Abdulrahman Al Lily
Abdulrahman Al Lily (Arabic: عبدالرحمن الليلي), also known as Abdul Al Lily is a Saudi Arabian academic, researcher, and author. He is a professor at King Faisal University (KFU), where he serves as the Vice President for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Research, and Graduate Studies. His research focuses on the sociology of Saudi culture and the application of crowd-authoring methodologies within the social sciences.
Education
Al Lily completed his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics Education at King Faisal University in 2005. He subsequently moved to the United Kingdom, earning a Master of Arts in Digital Technology from the University of Manchester in 2008. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) from the University of Oxford (Wolfson College) in 2012. His doctoral thesis explored the culturalisation of educational technologies within the Saudi Arabian context.
Career
Al Lily's academic career is based at King Faisal University, where he has served as Director of the National Research Center for Giftedness and Creativity (2018 2021) and Dean of Research (2021).
In 2026, he was awarded the British Council Study UK Alumni Award for Social Action in Riyadh, recognizing his impact on the Saudi higher education ecosystem.
Research and theories
Al Lily has published research on education and technology, including work on collaborative academic writing. A 2016 article co-authored with multiple contributors examined large-scale collaboration in academic authorship.
He has also co-authored research on organizational and technological practices in educational contexts.
Selected publications
- The Bro Code of Saudi Culture: Describing the Saudi from Head to Toe (2016).
- The Thinking Styles of Saudi Culture (2018).
- Life Is Suffering: 34 Facts (2024).
- The Naughty AI CEO