Roberto Croci

Hi, I’m Roberto Croci. It’s been a while, and with a new year starting, it felt like a good time to reintroduce myself. After all, it’s always nice to actually know the person behind the posts. 2003 - I completed my final degree and soon after joined DMR Consulting as a consultant, where I spent a year learning how business really works. 2004 -  I moved to BravoSolution S.p.A as a Senior Manager, leading sales. 2006 -  I joined PwC as a Senior Advisory Manager, focusing on project management. 2008 - Took me into the world of e-commerce with WebScience, where I worked as E-commerce Director. 2010 - It was a turning point. I joined Google as a Manager Solution Consultant and ended up staying 9 years. Over time, I grew into the Regional Head in Dubai. During this journey, we grew revenue and clients by over 5x in just 3 years, consistently beat sales targets for 11 quarters straight, and saw our product suite adopted by many of the largest advertisers across Southern & Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. More than the numbers, those years shaped my thinking, leadership, and resilience. 2019 - I joined Microsoft as Managing Director, where I built and launched a new VC fund, raised $15M from UAE and Saudi government entities, and deployed initial investments across 15 startups. 2022 -  I founded Constructive Rebels to help corporates and government entities drive innovation through startups, while also working part-time as an advisor and head across several organizations. 2023 -  I joined PIF as Director of Value Creation & Transformation 2025 - I was promoted to Senior Director. Outside of work, I’m usually: - Reading - Traveling and trying new experiences - Talking about leadership and startup growth - Or simply spending time with friends and family I started taking X more seriously only a few months ago, and I’m enjoying it here. If you like what I share, welcome to my world. Let’s learn, build, and have meaningful conversations together.📷

Funny how we’ve made appreciating someone’s effort such a big deal. All you really have to do is say, “thank you for your effort.” That’s it. But hardly anyone does this unless it leads to some great result. That’s not how it should be.

@bluewmist -turning off notifications -sleeping on time -spending quality time with loved ones -doing work you love -exercising -books -water -sunlight -do what you say you will do -and a dog :)

What is something relatively cheap that improves your life by 100%?

@Nithya_Shrii true... it’s neither equal nor fair and it builds very different kinds of character. so it’s better we understand this before pointing out who “had it easier” or “harder” in life.

Rich kids get capital. Middle class kids get “figure it out.” Poor kids get trauma and told it builds character. The starting line is not equal.

I understand, but with due respect, anytime you talk about Dubai like that, it’s important to remember the vision and long-term planning that have kept it thriving through challenges. And yes, setbacks can happen, but the city’s track record shows it adapts, innovates, and comes out stronger each time.

The dream of Dubai is officially over, and it will never be the same. The illusion of a tax-free lifestyle and perfect security for Westerners in the Middle East has collapsed. As regional realities set in, it is clear that this artificial paradise is truly vulnerable

This is what founders think they’ll get after funding: - clarity - speed - breathing room This is what actually happens: - suddenly everyone has a say - you start second-guessing things you were earlier sure about - the burn starts feeling real, very fast I’ve seen this pretty closely. And the ones who got ahead… was the ones who didn’t lose their way of working. They still shipped fast. Still stayed close to customers. Still made decisions without needing five people to agree. Money helps, no doubt. But if it slows you down or makes you overthink, it becomes a disadvantage.

@AlexHormozi you’ll actually feel nothing about anyone except yourself whether you lived fully, chased your own dreams, or let life pass by. that’s what really matters in the end

When you're on your deathbed, you won't regret cutting shitty people out of your life. You'll regret keeping them in it.

@hthieblot tt’s brutal for sure but that’s exactly what builds the kind of stubborn belief you need to actually win. keep going... those empty years are doing the heavy lifting.

One of the loneliest and most brutal stretches as a founder is holding unbreakable belief that you'll make it... when you have literally nothing to show for it. 2–4 years of: - Zero traction - Telling people "this is going to be big" and feeling like a fraud the second the words leave your mouth - Shrinking bank account - Friends buying houses / getting promotions while you explain to your mom why you still don't have a "real job" The imposter voice gets loudest at 3 AM: "Am I delusional?" "Can I actually pull this off?" "Am I really built for this?" Everyone around you might doubt it quietly, but the real killer is when you start doubting yourself. The truth: Yes, you can. Yes, you are that guy. But belief has to come before proof. You have to choose to back yourself hard when the scoreboard says zero, because that's exactly when most people quit. Those empty years aren't wasted. They're forging the version of you that can handle the win when it finally hits. Keep showing up. Stay obsessed. Never ever give up. The breakthrough comes after the doubt has tried to kill you a hundred times.

had almost the same discussion with a colleague he was saying the exact opposite, that AI makes things “easier.” But in reality, managing multiple threads, context, and outputs actually pushes you to think more clearly... funnily, we all ended up agreeing it’s less about using your brain less and more about using it differently.

There's worry that people will stop using their brains with LLMs, but managing several AI agent threads in parallel has been some of the most cognitively intensive work I've done in years

@aibytekat the pressure of “running out of time” isn’t new but social media has amplified it so much. now we’re constantly seeing timelines, milestones, and comparisons, which makes it feel more urgent than it actually is. this is very dangerous

I told my therapist: “I feel like I’m running out of time to build the life I want.” She didn’t even ask why. She just looked at me gently and said:

@Nithya_Shrii None of these are 100% safe just lower risk for now. With robotics advancing even these roles will gradually see automation. On the contrary, the real shift will be in how humans + machines work together not complete replacement

10 jobs that are 100% safe from AI: 1. Dentist 2. Construction worker 3. Plumbing 4. Farming 5. Gardening 6. Carpentry 7. Cooking 8. Gardening 9. Welder 10. Electrician Did I miss any?!

How to make more money: – get closer to the buyer – own the relationship – charge for outcomes (not time)

Read the article here: qrco.de/DISRUPTION2035

Honoured to contribute to the latest edition of Capital Insights by Capital Club Dubai. This issue brings together perspectives from 60 global leaders looking at how disruption will reshape the road to 2035. Grateful to be part of a group thinking seriously about what comes next for business, technology, and leadership. In the article, I try to make sense of what is actually changing beneath the noise. A few of the themes I explore: 1. The acceleration nobody can ignore 2. Three laws every CEO must understand 3. AI as the most asymmetric advantage in history 4. A multipolar innovation world 5. What CEOs and investors must do now Thank you to Capital Club Dubai for the platform and the thoughtful curation. Curious to hear your perspective.

2012: People laughed when we said, “we can build a company without owning any offices” 2016: People laughed when we raised a tiny seed round from strangers online 2020: People laughed when AI started writing our copy, analyzing our data, even suggesting product changes 2026: People are now raising multi-crore rounds for startups that barely exist outside a Notion doc and some of them are scaling faster than anything we imagined It’s wild, I know. But that’s always how it is. The stuff that seems crazy today is just the first step of something real tomorrow. So yes, you’ll get laughed at. You’ll get doubts. You’ll wonder if you’re even sane. That’s fine. Keep building anyway. The people laughing now will be asking how you did it in a few years.

@PeterDiamandis and it’s not just about raw knowledge, it’s learning how to apply it, make connections, and even help humans solve problems faster.

AI intelligence improvement from the beginning of 2026 to the end of this year will be equivalent to a toddler gaining Einstein-level knowledge in just 365 days.

@eurofounder Data privacy is a serious issue, but so many companies still ignore it and just feed sensitive info into LLMs. Trade secrets, customer data, internal processes, everything could end up on external servers. It’s a huge risk, and tbh, just being careful goes a long way.

I had to fire my best engineer yesterday On Monday I asked him to work on a feature I estimated at least 8 weeks of work Tuesday morning he messages me: "done" I thought he was joking, but the feature worked perfectly "How did you manage to do it so fast?" I asked him "Oh I just used ChatGPT and Claude" "You did fucking what?!" I screamed Our company data, sent to American servers I called legal and HR into the room immediately He was terminated within the hour Then I deleted the entire feature from our website We will rebuild it from scratch, without using any AI No wonder 90% of American startups fail if they cut corners like this

@HackingDave Most of these posts are just for engagement; there’s nothing valuable in them.

What I’m realizing is 99.9999999999999999999999999% of AI posts are from people that are trying to get more followers and clicks and has no real world experience on actually deploying. “Improve your workflow 80% by this one Claude skill” “Omg they just released this and it changes the industry completely” It’s all bogus. Create your own workflow that is tailored to you. Don’t buy into this garbage.

I’ve seen many people come to me with the same concern, they ask, ‘What will we do if we lose our job?’ The problem is, people make it seem worse by spreading news without knowing the full story. Companies have done massive hiring over the past few years, and now they’re laying off many of those people. AI is just a tool, but we make it seem like the worst thing for us.

Public sentiment toward AI is horrible and it’s not hard to see why. We have big tech CEOs and AI labs openly talking about mass job displacement while simultaneously pitching vague “abundance for all.” Nobody buys it. Telling people their livelihoods are at risk while offering weird promises about the future is major disconnect from reality. Most people aren’t thinking about abundance, they’re thinking about food or their rent/mortgages. AI probably will drive massive productivity gains and create new industries over time but right now that narrative is being forced and pushed by people who benefit the most from this shift. Not the middle class being told their jobs may disappear and that they’ll need to pivot to plumbing or other trade work. As of now most working class people feel like AI is going to ruin their lives, not enhance it. Until that changes it’s hard to see where AI optimism comes from.