, Consumer Products, MENA
Google
Scaled Google's consumer products across the region through localization and cross-cultural adaptation, helping make Arabic a top priority language globally for Google, and grew YouTube and Google Play subscriptions into multimillion-dollar annual regional revenue.
June 2011 — August 2013
Product Marketing Manager
Google
Marketing lead for the Google+ mobile app on Android and iOS, a new design language that later shaped most Google mobile apps, with growth and co-marketing campaigns alongside partners such as T-Mobile and Samsung.
December 2008 — June 2011
Product Marketing Manager
Google
Laid the groundwork for Google's market entry into MENA: built the first regional B2B marketing strategy, grew SMB advertisers, and launched 12 Google products in the region including Chrome, Translate and YouTube.
May 2007 — October 2008
Associate Program Manager
Microsoft
Education
BE, Computer Engineering
Princess Sumaya University for Technology
Product strategy
What to build, how to position it, and how to launch it. I go into the details too: what to scope, what comes first, and what to cut.
Market entry & localization
Taking global products into Arabic-speaking and African markets: what to change, what to keep, and how to know if the launch worked.
Building the product marketing function
Building a product marketing team from zero: who to hire, how they work with product and engineering, and how to coach them.
Go-to-market for launches
Launch plans for consumer products: the story, the rollout, and how to keep users after day one.
Brand & cultural relevance
Campaigns that earn attention in the region rather than translate into it. I also help with media and spokesperson work.
AI adoption in MENA
Helping teams bring AI products to the region in a way people trust: strong Arabic, honest claims, and promises you can keep.

Advisory, speaking, or simply a good idea: the inbox is open.

Connect on LinkedIn njarrar@gmail.com