Usman Khalid
Award-Winning Digital Transformation & Marketing Leader Helping Businesses Scale with Technology, Marketing, and AI
at Centric
About
Usman Khalid is the Founder and CEO of Centric, a global digital transformation and marketing agency with operations in Dubai, Houston, and beyond. Over 15+ years, he has bootstrapped Centric from a single location to a multi-continent operation serving governments, enterprises, and mid-market firms across energy, manufacturing, FMCG, and hospitality. A technologist and entrepreneur at heart, Usman combines deep expertise in AI automation, performance marketing (SEO/PPC), enterprise application development, and product information management to deliver measurable business outcomes. He is a serial founder and investor in startups including LiProspect, ViroMasks, and YallaBid, and serves on the Board of the American Marketing Association Houston Chapter. Usman has won 9+ awards in the past 12 months alone, including AMA Crystal Awards, HBMA Lantern Awards, and recognition for innovative AI deployments in retail.
Expertise
Speaking topics
Experience
Centric
2011 – PresentFounder and CEO
Founded and scaled a global digital transformation and marketing agency from a single location to operations across Dubai, Houston, and beyond, achieving 70% CAGR. Delivers award-winning solutions in web development, mobile apps, AI automation, and enterprise deployments for governments, enterprises, and mid-market firms.
Viro Masks
2020 – 2023CEO, Co-Founder
Co-founded and led a high-quality protective mask company during COVID-19, partnering with HeiQ (Swiss ETH spinoff) for textile technology and AMCO (ISO 9001 certified manufacturer) in the UAE to deliver ISO 17025-tested products against airborne viruses and pollutants.
Askofy
2017 – 2019CTO, Co-Founder
Co-founded a B2C mobile app for crowdsourced polling and real-time audience insights. Managed technical architecture, growth hacking, GDPR compliance, and UI/UX design to deliver an innovative social intelligence platform.
Oracle
2008 – 2011Senior Sales Consultant / Solution Architect
Technical Architect for Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Pakistan.
American Marketing Association (Houston)
2024 – 2025Board Member
Serves on the Board of the AMA Houston Chapter, responsible for advancing marketing knowledge, fostering community, and leading ethical practices within the region's marketing professional ecosystem.
YallaBid
2010 – 2011Founder, Investor
Co-founded an e-commerce or auction platform (mentioned as portfolio company).