Amazon Ads is often viewed as a marketing channel, but for startups and scale-ups, it is increasingly becoming a business-building engine. In this interview, Rayan Karaky, Managing Director for EMEA & Southeast Asia Expansion at Amazon Ads, explains how full-funnel advertising, retail media intelligence, and AI are helping GCC-based startups move from early traction to sustainable global scale.
How does Amazon Ads help startups and scale-ups in the GCC grow their businesses, not just reach customers?
Amazon is a company of builders. We are always looking to invent on behalf of our customers and selling partners, many of whom are startups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
What I’ve learned working with startups and scale-ups across the GCC is that sustainable growth requires more than customer acquisition. It demands building brand equity, establishing market presence, and creating repeatable pathways to conversion. That’s where advertising becomes a true business-building tool, not just a marketing channel.
Many businesses prioritize brand building and upper-funnel investment as the foundation for long-term growth. Amazon Ads offers premium branding solutions across streaming, audio, and display that help brands build awareness and equity at scale in high-quality, brand-safe environments. At the same time, our lower-funnel capabilities leverage shopping signals and purchase intent data to drive efficient conversion and measurable sales outcomes.
What makes this powerful is the ability to connect these moments seamlessly. Our full-funnel solutions transform customer interest into purchases by linking awareness, consideration, and conversion into a cohesive strategy, while measuring and optimizing at every step. This ability to move consumers from watching or listening directly to purchasing empowers businesses to build and scale with clarity on what’s working and why.
You’ve been active in Doha recently, including an agreement with the Government Communications Office (GCO). How do you see Doha’s role in the region’s digital economy?
Qatar is playing an increasingly important role in the region’s digital economy, supported by government investment in digital infrastructure, national capabilities, and policies designed to attract global businesses.
With the Third National Development Strategy focused on world-class infrastructure and talent, startups now have access to a digitally advanced landscape and a business environment that enables long-term partnerships and scalable growth.
Our recent MoU with the Government Communications Office reflects a shared ambition to build digital capabilities and support economic diversification. Through initiatives such as the Digital Academy, we are helping develop skills in digital media, advertising, and technology that are essential for businesses to remain competitive and thrive.
You’ve said MENA can leapfrog legacy markets with Retail Media 3.0. What gives the region this opportunity?
Retail media is already the fastest-growing digital channel globally. Unlike mature markets that have used retail media for years, MENA is a relatively new entrant.
This creates a unique opportunity to leapfrog straight into Retail Media 3.0 and build modern retail media infrastructure natively. Startups and brands here aren’t constrained by legacy systems or retrofitted strategies, giving them the agility to adopt advanced models from the outset.
With some of the world’s highest internet and mobile penetration rates, strong online retail adoption, and mobile commerce driving consumer behavior, the region is well positioned to integrate retail media in a seamless, future-proof way.
How are MENA businesses using Retail Media 3.0 insights beyond sales?
Retail Media 3.0 is built on trillions of first-party signals, allowing brands to see what products are trending, how quickly decisions are made, and which categories are in highest demand.
This intelligence is increasingly used for demand forecasting, inventory optimization, supply chain planning, and product innovation based on real customer insights. It enables businesses to invest more efficiently by making media performance measurable and optimized across the value chain.
For customers, this translates into better product availability, innovations that reflect their preferences, and shopping experiences that fit their lifestyles.
Amazon Ads still trails Google and Meta in global ad spend. How are you positioning for sustained growth?
At Amazon, our focus remains on customers. Businesses today—especially startups and SMBs—aren’t just looking for reach; they’re looking for relevance and return.
The question isn’t about competing for ad dollars, but about delivering advertising that actually works at every stage of growth. The most successful brands meet customers where they already are—whether streaming content, researching, or actively shopping—and seamlessly connect those moments.
For smaller businesses, this means access to capabilities once limited to large enterprises: sophisticated targeting, real-time optimization, and the ability to measure real business outcomes, not just impressions. When founders can see how advertising translates to customer acquisition and lifetime value, scaling decisions fundamentally change.
How can data and commerce media help startups move from early traction to real scale?
The journey to scale requires founders to treat measurement not as reporting, but as a strategic asset.
The most successful founders build frameworks that answer investor questions: Is growth repeatable? What’s the unit economics trajectory? Can this scale profitably?
Establishing clear attribution models early is critical. Investors want to see understanding of which channels drive real outcomes. Commerce and retail media platforms close the loop between exposure and purchase behavior, helping founders prove ROI while refining product-market fit, inventory planning, and customer segmentation.
The founders who win investor confidence aren’t those with flashy curves, but those who can clearly explain why growth is sustainable.
How does Amazon Ads help regional businesses go global?
Global expansion is about building systematic capabilities that translate across markets.
Amazon Ads introduced the Amazon Business Maturity Framework (ABMF), which guides brands through four stages: Foundation, Growth, Advanced, and Innovative and Data-Driven. Each stage outlines when and how to invest in advertising capabilities, from establishing presence to leveraging predictive analytics.
For startups in the GCC, ABMF provides a clear roadmap. You’re not trying to do everything at once—you’re building maturity systematically. Regional learnings inform global strategy rather than being abandoned in pursuit of scale.
What trends will reshape how startups and investors approach growth in the region?
AI is transforming every aspect of retail media. Research from Amazon Ads shows that 94% of UAE SMB marketing leaders believe AI advertising tools will drive future growth by freeing time for strategic priorities.
The most successful startups treat AI as a multiplier—to test faster, identify behavior patterns earlier, and optimize in real time. Advanced AI runs throughout Amazon Ads, from insights and targeting to creative development and performance optimization.
Generative AI tools like Image Generator help produce ad-ready creatives, while Brand+ uses AI to simplify brand campaigns and target audiences most likely to convert within 90 days.
When SMBs use AI-powered insights to guide product, inventory, and expansion decisions, they build sustainable competitive advantages. At Amazon, our goal is to use AI to simplify complexity and help businesses scale smarter, not just faster.
