Al Fares

Having been frustrated with wireless connectivity while traveling 100+ countries, Ahmad “AL” Fares set off on a decade-long journey to solve the problem of expensive international roaming.

Believing “cellular” should be “digital” while securely utilizing the new cloud, Fares founded CELITECH in 2018, a premium one-click connectivity platform for travel-related companies like Expedia, KAYAK, and Alaska Airlines.

Fares was an executive of the Keystone Group and co-founder of Acsys Technologies (2010-2017), and a senior consultant for Roland Berger Strategy Consultants (2009-2010). Formerly, he was an Engineering and BD manager for Petrofac where he helped grow the company to an IPO and FTSE 100. His inaugural role in the field started in 2004 when he led an R&D team to digitize Telecom testing equipment. Such work became National Instruments' GSM/EDGE Measurement Suite in the US and was published and presented at the IEEE International Symposium on Communication and Information Technologies in Japan.

Prior to his professional journey, Fares pursued a formal education at the National Protestant College, from which he earned a Baccalaureate in Mathematics (with Distinction). Continuing his studies, he attended the American University of Beirut (AUB), obtaining a Bachelor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, also with distinction. In 2008 he got an MBA from the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), followed by ExecEd at Harvard Business School.

Fares has lived and worked in over 50 countries before calling Los Angeles home. He is an inventor on seven utility patents (turned products with hundreds of millions in sales), and a speaker at global tech conferences such as API World and MVNO World Congress. Fares was also a member of the Forbes Technology Council (2018-2021).

• 2020-2024 — Mobile Breakthrough Awards "Overall Wireless Broadband Solution of the Year"
• 2024 — INSEADer of the month for May 2024
• 2023-2024 — Magellan Awards' Gold Winner for Overall Technology Solutions for Online Travel Services
• 2022 — Phocuswright LAUNCH "Runner-up People's Choice Award" for Travel Innovation
• 2021 — Blue Startups Accelerator, Cohort 13
• 2020 — Marquis "Who's Who in America" Top Executive
• 2019 — "Best Tech Startup" by The Tech Tribune
• 2017 —US national designated with “extraordinary abilities”
• 2008 — Recipient of INSEAD Fund Scholarship
• 2004 — First author of the “Best Paper in Electrical Engineering,” 3rd FEA Conference and IEEE ISCIT, Japan