Innovation X Ecosystems @Topian, the NEOM Food Company

TL;DR
I turn bold ideas into sustainable reality. I fuse technology, sustainability, and food systems to shape a resilient, future-ready world. With a PhD in Applied Mathematics and a track record spanning research, entrepreneurship, and global partnerships, I’m passionate about driving transformative projects that advance Vision 2030.

Speaker bio:
Dr. Andrew Yip is dedicated to curating sustainable innovations and strategic partnerships that will help the food sector reach its full potential. With his extensive experience in technology, innovation, and data governance, Dr. Yip is committed to driving positive change and creating innovative solutions for the industry, supporting Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, which aims to promote economic diversification, job creation, and social and cultural development.

Dr. Yip holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and has been a NEOM pioneer since 2019. When he's not working, he enjoys tabletop gaming with friends and strangers alike.

Andrew Yip, PhD

Just finished a 2 am feed and wanted to mark the moment by sharing something I’ve quietly been building: my own baby activity tracker (Just do it).

Over the past weeks I’ve tried a bit of everything — apps, notes on my phone, even scribbles on the wall — but nothing really matched how my days with my son actually feel. So I started designing a simple tracker just for us, and it’s slowly becoming part of our nightly rhythm. The screenshots here are from this week, where I’ve been logging feeds and diapers and getting little reflections back on how the week went.

One funny (and honest) observation: I almost never manage to log sleep time. Somehow, by the time he finally dozes off, the last thing I want to do is tap another button. That gap made me notice how much I crave calm more than perfect data. Using this tool has helped me be more mindful of our routines without obsessing, and seeing the week summarized gives me a small sense of order in the blur of new parenthood.

I’m deeply grateful that my baby Justin  is the inspiration / pair-programming buddy / tester for this little project. The idea is that the tool will grow with him, and I’ll grow with it: what we track, how we reflect, and how we build tiny moments of awareness into everyday care. If it can help other new parents feel a bit more grounded and gentle with themselves, then it’s already a success.

Give it a try, or share it with a new parent friend. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. 

Link in first comment.

Saudi Premium Resident | Turning bold ideas into sustainable reality | Tech × Sustainability × Future Food Systems

After feeding baby Justin tonight, I suddenly got hit by a very specific craving: that steamy, savory bowl of halal Lanzhou noodles in China – the kind where the broth warms your soul and the hand-pulled noodles disappear way too fast.

So, while the little one was settling back to sleep, I opened up HalalYalla and did the next best thing to actually flying to China: I added a few halal Lanzhou noodle spots in Shenzhen to the app.

If you’re heading to Shenzhen (or already there!), you’ll soon see new listings for:
- Lanzhou / Chinese Muslim noodle places in key districts
- Clear halal tagging and addresses you can navigate to directly

This is just the start. I’ll keep expanding the China halal noodle map city by city – if you know any must‑visit spots, reply or DM so we can add them to HalalYalla and help more Muslims find that perfect bowl.

Link in first comment.

Celebrating the arrival of Eid in the spirit of service, I had the privilege of moderating discussions among agrifood tech innovators and ecosystem enablers from around the world at the preparatory meeting for the Global Agrifood Innovation Alliance (GAIA), a "child" of World AgriFood Innovation (WAFI) Conference, as Prof. Wenge Fu the Founder of WAFI has so affectionately put it.

I was especially honored to introduce our Middle East speaker representative, Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Harbi, PhD, Chief Scientific Advisor of the Saudi AgriFood Tech Alliance (SAFTA) التحالف السعودي لتقنيات الزراعة والغذاء —a true pioneer in the field with over 40 years of contributions shaping agrifood innovation in the region.

What stood out most was the genuine energy for collaboration across regions—from colleagues in Spain exploring deeper engagement with the Middle East, to the inspiring momentum across Africa in advancing both technology and human capacity to support smallholder farmers at scale.

I’m deeply grateful to all participants for their openness, shared purpose, and commitment to building bridges across ecosystems. 

This is just the beginning. 

We warmly welcome continued dialogue and invite partners from across sectors and geographies to join us in shaping this collective effort.

Looking ahead, we’re excited to continue these conversations during our upcoming innovation roadshow in mid-April—more details to follow soon.

In these complex times, I also extend sincere wishes for peace, stability, and shared prosperity across our region and beyond. We look forward to welcoming delegations and visitors to the Middle East in the months to come, to deepen collaboration on the ground and translate dialogue into action.

Eid Mubarak 🌙

Nations endure not just on vision or resources, but on trust: the quiet promises that bind us all.

Saudi Founding Day celebrates exactly that: leaders and people whose word built a lasting foundation, from Diriyah in 1727 to today. That's why I write about trust and foundation today.

Confucius says, "lacking trustworthiness, it's hard to know what can be made of them". In homes as in nations, kids learn trust not from words alone, but from whether "I'll be there" holds true.

In celebration of Foundation Day today, pick one recent promise to your child. Keep it by day's end, or sit down, explain honestly why not, and rebuild together. 

Small acts build strong foundations.

Happy Foundation Day!

自謂西川業漸成，
荊郊野夢尚纏情。
六年閒坐雲山外，
一劍未嘗試世塵。
水繞孤城春自碧，
心隨駿馬意難停。
他年若問興衰事，
但指江流笑未名。

新野覺前歌

Pi Day 2026: The Pie Chart Exception I Teach (And Built)

Data science teacher confession: I always warn against pie charts—bars are better for comparisons. 

Exception? Pi Day, when "parts of a whole" demands intuitive slices.

Enter Slice Truth on π Day – 20 interactive pies in one view.

Some of those pies:
AI's venture capital grip
Shifting global defense budgets
Timeless truths:
10,000 hour myth debunked
Where your focus really goes
How long habits take to form
How identical are we as humans genetically

Pick your provocation—what slice surprises you?
Enjoy the πs. 

Link on first comment.

Six weeks in, my wife and I have been so focused on baby Justin that we sometimes forget… us.  

I originally built a tiny baby activity tracker just to keep up with his feeds, naps, and milestones. But over the past few weeks, I realized the app was quietly reinforcing a mindset: everything for the baby, and whatever energy is left for the parents.

So I added a new screen: a gentle “Just Do It” checklist for us.  

Simple things like “Go outside”, “Drink water”, “Move your body”, “Eat a real meal”, “Take a shower”, “Read to baby” – tiny prompts that nudge us to care for him and ourselves in the same frame.

It’s not fancy product-wise, but it’s been surprisingly grounding to tick off “I ate a real meal” with the same satisfaction as “I read to Justin today”.  

If you’re in the newborn tunnel too, how are you reminding yourself that the parents are part of the care plan?

Helping Ivy League-educated, overachievers find meaning and clarity in their career | Speaker, Clarity Coach, Entrepreneur

Huw coaches founders and their leadership teams to create clarity, attain alignment, and unleash their potential. He has worked with CEOs of VC and PE backed software and technology companies on both growth trajectories and supported them through turnaround or transition.

Huw is a 3-time founder, investor, and speaker turned executive coach. His corporate career centered around his work at Goldman Sachs, Rackspace, and Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund with $160bn under management. While at Bridgewater Associates he was a Senior Management Associate responsible for Portfolio Analytics. In 2016 he acquired and later sold Jungle Disk, a cybersecurity company previously owned by Rackspace. He co-founded CyberFortress, a VC-backed insurtech startup in 2018 (where he also became a Talentism client!). He also co-founded Porthcawl Holdings, a value-driven technology holding company, investing in startups and businesses in the SaaS and bitcoin space.

Huw holds an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Ford Scholar and Baker Scholar, and holds undergraduate and masters degrees in mathematics from Oxford University,

Huw is a proud Welshman who lives with his wife and young son in San Antonio, Texas. He is a board member of the local Entrepreneurs Organization responsible for the Accelerator program, helping budding entrepreneurs scale their businesses to 7-figures. He is also Vice President of Programming for the Harvard Business School Club of San Antonio. His compulsions include identifying gifts in adversity, creating inspiring visions, radical self-discipline, and running 100 mile races in the mountains.

Huw Edwards

There are two versions of people as they become more successful:

The version that: 
- Struggle to say no to opportunities they don’t really want
- Lose themselves to external validations and expectations
- Feel a constant desire to get as far away from everything
- No longer feel at home with their success

Or the version that:
- Turn down good opportunities to protect space for great ones
- Stay rooted in what actually matters to them
- Make decisions that get people uncomfortable, and feel completely at home in them
- Feels completely at peace with their success

If you don’t love your Mondays as much as Saturdays, you’re probably no longer aligned with who you are, what you want, and where you want to be.

3x Founder, Harvard MBA, ex-Bridgewater Associates, Goldman Sachs | Executive Coach | Helping ambitious founders/CEOs unleash their potential and purpose

No alternative text description for this image

10 years sober. No notes. 

PS Happy St David’s Day. 

#NoRegrets #BestDecisionEver

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Read newsletter 

Read the newsletter here: http://newsletter.h3.xyz/

It takes guts to care.

It freaking hurts when things don’t work.

People who do extraordinary things fear this hurt too.

But they care deeply enough to risk disappointment over and over again if they have to.

Hard things aren’t hard because they’re hard. 

They’re hard because you don’t trust yourself.

The difficulty is rarely even in the situation.

It’s more in the state we walk into it with. 

Trust your training.

Trust your experience.

Trust your abilities.

Trust yourself a little more today, and much more tomorrow. 

A simple art of making hard things easier.

3 resources to help you say no more.

1. TED Talk: The Art of Saying No by Kenny Nguyen
https://lnkd.in/gvjGfrjF

2. Book: The Power of Saying No by Dr. Vanessa Patrick
https://lnkd.in/gd3vMPPz

3. Podcast: How to Say No – We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle
https://lnkd.in/g7GGrYZs

Every yes is a step away from freedom.

Make it worth the while.

Would you choose your life again?

The responsibilities, pressure, decisions, mistakes, and wins.

All of it.

Yes?

It’s great that you never let go of what it is you really want, even as you grow into greater success.

No?

You may have lost your power of autonomy.

And your success doesn't entirely feel like yours anymore.

In today’s issue, I explored the thin line between “I have to” and “I choose to”.

Quite a good read that uncovers how to sustain the love for your craft yesterday, today, tomorrow, and ever.

A life you don’t grow to hate.

Read the newsletter here 👇

There’s something elite performers tend to experience as they become more successful. At the beginning, everything is a choice. Then the path, risks, 

The power of autonomy

Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to General Meade that could have changed the course of the Civil War.

He never sent it.

And that decision, to sit in the silence instead of reacting, was one of his greatest acts of leadership.

The most expensive decisions I've seen elite performers make were in half a second before they said yes or no.

And some regret a bunch of them.

Because they didn't stop long enough to hear themselves really choose.

Over the weekend, 1,190 readers learned 4 key habits for making the most profitable and aligned decisions, even under pressure.

Miss the issue?

Find the link in the comments ↓

My patience has been tested.

I’ve been misunderstood.

My grit, gut, and fortitude have been tested.

But this post is about feeling misunderstood sometimes.

I’ve realized it’s actually a luxury for people not to get you.

What if it simply means you're thinking at a higher level?

Think about it.

How do you explain to someone who shares no connection with the internal source that pulls you to do what you do, to understand why it makes sense, no matter how crazy it sounds?

How many can you convince?

Imagine the struggle, energy, time, and even resources it can take from you.

All for what?

I explored ways to make peace with being misunderstood for a happier life in my last newsletter.

Over the weekend, 1,191 readers received this.

Miss the issue?

Find the link in the comments ↓

What are you becoming through the suffering?

Two things happen when you set a goal.

You nail it or miss it.

If you win it, you savor the excitement.

And if you miss, you're not self-sabotaging.

You know you still got paid with more discipline, courage, self-trust, and a lot more from the experience.

The journey and what you've become so far will fuel you to try again.

So no matter how hard it is, you'll find your way back up.

If you feel empty when you hit a goal or linger in the weight of missing it, your goal was probably very ambitious.

But it lacked a personal meaning to draw happiness or strength for what’s to come. 

Over the weekend, 1,283 readers learned 4 great steps to filter ambitious goals for a happier experience.

Miss the issue?

Find the link in the comments ↓

Life wires us to explore...to find out.

To be more, do more, chase more, win more, learn more, and keep evolving.

But life is not what you're really exploring.

It's you.

Some people get stuck exploring what works.

It's not their fault.

They just:

- Lack patience and self-trust
- Don't trust their conviction to act
- Pay attention to what everyone else is saying
- Hold onto things that made them successful

Exploring you demands:

- Patience to say no to good opportunities, and yes to long-term value
- You sit tight and trust your conviction
- Pay deaf ears to what the hell people have to say
- A f*ck-fear mindset to reinvent yourself

Don't be afraid to explore yourself. 

There's so much more you're yet to find out about you.

P.S: My view...

Give people ownership.

Let people still see themselves in what they do before, during, and after they work with you.

Let them bring themselves to the performance.

Your structure should be flexible enough to let them keep the joy of being their authentic self.

There's a thin line between discipline and squashing the flame that makes people feel great.

The autonomy to choose is key to sustaining high performance.

Over the weekend, I shared practices to avoid losing yourself to external pressure as you achieve greater success.

Miss the issue?

Find the link in the comments ↓

Have a good read.

Every day, you're making dozens of decisions.

How many times have you experienced carrying a quiet tension between what you decided and what you actually meant?

This goes beyond saying yes or no to people or opportunities.

It’s also about what you say to people.

How fast you react to something only to regret it later.

We’ve all got something that helps us make the most aligned and profitable decisions.

And it’s just mostly never put to use.

The silence between decisions.

I explored this silence as an ally to make better decisions for a happier life.

You can read it here 👇

Every day, you’re making dozens of decisions. And in almost every single one, there’s a moment between the question and the answer. It could be a spli

Open article: The silence between decisions… by Huw Edwards • 2 min read

Being ambitious is great.

But be honest…

Do your current goals excite you?

Or are they just a logical move?

Most people burn out from chasing goals that slowly disconnect them from themselves.

Your goals can't just be ambitious.

Make them personal.

It's more thrilling.

I explored a different way to think about ambition in today's issue.

A good read for people who care about high performance.

Read it here 👇

You know how planning and working on a goal takes your focus, energy, and more. It's more like you're choosing how you spend your time. Most people qu

You set the goal, then it shapes you...

It’s actually cool to be misunderstood.

But wait.

It feels cool if you truly, completely believe in what you’re doing.

That way, external understanding becomes irrelevant.

You’re still open to healthy feedback.

But you’re not losing your mind because people don’t get what you’re on about.

I explored the luxury of being misunderstood in today's issue.

You can read it here 👇

There are times when you’ve felt misunderstood. One of the toughest things about this feeling is how much energy we spend trying to close the gap betw

Open article: The luxury of being misunderstood by Huw Edwards • 2 min read

Carlos Alcaraz was playing the French Open final against Jannik Sinner.

The match wasn't going well.

He'd already lost two of the first three sets, and now Sinner was one game away from winning it all.

Sinner was up 5–3, 40–0. That's three championship points. Three chances to close the door.

It already looked like a write-off.

But Alcaraz was focused on the next point.

He saved one point, then another, then another.

From there, he fought through a tiebreak to take the fourth set. Suddenly it was 2–2.

Then, in the fifth and deciding set, after 5 hours and 29 minutes, Alcaraz won the French Open in another tiebreaker.

And he did it all because somewhere inside, he refused to concede.

 He focused on the points he could still win, not the ones he lost.

 Indeed, it’s never really over until you say so.

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