A CV, told as a journey
Ziyad Sayadi
Communications Manager at DDB Riyadh. I build integrated campaigns, communication strategy and activations for government, healthcare, banking, telecom and FMCG brands.
Scroll to begin
Al-Mina, Tripoli · 1946
Chapter 01 · 2017 — 2022
Tripoli
Lebanon. Where it started.
Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles
Beirut Arab University
It started with numbers.
I studied Banking & Finance. Sensible, solid, and the best training I could have had for reading what a market is actually telling you.
- Bachelor of Banking & FinanceBeirut Arab University · 2017 – 2022
Old city, Tripoli
2020 — 2021
Then the money went digital.
When the pandemic shut the world in, I went all in on crypto and NFTs, learning a market while it was still being invented. My bachelor’s thesis became a practical guidebook to trading both. Along the way, IE Business School taught me the other half of the equation: why people buy.
- Bachelor’s thesisA guidebook to trading crypto & NFTs
- Market Research & Consumer BehaviorIE Business School · Coursera · 2020
Rashid Karami International Fair · Oscar Niemeyer
Munchies Co · Co-founder · 2020 — 2022
Then I took it offline.
Charts told me what people did, never why. So my brother and I opened a burger restaurant in the city, in the middle of a pandemic. I ran the marketing strategy, built our customer database and CRM, negotiated with suppliers and kept daily operations moving. People came. Then they came back.
Munchies Co, Tripoli
2022
It was working. I left anyway.
What I loved wasn’t the spreadsheet. It was why people walk through the door, and how you tell them a story they believe. To learn that properly, I had to go.
Next stop Paris
Al-Mina coast, Tripoli
Chapter 02 · 2022 — 2023
Paris
France. Suddenly, everything in colour.
Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro
Paris School of Business
Back to school, on purpose.
This time I chose the subject. A Master’s in Marketing Strategy & Data Analytics: the bridge between the numbers I came from and the ideas I was heading towards.
- Master of Marketing Strategy & Data AnalyticsParis School of Business · 2022 – 2023
- RNCP Level 7 · Manager Produits et MarketingState-registered title · awarded November 2023
Pont Alexandre III
Master’s thesis · 2023
Early, again.
ChatGPT had been public for a few months when I made it my thesis: how OpenAI could improve the user experience, and what marketing becomes in the age of AI. I surveyed people across the USA, France and Lebanon on personalisation, automation, chatbots and the ethics behind them.
- Uncovering OpenAI’s Potential to Enhance User ExperienceThe Future of Marketing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
The Seine at blue hour
Chapter 03 · April 2023
Prague
Two days. One business plan.
Erasmus+ Cowork4EU brought students from Paris, Dortmund, Prague and Seeburg together to design a coworking space for university students from scratch: the concept, the business model, and how we’d launch, market and sell it.
- Cowork4EU · Erasmus+Prague University of Economics and Business · 04/2023
Old Town, from the Town Hall tower
Chapter 04 · 2023
Then I kept going.
A study trip to London and the Museum of Brands: two centuries of packaging, ads and logos, and every one that lasted told a story people wanted to keep. Then Brussels, Freiburg, Barcelona, Menorca. Every city taught me the same lesson in a different language: people decide with feeling first.
- Marketing history workshopMuseum of Brands · London · 05/2023
Museum of Brands, London
Postcard · Belgium
Brussels
Postcard · Germany
Freiburg
Postcard · Spain
Barcelona
Postcard · Spain
Menorca
Next stop Riyadh
Chapter 05 · 2024 — present
Riyadh
Saudi Arabia. Into the work.
Riyadh skyline at dusk
DDB Riyadh · 07/2024 — 08/2025
Communications Executive.
Where it started at DDB: day-to-day client communication and project coordination across multiple accounts.
- Campaign development through research, benchmarking, ideation and content planning
- Client presentations, reports, meeting summaries and project documentation
- Market and competitor analysis to spot trends, insights and opportunities
- Coordinating creative, content and production teams for on-time delivery
King Abdullah Financial District
DDB Riyadh · 08/2025 — 05/2026
Senior Communications Executive.
From supporting campaigns to building them, for public and private sector clients.
- Campaign planning, creative ideation and activation development across digital and offline
- Audience analysis, competitor reviews and social media benchmarking behind every recommendation
- Detailed creative briefs, inspiration and campaign development documents
- Pitch presentations, proposals and new business
- Experiential activations, social initiatives and branded events
The city from the Kingdom Centre skybridge
DDB Riyadh · 05/2026 — present
Communications Manager.
Now I lead integrated campaigns, from the first brainstorm to delivery.
- Planning and coordination of integrated campaigns across digital, social and offline
- Campaign strategy built on audience insight, market analysis and cultural trends
- Activation mechanics and engagement frameworks for social and on-ground
- Brainstorms across creative, content, design, media and production
- Agency credentials, pitch presentations and technical proposals
- Visual asset and photography libraries for government-sector projects
King Abdullah Financial District at night
NEOM · Qiddiya
Bridging London and the Kingdom.
I’m the Riyadh-based coordination point supporting Adam&EveDDB London on initiatives for NEOM and Qiddiya, connecting a London team with some of the most ambitious projects in the region.
- Riyadh coordination pointAdam&EveDDB London · NEOM & Qiddiya
Edge of the World, Tuwaiq escarpment
Selected clients
Government to FMCG.
Government, healthcare, banking, insurance, telecom, FMCG and destination brands, each with its own audience and its own way of saying yes.
Boulevard World, Riyadh
Skills
What I’ve packed.
Communications & strategy
- Communication strategy
- Campaign development
- Creative ideation
- Activation planning
- Social media strategy
- Social media benchmarking
- Audience & market analysis
- Creative brief development
- Stakeholder management
- Client relationship management
- Pitch development
Production & operations
- Production management
- Project coordination
- Workflow management
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Vendor coordination
- Status reporting
AI & emerging tech
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Perplexity
- AI-assisted research & analysis
- AI-powered ideation
- Prompt engineering
- AI workflow optimisation
Languages
- Arabic (native)
- English (native)
- French (intermediate)
Chapter 06 · What’s next
The world is a plane ticket away.
Every chapter so far started with one. I’m looking forward to the next.
Based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia