As business and society enter an era defined by technological disruption, geopolitical complexity, and shifting social expectations, business education is evolving at pace. Here, Paul Almeida, dean of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, shares how leadership training must adapt to equip the next generation of decision-makers, why lifelong learning is non-negotiable, and how the school’s new programmes in Dubai aim to meet the unique needs of the region’s executives.

How is business education evolving, and what key trends are shaping the future of leadership development?

Leadership is being redefined as today’s business leaders grapple not only with financial performance and innovation, but also with the geopolitical, technological, and social forces that shape our world.

Trade conflicts, energy transitions, generative AI, supply chain vulnerabilities, and global unrest highlight the need for leadership that is globally attuned, policy-aware, and deeply human-centered.

It is important to recognise that decisions made in boardrooms are increasingly influenced by legislative developments, public sentiment, and algorithm-driven digital platforms. This shift is pushing business education beyond traditional business concepts.

Curricula must emphasise interdisciplinary thinking, global exposure, and experiential learning to prepare graduates to drive positive change across sectors and borders.

What role does lifelong learning play in helping mid-career professionals stay competitive in today’s rapidly changing business landscape?

Lifelong learning has become a strategic advantage for mid-career professionals. With industries being transformed by AI, automation, and shifting regulatory environments, static knowledge quickly becomes outdated. Professionals must now cultivate agility in their ability to interpret global shifts, make decisions with limited information, and lead their organisations into uncharted territory.

This spirit of lifelong learning is especially important in regions like the Middle East, where international business is a primary driver of the economy.

In the context of the Middle East, what are some of the most pressing leadership and skill gaps that executives need to address, and how can business schools help bridge these gaps?

The Middle East has set ambitious national visions and sustainability targets to diversify the economy and drive business growth in the region. But to realise this potential, there must be a parallel evolution in leadership, one that extends beyond traditional models. This is already a recognised priority by top regional players such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, as exemplified by their national leadership programmes.

The influence of artificial intelligence (AI) is central to the Middle East’s fast-transforming economies. From predictive analytics and smart infrastructure to personalised healthcare and financial automation, both public and private sectors are investing heavily in AI due to its transformative potential. This increases the demand for leaders who can effectively integrate and guide its wise usage, making it critical to understand the technology not only at the implementation level but also from strategic and ethical perspectives.

Those who can lead teams in the age of AI will be essential to advancing organisational success and driving broader economic and societal progress.

Executives need to close gaps not only in digital fluency or innovation management, but also in geopolitical literacy, strategic adaptability, and cross-cultural leadership. For example, understanding how sanctions affect capital flows or how climate policy influences energy investments is no longer the domain of policymakers alone, but an essential knowledge for CEOs and entrepreneurs to stay ahead.

Business schools can bridge these gaps by designing programmes that address regional challenges through an interdisciplinary, global perspective. At Georgetown McDonough, we work closely with partners in the UAE and across the MENASA region to shape curricula that respond directly to local goals, including economic diversification, talent development, and global trade expansion, while also preparing leaders to navigate complex and often competing agendas on the world stage.

What are the skills needed for organisations in the region to elevate Dubai’s emergence as a global business hub?

Dubai is a city that thrives on global interconnectivity, making it susceptible to fluctuations in international trade, the rapid evolution of digital economies, and shifting geopolitical and regulatory policies. To lead in this environment, professionals must develop a unique blend of capabilities:

• Digital fluency, to understand and lead innovation;
• Policy and regulatory awareness, to anticipate how laws, sanctions, or trade agreements affect markets and international finance;
• Cross-cultural agility, to manage diverse teams, global stakeholders, and drive inclusive social action;
• Strategic foresight, to navigate risk, sustainability challenges, and seize long-term opportunities.
  These are the core capabilities embedded in our Master’s in International Business and Policy programme, which we recently launched at our Dubai campus. Jointly delivered by Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and the Walsh School of Foreign Service, we aim to equip leaders to interpret global forces, shape strategy, and build resilience.

How are the McDonough School of Business degree programmes in Dubai designed to meet the evolving needs of business leaders in the region?

Our Dubai-based programmes are a direct response to the UAE’s vision to become a global knowledge and innovation hub. We understand that business leaders in this region are seeking more than credentials, they want transformation professionally, intellectually, and personally.

The executive MBA in Dubai is modelled on our top-ranked US programme but tailored for professionals in the Middle East. It blends Georgetown’s academic rigor with flexibility and regional insight, offering senior professionals a platform to refine their leadership, deepen their strategic thinking, and grow their global networks without having to pause their careers or relocate.

Our recently introduced Master’s in International Business and Policy is another milestone, particularly for our presence in Dubai. It reflects our belief that leading in today’s world requires an understanding of how business decisions intersect with diplomacy, development, and global regulation.

Together, these programmes are developing leaders who are ready to shape the future of business in the UAE, the region, and beyond.

Read: Accenture’s Abir Habbal on preparing AI-savvy leaders

Generative AI (GenAI) has rapidly moved from proof-of-concept to boardroom priority across the Middle East. While initial enthusiasm was anchored in the impressive capabilities of large language models (LLMs), enterprises are quickly learning that true competitive advantage demands more than just deploying the latest AI models.

The real value emerges when GenAI systems can access, understand, and act upon an organisation’s unique, constantly evolving data — and that is where Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and now agentic RAG, becomes mission-critical.

Why Standard LLMs Fall Short in the Enterprise

LLMs are trained on vast but static datasets, limiting their knowledge to information available at the time of training. In regulated or fast-moving sectors, these limitations manifest as outdated or incomplete responses, raising both compliance risks and operational frustrations.

For Middle Eastern enterprises facing evolving regulations and dynamic market conditions, these gaps are not just technical shortcomings — they can directly impact revenue and reputation.

RAG: Transforming LLMs into knowledge powerhouses

RAG bridges this critical gap by connecting AI models directly to diverse, real-time enterprise data. This not only keeps outputs current and reliable, but also boosts performance on tasks that require domain-specific knowledge or regional context.

Additionally, RAG frameworks eliminate the need for continuous and expensive re-training of core models, streamlining scalability and reducing time-to-value as business use cases and data sources evolve.

The market appetite reflects these benefits: global RAG spend is projected to soar from $1.2bn in 2024 to over $67bn in 2034, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 50 per cent.

Agentic RAG: The next evolution — from answers to autonomous action

With agentic RAG, enterprises are empowered to move beyond information retrieval to intelligent action. Rather than responding passively to user prompts with static outputs, agentic AI systems can autonomously plan, negotiate, execute, and optimise tasks — all while grounded in the latest organizational knowledge.

Imagine AI assistants dynamically managing supply chain schedules, automatically resolving customer queries, or orchestrating employee onboarding — all with minimal human intervention but maximum compliance, consistency, and strategic alignment. For CXOs, this represents not just a step-change in productivity but a true leap in enterprise agility and innovation capacity.

Agentic systems also introduce new dimensions of responsibility. Their autonomy and proactivity require strong frameworks for governance, transparency, and trust — especially as Middle Eastern governments advance national AI strategies and data protection laws.

A strategic playbook for Middle East CXOs

Embracing agentic RAG is as much a leadership mandate as it is a technology upgrade. Consider the following strategic actions:

• Build a unified data and infrastructure foundation
  Advance past silos by investing in robust, cloud-native data architectures. Standardised governance and privacy-first practices ensure that GenAI systems remain compliant with local regulations (such as GDPR and PDPLs) and are equipped for regional growth.
• Prioritise AI governance from day one
  Autonomous systems raise new questions of accountability. Establish ethical guidelines, audit trails, human oversight, and scenario-testing as non-negotiables. Transparency and responsible AI are essential to align with both stakeholder expectations and regulatory mandates.
• Develop true workforce-AI synergy
  The Middle East is witnessing exponential growth in demand for AI and ML skills. To fully harness agentic RAG, invest in upskilling programmes and nurture talent capable of translating business needs into AI outcomes. Encourage a culture of collaboration between human and machine.
• Start with impactful pilots
  Adopt a “test-and-learn” mindset. Initiate agentic RAG pilots in high-value domains — such as automated customer support, dynamic supply chain adjustments, or internal policy management. Use clear KPIs and ROI metrics to guide rapid iteration and scaling.
• Tie GenAI to tangible business outcomes
  Anchor every AI initiative in measurable value. Whether it’s reducing decision latency, enhancing the customer journey, or driving cost efficiencies, agentic RAG works best when it’s solving real business problems for real people.

Call to action: Lead the evolution, don’t watch from the sidelines

For Middle East CXOs, the status quo is no longer enough. Leading organisations are already transitioning from generic LLM deployments to bespoke, agentic RAG-powered ecosystems where intelligence is grounded, decisions are automated, and opportunities scale with data.

The challenge is not just to keep pace, but to set the pace. Elevate GenAI discussions from IT operations to foundational business strategy. With agentic RAG, you’re not just enabling smarter automation — you’re building an enterprise that is resilient, adaptable, and primed for the future of work.

Now is the time for Middle East business leaders to champion this evolution: secure your data, empower your teams, govern your AI, and reap the rewards of truly intelligent, action-oriented enterprise systems.

The writer is the MD Gulf at Dell Technologies.

When Charles Haresnape took the helm at Gatehouse Bank eight years ago, the focus was on transforming it from a predominantly commercial player into a retail-driven Shariah-compliant bank. Today, the UK-domiciled, PRA and FCA-regulated institution serves clients from around the world, with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) a key growth market.

“We’re a fully Shariah-compliant bank in the UK, but you don’t have to require Shariah compliance to be our customer. That’s the basis upon which we provide our services, and we’re proud of it,” Haresnape says. “Of all my customers who are based outside the UK, 20 per cent are in the GCC and that’s growing.”

Consistent GCC appetite for UK property

For GCC-based investors, the UK remains a preferred destination for property investment, regardless of macroeconomic uncertainty.

“We’re seeing consistent demand for UK property. In fact, the demand has held up strongly, even more so than perhaps our domestic demand,” Haresnape notes. “When people look back over many recessions and economic cycles, they see UK property as faring very well. It’s very consistent and recovers quickly.”

He adds that falling interest rates are further supporting investor sentiment: “People see it as a good opportunity to get in at a lower rate than previously.”

Gatehouse specialises in residential investment rather than commercial, with an average home finance size of £300,000 to £400,000 — enabling investors to spread risk across multiple properties.

Buy-to-let and build-to-rent both in focus

Haresnape says GCC clients are active in both individual landlord and institutional segments — an unusual combination for a bank of Gatehouse’s size.

“We’re very rare in the UK to offer both buy-to-let and build-to-rent,” he explains. “For buy-to-let, which is more the individual landlord or small company, we’re seeing increasingly people building larger portfolios to give more flexibility. The trend in the UK, which also applies to the GCC, is clients wanting several properties rather than just one or two.”

The build-to-rent segment caters to large-scale overseas investors — often sovereign wealth funds or family offices — pooling hundreds of millions into UK residential property. “We currently manage over 11,000 properties in the UK on behalf of those funds,” he says. Past investors have included the Kuwait Investment Authority, alongside global private equity players such as the Carlyle Group and TPG.

Read: Navigating the new tax environment for GCC family offices

Strengthening the UK–GCC financial corridor

Haresnape sees strong regulatory alignment between the UK and GCC, making cross-border finance smoother. “In Saudi Arabia, for example, they’ve been fast followers of UK regulation standards, and there’s much more consistency now. In Dubai and Kuwait, regulation has also increased, which is good for customers,” he says.

This consistency builds trust, he adds, with customers across the GCC better understanding the protections and processes around financial services.

ESG and Islamic finance: a natural alignment

Islamic finance’s restrictions on certain industries and its risk-sharing principles naturally align with environmental, social and governance (ESG) values. Gatehouse is leveraging this to attract both ethical retail savers and impact-driven institutional investors.

“We were founder members of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking, and we fundamentally believe in our ESG principles ; they’re not just window dressing,” Haresnape says. “People increasingly want their finance providers not to be involved in certain types of activity — arms trade, gambling, alcohol, drugs — and we make a complete statement that we don’t invest in those areas.”

The bank has been carbon neutral for five years, plants trees for every new savings account opened, and focuses on energy-efficient building standards in the properties it finances. “We’re testing solar panels, increasing the use of ground-source heat pumps, and prioritising environmentally friendly building methods,” he says.

This ESG proposition resonates strongly with younger savers. “In our 2024 survey, 83 per cent of respondents aged up to 24 said ESG was an important factor in deciding on financial products,” Haresnape notes.

Regional investment hotspots

While some GCC investors buy London property for personal use, Haresnape says most prefer higher-yield regional markets such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

“House prices there are lower than in London, and rental levels remain healthy, so yields are stronger. Even institutional investors take the same approach,” he explains.

Growing the GCC footprint

Looking ahead, Gatehouse is planning deeper engagement in the GCC. “We’ll be there more frequently, have more people on the ground, and increase broker relationships in the region,” Haresnape says. “The GCC is driving the growth of Islamic finance quite heavily, and the demand is increasing significantly.”

With majority ownership by Kuwaiti institutions, including the Kuwait Investment Authority as its largest shareholder, Gatehouse Bank is well-positioned to capitalise on this growth.

“The future of Islamic finance in the GCC is strong and so is the appetite for UK property investment from the region,” Haresnape concludes.

UAE-based tea brand FiLLi Cafe has partnered with COFE Cloud to digitise and optimise its operations as part of an expansion plan covering the UK and Asia, the companies said on Thursday.

The agreement centres on a customised mobile app built on COFE Cloud’s digital solutions platform, which is aimed at helping coffee and beverage brands scale efficiently while improving customer experience.

The brand, which operates in the UAE, US, UK, Oman, Qatar, Mauritius, Nepal, India and Pakistan, is looking to accelerate its international growth with COFE Cloud’s data-driven tools, operational streamlining and customer engagement capabilities.

“We are proud to support FiLLi, one of the UAE’s most iconic café brands, on their next chapter of growth,” said Ali Al Ebrahim, founder and CEO of COFE. “By bringing our advanced digital infrastructure to their expansion strategy, we aim to redefine what’s possible for regional brands scaling globally.”

FiLLi to get a fully customised app

COFE Cloud’s system will give the retail brand a fully customised app to reflect local preferences across different markets and improve operational efficiency, revenue growth and brand loyalty.

“Partnering with COFE Cloud marks a significant milestone in our digital journey,” said Rafih FiLLi, founder and CEO of FiLLi Cafe. “This collaboration enables us to seamlessly scale our operations while staying true to our brand promise—delivering world-famous Zafran Chai and Global Street Food with excellence, speed, and personalisation.”

Founded in 2004 as a single café in the UAE, FiLLi has grown into a global brand known for its modern take on street food fusion and signature chai.

COFE, founded in 2018, operates in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt, with further expansion planned.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) reported a record revenue of Dhs14.6bn for H1 2025, marking a 6.9 per cent increase year-on-year.

The company also announced a dividend payment of Dhs3.1bn, payable in October 2025.

The half-year financial results highlight strong growth across key metrics.

DEWA posted a profit after tax of Dhs2.9bn, up 13.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2024.

EBITDA reached Dhs7bn, reflecting a 5.3 per cent rise, while operating profit stood at Dhs3.7bn, increasing 12.6 per cent.

Operating cash flow surged 61.3 per cent to Dhs9.2bn.

DEWA’s Q2 highlights

In Q2 alone, DEWA recorded a profit after tax of Dhs2.4bn, up 25.8 per cent year-on-year, with revenues of Dhs8.6bn, an increase of 9.8 per cent.

EBITDA and operating profit grew 11.9 per cent and 24.8 per cent respectively.

DEWA currently serves 1,292,487 customer accounts, a 4.81 per cent increase over the same period last year.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, said, “We are proud to report DEWA’s strongest-ever financial results for both the second quarter and first half of 2025 … Our record operating cash flow of Dhs9.2bn, up 61.3 per cent year-on-year, underscores the resilience of our business model.”

Al Tayer credited the leadership and vision of Dubai’s rulers and noted continued investments in state-of-the-art infrastructure totaling over Dhs230bn to date.

Looking ahead, DEWA expects stronger revenue and profit contributions in H1 2025, driven by seasonal demand and continued investments in clean energy, digital infrastructure, and water desalination in line with Dubai’s Green Economy vision