Silicon Valley has become synonymous with technological innovation, home to companies such as Google, Apple and Nvidia that have changed how people communicate, work and use technology. Its influence extends from consumer products to cybersecurity, healthcare and artificial intelligence, while its startups continue to develop tools used by millions of people around the world.
Moroccan professionals have found different ways into this ecosystem. Some have held senior positions at major technology companies, while others have launched startups or built businesses connecting Silicon Valley with markets abroad. Their paths include developing computer vision systems, improving how AI searches for information, protecting companies from cyberattacks and creating new digital services.
Here are six Moroccans whose careers illustrate the range of opportunities they have pursued in the technology sector.
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Othman Laraki
Othman Laraki has built a career across some of Silicon Valley’s most recognizable technology companies before turning his attention to healthcare. He co-founded Color Health, where he serves as chief executive officer.
Laraki began his career at Google, working on performance infrastructure and client-side software, including the early development of the Chrome browser. He later co-founded MixerLabs, a startup acquired by Twitter. At Twitter, he became vice president of product, helping develop the company’s first revenue-generating products and overseeing a period in which its user base grew from 50 million to 200 million.
In 2013, Laraki left Twitter to focus on Color, a company working to make genetic testing and preventive healthcare more accessible. Its work has centered on identifying hereditary risks for conditions including cancer and heart disease, using technology to help people access information that can inform their care.
His career illustrates one route through Silicon Valley: moving from large technology platforms to entrepreneurship, then applying experience in software and data to a field outside traditional consumer technology.
Ghita Houir Alami
Ghita Houir Alami, born and raised in Morocco, took a different route into the industry. After studying at École Polytechnique in France and the University of California, Berkeley, she co-founded ZeroEntropy, a startup focused on improving information retrieval for artificial intelligence systems.
The company developed models designed to help AI systems find and rank relevant information more efficiently. Its work addressed a technical problem that has become central to AI-powered search and assistants: finding the right information quickly without sacrificing the quality of the results.
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ZeroEntropy joined Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 startup batch and raised $4.2 million in seed funding. In July 2026, Notion announced that it had acquired the company and that the entire team would join its organization. Notion said ZeroEntropy’s technology had helped reduce latency in the reranking stage of its AI search by 85% while maintaining answer quality.
Following the acquisition, Houir Alami took charge of Notion’s newly formed Model Research team. ZeroEntropy’s models were also made open source, while its standalone products were scheduled to be discontinued in September 2026.
Her trajectory shows how a small AI startup can develop technology that attracts a larger platform looking to improve its own products.
Yassir Abousselham
Yassir Abousselham grew up in Morocco before moving to the United States for graduate studies. He went on to build a career in information security, taking on senior roles at major technology companies.
His experience includes security leadership positions at Google and EY, followed by chief information security officer roles at SoFi, Okta and Splunk. He later joined UiPath as its chief information security officer. These positions placed him in charge of protecting companies’ systems and data while managing security risks, privacy and compliance requirements.
Abousselham has also been involved in cybersecurity product development and industry initiatives, and holds two US patents related to trusted network communication.
He has since founded Silicon Valley Cyber, a cybersecurity advisory firm that helps organizations strengthen their security programs and meet regulatory requirements. His work now combines experience gained inside large technology companies with advisory services for businesses facing increasingly complex security threats.
Modar Alaoui
Modar Alaoui, a Moroccan-American entrepreneur born in Fez, has built his career around computer vision, a branch of artificial intelligence that allows machines to interpret visual information.
He is the founder and chief executive of Eyeris, a company developing AI for in-cabin sensing in vehicles. Its technology analyzes information about occupants, including facial expressions, body movements and behavior, to help vehicles better understand the people inside them.
The field has applications in driver monitoring, passenger safety and human-machine interaction, especially as automakers develop more advanced driver-assistance systems and automated driving features.
Alaoui studied in Canada at Concordia University and HEC Montréal before moving into technology entrepreneurship. His work has focused on using AI to interpret human behavior rather than simply detect objects in an image.
Eyeris has positioned its technology for use by automotive manufacturers and suppliers developing systems that can respond to drivers and passengers.
Hicham Jorio
Hicham Jorio’s career combines engineering, business development and investment. Originally from Rabat, he moved to California during his school years and later studied electrical engineering at San Jose State University, followed by an MBA.
He began his career as a field engineer at Integrated Device Technology, where he moved into technical business development and managed relationships with international clients, including Nokia, Alcatel and Cisco. He later joined IBM, working in strategic partnerships with a focus on areas including artificial intelligence and the early detection of skin cancer.
In 2015, Jorio founded Spire to help technology companies from Silicon Valley develop partnerships and business opportunities in Africa and the Middle East. The company worked on distribution agreements, joint ventures and other arrangements intended to help businesses enter new markets.
One of the partnerships he has discussed publicly involved PayPal and Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank. Jorio said Spire helped facilitate negotiations that led to an exclusive PayPal partnership with the bank in Africa.
Jorio now serves as a managing partner at Spire Ventures, whose activities include investment and operational support for companies.
Ali Benmoussa
Ali Benmoussa followed an entrepreneurial route into Silicon Valley. After studying at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, he moved to California State University, Northridge, where he earned a degree in computer engineering in 2004.
He subsequently worked in website programming and content management for a price-comparison service. The experience gave him an idea for a similar platform focused on entertainment events, leading him to launch Ticketwood in San Francisco in 2006.
Ticketwood was designed as a ticket-comparison shopping service, allowing users to compare offers from different ticket brokers before buying tickets for events. Rather than selling access to events itself, the platform helped customers navigate a fragmented market and compare available options.
Benmoussa also developed SearchHub, another price-comparison venture covering a wider range of products. In an interview with Moroccan business weekly Challenge, he described Silicon Valley as an environment where entrepreneurs could seek funding for a business idea, provided they could present a clear concept and business case.
His story dates back to an earlier phase of the region’s startup scene, when online comparison services offered a way to build businesses around making information easier for consumers to use.
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Different routes into the same ecosystem
These six careers do not follow a single pattern. Laraki moved from major technology platforms into healthcare, Houir Alami developed AI search technology before ZeroEntropy’s acquisition, and Abousselham built a career protecting companies from cyber threats. Alaoui has focused on computer vision, while Jorio has worked on partnerships between Silicon Valley businesses and international markets. Benmoussa took an early entrepreneurial route through online ticket and price comparison.
Their work spans different generations of technology and different kinds of businesses. What connects them is the range of ways they have participated in Silicon Valley’s technology economy, whether by developing products, managing security, building companies or helping businesses expand into new markets.
