A career shaped by many paths. A purpose that connects them all.
Aysha AlKaabi is an Emirati entrepreneur, author and former United Nations development professional whose career has moved across science, international development, media, publishing and social impact.
She founded AuTie from a deeply personal place: her experience as a mother raising autistic children and understanding first-hand how isolating that journey can sometimes become.
That experience inspired a larger ambition—to build a space where autism families can find one another, connect with professionals and trusted service providers, and become part of a community that extends beyond geography.
Today, that vision is AuTie: a UAE-born global social platform connecting autism families, caregivers, professionals and verified service providers across the world.
A Career Connected by Purpose
Before AuTie, Aysha’s professional journey crossed fields that may appear very different, yet each added something to the work she leads today.
She began in science and academia, earning a master’s degree in Biology and teaching at UAE University. Her career later took her into international education and cultural diplomacy through the UAE National Commission for UNESCO, followed by roles in media, higher education, cultural publishing and international development.
She later served as Head of the Programme Unit at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the UAE, where she led initiatives focused on governance, women’s empowerment, youth and sustainable development.
Alongside her institutional career, Aysha built a distinctive presence in media and culture. She worked as a television news anchor and later hosted Noon, a five-season television programme celebrating accomplished Emirati women and their stories.
Writing Before AuTie
Writing has remained a constant throughout Aysha’s life.
An award-winning Emirati author, poet, literary translator and publisher, she has published works spanning fiction, poetry and literary translation. In 2011, she founded Iqrani Publishing House, creating a platform for emerging Emirati and Arab writers while introducing international literature to Arabic readers.
In 2019, years before AuTie was created, Aysha published Gluten-Free Scripts: On Ali and Autism (نصوص خالية من الغلوتين: عن علي والتوحد), regarded in published Arabic media as the first Arabic poetry collection centred on the daily experience of a mother raising an autistic child.
Through poetry, she transformed the intimate struggles, emotions and small everyday moments of life with her son Ali into a literary voice for an experience rarely represented in Arabic literature.
In many ways, the book carried an early expression of the idea that would later become AuTie: that a family’s private experience can become a bridge to someone else who feels alone.
Where the Paths Meet
At first glance, science, UNESCO, television, publishing, the United Nations, literature and autism motherhood may seem like separate chapters.
For Aysha, they have always been connected by the same instinct: to give people a voice, build communities and transform individual experience into wider social impact.
Today, AuTie brings those chapters together.
“AuTie began with my own experience, but it was never meant to be only my story. It was built so that no family has to navigate the autism journey alone.”