SITA has acquired Big Blue Analytics, the company behind the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered OCC Assistant Manager (OCCam) platform, as it looks to accelerate the adoption of intelligent disruption management solutions across the global airline industry.

The acquisition will enable SITA to scale OCCam worldwide as the foundation of its broader Intelligent Operations Control Center vision, aimed at helping airlines reduce the operational and financial impact of disruptions.

Disruption remains one of the aviation sector’s most costly challenges, with airlines collectively losing tens of billions of dollars annually due to delays, cancellations and operational disruptions.

OCCam is an AI-enabled disruption optimisation platform that has already been deployed in live airline operations. The system simultaneously evaluates multiple operational constraints, including aircraft availability, crew scheduling, passenger itineraries and maintenance requirements, before generating an integrated recovery plan within minutes.

According to SITA, airlines using the platform have reduced disruption-related costs by up to 30 per cent.

The company noted that traditional disruption management tools often address operational issues sequentially, requiring airlines to resolve aircraft allocation, crew scheduling and passenger rebooking separately. This approach can create inefficiencies and lead to cascading operational challenges.

OCCam is designed to address this issue by generating ranked recovery scenarios that optimise aircraft, crew and passenger considerations simultaneously while providing visibility into cost implications, operational performance, passenger impact and regulatory compliance.

SITA said the platform also enables airlines to measure the effectiveness of recovery decisions, helping quantify cost savings and operational performance improvements.

For a mid-sized airline operating more than 100 aircraft, disruption costs can range between US$70m and US$80m annually. SITA estimates that a 25 to 30 per cent reduction could translate into savings of between US$20m and US$30m.

David Lavorel, Chief Executive Officer of SITA, said: “Airlines have traditionally treated disruption as a fixed cost of doing business, but there is a clear opportunity to approach it differently. In an increasingly volatile and fast-moving environment, the ability to recover with the same agility becomes critical. The airlines that act on this first will recover faster, fly more, and protect more revenue than those that wait, and AI-enabled tools like OCCam are making that possible.”

SITA currently supports more than 100 airline Operations Control Centers globally through solutions such as Mission Watch, which helps carriers monitor and optimise operational performance.

The acquisition builds on the company’s broader strategy to expand the use of AI across airline operations, following the rollout of its OptiFlight solution.

SITA said it is also developing additional AI capabilities, including large language models and agent-based systems, to support more advanced operational planning and recovery processes.

Yann Cabaret, chief executive officer, SITA for Aircraft, said: “This is the first step towards a much bigger Intelligent Operations Control Center vision, one where planning, monitoring, and recovery come together in a single system. AI allows us to handle multiple constraints at once and tailor decisions to each airline in a way that was not possible before.”

Pau Collellmir, founder of Big Blue Analytics, added: “With SITA, we can take what we have built further. Reaching more airlines, faster, and turning advanced optimization into practical tools that help operations teams work smarter every day.”

Dubai Taxi Company (DTC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ajman-based AJ Industries LLC (AJI) to explore a strategic partnership aimed at expanding mobility services in the emirate of Ajman, the companies said on Monday.

The agreement establishes a framework for the two parties to collaborate on scaling DTC’s mobility services in Ajman by combining AJI’s local market knowledge with DTC’s operational capabilities, digital infrastructure and transport services expertise.

DTC said it already has a presence in Ajman through the operation of school buses in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, but the proposed partnership would support its broader strategy of expanding its footprint across the UAE.

Mansoor Rahma Alfalasi, group CEO of DTC, said: “Currently, DTC already has a presence in Ajman as it operates school buses in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. However, this MoU marks a major step in DTC’s strategy to extend our footprint across the UAE. By partnering with AJI, we aim to bring our operational expertise, digital platforms, and innovative mobility solutions to Ajman, supporting the development of a more integrated, efficient, and customer-centric transport ecosystem that benefits residents, visitors, and the wider economy.”

Dubai taxi Company is focused on advancing sustainable and technology-driven transport

AJI said the partnership could help advance sustainable and technology-driven transport solutions tailored to local market requirements.

“At AJI, we believe the next phase of mobility will be defined by close collaboration between partners who understand both the technology and the local market. Working with Dubai Taxi Company allows us to bring forward sustainable, technology-led transport solutions tailored to Ajman’s unique requirements,” said Omar bin Omair Al Muhairi, group CEO of AJ Industries.

Under the MoU, the companies will explore operational and commercial models for a scalable mobility platform designed to improve service quality across both mass-market and premium transport segments, with the potential for wider deployment across the UAE.

Areas under consideration include integrating e-hailing platforms such as Bolt into Ajman’s taxi network, optimising fleet operations, and enhancing digital booking and dispatch systems.

The agreement also includes exploring driver provisioning and workforce solutions to help taxi operators and mobility providers meet changing demand while maintaining service standards.

Aim to develop Ajman’s limousine sector

In addition, the companies will assess opportunities to develop Ajman’s limousine sector by implementing premium service standards, upgrading the fleet, and integrating advanced technology platforms.

Other areas of potential cooperation include corporate mobility services, tourism partnerships and on-demand premium transport offerings.

The collaboration reflects DTC‘s focus on innovation, service enhancement and public-private partnerships in support of the UAE’s ambitions for advanced and sustainable mobility.

Tarek Mounir spent two decades building large-scale consumer businesses, running Deezer across MENAT, leading Turner’s regional arm before it became part of Warner Bros. Discovery, before a personal injury sent him to a trainer and, unexpectedly, into a new industry. What he found was a multi-billion-dollar global market run on whiteboards, spreadsheets and gut feel, with trainer churn near 70 per cent and most gym operators losing money on the very service meant to be their margin engine.

Founded in Dubai in 2018, his answer, Enhance, has grown from a handful of gyms into a platform spanning 700-plus locations, 15,000 trainers and over 500,000 booked sessions a month, compounding revenue at 65 per cent a year.

Backed by Global Ventures, Mounir is now betting that the operating system for personal training can be built in the Gulf and exported to the world.

Here, he tells us more about his ambitious plans.

What exactly does Enhance do, and who for?

Enhance is the operating system for personal training (PT). We help large gym chains turn PT from an afterthought into a predictable, profitable revenue stream, which, in the high-volume, low-price (HVLP) segment, is something almost nobody has cracked.

PT is a $42bn global market, and most gym operators still lose money on it. The industry runs on whiteboards, spreadsheets and gut feel. Trainer churn sits at around 70 per cent a year. Fewer than 15 per cent of free trial sessions convert into paying clients, and operators have almost no visibility into what is actually happening on the gym floor.

We replace that with one system: hiring, scheduling, coaching, CRM and billing in a single platform, backed, where clients want it, by Enhance running the PT operation end-to-end. We increase margins and improve trainer retention to 70per cent, up from an industry norm of 30 per cent.

If HVLP gyms are the engine of modern fitness, PT is where the margin is. We run that engine.

You began operations in 2018 — talk us through your growth journey since then.

We started in Dubai in 2018 as a service business, running PT for a handful of gyms. Eight years later, Enhance covers more than 700 contracted gym locations globally, 15,000 trainers and over 500,000 booked sessions a month. Revenue has compounded at 65 per cent CAGR since 2019.

The more important shift is the shape of the business. We went from a regional service layer to a SaaS platform that any multi-site operator can deploy. That took our addressable market from Gulf gym chains to a $1.8bn global PT management software category, with the US and UK alone worth $800m.

Along the way, we worked through the pandemic, a regional restructuring, and a handful of attempted copycats.

You are active in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. What are the main differences between the markets?

The markets look similar on a map, yet operate very differently in practice.

The UAE is the most operationally mature. Pricing is competitive, the consumer is sophisticated, and the bar for trainer quality is the highest. As it is our original market, it is also where we stress-test every new product feature before rolling it out elsewhere.

Saudi Arabia is the fastest-growing, driven by Vision 2030 and a population adopting fitness at a rapid pace. The opportunity there is exploding growth: finding and developing enough qualified trainers to match customer demand for a healthier, more active lifestyle.

Qatar is smaller but higher-yielding per client, a premium market where willingness to pay for PT is strong relative to population size. We also operate in Bahrain.

Having four quite different demand curves inside one region was unexpectedly useful. It forced the platform to be flexible enough to travel and adapt to various market conditions, which is a large part of why our market entry to the US was successful.

How do you help gym groups improve their operations?

At mature sites, the headline numbers are that gyms using Enhance run around 20 per cent more PT sessions per trainer; operating margins climb 17 percentage points; and trainer retention more than doubles against the industry norm.

We get there by replacing the default toolkit, paper, spreadsheets, WhatsApp threads, with one system that runs training, scheduling, CRM, billing and coaching. The platform works for enterprise rollouts and for individual trainers, but the real value shows up at scale, where small percentage gains compound into meaningful, profitable gains for gym groups.

We don’t just track performance. We change behaviour at scale.

How have you integrated AI into your business model, and how does it improve the experience for clients?

AI works for us because the dataset works first. We process over 500,000 PT sessions a month across more than 700 gyms. Every session is a data point on what makes trainers successful, why members stay or leave, and where revenue quietly leaks out of the business.

On top of that dataset are tools already live: ‘at-risk’ client detection that flags members about to churn and manages intervention before they walk; and a trainer coaching layer ranking every trainer against benchmarks — so managers know exactly who to coach, and on what. Later this year, we’re adding a daily AI brief: short, ranked morning instructions for each manager, rather than a dashboard they have to interpret.

The advantage isn’t the models; everyone will have good models. It is the eight years of operational history behind them. A new market entrant would need to run gyms for most of a decade to rebuild the dataset, and that isn’t something you can shortcut with capital.

Do you have ambitions to expand beyond the region?

Yes. We’re already operating hundreds of clubs in the US, and our next chapter is very firmly international.

The US is the centre of gravity for the industry. It is the world’s largest gym market, and where our model creates the most value, so logically it is where most of our current focus is. We’ll have more to share as these exciting partnerships move into the public domain.

What is your background, and how did you recognise the opportunity in personal training?

I spent 20 years in media and streaming, CEO of Deezer in MENAT, VP at Warner Bros. Discovery MENAT, so I came into this understanding of large-scale consumer businesses, not fitness.

While fitness has been a lifelong passion, I started it because a personal injury forced me to work closely with a trainer, and I saw how broken personal training was as a commercial business — great people, but terrible systems. If someone could make it convenient, affordable and reliably high-quality at scale, there was a real category to build. That was the thesis, and eight years in, it still is.

Who are your main shareholders, and what has the capital-raising process been like?

We bootstrapped the early years deliberately. Taking outside capital before the unit economics were proven would have meant scaling the wrong thing faster.

Once the model worked, we raised. We’ve taken around $21 m to date, and our cap table includes Global Ventures, MENA’s leading venture firm, alongside other institutional backers who understand the regional market and the global ambition.

We are in conversations with investors who recognise now as particularly ideal timing, as we accelerate our US rollout, deepen the product, and move from a proven regional operator into the default PT infrastructure for large gym chains globally.

What is the future for Enhance in 2026 and beyond? What should we be excited about?

The short answer: the US is becoming the default operating layer for personal training globally.

In the near term, the focus is on executing our US rollout.

The bigger ambition is even simpler. PT is a $42bn global category, and nobody has yet built the system of record or operating standard for it. That’s the prize. The plan for 2026 and beyond is for Enhance to be the company that defines it.

Ajman has unveiled a new human resources law aimed at modernising government employment practices, introducing new leave categories, enhanced employee benefits and reduced working hours for select groups of employees as part of a broader effort to improve workplace flexibility and family wellbeing.

His Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Ajman, issued Law No. (4) of 2026 concerning the human resources of the Ajman Government. The legislation will come into effect on September 1, 2026.

According to the Ajman Government Media Office, the law is designed to strengthen institutional efficiency, develop the government work system and establish a more flexible and responsive legislative framework for human resources that reflects evolving professional and social needs.

The legislation applies to all civilian employees working in government entities across Ajman and also extends to senior management positions where no specific provisions are outlined in separate employment regulations.

A key feature of the law is its alignment with the UAE’s Year of the Family initiative, with a strong emphasis on supporting family stability and promoting work-life balance.

The new framework introduces several leave categories, including family care leave, self-employment or entrepreneurship leave, leave for Persons with Disabilities and marriage leave.

The law also grants reduced working hours for specific employee groups. Employees with disabilities will be entitled to a two-hour reduction in daily working hours, while pregnant employees may receive a two-hour reduction in cases of fatigue or exhaustion supported by an approved medical report. Employees responsible for five or more children under the age of 18 will be eligible for a one-hour reduction in their daily working schedule.

In addition, the law introduces a series of employment benefits designed to reward talent and performance. Exceptional employees and high-performing talent may receive promotions of up to three job grades, while a new Good Service Award has been established for Emirati employees.

The legislation seeks to create what Ajman authorities described as a work environment built around efficiency, merit and sustainability, while enhancing the competitiveness of government employment.

The Ajman Government Human Resources Department has been tasked with reviewing and updating human resources legislation, measuring its effectiveness, monitoring implementation across government entities and providing technical support to ensure the effective application of policies and systems.

The law aims to support professional and family wellbeing while positioning Ajman’s public sector as a more attractive and competitive workplace as the emirate advances its long-term development agenda.

The global smartphone market is heading for its steepest annual contraction on record, with shipments projected to slump by 13.9 per cent this year to 1.08 billion units, Counterpoint Research said on Monday, citing a worsening shortage of memory chips.

The forecast is a downgrade from the 12.4 per cent decline projected in February, with the squeeze in global chip supply exacerbated by the Iran war.

The impact is being felt most acutely in lower-end smartphones as chipmakers shift production capacity to AI-related chips, making entry-level devices less economical to produce.

Global smartphone wholesale prices rose 14 per cent in the first quarter while shipments fell 3.1 per cent year on year. That trend is expected to continue as inventory built before the supply shock becomes depleted, with some models priced below $150 likely to disappear from the market.

“Smartphone makers in the low and mid-tier are caught between cost increases they cannot absorb and consumers with limited spending power,” said Wang Yang, a principal analyst at Counterpoint, an independent research company that publishes quarterly smartphone shipment data.

“The question is no longer how to grow shipments or market share, but whether to remain in the market at all.”

The memory chip shortage is the most severe supply-side disruption the smartphone industry has faced, Wang said, adding that manufacturers are unable to offset the impact through pricing or product changes.

The premium segment has proven more resilient. Apple posted record revenue for the first three months of the year, helped by customers upgrading to its iPhone 17 series. Apple’s 2026 shipments are expected to remain flat before rising 5 per cent next year, Counterpoint projections show.

With more stable chip supply and stronger margins than many rivals, Apple is well placed to gain market share and could face less pressure to raise prices.

Samsung Electronics kept volumes steady in the first quarter and is expected by Counterpoint to register only a 4 per cent decline in shipments over the full year, outperforming the wider market thanks to stable supply and a consistent product line-up.

Transsion, which is heavily exposed to the market for smartphones priced below $150, is forecast to suffer a 32 per cent drop in shipments this year. Rivals Xiaomi and Honor, meanwhile, are projected to post full-year declines of 28 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, Counterpoint said.