Engraved portrait of Bandar Alhattab

Bandar Alhattab

بندر الحطاب

I work in marketing and communication, and write about how trust is built.

Start here

Start here

The Saudi I Saw

A suspicious policeman and five ID cards from five cities open a portrait of the Saudi the world rarely meets.

Marketeirs2019

How a Manager Goes Astray

Carlos Ghosn's fall prompts a theory of how chief executives go astray, in three stages named after Arthur, Qarun and Hitler.

Maaal2018

Is the Marketer a Con Man?

From Homer's sirens to a Saudi talk show: why marketers inherited the reputation of those who get inside our heads, and why the answer is no.

Maaal2019

The Book

المِرآةُ المُكبِّرة في تدبيرِ الآلةِ الناطقةِ

The Magnifying Mirror: On Governing the Talking Machine

I made the whole book turn on one idea that returns in every chapter in some form: that this machine is a magnifying mirror, not a creator. It shows what is in its user and multiplies it, and it does not put in him what is not there. Whoever governs himself, it governs well for him; whoever neglects himself, it neglects him in turn.

The manuscript is complete. Publication details will follow.

Five Counsels on the Talking Machine · X · July 18, 2026 · from Chapter 1

Leave your email and I will let you know when the book is published.

[FORM PENDING: KIT_FORM_BOOK in src/config.ts]

The Book

Newsletter

New essays in your inbox, only when I publish.

[FORM PENDING: KIT_FORM_ESSAYS in src/config.ts]

About

I studied psychology, and I work in marketing, communication and strategy.

My newspaper writing began in 2017, and my recent long pieces appear on X.

My book on governing the talking machine inside work teams is complete.

About Bandar