Ali Adnan Haider Darwish: the BHD Group founder behind CupsByAA

Ali Adnan Haider Darwish is the founder and CEO of BHD Group, the Omani group that CupsByAA belongs to. CupsByAA is a brand of BHD Group, Bin Haider Darwish L.L.C., and the BHD Group print shop prints its cups. This profile sets out who he is and how his work connects to the cups you order here.

Ali is Omani and lives in Muscat. His full legal name is Ali Adnan Haider Darwish Al-Zaabi. He is also known as Ali Al-Zaabi.

From one print shop to 14 companies

BHD Group (Bin Haider Darwish L.L.C.) was founded in 1894 and carries the name of Ali's grandfather. It started with BHD Printing & Designing in Muscat. Ali leads the group as founder and CEO, a role he has held since 2019. Today BHD Group has 14 companies in printing, technology, software platforms and sovereign AI. They include BHD Printing & Designing, Hosn, Mithaq, Cardify, Dardasha, Paper & Pen, ReachScreens, Q+, arabian.ceo and Splitty. Ali is also a co-founder of The Flower Bar.

Where CupsByAA fits

Printing is how BHD Group started, and printing is the work behind every CupsByAA order. CupsByAA takes the order, prepares the artwork and serves the customer from Bousher, Muscat. The BHD Group print shop then prints the cups. To learn more about the brand, read our About page. To see a price and place an order, use the order tool.

His work in investment and public service

Since February 2025, Ali has been Head of Strategic Planning at ITHCA Group, Oman's sovereign technology fund. Since October 2023, he has been Secretary to the Board of DataOm, the submarine cable company of ITHCA Group. He has also been a board member of the Oman Fencing Committee since 2023.

From November 2021 to June 2023, he was Head of Business Environment at the Oman Vision 2040 Office. There he built the Invest in Oman centre. He also worked on the National Investment Strategy, which narrowed 43 sectors to 8 priority sectors. His career began in 2017. Before Vision 2040, he worked at Oman Broadband, Oman Aviation Group, EY and the Central Bank of Oman.

Education and recognition

Ali is a doctoral candidate in Innovation and Management at the University of Central Lancashire. He holds an MSc in Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Design and a BSc in Economics and Management, both from Brunel University London. He completed the IB Diploma at The Sultan's School.

In November 2025, he won the Next Generation Award of the Family Business Council Gulf. He was the first Omani to win it. The FBCG awards record lists him with BHD Printing and Designing, Oman.

Read more

Ali publishes his essays on his website. You can read his full profile and his essays there. He is also on LinkedIn.