Ahmad Shah Mohibi · Consulting & advisory Consulting and one-on-one advisory sessions for real situations.

Business & international work

When this is useful

You are entering a market you don't know well, need partners, buyers or suppliers, or have a cross-border deal that isn't moving. Most of my work here is in the Gulf, Türkiye, Central Asia and South Asia.

Examples

• Market entry and international partnerships
• Business development and stakeholder research
• Meeting preparation and local relationships
• How the government and private sector actually work in a given country
• Cross-border transactions: buyers, suppliers, counterparties, commercial terms, documentation, freight and logistics

What I can do

Work through it with you on a call, or as a project, do the research, set up meetings and coordinate the people needed to move it forward.

Relevant experience

• In my current commercial work I lead operations and international partnerships: international operations, vendors, clients and cross-border opportunities across the Gulf, Türkiye, Central Asia, South Asia and Europe.
• I coordinated a multi-party wheat transaction of about $3M between Kazakhstan and Dubai: buyers, suppliers, commercial terms, documentation, freight planning and logistics.
• My advisory work covers international partnerships, market entry, clients, vendors and cross-border opportunities.

When someone else may be needed

Local legal, tax, licensing and customs questions go to qualified local professionals.

Markets & company research

When this is useful

You are looking at a company, an IPO or a sector and want someone to pressure-test your thinking. I look at the company underneath the ticker: how it makes money, management, cash flow, debt, competitive position, valuation, industry conditions, risks and what is already built into the price.

Examples

• Business model, revenue, earnings, cash flow and debt
• Valuation, management, competitors and competitive position
• Industry conditions, sectors and geopolitical exposure
• IPOs and newly public companies
• Catalysts and downside scenarios
• Portfolio concentration and overlapping risk
• Your thesis, long-term versus short-term thinking, and position sizing as a risk-management concept
• Questions to ask before taking a position

What I can do

Go through the company and your reasoning with you, and point out what you may be missing. I may bring in people who look at markets differently, such as fundamental researchers, technical analysts or professional fund managers.

Relevant experience

• I invest personally and spend a lot of time researching companies, markets, valuation and business developments.
• My professional work includes due diligence, risk analysis, commercial evaluation and cost and resource analysis.

When someone else may be needed

I am not a broker or portfolio manager. I don't tell you what to buy, and nothing here promises returns. Regulated, personalized investment advice, custody, brokerage or portfolio management should come from an appropriately registered professional.

Due diligence

When this is useful

Before you sign, invest, partner or hire, and you need to know what you actually know, what doesn't add up and what still needs checking.

Examples

• Company research, ownership and business relationships
• Executive and background research
• Counterparty checks and transaction review support
• Public records, litigation and public information
• Local reputation, local-source research and local verification
• Open-source and multilingual research with source validation
• Geopolitical exposure and sanctions-related risk context where appropriate

What I can do

On a call, help you set the right questions. As a project, do the research and bring in local or specialist help. Larger investigations are always scoped as projects.

Relevant experience

• My advisory work includes due diligence, operational and geopolitical risk, international partners and market-entry questions.
• My government and international work involved reviewing organizations, vendors, proposals, counterparties, risks and source information before decisions were made.
• My research work includes multilingual open-source analysis, source validation, structured data and regional research.

When someone else may be needed

I am not a licensed private investigator. Legal opinions, licensed investigations and formal audits are handled by qualified professionals.

Operations & special projects

When this is useful

A project is stuck, there are too many moving parts, or nobody clearly owns the whole thing.

Examples

• Special projects, program setup and project recovery
• Coordinating several stakeholders and defining who owns what
• Budgets, resources, vendors, contractors and deadlines
• Workflows, reporting, decision support and fixing broken systems
• Crisis or problem response, and taking an idea into execution
• Teams: structure, distributed teams, recruiting, onboarding, delegation and accountability
• Nonprofit and volunteer operations, fellowship and internship systems
• Working across countries and time zones, and building processes without large budgets

What I can do

Structure the work, find what is missing, set up ownership and reporting, and stay involved to keep it moving.

Relevant experience

• In U.S. government work I managed operational and analytical support for a portfolio of about $80M across 19 countries.
• I consolidated 115 separate trackers into one operating environment used by more than 300 personnel, with clear ownership, deadlines, reporting and resource visibility.
• At Rise to Peace I built and manage distributed teams, recruiting, research, publishing, technology and project workflows across an international organization.

When someone else may be needed

Specialized technical, legal or financial work is brought in from qualified people.

Government & public-sector work

When this is useful

You work with, sell to or partner with government, and need to understand how it actually operates.

Examples

• Federal and program operations
• Acquisition and procurement: RFIs, RFQs and RFPs
• Government contracting, capture, teaming and the buyer-side perspective
• Contractor and vendor management
• Interagency coordination, executive briefing and formal documentation
• Translating policy into operations
• Federal customer strategy, public/private coordination and international government programs

What I can do

Explain how the process works, review your approach and help with strategy and documentation.

Relevant experience

• Nearly two decades of work in and around the U.S. government across the Departments of State, Defense and Justice, intelligence and national-security environments, diplomacy and overseas operations.
• Program operations, procurement and acquisition support, contractors and vendors, executive briefings, interagency coordination and turning policy requirements into operational actions.
• On the commercial side of federal contracting: capture, teaming, RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, vendors and customer requirements.

When someone else may be needed

This is experience-based operational and strategic work. I do not lobby, sell access or promise influence. Contract law questions go to a qualified attorney.

Risk, crisis & security

When this is useful

People are traveling to or working in a difficult place, an event needs security, or a situation is turning into a crisis.

Examples

• Travel risk and movement planning
• Executive protection requirements, secure transportation and protective drivers
• Local security coordination and event security
• Threat and risk research, geopolitical and operational risk
• Conflict and high-risk environments
• Contingency planning and crisis coordination

What I can do

Help define the requirement, assess what type of support may be needed and identify appropriate qualified providers.

Relevant experience

• My career includes work in conflict and high-risk environments, national security, crisis operations and overseas missions.
• I have worked alongside military, diplomatic, law-enforcement, justice-sector and security personnel in difficult operating environments.
• My advisory work includes geopolitical and operational risk.

When someone else may be needed

I do not personally provide armed protection. Regulated or licensed security work is handled by appropriately qualified providers.

Partnerships, relationships & introductions

When this is useful

You need the right people in a conversation and want it to lead somewhere.

Examples

• Stakeholder mapping and identifying participants
• Meeting strategy, agendas and briefing materials
• Private meetings, roundtables, conferences and delegations
• Speaker and participant identification
• Cross-cultural engagement and bringing different parties into one room
• Follow-up that moves the discussion toward an outcome

What I can do

Plan who should be involved and how to approach them, prepare the discussion and keep the follow-up moving.

Relevant experience

• I have organized and taken part in conferences, policy forums, briefings and international meetings.
• Through Rise to Peace I have brought together people from government, media, academia, international organizations and research.

When someone else may be needed

Introductions are made selectively where there is a legitimate fit. They are never guaranteed or sold.

Career & professional decisions

When this is useful

You are deciding on a move, preparing for a big step or trying to build a profile.

Examples

• Federal careers, international affairs and government contracting
• Moving from government to the private sector, or the other way
• Job search, interviews and networking
• Graduate school and building experience
• Starting a nonprofit or a company
• Building a media or speaking profile

What I can do

Give you a straight view and help you decide on the next move. A Quick call or Strategy session is usually enough; Ongoing works for an active job search.

Relevant experience

• My own career has crossed the U.S. government, government contracting, nonprofit leadership, international business, media, entrepreneurship, advisory work and AI workflows.
• Through Rise to Peace I have recruited, interviewed, onboarded and supported hundreds of fellows, researchers, analysts and team members.

Media & communication

When this is useful

You are going on TV, speaking on a panel, facing hard questions or need to explain something complicated clearly.

Examples

• Live television and breaking news
• Interviews, panels, moderation and public speaking
• Talking points, sound bites and challenging questions
• What producers and journalists expect
• Becoming a commentator
• Cross-cultural, difficult and executive communication

What I can do

Prepare with you and work through the message, the likely questions and the delivery.

Relevant experience

• More than 200 media engagements, including U.S. and international television, as an international-affairs and national-security commentator.
• Conferences, panels, moderation, public discussions and executive briefings.

When someone else may be needed

To book me for an interview or event, see Speaking & Media.

AI & workflow

When this is useful

Show me the workflow that is wasting your time. Sometimes AI is useful. Sometimes the problem is better solved another way.

Examples

• AI-assisted research and agents
• Workflow design and task routing
• Monitoring, dashboards and data organization
• Recruiting pipelines and publishing
• Knowledge management and internal operating systems
• Review gates, escalation and quality control, with a person in the loop on real decisions

What I can do

Look at how the work is done now, decide what is worth automating and what should stay with a person, and help build it.

Relevant experience

• I design AI-enabled workflows for research, monitoring, documentation, task routing and reporting, with human-review controls.
• At Rise to Peace I built AI-assisted systems for recruiting, research, publishing, monitoring and task management, using tools such as ChatGPT/Codex, Claude, Grok and Microsoft Copilot.
• In government work I redesigned workflows and reporting, including consolidating 115 disconnected trackers into one operating environment.

Operations & special projects

Getting a stuck or messy effort organized and moving: who owns what, what is missing, what has to happen next.

Examples

• Setting up or recovering a program
• Coordinating vendors, contractors and stakeholders
• Building a distributed team, recruiting and onboarding
• Fixing a broken process or reporting system

Who does the work

Usually me directly, with specialists brought in where needed.

Company, market & investment research

Written research on a company, sector or market beyond what fits in a call.

Examples

• A company review before a decision
• An IPO or newly public company
• A sector overview with geopolitical exposure
• Pressure-testing a thesis with other specialists

Who does the work

Me, sometimes with people in fundamental research, technical analysis or fund management.

Research only. Not brokerage, personalized investment advice or portfolio management.

International market support

Practical support for working in another country, especially the Gulf, Türkiye, Central Asia and South Asia.

Examples

• Market-entry groundwork
• Finding and checking local partners, buyers or suppliers
• Moving a cross-border transaction forward
• Organizing a trip with the right meetings

Who does the work

Me, with local partners and specialists where needed.

Due diligence

Checking a company, executive, partner, counterparty or transaction before you commit.

Examples

• Background on an overseas counterparty
• Verifying claims in a proposal
• Ownership, reputation and local-source checks

Who does the work

Me, with multilingual and local researchers where needed.

Legal review and licensed investigations are handled by qualified professionals.

Government & federal strategy

Help working with the U.S. government as a customer or partner.

Examples

• Understanding a solicitation (RFI, RFQ or RFP)
• Capture planning and teaming
• Federal customer strategy
• Program operations and documentation

Who does the work

Me directly.

No lobbying, no selling access, no promises of influence.

Risk & security coordination

Defining what a trip, event or operation needs, and identifying and coordinating qualified providers.

Examples

• Executive travel to a difficult location
• Secure transportation and protective drivers
• Event security and contingency planning

Who does the work

I define and coordinate the requirement. Licensed providers carry out the security work.

Meetings & convening

Organizing meetings, roundtables, conferences and delegations, from participants and agenda through follow-up.

Examples

• A set of meetings in a city or country
• A private roundtable
• Speaker and participant identification

Who does the work

Me, with event and local partners where needed.

Introductions only where there is a legitimate fit.

Research & intelligence

Open-source, multilingual and local-source research when information is missing or unclear.

Examples

• A situation abroad that needs understanding quickly
• Monitoring a region, issue or company
• Background research on a complex question

Who does the work

Me and a research team, using AI-assisted tools with human review.

Partnerships & business development

Finding, approaching and structuring partnerships, and staying involved until something happens.

Examples

• Identifying potential partners
• Preparing and running the approach
• Following through after first meetings

Who does the work

Me directly.

Ongoing advisory

A longer arrangement for an organization or leader who wants regular input on a continuing set of issues.

Examples

• Regular calls with a leadership team
• Support through a multi-month initiative

Terms are agreed in writing for each engagement.