When your Halla Shawarma order flashes“ready in 12 minutes,” a silent chain of software has already gone to work: checking stock, queueing the kitchen, confirming your payment, lining up a driver, and plotting the fastest route to your door - all before you've locked your phone.

That's the quiet truth of business in 2025: whether you sell food or forklifts, technology now shapes every step between you and your customer.

This doesn't mean every business must become a Silicon Valley startup. But it does mean that technology has moved from the back office to the core of business strategy - defining your product, your price, your promise, and ultimately, your reputation.

In the last few months alone, the UAE President met with OpenAI's CEO to deepen national AI leadership. Abu Dhabi's G42 is building what could become one of the world's largest non-Western AI data centers. And the UAE tech services market is forecast to grow by $3.8 billion in 2025.

These headlines aren't just about tech - they're about the future of competitiveness.

Whether you're in logistics, construction, hospitality or healthcare, customers today compare you to the best app on their phone. They expect one-tap onboarding, real-time updates, and seamless service. If your process is slow or unclear, they don't complain - they leave.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, every operation - from forecasting and inventory to scheduling and service - is now guided by data and software. Companies that ignore this shift risk falling behind on both speed and margins.

At Galadari, where I serve as CIO, we've embraced this shift by focusing on three core areas: how we work, how we invest, and how we protect customer trust.

1. How we work: Every team is part of the tech stack

To deliver great digital experiences, technology must shape the work itself - connecting employees, partners, customers, and OEMs in a single ecosystem. That has meant:

• Designing around real customer journeys: Before launching our mobile ordering app, we mapped the entire flow end-to-end, removing friction and reducing steps so users could sign up and check out in seconds.

• Standardising partner integration: We digitised home delivery with scalable APIs, so new stores or logistics partners plug in quickly and cleanly - with real-time order flow and automatic settlements.

• Collaborating with manufacturers: Using IoT sensors on heavy equipment, we stream usage and health data back to us and the OEM. The result? Better maintenance planning, less downtime.

• Equipping employees with AI tools: Generative AI agents now handle simple queries and auto-log IT tickets, freeing up our teams to solve more complex issues - faster.

2. How we invest: Business value first, not buzzwords

We've learned that buying more tools isn't the answer. Every investment must link to a clear customer or P&L outcome.

That's why we ask: What business result will this improve? How will we measure it? If the answers are vague, we pause - no matter how shiny the tool looks.

Our tech strategy prioritises:

• A unified customer data platform - one clean record per customer, with clear consent

• A real-time customer engagement engine for timely, useful communication

• Cloud-native architecture to scale up or down based on real demand

• API-first systems that allow for plug-and-play changes without rework

• Low-code platforms for building internal tools quickly and cost-effectively

The result: faster time to market, lower operating costs, and more effective campaigns.

3. How we protect customers: Trust is now a feature

Going digital widens your attack surface. That's why trust must be built into the architecture - not added later.

We've adopted a zero-trust security model, which includes:

• Strong identity controls

• Least-privilege access

• Encryption by default

We also design for consent and transparency. Every data touchpoint includes clear opt-ins, audit trails, and fast fixes when things go wrong.

Most security wins stay invisible. A single failure doesn't.

AI is a powerful accelerator - but only when your data is clean and your processes make sense.

If you automate broken systems, you get automated chaos.

We've seen the best results by:

• Starting with narrow, high-impact use cases

• Running quick pilots with clear metrics

• Demanding transparency from AI vendors (data lineage, model explainability, and real ROI)

Used wisely, AI can personalise offers, speed up service, and detect risks early. But it's not magic - it's leverage.

In 2025, technology is no longer a department - it's how business gets done.

To stay competitive in the UAE and beyond:

• Put the customer at the center and let business value drive your tech decisions

• Invest in foundations - data, APIs, identity, security

• Ship small, frequent improvements, learn from the results, and repeat

• Treat trust, speed, and relevance as the new currency

Whether you sell shawarma or skyscrapers, thinking like a tech company is no longer optional. It's how you stay ahead

MENAFN09102025000049011007ID1110175030