Innovation, Investment and AI: Talon MENA’s Takeaways from the first Doha Web Summit 

Talon MENA’s Head of Marketing Rezarta Bytyci attended The Web Summit in Doha, below she shares her key takeaways from the event 

The Web Summit is the world’s largest technology conference, inaugurating its first Doha edition a few weeks ago. It signals a significant prioritization of the further development of digitalization, AI, and Start-Ups in the MENA region, involving several industries in the public and private sectors and the overall evolution of the market.   

The event hosted over 15,000 with attendees from 118 countries and Talon MENA was part of it. We attended a selection of great talks and panels, starting with the opening night whereby His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the State of Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs addressed the Centre Stage audience on Opening Night and announced a substantial USD 1 Billion investment fund for start-ups in Qatar inviting entrepreneurs from the region and worldwide to the country.  

Among the 148 partners exhibiting on the event floor, we connected with our industry friends at Amazon, Snapchat, Invest Qatar, Qatar Airways, and more. 

AI and Digital Policy 

AI was one of the main topics covered throughout the summit, with several panel discussions that repeatedly highlighted the importance of AI being a tool for improvement rather than replacement. Many marketers already find AI helpful as a tool for various processes, and it is imperative to include it in our lives correctly and cautiously. We attended an exciting panel on AI and digital policies in the region where they discussed that incorporating digital policies will have to be built upon culture, history and language. We couldn’t agree more with our experience of how the MENA region differentiates from other markets. 

Transparency and accountability in the development of AI are key. As Basma Ammari, Director of Public Policy at META (MENA), stated, “transparency builds trust and gives people the level of control of what they see in technology.”  

Lars Gehrmann, Chief Digital Officer at Qatar Insurance Group, was confident that “AI is here to stay” and that it solves our current problem of overworking employees. He highlights that employees are being paid to think, so they are essential to using AI. 

The Websummit had a dedicated stage, the Panda Conference, for marketing panels on the ever-evolving topic of customer data and consumer habits in MENA. 

The panel discussion about “The consumer landscape of the Middle East” with the panellists Mai Salama from Creative Industry Summit, Abeer Alessa from The Bold Group, KSA and ANNA Germanos from META laid out a good understanding of consumer behaviour in the region. Smartphone penetration in the Middle East is at 90%. However, the online experience does not take away from any physical activities; in fact, there is a “fluid experience between offline and online for consumers whereby data helps customizing content and creating immersive experiences and leading to user-generated content, too”, as Abeer explained. Abeer also encouraged the industry to invest in AI to stay ahead. 

The revolution of AI was a consistent topic throughout the summit, whereby several industry experts mentioned its role and what it means for marketing. Concerns such as; will AI be dangerous while we rely too much on it? How can it be regulated? Can it replace human beings? 

AI will create many jobs that don’t exist yet… “it reminds me of WPP 20 years ago when we didn’t have social media managers, influencer managers, e-commerce writers or programmatic managers, … there will be different types of jobs and different types of people to manage the AI technology.” 

At Talon MENA, we are excited to see the region move towards developing data technology in the advertising space. We are interested in customizing ads and content for which many new tools are being developed. Developing infrastructure and a visionary road to digitalization of the region sounds very promising; we ensure we are a continuous part of these developments in the region and emphasize the consistent growth of OOH to keep in line with global standards.