For nearly two decades, Adel Mardini has done what few founders in private aviation have managed. He has built Jetex by reshaping the private aviation market, using Dubai’s geographic reach and regulatory openness to scale a premium service across regions.

Under his leadership, Jetex has grown from a single location into a network spanning 38 locations globally, set to reach 75 by the end of next year, prized for its sleek environments, meticulous service standards, and brand consistency.

That phase of Jetex’s evolution is largely complete. Today, Mardini’s focus has shifted. The emphasis is no longer on how Jetex looks, or even how large it becomes, but on how efficiently the entire system works and where time is still being lost.

“People don’t fly private just to be in the air,” Mardini says, speaking at Jetex’s flagship VIP terminal at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport. “They do it to save time. If you land and then lose another hour or two on the ground, the experience breaks.”

That observation has become a key principle behind Jetex’s next chapter. After years spent building scale, brand credibility, and global reach, the company is repositioning itself as a connective platform, designed to remove friction from every stage of private travel, from arrival and transfer to fuel, infrastructure, and what comes next.

Solving the last mile

The most visible expression of that shift is Jetex’s growing focus on the so-called “last mile”, the point at which private aviation’s promise of time-saving often begins to unravel.

For many clients, the contradiction is familiar. A private jet shaves hours off a journey, immigration takes minutes — but then a ground transfer consumes another one or two hours in traffic. For travellers paying a premium to compress time, the inefficiency is hard to ignore.

It is this gap that has pushed Jetex to focus increasingly on the eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) sector. Through partnerships with Archer and Joby Aviation, Jetex is positioning itself as an infrastructure and services partner for air taxi operations. This is not a pure technology play, but a practical extension of private aviation.

“The vertiport industry is expected to grow into a market worth more than $200bn over the next 10 to 15 years,” Mardini says. “For us, eVTOL is not a novelty. It’s about solving the biggest inefficiency in private travel.”

Jetex’s ambition is to integrate eVTOL aircraft directly into its terminal operations, allowing passengers to transition from jet to air taxi with minimal friction.

“Connecting the traditional jet with eVTOL aircraft will be a major milestone for us,” Mardini says. “And it’s one we will achieve.”

Jetex has already signed agreements with Archer and Joby to support their growth in the UAE, with plans to extend this capability across its global network. Dubai is expected to be among the earliest deployment sites.

“Our clients want to complete their journey,” Mardini adds. “They want to land, finish their procedures, and move on immediately. That’s what we’re building.”

This emphasis on continuity also explains Jetex’s move beyond the airport itself. In 2026, the company plans to operate its first lifestyle premises, incorporating a café, a hotel, and a private members’ club.

Rather than viewing the airport as the endpoint, Jetex increasingly sees it as one node in a broader ecosystem that serves the same clientele beyond aviation alone.

“Our clients already trust us with their time, their privacy, and their travel,” Mardini says. “That trust allows us to extend the experience into other parts of their lives.”

Global footprint to connected flow

This focus on efficiency helps explain why Jetex’s next phase of expansion looks different from its last.

With the network set to reach 75 locations, spanning the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the numbers suggest continued rapid growth.

“This footprint gives us something very powerful,” Mardini says. “It allows us to deliver the same service, the same experience, everywhere. That consistency is what enables us to connect the entire journey.”

Before Covid-19, Jetex’s typical private aviation client was an ultra-high-net-worth individual from traditional sectors such as oil and gas, or a government official, often aged between 50 and 80. Private aviation was largely about access and discretion.

Since the pandemic, that profile has shifted markedly.

Today, the average Jetex passenger is between 25 and 55, with growing representation from technology, crypto, fashion, entertainment, and creative industries. Many migrated from first and business class on commercial airlines during Covid-19 and never returned, drawn by speed, privacy, and control.

“These clients are extremely time-sensitive,” Mardini says. “They are globally mobile, digitally fluent, and they expect the experience on the ground to work as seamlessly as it does in the air.”

Scaling with sustainability

Efficiency is not only about movement. It is also about fuel, infrastructure, and systems working together.

At the recent Dubai Airshow, Jetex supplied sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and sold out its entire allocated volume. Demand was strong enough that additional supply was requested but unavailable.

“We were very happy to bring SAF fuel to the Dubai Airshow,” Mardini says. “The fact that it sold out tells you demand is increasing.”

Jetex has been the exclusive ground handler for the Dubai Airshow since 2016, and this marked the second time it introduced SAF at the event. While cost, availability, and certification challenges remain, Mardini believes client pressure is accelerating adoption.

“Many of our corporate clients have their own net-zero commitments,” he says. “They expect us to provide fuel options that help them meet those goals.”

Geographically, Saudi Arabia represents one of Jetex’s most strategically important growth markets. The company has been appointed exclusive fixed-base operator at Red Sea International Airport, the gateway to one of the kingdom’s most ambitious luxury tourism developments.

“That means we’ll be there from the very first flight,” Mardini says. “We’ll be shaping the experience for every VIP and private passenger who arrives.”

Beyond the Red Sea, Jetex is actively evaluating opportunities in Riyadh, Jeddah, and NEOM. Operationally, the Saudi facilities will mirror Jetex’s Dubai flagship, with lounges, concierge services, crew rest areas, and on-site customs clearance.

“Our model is to replicate the same feel everywhere,” Mardini says. “If you land in the Red Sea or Riyadh, it must feel like Jetex Dubai.”

Elsewhere, Jetex is expanding across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Markets such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam remain at an early stage of private aviation development. Southeast Asia’s business jet market is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 15.5 per cent between 2025 and 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence.

“These markets are fragmented,” Mardini says. “But that fragmentation creates opportunity for a global brand with standards.”

Behind Jetex’s polished lounges sits a centralised operating engine. From Dubai, a 24/7 global operations team coordinates flight planning, permits, fuel, catering, and ground handling across the network.

“From the moment a client calls, our system kicks in,” Mardini says. “We can arrange services anywhere in the world within hours.”

This is supported by proprietary technology that tracks flights, crew schedules, and fuel supply in real time.

“Technology doesn’t replace our people,” Mardini says. “It makes them faster and more accurate.”

Connecting what comes next

As Jetex accelerates its expansion, the challenge is no longer simply growth, but integration, ensuring complexity disappears entirely from the client’s point of view.

“If we can grow and still have our customers feel like we are their personal aviation team, then we’ve succeeded,” Mardini says.

The footprint is expanding. The infrastructure is evolving. The experience is being re-engineered.

Jetex’s next frontier is efficiency — and the ability to turn time itself into its most valuable offering.

• Read the full cover story in the latest January 2026 edition of Gulf Business Magazine.

Kaspersky has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Codebase Technologies, a UAE-based provider of digital banking platforms and fintech solutions operating across the Middle East, to explore joint opportunities in delivering secure, integrated digital banking and fintech offerings across the region.

The collaboration aims to combine Codebase Technologies’ Digibanc digital banking platform, implementation expertise and regional market presence with Kaspersky’s advanced cybersecurity technologies, supporting banks, financial institutions, fintech firms and regulated entities as they navigate increasingly complex cyber risk environments.

Strengthening security across digital banking platforms

Under the MoU, both parties will assess opportunities to enhance the security, resilience and regulatory compliance of digital banking and fintech environments. The partnership focuses on addressing key cybersecurity challenges associated with digital financial services, including the protection of critical systems, fraud prevention, safeguarding sensitive data, and securing customer-facing operations.

By aligning their respective capabilities, Kaspersky and Codebase Technologies aim to help organisations embed cybersecurity more deeply into their digital banking infrastructure, ensuring protection is integrated from the platform level rather than treated as a standalone layer.

Rashed Al-Momani, general manager at Kaspersky Middle East, said: “Financial institutions are operating in an increasingly complex threat landscape, where cybersecurity must be an integral part of digital banking platforms from the outset. Through this collaboration with Codebase Technologies, we aim to explore how our cybersecurity expertise can complement advanced digital banking solutions such as Digibanc to help organizations better protect their operations and customers.”

Tamer Al Mauge, managing director – MENA at Codebase Technologies, commented: “Cybersecurity is a critical pillar of modern digital banking and fintech services. By working with Kaspersky, we plan to assess opportunities to enhance our Digibanc platform with advanced security capabilities that address regulatory, risk management, and operational requirements across our target markets.”

The MoU establishes a structured framework for collaboration, enabling both companies to combine technical expertise and market insights to support financial institutions across the Middle East. The partnership reflects the growing need for security-by-design approaches as banks and fintechs accelerate digital transformation amid heightened regulatory scrutiny and evolving cyber threats.

Read: Kaspersky warns of ChatGPT-themed macOS malware campaign

Oil prices edged up on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump ratcheted down tension with Europe over his demand for Greenland, while disruptions in supply from two large fields in Kazakhstan and a better demand outlook for 2026 lent support.

Brent crude was up 9 cents, or 0.14 per cent, at $65.33 a barrel by 0320 GMT. West Texas Intermediate for March rose 13 cents, or 0.21 per cent, to $60.75 a barrel.

Read more-GCC energy investment outlook remains resilient in 2026

The contracts climbed more than 0.4 per cent on Wednesday, following the previous day’s rise of 1.5 per cent, after OPEC+ producer Kazakhstan halted output at its Tengiz and Korolev oilfields because of issues regarding power distribution.

Also on Wednesday, Trump suggested a deal was in sight over the Danish territory, while ruling out use of force to end a dispute that had risked the worst rupture in transatlantic relations in decades.

A pact on Greenland would reduce downside risks from a US–Europe trade war and is supportive of the global economy and demand for oil, said Mingyu Gao, chief researcher for energy and chemicals at China Futures Co Ltd.

“At the same time, the United States has not ruled out possible military involvement in Iran, which is also supporting oil prices,” Gao said.

Against the backdrop of the Greenland framework and the receding prospect of action in Iran, oil prices should hold around the level of $60, said Tony Sycamore, an analyst with online broker IG.

Also aiding the market was a revised higher growth forecast for global oil demand in 2026 in the International Energy Agency’s latest monthly oil market report, suggesting a slightly narrower market surplus this year.

US crude and gasoline stocks rose while distillate inventories fell last week, market sources said on Wednesday, citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute.

Crude stocks rose by 3.04 million barrels in the week ended on January 16, according to the API, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Gasoline inventories rose by 6.21 million barrels, while distillate inventories fell by 33,000 barrels, the sources said.

Eight analysts polled by Reuters forecast an average rise of about 1.1 million barrels in crude inventories for the week to January 16.

“High crude inventories are limiting further gains in oil prices in an oversupplied market,” said Yang An, an analyst at Haitong Futures.

Verkada, a provider of AI-powered physical security technology, has announced its expansion into the Middle East with the establishment of a Dubai-based office and the appointment of Fred Crehan as Head of Middle East.

The move marks Verkada’s first dedicated regional presence and reflects the company’s continued global expansion, driven by rapid urbanisation, large-scale infrastructure development, and rising demand for modern, cloud-based security platforms across the region.

Eric Salava, chief revenue officer at Verkada, said: “The Middle East is experiencing rapid urban development, large-scale infrastructure projects, and a strong focus on security and innovation. Verkada’s cloud-based platform aligns well with the region’s ambitions, and Fred’s deep understanding of the local landscape and proven track record of scaling high-growth businesses make him the ideal leader to bring our integrated platform to market.”

Regional leadership appointment

Crehan brings more than 25 years of enterprise technology experience to the role. Most recently, he served at Confluent, where he led the launch of the company’s Dubai office and built a strong regional partner ecosystem.

Commenting on the opportunity, Fred Crehan, head of Middle East at Verkada, said: “Safety is a top priority in the Middle East, driven by a commitment to world-class tourism and the rapid development of new urban centers. As cloud adoption continues to accelerate, many organisations are looking for modern solutions that can help them overcome traditional resource constraints. Verkada’s platform is uniquely positioned to support government, hospitality, retail, and logistics providers, as well as the large-scale construction and real estate sectors.”

Expansion plans and investment backing

While Verkada already supports global customers operating across the Middle East, the Dubai office represents its first dedicated regional hub. The company plans to continue expanding its Middle East team, with initial hires focused on sales engineering and leadership roles.

Verkada’s international growth is supported by a recent investment from CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, which valued Verkada at $5.8bn. The investment is expected to accelerate Verkada’s AI-driven innovation roadmap and support its growing global customer base of more than 30,000 organisations worldwide.

The Middle East expansion underscores Verkada’s strategy to bring its integrated, cloud-based physical security platform closer to customers in high-growth markets, aligning with regional priorities around safety, smart infrastructure and digital transformation.

Food security has moved decisively up the policy and investment agenda across the Gulf, driven by population growth, shifting consumption patterns, climate risk and recent global supply-chain shocks. For investors, the opportunity set in agriculture and agri-technology is expanding rapidly, but only for those willing to rethink how the region fits into global food systems.

According to Cédric Garnier-Landurie, co-managing partner and CEO of Cordiant, the most compelling opportunities are not in isolated farming assets, but in infrastructure that connects production, trade and consumption.

“We see the most compelling opportunities in agriculture converging around developments to end-to-end cold chain corridors alongside the evolution of trade routes,” he said. “The GCC is experiencing notable increases in demand for foods, in particularly fresh foods, due to a growing population, wealth, and consumer preferences.”

While global food production remains ample, Garnier-Landurie argues that access, not availability, is the real constraint. “This latent demand for fresh food in the GCC cannot be met without increased investment in cold-chain infrastructure,” he said. That infrastructure allows producers in naturally advantaged exporting regions to reach Gulf markets reliably, preserving quality from farm to consumer.

A structural transition

This shift reflects a broader re-thinking of the Gulf’s role in global trade. “Trade-route diversification, through a GCC-centric lens, is not about adding another waypoint along legacy China–Europe–North America corridors,” he said. “It is about re-architecting trade flows so that the Gulf becomes a primary node for transformation and redistribution.”

For Garnier-Landurie, this marks a structural transition. “This represents a structural shift from pass-through geography to control geography.”

Technology, he stresses, is inseparable from this investment thesis. “We see agri-tech is an essential component of this opportunity, rather than a standalone segment.” In the GCC, agri-technology is reshaping the entire value chain—from plant genetics to post-harvest logistics.

“Agri-technology is enabling a fundamental reshaping of agricultural value chains in the GCC, touching each point of the chain,” he said. Crucially, no single technology delivers transformation on its own. “Ag-tech and its benefits should be viewed as a sum of all the parts that enable this transformation, rather than as selective technologies that can achieve dramatic changes individually.”

Among the most impactful innovations are genetics and plant material suited to arid climates. “You cannot ‘out-irrigate’ bad genetics in desert climates,” Garnier-Landurie said. Precision irrigation and water intelligence are also critical, improving input efficiency while boosting yields.

Regenerative farming practices are increasingly part of the equation. By reducing synthetic inputs and rebuilding soil quality, they improve climate resilience and long-term productivity. “Rebuilding productivity where soil is weak with engineered substrates, soil carbon and microbial inputs, and salinity and pH management technology” is becoming central to sustainable farming in arid environments.

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) plays a complementary role. “Decoupling production from climate” allows agriculture to shift from weather-dependent activity to industrial-like production, aligning with sovereign food-security mandates. Post-harvest and cold-chain technologies then close the loop, reducing waste and enabling wider distribution.

“In the GCC, agri-tech is not an optional innovation,” Garnier-Landurie said. “It is sovereign resilience deployed through capital and technology.”

Cordiant’s joint venture with Aram Palms reflects this long-term regional approach. Having invested in more than 60 countries globally, the firm views local partnerships as essential to responsible capital deployment. “Local partnerships can elevate our ability to deploy capital effectively by inculcating local experience, sensitising us to local culture and norms, and bringing both relationships and access to opportunities,” he said.

Global disruptions have reinforced the case for resilience, but Garnier-Landurie cautions against over-correcting. “Local only is a fallacy,” he said. “If you are only local and regional, you increase the impact of events that disrupt food production.” True resilience, he argues, requires a hub-and-spoke model that blends local production with diversified trade routes and export origins.

Climate change

Climate risk sits at the heart of agricultural investment decisions. At Cordiant, it is treated as a financial variable, not an ESG overlay. “Climate resilience is not treated as an ESG overlay; it is a core underwriting variable that directly affects cash-flow durability, valuation, and capital structure,” Garnier-Landurie said.

The firm assesses climate exposure through asset-level diagnostics, water security analysis, operational resilience and portfolio construction. “At its core, in agriculture, climate resilience is not an abstract ESG concept,” he said. “It is the difference between volatile farming income and infrastructure-like cash flows.” For large tail risks, Cordiant has also explored parametric insurance solutions.

Regenerative farming fits squarely within this framework. “Once established, regenerative farming reduces input requirements and associated costs while increasing resilience,” he said. Contrary to common perception, the transition need not involve a sharp profitability dip. “Approached in this way, there need not be a trade-off between commercial returns and environmental outcomes.”

Capital structure is another area where agriculture differs fundamentally from other real-asset sectors. “Biological systems do not conform to fixed financial timetables,” Garnier-Landurie said. Traditional debt structures often misalign with farming realities, where revenue is concentrated around harvest cycles.

“We therefore structure our debt to align repayment profiles with revenue events,” he explained. “Agriculture rewards investors who adapt capital to biology, not those who force biology to adapt to capital.”

Alongside structured credit, Cordiant deploys private equity to support growth-stage farming platforms. “Many farms are now at the next stage of their development and require growth equity capital, not greater leverage,” he said. The objective is to build multi-jurisdictional agri-platforms with scale, resilience and defensible commercial moats.

Looking ahead, Garnier-Landurie believes the next decade will fundamentally reshape how agriculture is financed. “The next decade will reward those who treat agriculture not as a legacy sector to be modernised, but as strategic infrastructure to be engineered,” he said. “This is not farming but rather food-system infrastructure.”

Future value will sit in integrated systems combining climate-resilient production, water and energy infrastructure, cold chains, logistics and long-term offtake. “Think systems, not assets,” he said. Fragmented investments, by contrast, will struggle to deliver resilience at scale.

For Gulf policymakers and investors, the implication is clear: agriculture is no longer peripheral. It is mission-critical infrastructure: finite in supply, exposed to climate risk, and central to long-term economic and social stability.

Read: Solico Group invests Dhs130m in UAE food manufacturing hub at Jafza