Mo Gawdat

Activities

Born in Cairo, Egypt (1967). Studied civil engineering at Ain Shams University (B.Eng) and later earned an MBA from Maastricht School of Management.
Early career in technology and enterprise software: IBM (systems engineering / government sales), NCR, and regional roles in consumer goods (BAT).
Multi-year leadership at Microsoft (communications/telecom efforts in emerging markets).
Joined Google in 2007 and led the company’s expansion in emerging markets. Served as Chief Business Officer at Google X (the “moonshot factory”) from ~2013–2018 and helped oversee projects such as Project Loon and early self-driving work that later evolved into Waymo.

Author of several international books on happiness and technology: Solve for Happy (2017), Scary Smart (2021), That Little Voice in Your Head (2022), and Unstressable (2024).
Founder of the One Billion Happy movement (a public-facing mission to teach and scale practical frameworks for happiness worldwide).
Host of the podcast “Slo Mo,” focusing on deep conversations about wellbeing, meaning, and practical philosophy.
Public speaker, consultant, and advisor on topics that bridge AI, ethics, innovation, and mental health. Frequently engaged by major corporations and conferences.
Creator of online courses and content (e.g., BBC Maestro and other platforms) that teach his research-backed approaches to stress, happiness, and cognitive habits.

Worked at: IBM, NCR, British American Tobacco (BAT), Microsoft, Google, Google X.
Publishing and media: Macmillan (Scary Smart), international publishers for translations of his books, BBC Maestro (course partner), multiple podcast and media appearances.
Networks: speaks to and consults with leadership teams across large technology companies (examples: Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta) and global organizations.
Movement: One Billion Happy connects his work with global practitioners, coaches, and partner organizations focused on mental health and wellbeing.

Continued public presence as an author and speaker focused on scaling practical wellbeing frameworks (One Billion Happy) and influencing public discourse on AI safety and ethics.
Further writing and public-facing projects that synthesize insights from engineering, behavioral science, and ethical AI — likely advocating for human-centered approaches to emerging AI systems.
Ongoing involvement in educational products and partnerships that aim to operationalize his happiness research at scale.

Engineering and product-driven approaches to large-scale problems (internet access, applied AI, productizing social impact).
Human flourishing, happiness engineering, stress reduction techniques, and cognitive behavioural frameworks.
Ethics and governance of artificial intelligence; communicating practical, actionable steps for individuals and institutions.

Official website — https://www.mogawdat.com
“Mo Gawdat” — Wikipedia (overview of career, books, and One Billion Happy movement)
Book pages and publisher summaries: Solve for Happy; Scary Smart (Macmillan)
Podcast: Slo Mo (hosted by Mo Gawdat)
BBC Maestro (course listings and descriptions)

(Compiled 2025-10-27 from public sources listed above.)