Arab coalition launches airstrikes after Houthis cross ‘red line’ with civilian drone attacks in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: Raheeq Al-Harbi received nearly perfect grades in her secondary school exams. In Saudi Arabia, that usually means a career in medicine. 

Today, however, her career journey, spanning almost a decade in the digital healthcare industry, is a booming success, and did not involve going to medical school.

Although excited at the prospect of a medical career in her early years, Al-Harbi was dissuaded from becoming a doctor by her family. 

“They feared the long nightshifts at the hospital and essentially giving up my life,” she said. “So I thought OK, I’ll follow my older sister’s lead and pursue software engineering instead.”

Indeed, Al-Harbi went on to earn a BA in information technology (IT) from King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh. She fell in love with analytics and software engineering the day she attended her first lecture. 

New beginnings

After graduation, Al-Harbi worked briefly at a local bank, providing IT treasury back-office support. 

“I…