What if career advice skipped slogans and focused on the real choices you must make? This question drives Ahmed Attar, a Saudi content creator and former engineer. Today, he is best known as the host of بودكاست بترولي (Petroly) and the founder of Mukhtalif. His style is calm and curious. He gives guests time. He treats success as a step-by-step process, not a big speech. Guests explain how they decide, what skills they build, which risks they take, and which values they keep.

For Ahmed, success isn’t a speech. It’s a series of thoughtful steps. His goal is simple: to help listeners design careers that truly fit Saudi Arabia today, not follow a one-size-fits-all path.

The Pivot from Engineering to the Mic

Ahmed didn’t start in media. He trained and worked as an industrial engineer (King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, 2017–2021), and that mindset still shapes his interviews: clear questions, clean structure, and patience with silence. He plans, tests, and always looks for the why behind each answer, an approach that builds trust, opens guests up, and keeps listeners engaged.

Before launching Mukhtalif, he worked inside the ecosystem: business development at MAD TOMATO and Mics, plus an internship at a management consultancy. His toolkit centers on business development and operations, reinforced by an Operations Management Foundations certification. These experiences sharpen how he listens, frames problems, and turns every conversation into practical guidance.

Voice & Interview Style

Listener-First

Ahmed speaks plainly and asks follow-ups many listeners would ask themselves. He is not chasing a “viral clip”; he is trying to get to a useful truth. On Apple Podcasts, Petroly is framed to have deep conversations with influential professionals. That promise matches his on-air tone.

Values on the Table

Ahmed looks for routines, principles, and trade-offs people can actually use. That focus on skills and choices, rather than hype, has helped Petroly stand out among Arabic career podcasts.

Bilingual Curiosity

The show is primarily in Arabic, but Ahmed has experimented with English to reach wider listeners. A notable example is an English-language episode with Dr. Hassan Gali, a former medical doctor and policy adviser who also performs stand-up comedy. The episode is presented by Petroly as its “first English episode,” a small but telling step toward bilingual reach.

Professional Rise & Impact

Since 2020, Ahmed has built Petroly into a consistent archive of real career stories. The work has moved from studio to stage: on August 16, 2025, he hosted a live session at Ithra’s Library (Level 3) in Dhahran, an Arabic program produced by Mukhtalif. What began as a podcast has grown into a public learning experience.

Discoverability matters. Petroly is easy to find. Apple Podcasts for audio, and Mukhtalif’s YouTube for full episodes and clips, meeting a young, mobile-first audience where they already are.

The Person Behind the Platform

Spend five minutes with Petroly’s archive and a pattern appears. Taken together, they reveal how Ahmed Attar works and what he values:

  • Clarity Over Hype: Ahmed avoids jargon. He asks for clear definitions, concrete examples, and practical steps. That’s why many listeners treat Petroly as a learning tool, not just background audio.
  • Learning as a Habit: His most frequent follow-ups sound the same across episodes: What did you learn? What would you change? These prompts move guests past glossy stories and into takeaways: habits, rituals, decision rules. Over time, the catalog becomes a toolbox.
  • Service Mindset: Each conversation aims to deliver at least one thing a listener can try. That service focus shows up in the recurring themes, like real leadership practice, career transitions, honest marketing, and the day-to-day impact of tech on work.
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Where Ahmed Attar Focuses His Lens:

1. Leadership & Teams
How managers decide, set direction, and handle conflict, explained in long, practical conversations that turn frameworks into action for Saudi workplaces.

2. Skills & Transitions
Why people reskill, when they switch roles, and what they give up to do it.

3. Technology & Work
What AI and digital tools actually change in classrooms, offices, and freelance life.

4. Marketing with Integrity
Building products and stories that respect the audience. Less myth, more substance.

5. English-language Bridge
Select episodes in English show a careful expansion of reach while keeping a Saudi point of view.

Final Thoughts

Ahmed Attar’s real impact is cultural. He turns private career lessons into a public good. Through long, calm conversations, and now live rooms, he’s built a practical archive that helps Saudis think clearly, choose well, and take action. In a fast-moving economy, that kind of steady guidance shapes behavior, not just opinions. And that’s why his work matters.

Follow him on X, subscribe on YouTube, and listen on Apple Podcasts. Connect via LinkedIn and keep up with the team on Instagram!