Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out attacks against a US base in Jordan and 21 other targets in the Gulf on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported.

The clashes mark one of the biggest exchanges in hostilities since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April.

The Iranian strikes, which included attacks in Kuwait and Bahrain, came after the US military said on X it had targeted Iranian air defence, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the strait in response to what US President Donald Trump said was the downing of a US Apache helicopter on Tuesday.

“I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC News on Tuesday.

Read more-US strikes Iran after Apache helicopter downing, Bahrain sounds warning sirens

The escalation in violence deepens doubts about the prospects for a deal to end the war that started on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes against Iran. Tehran responded by firing on Gulf neighbours that host US bases and all but choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil and gas.

The latest US strikes lasted around four hours before the US Central Command posted just before 9 pm ET (0100 GMT Wednesday) that they had ended. A US official said almost 20 Iranian targets had been struck.

Iran’s state media reported that Qeshm island and the port city of Sirik in the Strait of Hormuz were attacked.

Sounds of explosions were heard in nearby Bandar Abbas, and later in the vicinity of Jask, near the entrance to the strait, Iranian media reported, citing local sources and residents.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in response they had targeted four sites at the US Al Azraq base in Jordan using long-range missiles, Iranian media reported.

The Guards said the targets included F-35 fighter jet hangars and a command-and-control centre, and warned they were ready to deliver a “crushing and decisive” response to any further US attack.

Jordanian armed forces said on Wednesday they had intercepted and shot down five missiles launched from Iran toward Al Azraq. The military added that debris from the interception operation fell on Jordanian territory but caused no injuries or material damage.

The Kuwaiti army said its air defence systems were engaging hostile aerial targets and urged the public to follow official safety instructions, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted the Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait with drones.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said earlier they attacked the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain with drones and threatened “more severe responses” if hostilities continued, according to media.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said a warning siren had been sounded and urged the public to head to safety. Air defences had repelled Iranian attacks, a media adviser to Bahrain’s king said soon after in a post on X.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial assessments showed nearly all missiles and drones launched by Iran were intercepted and they were not immediately aware of any reports of harm to US personnel or damage to US locations.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.

Oil prices climbed about 1 per cent in early Asian trade on Wednesday following the escalation in hostilities.

Not a big deal?

On Tuesday, a US Apache helicopter was brought down by a one-way Iranian attack drone, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Two US pilots involved in the helicopter incident were uninjured, Trump said.

Iran’s state media cited a military source as saying that no offensive air military operations had been conducted in the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours.

A US Navy surface drone found and rescued the two crew, the US military said, after the US Army attack helicopter went down in waters near Oman’s coast while on patrol at around 3 am on Tuesday (2300 GMT on Monday).

The US military’s Central Command gave no reason for the crash. It said the two crew were rescued after two hours and said they were in stable condition, a more cautious assessment than Trump’s description.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi did not directly address the helicopter incident, but said in a post on X that foreign forces in the region risked being involved in accidents or crossfire.

“To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave,” he wrote.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal during a phone call on Tuesday that the helicopter incident “wasn’t a big deal” and stressed that “the pilot is fine.”

However, the episode could well add further strain to efforts to broker a peace deal to end the wider Middle East war and reopen Hormuz.

Trump has repeatedly said Iran and the United States are close to an agreement, though there have been few signs of progress since a tenuous ceasefire took effect in early April.

Fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has continued, and Tehran has maintained its restrictions on most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Washington has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that ship traffic through Hormuz is rising “very meaningfully,” but added it would take many months to get back to normal flows of energy once the war is over.

Trump has said any peace deal must ensure Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any such ambitions.

Iran’s demands include the lifting of international sanctions, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control of the strait.

When the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off across 16 cities in the US, Canada and Mexico, it will be the largest tournament the competition has ever staged — and, by most accounts, the most digitally connected sporting event in history. Behind the spectacle sits a layer of technology designed to turn billions of anonymous spectators into recognised, addressable fans, and to weave sport together with travel, hospitality and retail into a single connected economy.

Few people are closer to that effort than Federico Pienovi. As CEO for MENA and APAC at Globant — the technology company that has worked alongside FIFA since before Qatar 2022 — Pienovi has helped build the platforms underpinning the modern fan experience, from the FIFA ID system to FIFA+ and the tournament’s AI-driven content workflows. An Argentine who describes football not as entertainment but as identity, he brings both a builder’s perspective and a lifelong fan’s instinct to the question of where the sport is heading.

In this conversation, Pienovi discusses how artificial intelligence and real-time data are reshaping fan engagement, what rights holders and host cities will measure, the infrastructure required to run a tri-nation tournament, and the lessons the Gulf can draw as it builds its own mega-event ambitions.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to be the most digitally connected tournament in history. How will AI, real-time analytics and fan data fundamentally change the way sports organisations engage with audiences before, during and after major events?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is, genuinely, a before-and-after moment for sports. And I say that as someone who has followed football his whole life, growing up in Argentina, where the sport isn’t entertainment, it’s identity. But what we’re building for 2026 goes far beyond what even the most passionate fan could have imagined.

At Globant, we’ve been working alongside FIFA since before Qatar 2022. That tournament generated five billion fan engagements globally and 5.95 billion social media interactions, and we saw firsthand how hungry fans were for more than a broadcast. They wanted to be participants.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup represents a watershed moment in how sports organisations connect with their audiences, moving far beyond the traditional broadcast-and-attend model that has defined major events for decades. The architecture we’ve been building is centred on what I would call unified fan identity. Through the FIFA ID system, every supporter becomes addressable, not just as an audience member, but as an individual with preferences, history and context.

Through connected platforms spanning ticketing, mobile applications, commerce and social engagement, sports bodies can now capture the complete arc of a fan’s journey, from the moment anticipation builds before a match through to post-game reactions and ongoing engagement between tournaments. This helps to create unified fan identities that allow organisations to recognise, understand and respond to individual supporters across every touchpoint.

The FIFA ID system represents this approach, establishing a backbone for direct-to-fan strategy that transforms anonymous spectators into identifiable, addressable participants in an ongoing relationship.

What AI changes is not just speed, it’s what becomes possible at scale. Fifteen thousand data points were collected per game in Qatar by FIFA’s Technical Study Group. In 2026, those data streams flow directly into AI systems that personalise every fan’s digital interaction in real time: the content they see on FIFA+, the offers they receive, the navigation through a venue, even the replay angle served to their device.

The result is an experience that feels personal despite operating at a scale of billions. That shift, from mass broadcast to individual relationship, is the defining transformation of this era in sports technology.

Globant has described the World Cup as one of the most measurable fan experiences ever. What are the most valuable data points that rights holders, sponsors and host cities will be tracking, and how can they translate those insights into long-term commercial value?

Qatar 2022 was the most watched World Cup on record, 242.8 million viewers for the Argentina final alone. The MENA region delivered 5.4 billion cumulative views, a record for any single region. And yet the most important number wasn’t viewership. It was a depth of engagement.

Rights holders in 2026 will be tracking engagement duration, return rates and what I call emotional resonance markers, the signals that distinguish a casual viewer from a committed fan. FIFA+ generated 192 million views on match highlights in Qatar, with sign-language accessibility options included. That wasn’t a vanity metric; it was proof that when you remove friction and add personalisation, people don’t just watch more, they connect more.

The pathway from casual observer to dedicated supporter can now be mapped and optimised, with each interaction informing the next. First-party data collected through fan engagement solutions enables organisations to deliver personalised offers and communications that dramatically increase conversion rates and satisfaction.

Brands are increasingly attracted to properties with highly engaged audiences because these fans demonstrate greater openness to sponsor messages and activations. The data that matters most here concerns attention quality, sentiment correlation and purchase behaviour, understanding not just exposure but genuine influence. Connected commerce platforms allow sponsors to track the complete journey from awareness through consideration to transaction, providing return on investment with precision.

Host cities occupy a particularly interesting position in this data ecosystem. Connecting information across venues, hotels, restaurants, retail establishments and public spaces helps cities understand how visiting fans move through their environments, where they spend time and money, and what experiences resonate most strongly. This intelligence translates into long-term commercial value through enhanced destination marketing, infrastructure investment prioritisation and the ability to attract future events based on demonstrated hosting capability.

With matches taking place across 16 cities in three countries, the World Cup is becoming as much a technology and logistics challenge as a sporting event. What innovations in digital infrastructure will be critical to delivering a seamless experience for millions of fans?

The digital infrastructure required to deliver seamless experiences at this scale represents some of the most sophisticated technology deployment in the history of live events. The foundation lies in unified platform architecture that connects previously fragmented systems into a coherent ecosystem. Over the past four years, the work of building FIFA+ and developing tournament applications has created the technical fabric necessary for this evolution, a connected environment designed for continuity, performance and growth rather than isolated functionality. This means a fan’s identity, preferences and history travel with them whether they’re accessing services in Toronto, Mexico City or Miami, whether through a mobile device, in-venue screen or home viewing platform.

Content distribution at global scale presents challenges that require intelligent automation to solve. AI-powered workflows can create, distribute and personalise content across competitions and markets simultaneously, adapting messaging and presentation for cultural contexts and individual preferences without manual intervention at every step. Systems that learn from every interaction, identify emerging patterns and adapt in real time represent a qualitative leap beyond static technology implementations. The goal isn’t simply to survive the complexity of a tri-nation tournament but to emerge from it with enhanced capabilities and deeper fan relationships than existed at the outset.

You have highlighted the convergence of sport, hospitality, tourism and retail. Do you see major sporting events evolving into broader economic platforms, and what lessons can destinations in the Middle East learn from this model?

Let’s go back again to the last World Cup. In Qatar, 257,000 hospitality packages were sold, generating the highest hospitality revenue in World Cup history. Over 600,000 licensed products sold across stadiums. More than 1.4 million international visitors arrived, with Saudi Arabia ranking as the third-largest source of ticket buyers, a number I find genuinely significant given what’s happening in the Kingdom right now.

For millions of travelling supporters, the tournament is as much about where they stay, eat and explore as it is about the matches themselves. Cities, venues and brands that recognise this reality are creating connected experiences that follow fans throughout their journey, from hotel booking through city navigation to post-match gatherings in bars, restaurants and public spaces.

This convergence represents a new model for global events wherein sport serves as the catalyst, but the genuine opportunity lies in connecting the surrounding hospitality, tourism and retail economy around the expectations of contemporary fans. The same data infrastructure that powers in-stadium personalisation can extend to recommend restaurants based on culinary preferences, suggest retail experiences aligned with demonstrated interests, and create seamless transitions between different phases of a visitor’s journey.

For destinations in the Middle East, this model offers instructive lessons as the region continues developing its events portfolio. The key insight is that successful mega-events require thinking beyond the competition itself to design integrated experiences spanning accommodation, dining, entertainment, retail and cultural exploration. The technological capability to connect these disparate elements through unified fan identity and intelligent recommendation systems transforms what might otherwise be fragmented tourist experiences into coherent journeys that maximise both visitor satisfaction and economic impact.

The Gulf’s existing investments in world-class hospitality infrastructure, retail destinations and entertainment venues position the region favourably to execute this integrated approach, provided the underlying data architecture and platform connectivity are prioritised alongside physical development.

The Gulf has invested heavily in sports, entertainment and tourism-led economic diversification. How can regional governments, airlines, hospitality groups and retailers leverage fan engagement technologies to maximise the economic impact of future mega-events?

Regional governments, airlines, hospitality groups and retailers across the Gulf have an extraordinary opportunity to leverage fan engagement technologies in ways that multiply the economic returns from mega-events. The starting point is recognising that every interaction with a visiting fan represents not just an immediate transaction but a data point that informs future engagement and a touchpoint for building lasting relationships.

Airlines can extend their role beyond transportation to become integrated travel platforms, using passenger data to anticipate demand patterns, personalise ancillary offerings and create package experiences that combine flights with accommodation, event access and destination activities. The same unified identity systems that power tournament applications can enable seamless recognition across airline, hotel and venue touchpoints, creating continuity that enhances the premium positioning Gulf carriers have cultivated.

Hospitality groups benefit enormously from understanding guest preferences and behaviours in granular detail. Fan engagement platforms generate insights on everything from dining preferences to entertainment interests, enabling hotels to deliver personalised recommendations that increase on-property spending while building the emotional connection that drives loyalty programme participation and return visits. The intelligence gathered during one event becomes the foundation for marketing future events to known audiences with demonstrated interest.

Retailers, particularly in the Gulf’s extensive mall environments, can activate fan data through targeted promotions, personalised navigation and experiential activations that transform shopping from a peripheral activity into an integrated element of the event experience. The gamification techniques that drive engagement on digital platforms translate naturally to retail environments, where digital loyalty mechanics can incentivise exploration, reward engagement and capture valuable behavioural data.

The overarching principle is that fan engagement technology enables the shift from mass marketing to individual relationships at scale, knowing each visitor, understanding their preferences and creating experiences that feel personal despite operating across millions of participants.

Looking beyond the World Cup, what are the next major trends shaping the future of sports technology, and how close are we to a world where personalised, AI-driven fan experiences become the norm rather than the exception?

We are closer than most observers recognise, though the arrival will feel gradual rather than sudden. The infrastructure is already in place; what’s changing is the quality of the intelligence operating on top of it. The most consequential shift is Agentic AI moving from an application layer to an infrastructure layer, from a tool applied to existing processes to the core engine determining how work gets done. At Globant, we see this in how our AI Pods operate: AI agents executing tasks continuously at scale while human experts provide strategic oversight. The difference between a system that processes and a system that learns is compounding, every interaction makes the next one smarter, and the gap between early adopters and late movers widens geometrically, not arithmetically.

This is exactly what we are doing with FIFA. As the scale and complexity of FIFA’s ecosystem increased, we faced a critical question: how do you scale not just operations, but innovation itself? Our response was to fundamentally change how work gets done. We introduced our unique AI Pods model, where AI-driven workflows perform the work, guided and supervised by Globant experts. The impact was immediate: 20% faster delivery, greater predictability, full visibility, and continuous learning embedded into execution.

FIFA now operates through persistent, AI-powered systems that continuously build, improve, and scale capabilities. From a business perspective, this means more velocity, faster experimentation, continuous evolution, and capabilities that compound over time. We’re not simply doing things faster; we’re doing more, better, and with greater strategic impact.

Read: Globant’s Julio De Salvo on launching the world’s first agentic protocol for tourism

With the global population set to reach nine to 10 billion by 2050 and roughly one in 10 people undernourished today, food security has become a defining strategic challenge, and recent shocks, which pushed fertiliser prices up by as much as 50 per cent, have only sharpened the stakes. For the GCC, contending with water scarcity, limited arable land, and harsh climates, the obstacles look steep. Yet the region ranks among the world’s most food-secure.

Here, Amir Assi, principal at Strategy& Middle East, explains how capital, policy agility, and AI-enabled agritech can keep it that way while making the system more sustainable.

Recent global disruptions have exposed major vulnerabilities in food systems and supply chains. From Strategy& Middle East’s perspective, what are the biggest lessons governments, particularly in the GCC, should take away from these shocks?

Food security’s strategic importance continues to grow day-by-day, with the global population expected to reach 9-10 billion by 2050. Recent disruptions have introduced significant pressures on food security systems, with volatile supply chains and energy prices impacting the costs of agriculture products and inputs. This is evidenced by fertiliser prices which rose by as much as 50 percent during recent disruptions, feeding directly into production costs and, ultimately, the prices consumers pay.

For GCC governments, the priority is to build resilient food systems that can absorb these shocks through diversified sourcing, strategic reserves, flexible logistics, and policies designed to absorb volatility. Critically, we believe that all governments need to address all four pillars of food security, availability, affordability, safety and quality, and sustainability, at the same time.

Focusing too heavily on one pillar could create a vulnerability. For example, boosting production may improve availability, but if it is done without the right safeguards, it can increase pressure on soil, water, and the climate, undermining sustainability. Similarly, stricter safety standards for food are essential, but if poorly designed, they can raise costs and make food less affordable. A balanced approach is therefore essential.

The report identifies GCC countries as “Capital-Powered Resilience Architects”. What differentiates this archetype from others, and why are GCC nations particularly well-positioned to lead on food security innovation?

The Capital-Powered Resilience Architect archetype describes high-income countries with constrained natural resources, but strong ability to mobilise policy, capital, and technology. Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE fit this profile: they have improved availability, affordability, and safety despite water scarcity, limited arable land, and harsh climates.

In fact, GCC countries are among the most food-secure countries according to the Global Food Security Index. Moreover, the GCC has achieved self-sufficiency across multiple key agrifood commodities.

They have accomplished this by embedding clear and comprehensive national food security strategies and targets. They have also committed billions of dollars’ worth of investments towards agriculture development and agri-tech innovation and adoption. GCC nations have also successfully led the privatisation of the agrifood sector including post-production processing and logistics, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing governmental burdens.

Going forward, GCC countries must focus on sustainability, mainly through innovation. These countries’ well-defined food security targets coupled with policy-making agility, ability to deploy capital, and strong logistics infrastructure makes them very well-positioned to accomplish this.

Sustainability is described as the “next frontier” for GCC food security strategies. What practical steps should governments and businesses prioritise to balance food availability, affordability, and environmental goals?

Each GCC country is following its own path to strengthen food security. The region has made strong progress on availability, affordability, and safety, but the next challenge is achieving this with more diversified food sources and with fewer environmental trade-offs.

In practical terms, this requires action across several areas. First, governments should strengthen supply chain resilience by diversifying trade routes and critical commodity sourcing, so that food access can be preserved during disruption. Second, the region should continue investing in AI-enabled agri-tech at scale. Controlled-environment agriculture, including greenhouse cultivation, hydroponics, and vertical farming, can help improve local production while reducing pressure on land and water.

Third, governments and businesses should accelerate the use of energy-efficient technologies across the food value chain, particularly in desalination, given the region’s reliance on water-intensive production systems. Fourth, tailored funding and incentives, including grants, low-interest loans, blended finance, and co-investment models, can help farmers and food companies adopt agri-tech while keeping costs manageable.

Finally, education and partnerships will be essential. Pilot farms and AI-powered advisory platforms can help farmers build the skills needed to adopt new technologies, while public-private partnerships can help localise agri-tech solutions rather than simply importing them.

On the supply chain side, stronger inter-governmental collaboration can also support inland trade corridors. The goal is to build a food system that is more resilient and more sustainable at the same time.

The report highlights AI-enabled agritech and precision agriculture as key solutions. Can you share examples of how these technologies could transform food production and water management across the region?

AI-enabled agri-tech can help the GCC produce more food with fewer natural resources, which is exactly the region’s challenge. In greenhouses, vertical farms, and hydroponic systems, AI can optimise temperature, humidity, light, nutrients, and yields in real time. In precision agriculture, sensors and analytics can tell farmers exactly when to irrigate, where crops are under stress, and how much input is actually needed. AI-enabled surveillance can detect pests or crop disease earlier, reducing losses and improving quality.

Logistics is another major opportunity: AI can improve demand forecasting, traceability (through blockchain), and cold-chain efficiency. In practical terms, technology turns farming from a resource-intensive activity into a data-driven system.

Advanced irrigation and AI-enabled technologies could reduce water consumption by up to 50 per cent. How significant is this for a water-scarce region like the Middle East, and what barriers remain to scaling these solutions?

Agricultural technology, and especially AI-supported technology, has become a core element of food security strategies. Smart irrigation systems, for example, can determine the water needs of each crop and reduce water consumption by up to 50 per cent, a major breakthrough for water-scarce regions.

Advanced irrigation and AI-enabled precision agriculture allow producers to apply water only where and when it is needed, while monitoring crop health and reducing waste. For the GCC, this is not just an efficiency gain; it is central to long-term food security.

The challenge now is scale. Many solutions still face high upfront costs, capability gaps, fragmented adoption among smaller farms, and the need to adapt imported technologies to GCC climates. That is why financing, pilot farms, AI advisory platforms, and public-private partnerships are so important. They can help make these technologies both bankable and widely adoptable.

Public-private partnerships are mentioned as critical to building resilient food systems. What role do you see the private sector playing in accelerating innovation and improving long-term food security outcomes in the GCC?

The private sector is essential because food security cannot be delivered by government alone. In fact, the GCC has already successfully privatized multiple sectors within the agrifood space.

Governments can set the direction, create the policy framework, and de-risk early-stage investment, but businesses bring technology, execution capability, supply-chain reach, and commercial discipline. In the GCC, public-private partnerships can help localise agri-tech rather than simply import it. That includes adapting greenhouse systems, hydroponics, precision irrigation, AI advisory tools, and cold-chain solutions to regional conditions.

The private sector can also strengthen sourcing networks, improve logistics, and build more resilient inland trade corridors. The most successful models will be those where government reduces risk and the private sector helps move innovation from pilot projects to scalable, commercially viable systems.

Looking ahead to 2050, with global food demand expected to rise sharply, what does a truly resilient and sustainable food system for the GCC look like in practice?

By 2050, the global population is expected to reach 9 billion to 10 billion, while around 10 percent of people today remain undernourished. That makes food security critical.

For the GCC, a resilient system will not mean choosing between imports and local production, but to instead choose what to focus on producing locally, with the use of agri-tech. It will also mean further adopting diversified sourcing, to reduce supply risk, optimised strategic reserves, flexible logistics, and shock-ready policies.

This, along with an AI-driven technology-enabled local agriculture sector for higher yields, reduced waste and decreased water stress, will be central to a truly resilient and sustainable GCC food sector.

The US launched fresh airstrikes against Iran overnight after President Donald Trump vowed retaliation for the reported downing of a US Army Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command said American forces began conducting what it described as “self-defence strikes” overnight on the orders of President Trump. The operation targeted Iranian air defence systems, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz before concluding several hours later.

The strikes followed Trump’s claim that Iran had shot down a US Apache helicopter while it was patrolling the strategic waterway overnight.

“I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC News.

Iranian state media reported explosions on Qeshm Island and in the port city of Sirik, both located near the Strait of Hormuz, while residents also reported blasts in Bandar Abbas and near Jask, at the entrance to the vital shipping corridor.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi vowed that Tehran would not allow the attacks to go unanswered.

“The country will leave no attack or threat unanswered,” he said in a social media post, while also reiterating calls for American forces to leave the region.

Bahrain targeted, energy markets react

Iranian media, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said drones were launched against the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain in retaliation for the American strikes. The IRGC warned that any further military action by Washington would be met with more severe responses.

Shortly afterwards, Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior activated warning sirens and urged citizens and residents to move to safe locations and follow official guidance. A media advisor to Bahrain’s King later said the country’s air defence systems had successfully intercepted aerial threats.

Energy markets reacted swiftly. Brent crude rose 0.57 per cent to $91.97 a barrel in early Asian trading on Wednesday, while West Texas Intermediate gained 0.48 per cent to $88.62 a barrel as traders weighed the risk of further disruption to energy supplies passing through Hormuz.

The exchange also comes as tensions remain elevated elsewhere in the region. In the last few days, Iran and Israel exchanged fire amid the latter’s continuing military operations in Lebanon.

Both Iran and Israel halted fire after Trump called for restraint, but the latest incidents will put further pressure on a fragile ceasefire that has been in place since April 8.

In the UAE, shopping is a lifestyle – malls are filled with shoppers year-round, same-day delivery is expected, and a new outfit is a tap away. But, thanks to GLP-1 drugs, there is a shift underway.

Their weight-loss effects have helped pull them into the mainstream of a wellness-driven, image-conscious society. Consumers are getting smaller, changing how they eat and what they wear.

The challenge for many regions has been that the supply chains behind their food, fashion, and pharmaceuticals weren’t built for that kind of change. In the UAE, an economy built on same-day delivery and near-instant everything, access to GLP-1 drugs has become both faster and smoother than in many global markets. So, what happens when a drug that suppresses appetite becomes frictionless to access in a market built on convenience?

Smaller appetites and smaller baskets

The ripple effects are already visible in food consumption patterns. Globally, major retailers have reported reduced spending on high-calorie snacks among households using GLP-1 drugs. The UAE’s food delivery and dining sector is worth billions annually, and even subtle appetite shifts like this matter.

Consumers of GLP-1 drugs often eat smaller portions, snack less, and prioritize protein-heavy meals. However, the shift is not just toward downsized quantities, but also toward higher-quality (and often more premium-priced) groceries that align with new health-conscious consumption habits.

As a result, grocery retailers and food & beverage manufacturers relying on historical consumption patterns may see their forecasting models misfire. If even a modest share of consumers reduces caloric intake significantly, suppliers, distributors, and retailers will need to recalibrate demand planning. Essentially, appetite suppression at scale becomes a supply chain variable.

Size down and spend up

With patients reporting visible changes in weight within weeks or months, many are ready to embrace new clothing and try new styles. Considering that fashion is already seasonal and trend-driven in the UAE, and mall culture remains strong throughout the calendar year, the impact of these factors is manifold.

Body transformation shortens wardrobe cycles, clothes that fit in January may be loose by April, and consumers are replacing entire size categories at speed (often multiple times within a year) ––all of which creates unusual volatility for retailers.

At the same time, those who lose weight with GLP-1 drugs have a renewed willingness to shop and experiment with style; more fitted silhouettes, bolder cuts, and pieces they previously avoided. But the changes one must face do not stop here.

Read: Are GLP-1 weight loss drugs being dangerously misunderstood in the UAE?

Face the fa[c]ts

Undesirable facial volume loss can accompany rapid weight reduction from weight-loss drugs. The UAE’s cosmetics market is already one of the biggest in the region, projected to reach US$2.4 billion by 2032, but the ongoing rise of GLP-1 drugs could trigger even greater demand.

Clinics are already seeing increased interest in dermal fillers, skin-tightening treatments, and facial contouring from patients who have lost weight quickly and want to restore fullness. Many of these products are temperature-sensitive and depend on cold-chain logistics, so what begins as a pharmaceutical trend can feed directly into aesthetic medicine while also affecting the supply chain.

Convenience comes with complexity

The UAE’s hyper-convenience economy amplifies all of this.

Home healthcare platforms and pharmacy apps compress the distance between prescription and doorstep. But the last mile for temperature-controlled medicine is one of the most complex segments of logistics. Any delay, storage error, or heat exposure can compromise product integrity.

Unlike fashion or electronics, pharmaceuticals cannot simply be “restocked next week.” Global allocation limits and manufacturing lead times make forecasting accuracy critical. This is where the real story sits. The weight loss effect is not just changing bodies; it is testing whether supply chains can keep pace with lifestyle-driven pharmaceutical demand.

Volatility is the variable

The common thread is not vanity or wellness. It is volatility. GLP-1s are quietly rewiring demand across categories, shrinking baskets, accelerating wardrobe churn, and pushing more consumers into temperature-sensitive aesthetic treatments. For supply chains, that means historic baselines become less reliable, short-term indicators become even more valuable, and cold-chain execution moves from a back-end requirement to a front-line constraint.

The slimmer the waistlines get in the UAE, the more those bottom lines depend on supply lines that can respond quickly and stay cold.