Hilton announced it has surpassed 100 hotels trading and in the pipeline in Saudi Arabia, representing a combined investment of $8bn from hotel owners and investors, as the US hospitality group accelerates its expansion in the kingdom.

The announcement came ahead of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh, a global forum that brings together world leaders, policymakers, and investors to discuss international investment and economic trends.

Hilton said it plans to add more than 22,000 rooms across 14 brands as part of its growth strategy in the kingdom, creating more than 15,000 jobs, at least half of which will be filled by Saudi nationals.

“Saudi Arabia is witnessing incredible momentum, with travel at the heart of this transformation,” said Carlos Khneisser, Hilton’s vice president of development for the Middle East and Africa. “The kingdom welcomed a record 32 million tourists this summer, and we’re proud to be supporting this vision as the country works toward its goal of attracting 150 million visitors annually by 2030.”

Khneisser added that nearly two-thirds of Hilton’s Saudi pipeline is already under construction, underscoring the company’s commitment to expand into new regional cities and bring more brands to the local market.

Hilton: Luxury properties’ expansion

Hilton said it is strengthening its luxury portfolio in Saudi Arabia through new developments, including the Conrad Riyadh Laysen Valley, due to open in 2026. Other projects include a Waldorf Astoria and Conrad at The Avenues–Riyadh, a Waldorf Astoria in Diriyah Gate, and Madinah’s first Waldorf Astoria.

The company is also working with Rua Al Madinah Holding to open three hotels in the holy city of Madinah, including a Conrad property, and with Dan Co, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), to develop an LXR agritourism resort in Al Ahsa.

Tempo brand to debut in 2029

Hilton’s lifestyle brand Tempo by Hilton will make its regional debut with the Tempo by Hilton Riyadh Al Narjis, expected to open in 2029 through a partnership with Al Theeb Hospitality. The 135-room hotel will be located along King Salman Road and will feature a café, restaurant, fitness room, and meeting spaces.

Hilton said the Tempo brand targets modern, wellness-focused travellers looking to maintain their routines on the go.

New signings across the kingdom

Hilton continues to expand into new Saudi cities with several upcoming projects. The Hijla Hotel Abha, Curio Collection by Hilton, is set to open in 2027, while DoubleTree by Hilton Riyadh Al Narjis and DoubleTree by Hilton Buraidah are expected in 2029 and 2028 respectively.

In Dammam, Hilton signed an agreement with Medokhil Group to develop Spark by Hilton Dammam, part of the company’s premium economy segment.

The company’s first Spark by Hilton in the Middle East, Spark by Hilton Makkah Aziziyah, is scheduled to open next year, alongside the Kingdom’s first Tapestry Collection property, Diyar Ajwa, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, in Madinah.

Hilton also announced new Curio Collection branded residences in Riyadh as part of the OSUS Eye development, and two Curio Collection resorts in Al Ahsa with Dan Co.

Hilton currently operates 21 hotels in Saudi Arabia, with 83 more under development, as it continues to align its growth with Saudi Vision 2030’s tourism and economic diversification goals.

How do you define innovation today in an age dominated by AI?

I think that innovation always unfolds in two phases. The first is the breakthrough phase — the invention of a transformative technology, like large language models in the last couple of years made huge progress in generative AI. This is when excitement builds, expectations rise, and there’s often hype — usually overhype. But then comes the second phase: application. This is when we move from fascination to real-world utility, when corporations, startups, and individuals learn how to apply the technology across industries, workflows, and daily life.

Right now, I believe we’re transitioning from the first phase into the second. The foundational models are already powerful, they can write, reason, create, and assist in numerous ways. But the real wave of innovation is just beginning – not in building better models, but in expanding the list of their applications and reimagining products, services, and experiences using them.

What makes the transition from foundation models to Agentic AI so important?

Foundation models are extraordinary at processing users’ input; they can write, translate, and create. Agentic AI introduces autonomy, allowing systems to reason, plan, and act on behalf of users in real life. Rather than offering ten options or giving a list of next steps to follow, an intelligent agent interprets intent, executes a series of steps, and delivers a result. Yango Group’s ecosystem works toward making life easier and more intuitive. For example, an AI system could help a user find a nearby restaurant, reserve a table, and arrange transport – all within one connected experience powered by a shared intelligence layer.

This shift is especially relevant in high-growth economies like the UAE, which have already invested heavily in AI infrastructure. Success in AI will increasingly depend on developing application-specific solutions that can seamlessly interact across systems, navigating multiple functions, making calls, and executing sequential, real-world actions.

How does localisation influence AI adoption at Yango Group?

For AI to work, it must first be understood linguistically, culturally, and socially. Yango Group designs products that adapt to each market instead of exporting one template worldwide. Yango Yasmina, a bilingual voice assistant tailored specifically for the Middle East, was trained on extensive Khaleeji Arabic data, refined by regional linguists to be authentic. This localisation philosophy aligns with the global trend of nationalisation of technology, where over 60 countries have introduced national AI strategies to promote sovereignty and data protection. By investing in local data infrastructure and regional expertise, Yango Group ensures that innovation feels native rather than imported.

How do the UAE’s AI policy and regulation frameworks shape Yango’s work?

The UAE’s frameworks encourage responsible experimentation. There is an ecosystem where companies can innovate confidently, knowing the guardrails are clear and credible.

From the National AI Strategy 2031 to the Charter for the Development and Use of AI and the Ethical AI Toolkit, each initiative emphasises accountability, transparency, and human-centric design. Yango Group experienced this first-hand when it earned the Dubai AI Seal Tier S certification, a rigorous benchmark assessing safety, privacy, and governance in AI. Beyond validation, the certification unlocks access to government projects and wider participation in Dubai’s AI-driven economy. Such frameworks are vital in an era when cyber risks grow alongside innovation — global cybercrime costs surpassed $9tn in 2024, while the Middle East recorded its highest breach costs in a decade. With this in mind, we value the UAE’s transparent policies and regulatory frameworks that support innovation while ensuring accountability in the sector.

Beyond business efficiency, how do you see AI contributing to community life?

AI is quietly becoming part of everyday life in the UAE, so much so that 97 per cent of residents now use it in some form. From getting groceries delivered to finding the fastest route home, technology is no longer just about efficiency; it’s about enriching how people live, connect, and even have fun.

In Dubai, Yango Group’s use of autonomous delivery robots is a glimpse of how AI can improve daily living, reducing traffic, saving time, and supporting the city’s goal to build smarter, more sustainable communities. When innovation focuses on people, it improves the rhythm of city life and strengthens the sense of connection that defines the UAE’s progress. But its impact goes beyond convenience.

AI is also bringing a ton of creativity and entertainment into everyday life. From generating and improving images to possibly turning a simple idea into a short animated story, there are dozens of ways AI can be used to entertain and spark creativity in us.

This is the power of AI. It doesn’t just optimize one thing, it enhances many, quietly adding innovation into the rhythm of daily life.

Looking ahead, what defines the next phase of AI?

I believe the next phase of AI won’t just be about enhancing existing products but about reimagining them from the ground up. We’re moving beyond simply adding AI as a feature. The real transformation lies in building entirely new experiences where AI is not just a tool, but the foundation.

This means rethinking workflows, interfaces, and user expectations. Many traditional processes will become obsolete, and not partially, but entirely, replaced by intelligent, agentic AI that anticipate needs, act autonomously, and adapt in real time. The future belongs to services designed for the AI era, not enhanced with AI but rebuilt from scratch to unlock capabilities we couldn’t achieve before.

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) made a strong return to GITEX GLOBAL this year, underscoring its commitment to Abu Dhabi’s digital transformation goals. The exchange unveiled three major AI-driven solutions designed to simplify investor interactions, streamline internal operations, and enhance accessibility through the TAMM platform.

In this conversation, Marios Kampouridis, chief technology and digital officer (CTDO), discusses how ADX is positioning itself as a digital-first exchange, balancing innovation with regulatory rigour, and embracing AI’s transformative potential.

ADX was at GITEX after many years. What was the key focus of your presence, and how does it align with Abu Dhabi’s digital strategy?

It’s been great for ADX. We are very proud to announce three new AI initiatives that have come to the market. These initiatives are very much in sync with Abu Dhabi’s digital strategy. Our goal is to launch solutions for investors and issuers to make their lives easier and position the exchange as a digital-first, key hub.

You are launching three specific AI solutions. Can you quickly run us through the key function of each of these tools?

We are launching three tools that provide friendliness, ease of use, and more insightful detail for all stakeholders.

1. AI Financial Insights: This tool takes lengthy financial statements (sometimes more than 100 pages) and uses an AI agent to talk through the key points, highlighting specific references in the document. A major advantage is that you can pause the agent and ask any question, such as comparing net revenue across different years, cutting analysis time from hours to minutes.
2. AI Court Order Agent: Used by our post-trade teams internally, this solution addresses the significant overhead of processing court orders. The agent can analyse the court order, take action, email the concerned party, and close the case in just five minutes, dramatically down from the usual 30 minutes.
3. TAMM for ADX Investors: We’re integrating with TAMM, Abu Dhabi’s unified government services platform. As an investor, you will be able to start trading, see your specific portfolio status and, in the longer term, subscribe to IPOs. Non-investors can also create an account. Crucially, you can query an AI agent within TAMM for an insightful knowledge base, comparing your portfolio versus the market or specific assets versus others.

As you roll out these powerful tools, how does ADX balance the need for rapid innovation with stringent security and regulatory considerations?

We are always very close with both the regulator and our security team. We use spring-based methodologies that ensure security is at the heart of everything we do daily. We do not leave the security assessment for the end; instead, we work with security at every milestone, allowing us to continuously improve and stay in line with the necessary standards.

As a CTDO, what is your perspective on how AI will change the landscape of traditional jobs and business in the coming years?

AI is here to stay, and I don’t believe this is a bubble like the early 2000s, as the technology is being proven daily with use cases that make a serious impact on productivity. I believe that in a very small number of years — single digits — we will see routine and mundane traditional jobs start to be done better through AI. This will allow humans to focus on less mundane tasks, elevating business output.

Where do you see the biggest challenges or negatives in the current deployment of AI for a financial institution?

One major challenge is that while AI can deliver something I might traditionally take a month to do in five minutes, it’s often “not mature enough” to deliver it exactly how I need it, especially concerning security and regulation. This creates significant overhead because it takes more time to “clean up” after it. We have to ‘babysit it’ to ensure the code quality is up to standard for financial applications.

What is your vision for helping ADX be seen as a digital-first exchange globally?

Our job remains finance and exchange, and we take great pride in our history and what we’ve achieved over the last 25 years. Over the last three years, we have brought ADX to the forefront using cutting-edge trading engines and platforms.

My biggest focus now is to keep up with the traditional way of being in business while continuously putting in innovative and productive solutions to help my teams and the business produce better products in the coming years.

Finally, what is the one phrase that always brings you focus the pace of things gets frenetic?

Look at the foundation and remember the fundamentals — it always pays off.

Read: ADX lists region’s first thematic ETF focused on quantum computing

Why even the best-intentioned inclusion strategies fail, and how leaders in the Middle East can turn awareness into lasting cultural impact

Inclusion has evolved from a nice-to-have aspiration into a strategic imperative, and yet many organisations struggle to translate intention into impact.

What makes some inclusion efforts stall or even flop? In my work with different teams in the Middle East, I’ve seen pervasive derailers undermining progress that often occur below the radar of leadership.

Below are five of the most common points of pitfalls, along with how leaders in the region must address them to ensure inclusion becomes sustainable rather than symbolic.

1. Treating culture as a one-size-fits-all template

A frequent misstep is believing that a “best-in-class” inclusion framework can simply be implemented into the Middle East without adaptation. Culture can’t be standardised – especially in this region, where expatriate and local dynamics, generational mix, and linguistic-ethnic diversity coexist. We have been seeing an increasing shift toward microcultures, recognizing that multiple cultural layers exist within large organizations rather than enforcing a single uniform culture.

When inclusion is treated as a rigid external template, it often feels alien, imposed, or tokenistic to local teams. How to avoid this? Co-creation. Core organizational values should be blended within the local context, but the flexibility for each individual to express their identity should remain. Inclusion grows when people feel the framework reflects them, not when they must fit into it.

2. Ignoring the maturity of the business

Inclusion strategies should align with a business’ lifecycle and transformation journey. An early-stage startup, for instance, has a fluid structure and more tolerance for experimentation. A large, legacy enterprise may require more structural reforms and mindset shifts before bold inclusion initiatives take hold.

While many organsations prioritise inclusion, they often struggle with execution capability. When inclusion ambition exceeds organisational readiness either in systems, leadership, or employee culture, initiatives stall, become superficial, or provoke resistance. This can be avoided by conducting a diagnostic of maturity before launching programmes: assessing governance, changing capacity, communication systems, and leadership bandwidth.

Ambitions should be aligned with readiness – over time, inclusion accelerates as an organisation evolves.

3. Weak leadership accountability

It is not enough to delegate inclusion to HR or diversity teams without visible, sustained commitment from the top. Very few organizations connect inclusion outcomes directly to business metrics such as profitability or productivity. Without this alignment, inclusion becomes a side project, not a strategic enabler.

Employees pay more attention to what leaders do than what they say. When senior executives sponsor initiatives, mentor diverse talent, lean into discomfort, and integrate inclusion into performance metrics, they send a signal that inclusion matters. Without that signal, efforts become fragmented or lose credibility. Inclusion goals should thus be made measurable and part of leadership scorecards by implementing inclusive behaviour, feedback loops, and learning journeys at the senior level.

Fifty-four per cent of women in the UAE versus 43 per cent of women globally have confirmed that opportunities provided to them by leadership is a key enabler for success at work. Leaders should therefore be held accountable to ensure that inclusive career advancement isn’t a discretionary effort, but a core leadership responsibility.

4. Neglecting psychological safety

Inclusion cannot thrive in an environment where people fear judgment, exclusion, or reprisal. Psychological safety (the belief that one can speak, question, or make mistakes without penalty) is not optional. It is foundational. If managers do not create psychological safety on their teams, inclusion initiatives plateau; diverse voices remain silent, ideas go unshared, and trust erodes.

Psychological safety is a cornerstone of team collaboration as it allows for the creation of norms around safe dialogue by encouraging dissent, reward vulnerability, and transparent feedback response. Safe spaces, structured reflection, and inclusive facilitation should be built to reinforce safety over time.

5. Reducing inclusion to gender equality

Focusing solely on gender misses the breadth of what inclusion must cover. To name a few: abilities, generational diversity, neurodiversity, cultural backgrounds, and thought diversity. Narrowing inclusion to a gender-only model leads to ceiling effects as it gets siloed into women’s programs while other dimensions weaken.

Deloitte’s Women @ Work 2025 report revealed that 20 per cent of women in the UAE have experienced non-inclusive behaviours in the past year compared to 28% globally. Less than half of these women reported their concerns, however, caused by a fear of consequences. This highlights a wider cultural resistance to inclusion that goes beyond gender lines. It is therefore imperative to monitor sentiment and behaviour across all dimensions in the workplace.

Expanding inclusion

Inclusion does not thrive by accident. It is sustained when leaders align culture, accountability, and safety. The Middle East’s unique mix of nationalities, evolving business models, and ambition demand inclusion not as a checkbox but as a living business principle.

For leaders in this region, the path forward is clear: diagnose your organisation’s maturity, commit publicly, build psychological safety, and expand inclusion beyond gender. The real success lies when the intention becomes embedded in everyday decisions, behaviours, and outcomes. Inclusion isn’t a separate programme – it’s a leadership journey, and the real test isn’t in launching initiatives, but in ensuring people feel safe, seen, and empowered every day.

The writer is the MD and Purpose, Culture and Inclusion leader at Deloitte Middle East.