Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Essa was recently appointed by royal decree as chief of the Royal Court at the rank of minister. King Salman issued a number of decrees on Aug. 30, including the creation of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, and the National Center for Artificial Intelligence, among other important appointments. Al-Essa was formerly the head of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s office at the Defense Ministry. Al-Essa had been a legal researcher at the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers. He then became a legal adviser at the bureau. He worked as a legal adviser cooperating with the Royal Court from 1996 until 2013, and was appointed director general of the defense minister’s office in 2014. Al-Essa is an accredited arbitrator by the Justice Ministry. He previously worked as an adviser to and member of the Joint Saudi-Yemeni Border Demarcation Committee, and a member of the preparatory committee of the Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council. He received the Yemeni National Unity Medal for his efforts in Saudi-Yemeni border negotiations in 2001. Al-Essa served as chairman of the permanent committee to study issues related to the Gulf Cooperation Council. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of Administrative Sciences at King Saud University, and a master’s degree in law from the American University in Washington.