Engineers who care how the business does

Kestrel started in 2015 with four engineers and one client. We’re 140 people now, and still pick projects by whether we can make a real difference.

Kestrel team mapping a system with cards and sticky notes

Our story

Amara Okoye and Jonas Becker met in Dubai in 2013, replacing a regional parcel carrier’s routing system. It was eighteen months late, and they spent most of it watching good engineers struggle with a plan that had been fixed before anyone understood the problem.

They started Kestrel in a shared office in Dubai Internet City in 2015 with two colleagues and one client, a local courier. The idea was simple: small senior teams, honest estimates, working software in weeks, and a client who could run it without us.

Riyadh opened in 2018 when a logistics client asked us to work closer to its Saudi team. Abu Dhabi followed in 2021, close to our financial services clients in ADGM. We’re now 140 people from 38 countries, and 96% of our clients extend their first contract.

founded in Dubai: 2015
people: 140
nationalities: 38

What we value

Own the outcome

We measure ourselves by what changes for the business, not by hours or tickets. If something won’t work, we say so early.
Ship small, ship early

Working software in production within six weeks, then every fortnight. Small releases are how we keep risk low.
Leave them stronger

Every engagement ends with a client team that can run what we built. We pair, write things down and help you hire.
Be straight about money

Published day rates, estimates per slice and spend in dirhams every fortnight. No surprises on an invoice.

Leadership

Four people who still spend time with client teams every fortnight.

Amara Okoye

CEO and co-founder

Ran engineering at a national parcel carrier before founding Kestrel in 2015. Still spends a day a fortnight with a client team.
Jonas Becker

CTO and co-founder

Twenty years in distributed systems, mostly payments and logistics. Reviews the architecture of every engagement we start.
Dana Khoury

Head of Delivery

Built our Abu Dhabi studio from four people to 25. Owns how we estimate, report and hand over, across all three studios.
Sam Whitfield

Head of Design

Leads a design team of 18. Sam’s rule: nobody ships a screen until they’ve watched someone use it on a shop floor or a warehouse dock.

Certified and accountable

Audited every year by independent assessors, so your security team has less to check.

ISO 27001

Information security, certified since 2019 in all three studios
SOC 2

SOC 2 Type II report on our controls, independently audited every year
PDPL

Personal data handled under the UAE and Saudi data protection laws, with a named data protection officer
ISO 22301

Business continuity management, certified across all three studios

Our studios

Every team works Gulf hours, so you’re never waiting on another time zone.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Head office, 70 people. A short walk from the Red Line metro.
Office 401, Building 3, Dubai Internet City, Dubai +971 4 555 0459
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

45 people. Our data and platform practice, working Sunday to Thursday.
King Fahd Road, Al Olaya, Riyadh 12214 +966 11 555 0459
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

25 people. Close to our financial services clients in ADGM.
Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi +971 2 555 0459