Battle of the Tech Hubs

• The GCC smart cities and digital transformation market reached $145.5 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $907 billion by 2032.
• Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, for instance, was the largest sovereign-owned investor globally in 2024, deploying $29 billion across 52 deals, a 67 percent increase from the previous year.

‘Innovation takes time—The Gulf’s economic transformation requires patience and persistence’

• Innovation reforms take time, strong institutions, and market-aligned policies, Josh Lerner tells TRENDS
• Funding alone is not enough; follow-on capital and a culture that rewards risk are essential, he adds

UAE Innovation Month: Why 2026 is the year of the agentic enterprise

• AI adoption is surging, but enterprises are stuck in “pilot purgatory”, failing to scale isolated AI experiments into orchestrated, ROI-driven systems
• The shift to an Agentic Enterprise requires multi-agent orchestration, shared enterprise context, and strong governance, especially as GCC regulations tighten

The great tech reset: How the gulf turned sovereign capital into a tech ecosystem

• Heavy bets on cloud, AI infrastructure, and data centers are reshaping the region’s tech base
• The UAE and Saudi Arabia are fast closing the infrastructure gap with global tech leaders

Jobs and investment top MENA expectations from multinational firms, Ipsos finds

• American multinationals now face the strongest global skepticism, with “Brand America” increasingly linked to ethical, environmental, and economic concerns
• A company’s country of origin has become a reputational “passport,” shaping trust as much as corporate behavior itself

Citizen-consumers are redefining the global reputation of multinationals: Ipsos study

• Despite regional differences, one expectation stands out globally: people want multinational corporations to contribute to local economies.
• This economic focus was particularly pronounced in developing and emerging markets, including many countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.

Governments must put creativity at the center of economic strategy: Report

• The report finds that every dollar invested in creative industries generates approximately $2.50 in broader economic activity across sectors such as tourism and urban services.
• It warns that countries slow to act risk becoming importers of creative content rather than exporters shaping global cultural markets.

Web Summit Qatar 2026 in Doha draws 30,000 participants, global tech leaders

Gaming, esports GCC’s new growth play

• Flagship events such as the Dubai Esports Festival and the BLAST Premier World Final, hosted by AD Gaming, have elevated the UAE’s global standing.
• With nearly 71 percent of the population under the age of 35, Saudi Arabia’s youth form the foundation of its gaming transformation.

Gold, silver prices tumble as investors soothed by Trump’s Fed pick

• Precious metals prices tumbled on Friday after surging in recent days when investors sought a safe haven over doubts about Trump's policies
• Silver, which Thursday reached an all-time peak above $120 an ounce, shed 20 percent meanwhile in sliding down to $90 an ounce