Hatem Dowidar, Group Chief Executive Officer of e&, envisions the Middle East as a rising powerhouse in the global tech landscape.

With his forward-thinking leadership, strategic investments, and burgeoning innovation ecosystem, Dowidar believes the region possesses all the essential ingredients to cement its place on the world stage.

In an exclusive conversation with BTR, Dowidar shares his insights on the vital role of collaboration, the opportunities driven by digital transformation, and what it will take to fully unlock its tech potential both regionally and globally.

Excerpts from the interview:

What factors are enabling the Middle East to shift from being a consumer of global tech platforms to becoming an exporter of them?

When I moved to the UAE 10 years ago, the region was best known for oil, the tallest building in the world, and airlines that made the rest of the aviation world stop, stare, and scramble to catch up. Now, we're telling a different story, one where countries in this region are carving out their place as global leaders in innovation and digital economies. And right now, the conditions are ideal for a transformation that's not reserved for domestic impact alone, but one that genuinely enables us to build things that matter.

It also helps that we're designing for scale and variety from day one: a region of well over 500 million people across dozens of cultures and languages. That diversity makes the Middle East a natural“test bed” for products that must work across multiple price points, regulations, and user behaviours, which is exactly what you need before exporting to the world.

Taking a step back, the past few years taught me one thing above all else: resilience comes from foresight. Covid-19 was a wake-up call for the world. It stress-tested everything – economies, infrastructure, and people. And yet, in the middle of chaos, we saw how quickly we could adapt. Entire economies stayed afloat because connectivity stepped in as the lifeline, enabling remote work, virtual classrooms, digital healthcare, and e-commerce almost overnight. Telecom and its network has always provided that platform with decades of investment putting distribution, identity, and trust in place, so operators like e& UAE can give innovators fast, lower-cost reach into homes and enterprises.

This didn't happen by chance. It was years of investment in robust networks, digital infrastructure, and the resilience of the people who kept it all running. The same still holds true now. Any digital economy starts with fast, reliable connectivity which we have in abundance. Our region is home to world-class digital infrastructure, with high-speed fibre-to-the-home, 5G networks, and state-of-the-art data centres giving us the tools we need to turn ideas into real, spreadable innovation.

Adding to infrastructure, what really makes the Middle East unique is the ambition of our leaders and their active role in shaping national priorities.

We also have a young, dynamic population that is eager to learn and adapt. Look at the way AI is already being incorporated into school curriculums here; these are the seeds we're planting for long-term growth.

Our economic frameworks support this ambition, too. Investor-friendly policies, free zones, and visa regulations that prioritise ease of doing business have allowed startups and big ideas to scale quickly. And with the region's air connectivity linking hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh to anywhere, it's easier than ever to export not just ideas but influence and solutions to the world.

How is e& helping lead the mindset shift from importing innovation to building and scaling it globally?

Startups thrive on speed and risk. They move fast because their survival depends on it. Big corporations, on the other hand, often get stuck in their own weight – their scale slows them down, stifling their ability to adapt. At e&, we refused to let size become our limitation. Instead, we've turned it into an advantage by creating verticals that work with a startup mindset – fast, agile, and bold enough to take calculated risks. Crucially, we don't just partner with innovators; we build new tech companies, and we invest in them.

On the build side, e& money began as an early-stage fintech and is now scaling, bringing innovations like digitising wage disbursement for domestic workers across the UAE in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) and the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE).

On the invest side, through our investment arm e& capital and strategic stakes, we back founders and platforms and then help them scale with our distribution, network, payments, and compliance rails.

Through e& capital we have empowered and invested in the next wave of disruptors like Fuze, which is fast becoming a cornerstone of the Middle East's regulated digital asset ecosystem after processing more than $2 billion in digital assets.

Or Nawy in Egypt, which closed one of Africa's largest-ever proptech rounds to scale its mortgage services; and AppliedAI in Abu Dhabi, which is developing enterprise-grade AI models for regulated industries like finance, healthcare, and government. Alongside portfolio companies like Traydstream, where we just participated in their $11 million interim fundraise, these investments show how we're betting on innovation that can scale far beyond its home market.

What are the key ingredients for creating a tech platform in the region that can compete on a global scale?

When you look at the technology champions of the world, they all manage to strike the right balance between thinking globally and staying deeply connected to their home markets. In this region we are fortunate that governments are creating the right conditions with large-scale digital adoption, supportive regulation, and major investments in infrastructure. This gives us a home ground advantage that's big enough to test, refine, and prove solutions before exporting them.

But it's still very hard to build a global competitor alone. The best work happens when startups, corporates, governments, and investors work together. And this means working with competitors to open new opportunities while at the same time creating a quicker route to market.

What does this look like in practice? This year, we teamed up with AWS and the UAE's Cyber Security Council to launch the UAE Sovereign Launchpad, a platform that keeps sensitive data onshore while fast-tracking AI adoption to strengthen the UAE's position in digital infrastructure. We're also collaborating with the UAE Cybersecurity Technology Innovation Bureau to create homegrown cybersecurity solutions. Together, these initiatives are part of our alliance with AWS, projected to contribute an estimated $181 billion to the UAE's digital economy by 2033.

I've also learned that talent and culture are everything. You can have the best technology in the world, but if you don't bring in the right people, root for them, and create an environment where innovation thrives, you won't be able to sustain it. For me, that means upskilling our people and ensuring that homegrown young talents see a future in building world-class tech companies from this region. This is why we invest a lot in our people through our Emiratisation initiatives, the AI Graduate Programme as well as the AI Academy. Remember, our markets are young, bold, and born digital. If you can succeed here - navigating language and cultural diversity - you're proving you can take on the world.

No matter what we're doing, there's a sense of purpose. Our region has unique challenges and opportunities, and the technology we build must address real needs whether that's citizen services, sustainability and inclusion, or economic diversification. When you anchor innovation in purpose, it travels much further, because those solutions tend to resonate globally.

Careem was a milestone. What lessons can be drawn from such success stories and how is e& applying them across its own ecosystem?

Acquisitions are a powerful catalyst for growth, but the transaction is just the beginning; the real work and growth starts with how you bring it into the fold. Since we invested in Careem, per-user GTV is up 74% year on year. In the first half of 2025, Careem+ members drove over 55% of total GTV which shows that people are using it more often and for more things. We've also kept adding new services and benefits through Careem+ to keep that value growing.

Smiles has transformed from a simple loyalty programme into a feature-rich app. It now serves more than 5.5 million registered users, and we're opening it further to partners via Tencent Cloud's“mini apps,” making it faster for brands to plug in and for customers to access more services and rewards in one place. We're also scaling value with offers like Amazon Prime redemptions directly inside Smiles, deepening engagement and cross-sell.

The key is ensuring acquisitions are stepping stones to synergy, driving innovation and efficiency. At e&, we've learned from executing these strategies firsthand, applying them across our ecosystem to unlock value, enhance user experiences, and scale opportunities exponentially.

How are innovation hubs, investor networks, and policy environments evolving to support this new wave of platform building?

What's exciting today is that the whole ecosystem is maturing at once. Ten years ago, you didn't have the same density of innovation hubs, investor networks, and supportive policy frameworks that you see across the Middle East now. Today, those pieces are coming together in a way that gives entrepreneurs and corporates alike the muscle to build not just startups, but scalable platforms.

From my perspective, the innovation hubs have come into their own as well. They used to be known as co-working spaces, but now they're places where new technologies are being tested with real partners and real customers. Governments have also stepped in with the right policy environments, whether through sandbox regulations, national AI strategies, or digital economy roadmaps, creating an enabling backdrop for growth.

Investor networks, too, are becoming more collaborative. At e&, we've seen the value of this firsthand. e& capital recently joined the Middle East Venture Capital Association (MEVCA). For us, it's about working together with others in the ecosystem, staying close to our operating companies, and focusing on creating lasting value. It reflects a wider consensus that no single player can build the next global platform alone - you need a community that shares knowledge, spreads risk and accelerates growth.

You've spoken about ambition, relevance, and resilience how do these values shape e&'s vision for the next generation of global platforms?

The real question is whether the platforms we're creating break down barriers or build them up. Because if the digital world isn't becoming more inclusive, then all the innovation in the world doesn't count for much.

The next generation of platforms won't be judged only by their sophistication, but by who gets to participate in them. That's why we launched Wider Web, which makes the internet more accessible for people with cognitive, visual, and learning differences, and GoLearning, which democratises online learning.

You see the same spirit in our AI Graduate Programme, where 62% of new graduate hires have been women. From our side, that's ensuring the people shaping tomorrow's platforms reflect the diversity of the societies they serve. And when we partner with AWS to bring cloud and AI capabilities to SMBs, it's the same philosophy at work: giving smaller players the tools that once belonged only to the largest enterprises.

So, when I think about ambition, it's about being the most useful. Resilience is about surviving market cycles and making sure entire communities, not just a privileged few, can thrive in the digital economy. That's the lens through which we approach everything, from how we invest to how we innovate.

What's your strategic goals, vision and plan for 2026?

2026 is all about scaling the platform opportunity and building on the foundations we've already built. That compounding potential excites me; taking what we've started and expanding it to unlock even greater impact.

e& money, for example, has evolved into a full-fledged fintech platform offering IBAN accounts and instant, accessible financial tools. This is just the start. The goal is to keep pushing boundaries in this space, introducing more savings and investment options, lending solutions, and tools that empower financial inclusion at scale.

At the same time, we're doubling down on the infrastructure layer which is the backbone that supports these platforms.

From 5G to Artificial Intelligence, cloud, and beyond, we're building the systems that others can innovate on. Whether it's entertainment, fintech, AI-powered tools, or cloud ecosystems, our role is to enable growth for countries, industries, and businesses so that it's socially and economically useful for people.

At the core of everything we do is one simple benchmark: Are we driving meaningful, sustainable growth? For me, that's the measure of success. Whether these platforms and technologies are creating opportunities, removing barriers, and delivering tangible value to the communities, economies, and industries we serve. That's the vision for 2026 and beyond. Growth that's sustainable, inclusive, and built for the future.

Hatem Dowaidar – Man with a Vision

Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO, e&, sheds light on the growing ambition of the Middle East to move beyond being a consumer of global technology platforms and become a serious exporter of them.

During an interview with BTR, Dowidar examines what it takes to build a platform in the region that is designed to scale globally, not just regionally. He spotlights the mindset shift underway, where
local founders, investors, and ecosystems are no longer content with importing innovation they want to own it, grow it, and export it. Through compelling examples like Careem and other emerging success stories, the e& Group CEO examines the key factors driving this transformation - ambition, relevance, and resilience. The industry veteran elaborates how innovation hubs, investor networks, government policies, and talent pools are aligning to create a viable springboard for globally competitive platforms.

MENAFN13102025000049011007ID1110190611