Artificial intelligence is moving consumer electronics beyond connected devices towards homes that can learn, anticipate and respond to individual needs. Jason Ou, president of Hisense Middle East, Africa and India, discusses how the company is building an integrated smart-home ecosystem, why the UAE and Saudi Arabia are central to its regional growth strategy, and how advances in displays, appliances, energy efficiency and local manufacturing will shape its next phase of expansion.

AI is rapidly changing the consumer electronics landscape. How does Hisense see AI transforming the way people interact with their homes over the next five years, and what role will the Middle East play in driving that evolution?

At Hisense, our vision is clear: we are moving decisively from smart devices to smart home companions. AI is already making this real across our entire product ecosystem.

Our AI-powered refrigerators can monitor food inventory, suggest recipes and respond to voice commands, turning the kitchen into an intelligent hub of daily life. Our washing machines use AI to detect fabric types and automatically calibrate detergent dosage, taking the guesswork out of laundry while protecting your clothes. Our air conditioners leverage AI to learn usage patterns and proactively adjust temperature and air quality, a capability that carries relevance in the Gulf, where climate control is not a luxury but an everyday necessity. And our televisions, powered by AI engines, go far beyond picture quality, understanding viewing preferences and delivering personalised content recommendations at precisely the right moment.

What connects all of these experiences is a single idea: a companion does so much more than take orders. It understands you, anticipates your needs, and brings genuine intelligence to your home. Over the next five years, that intelligence will deepen considerably, with devices that communicate naturally, act proactively and adapt to the rhythms of each household.

The Middle East is exceptionally well positioned to lead this evolution. With a digitally engaged, premium-oriented consumer base and significant national investment in AI and smart city infrastructure, the region is one of the places where innovations will be shaped.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, smart cities and AI. What makes the Middle East a strategic market for Hisense, and how is the company adapting its products and long-term strategy to meet the region’s unique needs?

Building on that vision of AI-powered intelligent living, the Middle East represents one of our most strategically important regions globally, and our commitment here goes well beyond product distribution.

The cultural fabric of the GCC, centred on family life, hospitality and shared entertainment, aligns naturally with the whole-home ecosystem that Hisense is building. Consumers across the region have a genuine appetite for premium technology that enhances daily life, and that appetite is growing rapidly as digital infrastructure matures and smart city ambitions accelerate in markets like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These two markets are our primary growth engines, but our regional strategy extends across Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, where we are deepening partnerships with leading distributors and tailoring our approach to local needs.

Critically, our commitment to the region is backed by meaningful industrial investment. Hisense operates manufacturing facilities in South Africa and Algeria, has announced the development of a major facility in Egypt, and has established localised R&D capabilities in Dubai. Our recent export milestone, with products manufactured in Algeria now reaching Egypt and Tunisia, is a clear signal that the region is becoming an integral part of Hisense’s global supply chain, not only a consumption market.

Consumers increasingly expect their devices to work together seamlessly. How is Hisense building a connected ecosystem across home entertainment, appliances and smart home technologies, and where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation?

The foundation of our connected ecosystem is ConnectLife, a single intelligent platform through which Hisense refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, air conditioners and televisions already communicate and operate in harmony. It reflects our belief that the home should function as one intelligent environment rather than a collection of separate devices.

What makes ConnectLife genuinely transformative is that AI sits at its core. When your refrigerator understands your household’s food habits, your washing machine reads your fabrics, your air conditioner anticipates when you arrive home, and your television knows what you want to watch before you sit down, these are not isolated conveniences. They are expressions of a companion ecosystem that understands you, learns from you, and improves your daily life in ways that feel entirely natural.

Alongside this AI-powered connectivity, we continue to invest in meaningful technological breakthroughs in display innovation. Hisense is the originator of RGB MiniLED technology, and our leadership in this space, alongside our laser display portfolio, which includes projection capabilities of up to 300 inches, ensures that the entertainment experience at the heart of the home is as extraordinary as the intelligence surrounding it.

We see AI-powered connectivity and advanced display innovation as the two defining growth opportunities for our industry over the coming years, and Hisense is positioned at the frontier of both.

Display technologies, energy efficiency and AI are all evolving rapidly. Which innovations do you believe will have the greatest impact on the consumer electronics industry over the next three to five years, and how is Hisense positioning itself to lead that next phase of growth?

Having established AI as the central force reshaping the home, it is worth being precise about where we see the most consequential technological breakthroughs emerging over the next three to five years.

AI will continue to be the primary driver of innovation across our entire product portfolio. V AI OS, which powers our television ecosystem, is already enabling devices to think through user preferences, anticipate intent, and deliver deeply personalised experiences. As this intelligence extends across the full ConnectLife ecosystem, connecting appliances, displays and energy systems, the home will become genuinely proactive rather than simply responsive.

In display technology, Hisense’s position as the originator of RGB MiniLED is significant. The UR9 Series achieves 100 per cent BT.2020 colour coverage, delivering a standard of colour accuracy that transforms the viewing experience across sport, film and everyday content. Our laser display portfolio, including the L9Q Laser TV and the Laser Projector XR10, with 6,000 lumens of brightness, a 60,000:1 contrast ratio and up to 300 inches of projection, points toward a future where the boundary between television and home cinema disappears entirely.

Energy efficiency runs through all of this. Innovation at Hisense must be responsible as well as remarkable, and recognitions such as the Red Dot Award for our U8 air conditioner reflect that principle in practice.

As president of Hisense Middle East and Africa, what leadership principles have been most important in navigating rapid technological change and growing the business across such a diverse region, and what qualities do you believe tomorrow’s business leaders will need to succeed?

Leading across the Middle East and Africa requires holding two things in balance simultaneously: a clear long-term vision, and a genuine responsiveness to markets that are different from one another in culture, consumer behaviour and commercial dynamics.

Hisense’s approach in this region reflects that balance. Our strength rests on deep manufacturing capabilities, world-class R&D and continuous innovation, but none of that creates value unless it is translated into products and experiences that genuinely serve the people who use them. Every decision we make, whether it relates to a new facility in Egypt, a distributor partnership in Kuwait, or a product feature calibrated for Gulf climate conditions, is tested against one principle: does this make life better for our customer?

For tomorrow’s leaders, I believe the defining qualities will be the ability to think across long time horizons while acting with agility in the short term, the intellectual curiosity to understand technology deeply without losing sight of the human experience it should serve, and the cultural empathy to build trust across genuinely diverse markets. The AI era will reward leaders who can combine technological understanding with authentic human connection, and that, ultimately, is what we are building at Hisense: technology that understands people, and a business led by people who understand their markets.

Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC) will return from October 31 to November 29 for its milestone 10th edition, as organisers look to build on nearly a decade of encouraging healthier lifestyles and position the emirate as one of the world’s most active cities.

The citywide initiative, organised by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and Dubai Sports Council, will once again challenge residents and visitors to complete 30 minutes of physical activity every day for 30 consecutive days.

Running from October 31 to November 29, the 2026 edition will feature the return of flagship events including Dubai Run, Dubai Ride, Dubai Stand Up Paddle and Dubai Yoga, alongside Fitness Villages, Fitness Hubs and thousands of free community classes and activities across the city.

Launched in 2017 under the vision of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, the initiative has attracted more than 16 million participants across its first nine editions.

Organisers said the 10th edition will place a stronger emphasis on community participation and digital engagement as it seeks to make active living an even more integral part of everyday life in Dubai while reinforcing the city’s position as a global destination for sport, wellness and healthy living.

The initiative has grown significantly since its inaugural edition, when 786,000 people took part in the challenge. By 2025, annual participation had surpassed three million, reflecting what organisers described as a sustained shift towards healthier lifestyles across the emirate.

Over the past decade, DFC has expanded beyond its original 30-day challenge through the introduction of several large-scale public events. Dubai Run, launched in 2019, transformed Sheikh Zayed Road into one of the world’s largest fun runs, while Dubai Ride followed in 2020, opening the city’s main highways to cyclists. Dubai Stand Up Paddle debuted in Hatta in 2023 before Dubai Yoga was added to the programme in 2024.

The initiative has also significantly expanded its community infrastructure. The number of Fitness Hubs across Dubai has grown from 11 in 2019 to 30 by 2025, providing residents with free, accessible spaces to exercise closer to home.

Organisers said the challenge has also supported the wider development of running tracks, cycling routes, outdoor fitness facilities and year-round wellness initiatives, helping embed physical activity into everyday life across the city.

Looking ahead, the milestone edition aims to build on that legacy by encouraging more residents and visitors to adopt lasting healthy habits while supporting Dubai’s ambition to become one of the world’s most active and liveable cities.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will open a new two-lane bridge on Friday serving traffic from Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and One Central, reducing travel time to Al Mustaqbal Street from 10 minutes to just two minutes during major events.

The 500-metre bridge is the latest milestone in the Dhs633m Al Mustaqbal Street Development Project, which is designed to ease congestion across one of Dubai’s busiest commercial and exhibition districts.

The wider project includes expanding Al Mustaqbal Street from three to four lanes in each direction, increasing road capacity by 33 per cent, from 6,600 to 8,800 vehicles per hour, while cutting journey times along the corridor from 13 minutes to six minutes.

Mattar Al Tayer, director general and chairman of the board of executive directors of the RTA, said the project is part of Dubai’s long-term strategy to expand transport infrastructure in line with urban growth and rising demand.

He said the scheme forms part of an integrated programme that also includes the redevelopment of the World Trade Centre Roundabout, where construction has exceeded 85 per cent.

RTA is set to open another bridge by the end of August to serve traffic travelling from Sheikh Rashid Road towards 2nd December Street, followed by the final bridge in October connecting Al Majlis Street with 2nd December Street.

Al Tayer said the Al Mustaqbal Street project plays a strategic role by improving connectivity between key commercial districts including DWTC, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Downtown Dubai and Business Bay.

He added that the upgrades will improve access to business, financial and exhibition destinations, supporting investment, tourism and Dubai’s ability to host major international events.

Construction on the overall project is now more than 50 per cent complete, ahead of schedule. In February 2027, RTA plans to open three tunnels spanning 1.5km at the intersection of Al Mustaqbal Street and Trade Centre Street.

The tunnels will include a three-lane tunnel towards Deira with capacity for 4,500 vehicles per hour, a two-lane tunnel linking Al Mustaqbal Street to Trade Centre Street with capacity for 3,000 vehicles per hour, and a single-lane tunnel serving One Central with capacity for 1,500 vehicles per hour.

The project also includes new pedestrian walkways, cycling tracks, decorative lighting, upgraded intersections and improved connections between surrounding developments and Dubai Metro stations.

According to the RTA, the upgraded corridor will benefit around 500,000 residents and visitors, particularly those travelling to major venues including DWTC, which hosts events such as GITEX, Arabian Travel Market, Gulfood and WHX Dubai.

The Al Mustaqbal Street project is being delivered alongside the World Trade Centre Roundabout redevelopment and the Oud Metha and Al Asayel Streets Development Project, which is expected to be fully opened later this month. Together, the schemes are intended to improve traffic flow across some of Dubai’s busiest business corridors while supporting future economic growth.

Dubai is preparing to launch a new “Rent Now, Pay Later” scheme that would allow tenants to spread their annual rent over as many as 12 months without paying interest, according to a local media report.

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) plans to introduce the initiative in partnership with a local bank at the beginning of September, Emarat Al Youm reported on Thursday, citing what it said are informed sources.

Emarat Al Youm is a Dubai Media-owned Arabic-language daily, which focuses predominantly on local UAE affairs. It reports that the proposed mechanism would see the bank pay a tenant’s “full annual rent directly to the landlord upfront”. The tenant would then repay the bank in instalments over a flexible period of up to 12 months at zero interest.

Further details, including eligibility requirements, the application and repayment process and rules governing the relationship between the tenant, landlord and bank, are expected to be revealed when the initiative is formally announced.

While the report explicitly states that tenants will not pay interest, it does not indicate whether an administration or service fee will apply under the new scheme.

Dubai pushes towards monthly rent payments

The initiative would mark another step in Dubai’s efforts to move away from the traditional system of tenants paying rent through one or several large cheques during the year.

In June, DLD officially launched its “Flexi Rent” initiative, designed to expand payment options to include monthly, quarterly and half-yearly instalments.

The programme is being implemented across eligible properties owned or managed by a group of participating real estate companies, including Wasl Properties, Deyaar Property Management, Dubai World Real Estate, Rocky Real Estate, Driven Properties and others. Participating companies can also provide rental discounts, incentives and promotional packages to new tenants.

DLD said at the time that the initiative was intended to improve accessibility in the rental market and support the goals of the Dubai Real Estate Strategy 2033 and Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

The private sector has also increasingly moved towards monthly rental models.

Gulf Business reported last year that Property Finder had invested in and partnered with UAE proptech company Keyper to integrate its rent-in-instalments technology into the Property Finder platform.

That service is live in Dubai, allowing eligible tenants to make 12 monthly payments while Keyper pays the landlord directly.

Unlike the scheme reported to be under development by DLD, however, the Property Finder-Keyper product carries a service charge.

Property Finder currently says there is “no interest” on the product, but Keyper charges an annual service fee that varies according to the landlord’s payment terms. The fee ranges from “4.75 per cent for six-cheque rental agreements to 8 per cent for two-cheque agreements”, with the exact cost displayed to tenants before they commit.

Dubai’s financial technology story is increasingly difficult to separate from the city’s wider rise as a global financial centre.

In 2025, Dubai International Financial Centre reported 1,677 artificial intelligence and FinTech organisations in its ecosystem, up 35 percent in a year. By the first half of 2026, DIFC had more than 10,000 active registered companies across its broader business community. Those numbers help explain why financial businesses looking beyond a single domestic market increasingly see Dubai as a place to build, connect and expand.

Tag Markets fit naturally into that environment.

Formulated in Colombia in 2023 and now operating from Dubai, Tag Markets has developed as an international Forex and CFD brokerage with technology at the centre of its product strategy. The company’s move to Dubai places it within a market where financial services, technology, international capital and entrepreneurial talent increasingly overlap.

That matters because the next generation of brokerage competition is unlikely to be decided only by access to currencies, indices or other traded markets. Those products are already widely available. The more interesting battleground is the infrastructure surrounding them: how clients learn, register, choose an account, access trading tools, manage their activity and interact with the brokerage over time.

This is where Tag Markets has been investing.

Its proprietary CopyX technology gives clients the option to review available traders and strategies, examine their previous results and decide whether they want trading activity replicated automatically in their own account. Clients who prefer to analyse markets and make their own trading decisions can continue to trade independently.

The company has also developed its own partner portal for introducing brokers and professional partners, bringing onboarding, account activity, reporting and client management into a more connected environment. That type of infrastructure is less visible than a trading platform, but it reflects the broader direction of financial technology in Dubai: using digital systems to make financial services more connected and easier to operate at scale.

Account design forms another part of the picture. Tag Markets offers multiple trading structures, including its Amplify offering and 12X and 24X models. These products reflect a willingness to experiment with how trading accounts are structured rather than treating the conventional brokerage account as the only possible format.

Education is equally important to the company’s approach.

Through its Forex education platform, Tag Markets provides clients with video courses, step by step articles and live training sessions at no additional cost. That gives clients an opportunity to build their understanding of the market before deciding how they want to participate. For a technology driven brokerage, education provides a useful counterbalance to speed and accessibility: the objective is not simply to make trading tools available, but to give people more context around how those tools are used.

That combination of technology and education is particularly relevant in Dubai.

The city’s financial ecosystem is being built around more than established banks and investment firms. FinTech companies, digital finance businesses, technology providers and newer financial models are becoming part of the same commercial environment. The Central Bank of the UAE has also made FinTech and digital transformation a strategic focus, including work around regulatory engagement, innovation and talent development.

Tag Markets does not need to become a traditional financial institution to fit into that landscape. Its role is different. As an online brokerage, it sits at the intersection of financial markets, consumer technology, trading infrastructure and international distribution.

Dubai gives that model a useful base.

Its geographic position connects Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, while its financial ecosystem creates proximity to capital, technology talent, partners and other financial businesses. For a brokerage with an international client base, those characteristics align with the company’s wider ambition to compete beyond one region.

The more meaningful question is what Tag Markets contribute to the ecosystem rather than simply what it gains from being there.

CopyX, its partner infrastructure, alternative account structures and free education show a company developing products around how people interact with financial markets. That places Tag Markets within the wider shift taking place across financial services, where technology is increasingly being used not only to digitise existing processes but to redesign how financial products are accessed and experienced.

Dubai’s FinTech growth provides the environment. Tag Markets brings a brokerage model built around technology, choice and client infrastructure.

The fit is therefore less about geography than direction. Dubai is building towards a more technology driven financial future, and Tag Markets is building its brokerage around many of the same forces.