Dr. Mahdi Seify
PhD · MBA · Engr. · FIoA · FHEA · PMP® · PMI-ACP® · PMI-PBA® · CQRM · ISO/IEC 27001 & 25999 Lead Auditor & Lead Implementer — AI Governance Standards Practitioner (ISO/IEC 42001, NIST AI RMF, EU AI Act) — Senior Lecturer & Programme Leader in Business Analytics, University of Northampton
Dr. Mahdi Seify is the Founder and Chief AI Officer of VisionXY7 Ltd, an active Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Business Analytics at the University of Northampton, and a Fellow of the Institute of Analytics (FIoA) and the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
How this site fits with VisionXY7: mahdiseify.com is where I write and talk about the thinking — my background, research, and the frameworks I use. When any of that needs to be put to work for your organisation, the engagement itself runs through VisionXY7, the company I founded and lead as Chief AI Officer.
His positioning bridges elite scientific research with deep operational enterprise engineering. Over a 15+ year career, Dr. Seify has directed more than 100 high-impact, cross-sector industrial and governance projects — spanning global development programmes for the World Bank, large-scale automation within the German Federal Health System, and mission-critical infrastructure for major national enterprises.
I'm a reflective, values-driven academic and founder who thrives in environments of curiosity, collaboration and purposeful challenge — calm and solutions-focused under pressure, driven by curiosity, service, and the belief that education and applied innovation can genuinely transform lives.
I hold that "Artificial Intelligence" is a misleading label: it extends specific cognitive capabilities — logical-mathematical processing, scale, pattern recognition — but cannot touch existential, intrapersonal, or creative-synthesis intelligence. That's the premise behind Artificial Complementary Intelligence (ACI), the framework I use to guide every engagement. Read more on Research →
The discipline behind the delivery
A PhD and a boardroom-ready delivery record are one side of the story. The habits underneath them are the same ones I bring to the gym floor and the languages I've picked up along the way.
Competitive Runner & Basketball Player
Regional medals in both — competitive sport as a long-running practice in discipline, pacing, and performing under pressure.
Les Mills Certified Instructor
Certified to teach Body Pump, Body Balance (Yoga), Grit (HIIT), and Core, plus a Level 3 Nutrition Certification — coaching others through the same discipline I apply to research and delivery.
Four Languages
Persian (mother tongue), English (advanced), German (A2), and Arabic (B1) — a working reflection of 25+ years operating across UK, European, and Middle Eastern teams.
I'm a reflective, values-driven person who thrives on curiosity, collaboration, and purposeful challenge — calm and solutions-focused under pressure. The same consistency that shows up in a 6am Grit class shows up in a PhD validated on 50 million NHS records: neither gets finished without showing up on the days it isn't easy. More of this side on the didimishe channel →
The authority behind every deployment
Fellow of the Institute of Analytics (FIoA)
Highest professional recognition in data & analytics.
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
Excellence in university teaching and curriculum design.
Project Management Professional (PMP®)
PMI certification — global gold standard for project delivery.
PMI-ACP® · PMI-PBA®
Agile Certified Practitioner & Professional in Business Analysis.
ISO/IEC 27001 & 25999 Lead Auditor & Lead Implementer
Information security & business continuity management system governance and audit.
AI Governance Standards — Working Knowledge
Builds on ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor & Lead Implementer audit methodology to apply the emerging AI-specific standards ecosystem in practice: ISO/IEC 42001 (AI Management Systems), ISO/IEC 23894 (AI Risk Management), ISO/IEC 42005 (AI System Impact Assessment), the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (Govern–Map–Measure–Manage) and its Generative AI Profile, and EU AI Act risk-tiering and GPAI compliance obligations.
CQRM · Azure AI-900 · ITIL v3
Quantitative risk management, cloud AI, and service delivery.
Who has done it — not just studied it.
For speaking, academic collaboration, or media enquiries, get in touch directly. For AI training, consultancy, governance or a fractional CAIO engagement, work with me through VisionXY7.