UAE Tech Podcast

Vineet Budki is CEO of CypherCapital, a ‘Web3 native' VC firm based in the UAE that has led investments in the likes of Mysten Labs, Sei Network, Casper Labs, Web3Auth, ZKLink and many others. CypherCapital has evolved into a global presence, investments and insights. How did CyperCapital fare during COVID-19 and the ‘crypto-winter'? Are there signs Web3 is maturing from cowboy pump-and-dump to mainstream solutions? Will Gaming and Web3 really be the next big thing? Stay tuned for a conversation that probably should have happened earlier in the series.

One of the reasons for the continued growth of the UAE's tech ecosystem, has been its ability to attract the world to Dubai. More recently, however, Abu Dhabi has made very significant strides in hosting mega-scale events - fashioning entire islands, such as Yas Island and Sadiyat island, for art lovers and racing car lovers to enjoy immaculately curated experiences. Ethara is a company that owns, manages and promotes some of the largest events and IP's in the UAE. This includes Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, alongside similar destination events including NBA and UFC in Abu Dhabi. We spoke with Baraa Khamis, Ethara's Chief of Digital and Technology Officer, to find out how it all works and how immersive digital experiences might merge with physical events infrastructure, in the future.

It doesn't matter whether you're drifting around a corner in Need for Speed, screaming ‘Get Over Here' in Mortal Kombat, or dropping a banana in Mario Kart, video games are about one thing: Skill. Or are they? Aren't video games also about having fun. Enter the debate over Skill2Earn, versis Free2Earn, and what the future of video games looks like. Shouldn't users who spend upwards of 20 hours a week (and sometimes way more), be able to earn tokens, and exchange those tokens across other publishing platforms? Hasn't this very tendency turned some supposed video games into glorified token farms? What about skill and competition? Skill2Earn gaming believes that when you execute that perfect uppercut, you get paid for it. So it is the best of both worlds?

In the UAE, Step Conference requires little introduction. But how did the darling of the Dubai tech scene calendar actually get started? What happened to the English and Arabic content websites? And what was it like running such a popular and successful conference … only to have COVID-19 shut down, well, pretty much everything. Ray Dargham, CEO and founder of Step Conference provides the inside story on how a student project at AUB has transformed, over time and with a little grit, into something far grander. This is the story of Step Conference from its foundings, to today.

Yuri Dvoinos sold his company Figleaf to Aura in 2020. He currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer at the Boston based cybersecurity firm, which is backed by none other than Robert Downey Jr. We wanted to begin our interview with “so what's it like working with Iron Man,” but apparently everyone leads with this line, and they have not met. Also, Iron Man is a fictional character, so that would be weird. We digress. Yuri is a habitual entrepreneur. He's workled on Kickstarter projects, digital education and has spent a decade right here in Dubai, where he bootstrapped 50M+ paying customers for Clario cybersecurity, a company he co-founded. We caught up with Yuri to share insights into how the city can attract talent, serve a global addressable market, and also grow into a new sense of itself as a mature tech industry, rather than a plucky upstart with a loveable swagger. Whatever the future holds, we hope Dubai keeps the swagger.

Hassan Al Noon is a graduate of the National Experts Program in Abu Dhabi, a mentorship program which pairs promising Emirati leaders with established experts in industry. Hassan's capstone project focused on the development of deep-tech, and the need to create a collaborative ecosystem to support R&D in the UAE.

If you've been living in Dubai it's been difficult to avoid Yango, an app that is being noticed for impressively accurate GPS and ride-hailing services. A Netherlands registered company backed by the Russian conglomerate Yandex, the app has ambitions which go beyond getting you around the city. Yango wants to become that most fabled of creatures; not a Unicorn, but a super-app. The recently launched Yango play features an AI assistant that doesn't simply speak Arabic, but can talk in the local Khaleeji dialect. The service brings licensed music and movies to the app, including the Arabic blockbuster of 2023 ‘Mr. Ex', and the sequel to ‘Awlad Harim Kareem.' There are plans to support independent artists, and create original content. It's a big dream. But can a super-app work in the UAE? What are macro-trends? And who, given the range of services on offer, is the competition? We spoke with Roman Shimansky, MENA Region Business Director at Yango Play, to learn more.

Arto is an OG interested in e-gold, in Ayn Rand and early Sci-Fi. He has a compelling perspective on what technology used to be, and where it might be going. We sat down with him to discuss his latest company, Haltia.AI, and why being a blockchain refugee in Dubai is a portal into the future.

Martin Glen began tinkering with print servers back in the 1984, eventually co-founding a company that would become a world leader in network video. In 1996 he invented the AXIS 2000 and NetEye with a Carl-Axel Aim; the first network camera.

Enter Theion, a Berlin based startup creating batteries based on lithium-sulfur, rather than lithium-ion. Compellingly, sulfur is an abundant waste product, particularly in the GCC, where it is one of the outputs from processing oil. Unlike cobalt, manganese or nickel, it doesn't need to be mined.

David Chaum is a mercurial gentleman. He's gone from pretty much inventing digital cash, the main thing he missed being Satoshi's proof of work, to consulting on CBDCs, working with European bankers, and plotting to stop solar warming...

Finding out information on the Dubai blockchain ecosystem isn't always easy. For the most part, you need to be in it. There's many familiar foundational faces, and people flying in and out from all over the world: Austin, Shanghai, Moscow, Paris. You name it. While this makes for an exciting and often exclusive scene, it doesn't always help with investment and building great products. The discovery of great projects is often subjective - it depends on who you ask. Walid Abu Zaki started ‘Unlock Blockchain' on the back of a conference, to deliver real information. Obviously, that's not always easy. We caught up with Walid to learn more about the website.

Mehdi Fichtali is CEO and founder of FinaMaze, an ADGM licensed Digital Wealth management company. He's spent fifteen years at large banks such as Credit Agricole, Barlcays and as the Vice-President of Morgan Stanley in Dubai. Today, he's exploring how AI can lower barriers to entry, reduce bureaucratic cost, and ensure that the likes of you and I can one day have our own asset portfolio, even if we're not making squllions of pounds.

For much of the technology industry, there is a certain suspicion of COP28. They believe “sustainability” evangelists get paid large government salaries to regulate solutions, without building or solving very much at all. The Bitcoin industry is furious that their movement has been maligned for using too much energy, while others cut down trees. A reductive ‘abundance vs. scarcity' debate has been visible online in the US and UK, in particular. But is it really this simple? The UAE is hosting COP28, and both sustainability and technology are clear and mutually reinforcing themes. This is visible in many areas of the UAE, one of which is the local campus of Heriot Watt University. We talked with Prof Tadhg O'Donovan, Deputy Provost and Head of the Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering (IMPEE) Research Institute, for insight into energy storage and reliability, solar power, thermal energy and some of the solutions that are already on the horizon.

While email phishing continues to be the favorite exploit du jour of cyberhackers, other forms of attack are emerging. What can we do to become more aware, and how can AI help solve the old cybersecurity problems of the past, at the same time as playing offence against the threats of the future? We caught up with Matt Cooke, Director of CyberSecurity and Strategy at the UAE based Proofpoint, to find out more.

Two years ago it's not unfair to suggest that if most techies were asked to name the Big Tech company most likely to break through globally in AI, Microsoft might not come to mind. Microsoft partnered with OpenAI earlier this year, has just inked a deal with Activision, making it one of the largest gaming giants in the world, and has plans for the Metaverse. But you already knew that. One remains to be understood is how generative AI is changing the technology landscape right here in the UAE. From private to public sector, from education to logistics, oil and gas, and citizen services, what are the use-cases we should be focusing on? Where are the quick wins? We're delighted to be talking to Tariq Halawani, Executive Director for Commercial Solutions, on why this is a big year for GITEX, the UAE… and for Microsoft.

Ahead of a Summit in Dubai this November, we spoke with CEO Frederik Gregaard on Cardano, global regulation, the role of central banks and why emerging technologies such as AI mean that trust, transparency and verification is more important than ever. Is Cardano really blockchain's White Knight, and will we be seeing more of them in the region soon? Special thanks to Oscar Wendel, Director of Content and Conferences at MCH Group for stepping up to command this interview after a last minute schedule change.

GIGA is focused on providing services to underserved foreign nationals, who have trouble opening a bank account, and gig economy workers, who may be making relatively small and short-term deposits. Inspired by European Open banking, Raul looks to a time where our bank accounts travel with us no matter where we are in the world, with local or nation-state banking as a bureaucratic nuisance from the past. So what are the parallels between Japan and the UAE, and can we get cartoon characters on check-books here in Dubai?

Anthony Thomson is an understated Brit with a notable record: he founded two of the UK's best known “challenger banks”, namely Atom and Metro. He holds advisory roles with ASX listed Humm Group, ila Bank and Wio Bank, right here in the UAE.

As the UAE Tech Podcast has progressed we've become more and more interested in gaming. There's been a load of reasons for this. The advent of the Metaverse, and the idea 3D technologies will drive the next iteration of the Internet. Hardware, from haptic suits to ridiculously expensive VR kits. Blockchain based gaming and NFT markets. It just seems like a lot of the high-level themes we're discussing are converging in this space.

Hannes Sjöblad goes by the “nom de guerre” Hannes ‘Sapiens': a reference, of course, to humankind, or perhaps the famous book by Yuval Noah Harari. The subject of our collective humanity has come into focus recently. As the capability of AI has filtered into mainstream consciousness, the debate on our relationship to machines is no longer hypothetical.

Isabella Williamson is Associate Director at Consulum. She is examining how governments in the GCC and around the world are positioning themselves in what might be the future of the digital economy. From Seoul to Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Norway, this episode provides up-to-date case studies and hints at a broader question: is government itself profoundly transforming?

From October 2020 to very recently Aisha Sheikh has worked as an Experience Lead and UX Architect for Magnopus, where she led the design team for the Expo2020 Dubai Xplorer App. Some of our listeners have probably used the app: it allowed anyone with an internet connection to experience Expo through the eyes of a robot or avatar, engaging in treasure hunts, puzzles and augmented reality.

Alex Shevchenko, the CEO and Co-Founder of Aurora, doesn't fit nearly into either of these camps. He believes blockchain developers urgently need to learn from and assimilate with the best of Web2, particularly when it comes to consumer acquisition and UX.

This week we're talking to Marta, on her journey from a Mom working in retail in Ireland, to falling down the rabbit hole that is crypto trading… and learning to love it. Please note that none of this is financial advice. Always remember to do your own research.

According to Sabrina, Paris was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to begin regulating this space. More recently the European Law on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) was approved in April, replicating and perhaps in some cases improving on the French Law in some areas.

Karl Tlais is the CEO and co-founder of Iadvisory, a Dubai Future Fellow, and a strategic advisor in the Digital Economy in the UAE. Back in the heady days of early 2021, Karl held a notable discussion on Artificial intelligence at the Capital Club. Shortly after, John Lillywhite worked with Karl to combine three emerging aspects of the UAE digital economy into a single white paper: AI, Virtual Assets and Massive-Multiplayer Online Worlds.

Scott Page talks so fluently on NFTs and emerging Web3 infrastructure, that it's almost easy to forget his previous incarnations as a saxophone and rhythm guitarist for Pink Flloyd, Supertramp and Toto.

This is an unusual episode at the intersection of tech and human aspiration. What if instead of registering, cataloging and surveilling human beings, technology could be repurposed to helping them start their lives anew?

The quick pitch for Metapolis is “shopify in the Metaverse.” Co-founder and chief commercial officer Sandra Helou has dubbed it MaaS, or “Metaverse as a service platform.” Behind the clear business use-case of an interoperable and accessible sales and events platform, are some astute insights into how the digital economy will emerge over the coming decade.

According to Oliver Studd, during the height of the financial crisis in Germany, it was the locally owned community banks that didn't need a bailout. For Oliver and his team at Valhalla Network, we will always need banks and access to banking services. This isn't to argue that either, in their current state, are fit for service: this episode begins with a blistering introduction into how a modern bank actually works.

Saba Homami is CEO and Co-Founder of PROES, a French deep tech company based out of Grenoble which is producing a new generation of Radio Frequency technologies. With an MSc in Physics alongside her business partner Jules, the company recently won a national award in France and at CES Las Vegas. RF technologies underly many of the innovations in 5G, IOT and Cybersecurity that we've discussed on the UAE Tech Podcast in the past. How do these devices talk to each other? What are the challenges with communicating to a device underground, a drone in the sky, or devices in forests trying to avoid the breakout of a forest fire? This problem is known in French as “Zone Blanche”, or in English as a “Black Spot”; areas with little or no communications and radio infrastructure. Can a French startup help innovate across the communication stack, and why is the UAE such a promising market?

Leo Dovbenko is CEO and Co-Founder of YallaMarket and YallaHub, an aggregator providing ecommerce fulfillment and warehousing services. What's interesting about Leo is that he began his journey training as a software engineer, but found his real passion working in bars and swish restaurants as a student at Uni. Pretty soon he was working with big brands, and managing larger locations. As so often on the UAE Tech Podcast, this is a story of taking a slightly different path. By combining experience in the F&B industry with software design, development and a clear enjoyment of business strategy, Leo found himself riding the coattails of a booming food-tech industry. Tune in for a discussion on 15 minute delivery, the VC industry, the importance of data, and why quick commerce will be an increasing percentage of revenue for the high-street store going forwards.

Legends of Bezogia is an Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORG) combining tokenomics, NFTs and competitive ranked gaming with the blockchain. That means players can invest in a Bezoge avatar, mint magic blocks, sell in-game items and become part of the Bezogia community.

The UAE has long invested in cybersecurity, hosting globally significant conferences and attracting talent in this space for at least the past decade. At the same time, the field of cybersecurity is shifting as the sophistication of the digital economy matures. Satista estimated that the digital economy will grow to $53 trillion US dollars next year, up from 13.5 trillion in 2018.

As the global economy faces a period of sustained economic uncertainty, we talked about Cashew's early mission, the importance of forming partnerships with banks and larger institutions and why expanding into markets such as KSA or Oman, makes the UAE an increasingly attractive destination.

‘Yap' means ‘Pay' backwards. It's a neobank established in the UAE, working on a move to KSA, and offering a range of services for B2B and B2C clients. The company markets itself as a financial technology - not a bank.

The idea is called “cCommerce”, or “collaborative commerce.” According to Investopedia, it means “the optimization of supply and distribution channels to capitalize on the global economy by using new technology efficiently.

The Crypto Winter has created market volatility for a wide range of actors, and also revealed how aspects of the old economy and the emergent economy are intertwined. Lennix Lai is head of Business Strategy and Ops at OKX. Previously, he had a background at companies such as JP Morgan, AIG and CASH Financial Services Group. When he joined OKX in 2017 his role was to reverse engineer many of the services found into traditional finance, and offer them in DeFI. Today the addressable market is far larger, but challenges remain.

Mark Aruliah is Senior Policy Adviser at Elliptic. He joined the podcast to provide a helpful 101 on the blockchain analysis industry, and the challenges and opportunities regulators are facing behind the scenes.

Dr. Rolando Zubiran is Global Head of WEB 3 & Metaverse Services for RRD, or R. R. Donnelley & Sons, an American Fortune 500 integrated communications company. Rolando refers to this as “Meta-Marketing 2.0.” As our identities merge with online worlds, he believes that the way we envisage the economics and society of the future will be made possible not simply by the technologies we deploy, but by the stories we use to comprehend and shape the world around us.

Thirty years since Lawnmower first aired, I asked Brett how the metaverse of our own time mirrors the Sci-Fi stories I grew up with as a kid. Will AI creator tools allow billions to summon their own simulated realities? How will artists imagine and construct what Brett calls “storyworlds” using technologies that are incredibly advanced, but also really human - and fallible.

Ahead of his workshops at GITEX, we caught up with Professor Xi Chen from NYU Stern for a discussion on how technologies are converging in ways that are impossible to predict.

In a way, data has become a dirty word. It doesn't necessarily need to be. A new data economy is emerging on the blockchain, in which users can provide access to and possibly derive profits from data they control. But what would these new data markets look like? What industries will be the first to adopt? Will internet browser cookies one day be a thing of the past? This week we're talking with Bruce Pon of OceanProtocol, on data as a new asset class.

Alex Bornyakov is Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on IT industry development, and head of the Diia City project. In this episode Alex provides background on Ukraine's digital transformation, which was already continuing apace before the war. As Ukraine descended into conflict and physical locations such as government offices and centralized data-centers fell under attack, things like digital citizen services and cloud-storage became even more critical.

Muhannad Ebwini has been working in online payments in the Middle East from almost the beginning. In this episode we chart the story of payments in MENA and KSA from its early origins during the .com boom, to the increasingly cashless society of today.

It had to happen: “Blogchain” - that's blog, not block-chain - is a decentralized Substack competitor seeking to combine Web3 infrastructure with good writing. Built using IPFS and NEAR, the system hopes to free writers from the problems that have bedeviled Web2 creator platforms: politicization, unfair algorithms or writing for ad revenue, and not customers. Even getting paid will hopefully be easier, with crypto wallets. Of course the debate surrounding digital publishing isn't simply technical. It's also political and ideological. Will the blockchain empower free speech, or will communities find new architecture to moderate themselves? If centralized platforms are a thing of the past, what does the future of publishing look like? Nadim Kobeissi is a former adjunct professor in computer security at NYU Paris. After completing a PHD in cryptography, Kobeissi founded Capsule Social to explore what he calls “decentralized discourse.”

Melanie is founder of the ‘Word of Mouth' protocol and a ‘collaborative event' which connects creators, founders and artists. The event is called ‘Superverse.' It recently made a notable impact in Dubai, where it succeeded in deepening an already promising relationship between the city's tech industry and creative class.

Michael Gord started talking about Bitcoin in High-School, which seems both inconceivable and opportune. From there he started FinTech clubs at McGill, Bitcoin Canada, and later the blockchain association of Canada. At one point the world's first Bitcoin Embassy in Montreal, was based ‘2 blocks away' from where he lived. Today, Gord is co-founder and CEO at Assets International, which according to the website “provides institutions with exposure to its premier Global ecosystem of cutting-edge blockchain technology companies.”

Threefold describes itself as “layer 0 infrastructure for an open source P2P Internet owned by humanity.” Rather than an Internet based on centralized web servers, expensive cloud storage facilities and geographically BI-FUCATED bifurcated access, their team are creating what they call a “new planetary network.”

Professor Latif Ladid serves as chair at the 5G World Alliance & President of the IPv6 Forum. In this episode he provides history, context and a deep technical understanding of how IPv6 will quietly change the Internet in the years to come.