Gulf Business tech panel: Dubai’s key players pave next frontier in innovation

The second Gulf Business Breakfast Briefing of 2025, held on April 23, focused on innovation and emerging technologies.

The event brought together leading minds from telecoms, AI, cloud, and blockchain — fields rapidly becoming the foundation of the region’s economic future.

The agenda of the event was as follows:

Panel Discussion: Telecoms & Cloud – The Next Frontier

The impact of 5G Advanced and the roadmap to 6G
The shift from telco to techco – how telecom companies are evolving into digital service providers
The rise of sovereign cloud and its role in data security and telecom innovation
Moderator: Neesha Salian, Editor, Gulf Business

Panellists:

• Iwan Stella, Head of Strategy and Commercial Management for Ericsson Middle East and Africa;
• Cherian Varghese, Senior Vice President, AI and Cloud Infrastructure, EMEA, Oracle;
• Samar Mittal, Vice President and MEA Head of Cloud & Network Services, Nokia
• Sameer Jameel, Chief Technology Architect, Huawei Middle East and Central Asia

Keynote – Mazen Nahawi, Founder and Group CEO, Carma

Panel Discussion: Artificial Intelligence – A Regional Powerhouse

• The UAE’s growing role as an AI innovation hub
• AI-driven transformation in finance, healthcare, logistics, and security
• Moderator: Gareth van Zyl, Group Editor, Gulf Business

Panellists:

• Vasudha Khandeparkar, AI, Analytics and Data Practice Lead, Business Consulting, Grant Thornton UAE
• Andreas Hassellof, CEO and founder of Ombori
• Mark Dymock Operating Partner at SC Ventures
• Mazen Nahawi, Founder and Group CEO, Carma

Panel Discussion: Blockchain Evolution – From Pilots to Pioneers

The UAE’s blockchain-friendly regulations and their role in attracting global innovation
Moderator: Kokila Alagh, founder and managing partner of Karm Legal

Panellists:

• Rifad Mahasneh, CEO of OKX MENA
• Alice Liu, Head of Research at CoinMarketCap
• Faisal Zaidi, President, Exscape
• Akos Erzse, Director of Public Policy at BitOasis
• Srinu Chowhan, Chief Marketing Officer, MultiBank.io

The 5G legacy: Stepping stone towards experience monetisation

5G-Advanced (also known as 5.5G or 5G-A) is an evolutionary upgrade to 5G technology, defined under the 3GPP Release 18 standard. It serves as a transitional phase between 5G and future 6G networks, focusing on performance optimization, enhanced spectral and energy efficiency, and expanded functionality.

Read-How Alexa is powering the Gulf’s smart home boom

“5G-A will always be part of the 5G legacy. What’s interesting is how 5G is shifting the paradigm — not just in terms of traffic monetisation, but now towards experience monetisation,” said Sameer Jameel, chief technology architect at Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, during the ‘Telecoms & Cloud – The Next Frontier’ session at the Gulf Business Breakfast Briefing.

He added, “For applications like live streaming — think concerts or large gatherings — individuals still face challenges sharing videos in real time. Operators in the Middle East and other regions are already working on experience monetisation, ensuring individual customers get the right bandwidth and a seamless data-sharing experience.”

He also highlighted the demand for high bandwidth in vertical industries like smart cities, manufacturing, and agriculture, all of which 5G can support.

How trust and reputation are changing in the age of AI

Technology companies today are harnessing speed, processing power, and big data applications to unlock new levels of insight. These tools now shape public opinion and reputation at an unprecedented scale.

“Take synthetic data, for example — it’s built from millions of interview responses and used to create AI databases that predict opinion trends. But guess what? These are turning out to be some of the most inaccurate models in market research history,” said Mazen Nahawi, founder and group CEO of Carma. “The key issue? The quality of your data and the security around it.”

Flaws in AI

One of AI’s biggest flaws today is the lack of proper data verification. “Anyone can feed data into an LLM (large language model), and most platforms aren’t verifying the sources,” said Nahawi. “For instance, The New York Times is suing OpenAI for scraping content from its digital editions without permission.”

AI: Data gaps in the emerging world

Most data used to train AI doesn’t represent the emerging world. Languages, histories, and perspectives from countries without strong digital infrastructure are often excluded. This positions AI as a tool of the powerful, reflecting their biases rather than global diversity.

Data reinforcement wars

In today’s AI-driven age, even Fortune 500 companies are reportedly using shadow marketing teams to influence data and discredit competitors. “There’s no digital police to take down false data,” Nahawi added. “So these companies manipulate AI to reinforce biased or misleading results.”

Crypto: The next innovation wave

“Crypto is the next wave of innovation, and the UAE is leading the market in several areas,” said Alice Liu, head of research at CoinMarketCap. “Three key areas include tokenized real estate, tokenized gold, and stablecoins.”

According to the Dubai Land Department, tokenized real estate markets in Dubai are expected to grow by around 7.8 per cent annually over the next three years. “They are even issuing $1 billion worth of bonds tied to this trend,” Liu said. “Dubai is becoming a global leader in these developments.”