At just 15 years old, Dubai-based entrepreneur Mustafa Mevlan recently found himself in a high-stakes scenario after discovering—only a day in advance—that he had been accepted to pitch his startup to Emirati billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor. Despite the frantic, last-minute preparation while balancing schoolwork, Mustafa managed to present his vision during the 13th edition of the ‘Open Talks’ session. His project, an innovative platform that utilizes AI agents to streamline the startup process by handling everything from project planning to hardware and software specifications, aims to save founders significant time and effort.

Mustafa’s path to the boardroom began long before this event. His journey into technology started at age 10 when a curiosity about video games led him to self-teach game development, a skill he later leveraged to lead teams and start his first company by age 13. While he admits that traditional academics were never his main focus, his parents provided unwavering support for his entrepreneurial drive. Today, alongside his current ventures, Mustafa is spearheading an accelerator called ChallengeChain, dedicated to supporting founders between the ages of 17 and 24, while simultaneously conducting research for new deep-tech and energy startups.