Fast delivery has become one of the defining promises of e-commerce, but speed alone is no guarantee of a sustainable business. As retailers invest in dark stores, micro-fulfilment centres and increasingly sophisticated technology, the pressure is on to make each order profitable.

Rodrigue Nacouzi, who built temperature-controlled logistics business Transcorp before its acquisition by Green Dome Investments in 2025, knows the challenges of scaling first-hand.

In this interview with Gulf Business, he discusses the economics of quick commerce, where automation and artificial intelligence can deliver value, and what he looks for in new investments through Enablers Ventures.

You built Transcorp from the ground up before its acquisition by Green Dome Investments in 2025. What did that journey teach you about scaling a logistics business in the UAE — and what would you do differently today?

Building Transcorp taught me that growth places demands on a business well before it produces returns. Every contract brings commitments in infrastructure, people, working capital and service expectations. Managing that balance becomes increasingly important as the company expands.

In temperature-controlled logistics, there is very little room for inconsistency. The customer is entrusting you with the integrity of their product and, ultimately, their reputation. Earning that trust opens doors, but maintaining it at scale requires strong management, reliable systems and a detailed understanding of profitability across customers and operations.

As you scale, small inefficiencies become expensive. You need visibility into profitability by customer, route and facility, alongside managers who take ownership of those numbers. Revenue growth can hide weaknesses for a while, but eventually they surface in service quality or cash flow.

If I were starting again, I would invest earlier in management depth, operational data and clearer accountability. I would also be more selective about contracts. The right customer helps you build a stronger network; the wrong commercial terms can leave you financing someone else’s growth.

Quick commerce has promised consumers ever-faster delivery, but the economics can be difficult. What separates a sustainable quick-commerce model from one that is simply chasing speed and market share?

A sustainable model understands exactly what it earns and spends on each order and how those economics change as volumes grow. Order weight, basket size, product margin, picking productivity, delivery distance and wastage all matter. A busy operation is not necessarily a profitable one.

Speed should follow good network design. When stock is positioned near demand, inventory is accurate and fulfilment runs efficiently, fast delivery becomes more economical. When those foundations are missing, businesses end up paying for speed through discounts, excess staffing and expensive delivery capacity.

I am comfortable with a planned investment period, including initial losses, provided there is a defined budget, a deadline and measurable progress towards profitability. The important distinction is whether growth is improving the economics or simply increasing the loss.

Location has become increasingly important to fulfilment. How are dark stores, micro-fulfilment centres and commercial real estate changing as retailers try to get closer to the customer?

A fulfilment property has to be assessed as part of an operating network. The rent is only one component of its cost but a major one. That said, a cheaper site can end up being much more expensive if it adds delivery time, limits loading access or creates inefficient picking and dispatch.

The assessment needs to include customer density, SLAs, demand patterns, access, power capacity, site design and how the location interacts with other sites. Two individually attractive locations may serve largely the same customers, adding cost without enough additional reach.

This is the connection we are developing through Urban Solutions Group: bringing property selection, site preparation, micro-fulfilment and facility management into the same conversation. The objective is to choose spaces that work commercially and operationally from the outset, with enough flexibility to adapt as demand changes.

Automation and robotics are becoming a bigger part of logistics and fulfilment. Where do you see the strongest business case for automation today, and where is the industry at risk of overinvesting in technology?

The business case for automation depends on the space available, the volume handled and the productivity gains it can deliver. Large robotic installations can require substantial capital and changes to the facility, so the operation needs sufficient throughput to justify that commitment.

Quick commerce introduces a different dynamic. Dark stores bring inventory closer to customers, but they generally operate in compact urban premises where every square metre has a cost and a purpose. Any technology introduced must fit around storage, picking and dispatch without creating additional constraints.

In these locations, I see a stronger immediate case for selective automation: light-guided picking, wearable scanners and software that improves picking routes, replenishment and order coordination. These solutions can improve speed and accuracy within the existing footprint. Compact robotic storage can also be relevant, particularly where it improves storage density, provided the volumes and economics support it.

The risk is investing ahead of operational need, based on volumes that have yet to materialise. My priority would be to improve the productivity of the space and people already in place, then introduce more sophisticated robotics where the return is demonstrable.

You are developing an AI-powered decision intelligence platform for physical locations. What decisions can AI genuinely improve in areas such as real estate and logistics, and which decisions still require human judgement?

Many location decisions depend on information scattered across reports, spreadsheets, maps and people’s experience. We are developing a platform to bring that evidence together and help executives assess what to do, where and why.

AI can help compare locations, identify demand patterns, test assumptions and explore scenarios: what happens if rent increases, demand develops more slowly or a competitor opens nearby? It can also highlight missing or conflicting evidence before a decision is made.

Human judgement remains essential in assessing relationships, negotiating terms, understanding local conditions and deciding how much uncertainty to accept. The platform should make the reasoning behind a recommendation visible, including its limitations. My aim is to give decision-makers a stronger basis for judgement while keeping responsibility clearly with the people making the decision.

International e-commerce and marketplace companies continue to expand in the Gulf. What are they looking for when entering the UAE, and where are the biggest gaps in the infrastructure currently supporting that growth?

In my experience, they are looking for speed to market, predictable costs, consistent execution and partners who can grow with them. A facility or a fleet is only part of the requirement. They need local teams who understand how to bring property, approvals, staffing, technology and daily operations together.

The gap I focus on is coordination. A suitable property may still need substantial work before it can operate. A launch can be delayed because the facility, workforce and systems have been planned separately. Each individual supplier may fulfil its scope while the overall operation falls short.

There is a strong opportunity for partners who take responsibility across those interfaces, provide clear performance visibility and maintain consistent standards across multiple sites. International companies need confidence that expansion will be repeatable.

Enablers Ventures has completed six partnerships in the UAE over the past eight months. What kinds of businesses or technologies are attracting your attention now, and what does an investment need to demonstrate before you are prepared to back it?

We are particularly interested in technologies that address problems we understand through our operating businesses: logistics software, q-comm models, automation and decision intelligence. We also look at complementary businesses where our commercial relationships and industry experience can help accelerate growth.

Before backing an opportunity, I want to understand the problem, who will pay to solve it and why the team is capable of delivering. The evidence depends on the stage. An early business may demonstrate a strong understanding of its customers and credible demand; a more developed business should show paying customers, retention and a believable route to profitability.

Recurring revenue is attractive when customers continue paying because the product delivers value. I also look closely at governance, capital requirements and founder alignment. Completing six partnerships reflects our activity, but the real measure will be how those businesses perform and the value we help them create.

A bungee jumping attraction offering leaps from a 50-metre platform will open at Yas Bay Waterfront on November 1, adding to Yas Island’s leisure attractions.

Warrior Group will operate Bungee at Yas Bay in partnership with Miral.

The attraction will overlook the waterfront and accommodate both first-time participants and experienced jumpers.

Jonathan Brown, chief portfolio officer at Miral, said the opening would broaden Yas Island’s entertainment offering and support its position as a leisure destination.

Warrior Group founder and CEO Troy Gillham said the partnership would add to Abu Dhabi’s leisure attractions and give residents and visitors another way to experience Yas Bay.

“We are delighted to partner with Miral to bring this new adventure experience to Yas Bay,” Gillham said.

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Bungee jumping ticket prices and discounts

Solo Leap packages start at Dhs299 on weekdays and Dhs350 on weekends.

Double Leap packages for two are available, and Squad Leap packages for four are also available.

Yas Annual Pass holders receive a 20 per cent discount on standard Solo Leap tickets.

Sessions will run every 15 minutes from 1pm to 10pm, Tuesday through Sunday.

The experience is open to guests aged 16 and above, with those under 18 required to be accompanied by a parent. Participants must weigh between 40kg and 105kg.

A professional crew will conduct a safety briefing and equipment checks before each jump. Participation is also subject to health and other eligibility requirements.

The attraction is scheduled to operate from November 1 to December 3, 2026, before returning for a second season from January 10 to February 28, 2027.

Located within Yas Bay Waterfront, the attraction offers visitors access to the destination’s restaurants and live entertainment alongside their jump.

Bookings are open through Platinumlist.

India grows a great deal of coffee, yet it is rarely the origin named on the bag. That is the gap Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters walked into in July, when it opened its first UAE café at BurJuman Mall.

The menu is built around single-estate coffees from Indian farms, alongside signature blends, seasonal offerings and a range of brewing methods. It is a quietly ambitious idea for a city with no shortage of flat whites.

The numbers suggest the timing is right. India is the world’s seventh-largest coffee producer, and Coffee Board data shows its exports crossed $2bn for the first time in 2025. The UAE already takes about 5 per cent of those shipments. What Dubai hasn’t had is a café brand telling the Indian origin story on its own terms.

“India has an incredible coffee-growing heritage, but Indian speciality coffee is still relatively underrepresented internationally as an origin and Dubai allows us to take that story to a very global audience,” says Shivam Shahi, Blue Tokai’s co-founder and COO.

Blue Tokai started in 2013 as a small roasting operation. It now runs more than 250 cafés and three roasteries in India and works directly with more than 80 coffee farms, according to the company’s launch announcement. It also has a café presence in Tokyo.

Scale taught Shahi something that spreadsheets don’t. “The biggest lesson from our expansion in India is that scaling a café business is not just about replicating stores; it is about replicating the experience while staying relevant to each market and neighbourhood,” he says.

The company learnt about site selection, team building and operating processes along the way. But processes only go so far. “Coffee is ultimately a people business, and the quality of the barista, the interaction with the customer and the consistency of what is in the cup matter enormously.”

So the discipline travels. The template doesn’t. “As we enter the UAE, we are taking that operating discipline with us, but we are not assuming that the India playbook can simply be transplanted here,” Shahi says. “The objective is to create a strong, scalable foundation rather than pursue store count for its own sake.”

Why Dubai first

Few cities drink coffee the way Dubai does. The UAE coffee market is worth more than Dhs12bn (about $3.2bn), and roughly 93 per cent of coffee spending happens out of home, in cafés and restaurants. That is one of the highest shares in the world, according to figures released ahead of World of Coffee Dubai 2026.

For Shahi, the city was the obvious first stop in the Gulf. “Dubai felt like a very natural first step for us because it is one of the most diverse and experience-driven café markets in the region,” he says. Customers here already know speciality coffee, and they are open to brands they haven’t tried.

There is a home crowd, too. More than 4.3 million Indians live in the UAE, and India’s ambassador has said more than half of them are in Dubai. Shahi is careful not to lean on that. “There is also a natural connection to India, given the size and diversity of the Indian community in the UAE. But we see the opportunity as much larger than serving only the Indian diaspora.”

The bigger prize is everyone else. “The city’s diversity and openness to new concepts make it an exciting gateway into the GCC.”

Blue Tokai is coming to the Gulf through Ambrosia, which holds the master franchise for the GCC. The brand joins a regional portfolio that already includes Biryani By Kilo and Furn Beaino. The partnership also covers Blue Tokai’s packaged coffee for hotels, restaurants and direct-to-consumer sales.

Shahi won’t put a figure on the investment. He describes the UAE as a long-term market and talks about the near term in terms of brand building, not openings. “Our immediate priority is to establish the brand through product, storytelling and category education, understand the customer and build the right operating model.”
There is a target, though. “We have plans to build a meaningful café network in the UAE, with more than ten cafés planned across the region over the coming year.”

Ten cafés is modest for a company with 250 at home, and that is deliberate. “We are deliberately taking a measured approach to expansion. For us, the quality of each location and the economics of the business are more important than simply moving quickly.”

The coffee does the talking
Dubai is not short of speciality coffee, local or imported. Shahi knows another roaster with good branding won’t move anyone. “What we are bringing is a very specific point of view on single origin speciality coffee from India.”

That point of view starts on the farm. Indian coffee grows mostly in the Western and Eastern Ghats, across Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Smallholders account for nearly 99 per cent of holdings and about 70 per cent of output, according to an Indian government statement. The Coffee Board expects a record crop of 403,000 tonnes in 2025-26.

Blue Tokai buys directly from estates and controls sourcing, roasting and brewing itself, which Shahi describes as “representing one of the handful of full stack coffee companies across the world.” Indian coffee will stay at the centre of the UAE menu. “Expanding internationally should strengthen those relationships rather than dilute them.”

The economics are harder here. “Logistics, duties, real estate and operating costs all have an impact on pricing,” Shahi says. The aim is to absorb those realities without cutting corners on the coffee or the sourcing model.

And he is clear that a flag on the menu won’t win regulars. “But we don’t expect customers to choose us simply because we are an Indian brand. The coffee has to be exceptional, the experience has to be warm and approachable, and the overall proposition has to earn the customer’s loyalty.”

Same soul, local menu
The coffee, the training and the emphasis on traceability won’t change. Almost everything around them can. Shahi lists elements of the food menu, the pricing architecture, store formats and the overall customer experience as open to adjustment for UAE habits and occasions.

He sums it up in one line. “The balance we are looking for is consistent brand philosophy, locally relevant execution.”

Dubai is also a test bed. Saudi Arabia alone has more than 5,100 branded cafés, close to half of all branded cafés in the Middle East, and drinks more than 36 million cups of coffee a day. Shahi sees the UAE as the place to learn the region’s consumers, real estate, talent and operating environment first. “If we build the right model here, Dubai can become a strong platform for expansion into the wider GCC.”

He won’t set a store count for that, either. For now, the test is simpler, and it happens one cup at a time at BurJuman. “We want customers to come back because they genuinely love the coffee and the brand, and then discover the story behind it.”

Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute has announced the postponement of the tenth edition of its flagship investment conference, originally scheduled to take place in Riyadh from October 26 to 29, 2026.

The event, FII10, themed “The Power of Legacy”, will now be held in 2027, with organisers expected to announce revised dates soon.

In a statement, HRH Princess Dr. Maha Bint Mishari Al Saud, CEO of the FII Institute, said the decision was taken to ensure the landmark edition meets the expectations of its international community of investors, business leaders and policymakers.

“Because this is our landmark tenth edition, we want to ensure it delivers the full scale, extraordinary quality, and unforgettable impact that our community has come to expect and truly deserves,” she said.

“A decade of partnership and shared vision deserves nothing less than our absolute best.”

The institute confirmed that all existing registrations and partnerships will remain valid despite the postponement.

Organisers will contact registered delegates, partners and other stakeholders directly over the coming days to provide further assistance and address queries regarding the revised arrangements.

“We are profoundly grateful to our community for your continued trust, patience, and friendship. We cannot wait to welcome you home to Riyadh in 2027 for a truly special and memorable FII10,” Princess Maha added.

The annual FII conference, also known as ‘Davos in the Desert’, has emerged as a major platform for international investment discussions, bringing together sovereign wealth funds, global financial institutions, corporate executives and government officials to explore investment opportunities and economic transformation.

The conference is closely associated with Saudi Arabia’s efforts to attract international capital, diversify its economy and strengthen its position as a global investment destination under Vision 2030.

The postponement comes amid escalating security concerns in Saudi Arabia following a series of missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group.

Recent attacks, including a deadly strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, have disrupted air travel and raised concerns among international investors and business executives planning to visit the kingdom.

The Gulf Business Investment Summit 2026 will take place on October 30 at the Grand Plaza Mövenpick Media City in Dubai, bringing together investment professionals, financial experts and industry leaders to examine the trends shaping global capital allocation.

Held under the theme ‘Where Capital Goes Next’, the summit will explore how investors are navigating geopolitical uncertainty, changing interest-rate dynamics, technological disruption and the emergence of new investment opportunities.

The half-day event will feature a series of panel discussions examining global capital flows, artificial intelligence (AI), digital infrastructure, private markets and asset tokenisation.

Investment leaders to share insights

The summit will feature a lineup of confirmed speakers, including Wissam Breidy, Founder and CEO of BRDG House; Bader Al Sarraf, Research Analyst and Associate Director, Global Research at Standard Chartered; and Varun Kapur, Director at KAPITAL by KLEBER GROUP.

Other confirmed speakers include Alister Wellesley, CEO of EA MENA; Sapan Agarwal, Global Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategy & Key Accounts at Frost & Sullivan; Salmaan Khawaja, Partner and Head of Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton UAE; and Raven Groom-Baker, Managing Director at Aquanow, and many more.

AI, private markets and tokenisation in focus

The summit will open with a keynote titled ‘Where Capital Goes Next’, setting the stage for discussions on the economic, geopolitical and technological forces influencing investment decisions.

The first panel, ‘The Great Capital Reset’, will explore how investors are repositioning portfolios amid shifting global markets, while ‘The Next Trillion-Dollar Opportunities’ will examine investment prospects across the AI ecosystem, including semiconductors, robotics, cybersecurity and enterprise applications.

Another session will focus on the infrastructure underpinning the AI economy, highlighting opportunities in data centres, energy, connectivity and digital infrastructure.

The programme will also examine the growing importance of private equity, private credit and alternative investments, alongside the potential for tokenisation to transform asset ownership, trading and accessibility.

The $1bn investment debate

A key highlight will be the closing session, ‘The $1bn Debate: If You Had $1bn to Invest Today…’, which will challenge five investment figures to allocate hypothetical $1bn portfolios across equities, credit, private markets, infrastructure, real estate, commodities, digital assets and cash.

Participants will defend their investment strategies and debate which asset classes could deliver the strongest returns over the next decade.

The Gulf Business Investment Summit 2026 will begin with registration and networking at 8am, followed by the main programme from 8.30am to 11.30am.

Find out more: https://bit.ly/4zlRek3

Event details: October 30, 2026 | Grand Plaza Mövenpick Media City, Dubai | 8am–11.30am.