Dr. Bandar bin Mohammed Al-Aiban was recently appointed by royal decree as an adviser to the Royal Court. King Salman issued a number of decrees on Aug. 30, including the creation of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, and of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence, among other important appointments. Al-Aiban expressed his gratitude to the king and the crown prince for appointing him as an adviser to the Royal Court. Al-Aiban was born in Riyadh in 1954. He is a former member of Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council. Earlier, Al-Aiban served as the president of Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission, from his appointment in 2009 until Aug. 2019. In 1979, Al-Aiban graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering. He also holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California, and a Ph.D. in philosophy, political science and international relations from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (1996). His other experiences include working for the Saudi Arabian National Guard as undersecretary of the national guard for the western sector. Al-Aiban also worked in the Saudi National Guard office in the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington. In a recent meeting, the Saudi Cabinet said that the royal decrees reflect the Kingdom’s keenness to develop various sectors in line with the Vision 2030 reform plan.