“Our aim is to not only expand our business in the UAE, but across the Middle East” – Syed Yusuf, Shiva Group

Syed Yusuf Maricar, General Manager of Shiva Group of Companies, sat down with CNME Editor Mark Forker during GITEX 2024, to explain how the company is seeking to expand its business footprint across the UAE and beyond, and highlighted the importance of its distribution agreement with Hikvision and Ezviz.

Shiva Group have been operating in the reseller and distribution space across the UAE for the last 20 years.

Since its inception in 2024, it has established itself as one of the most prominent distributors in the country, buoyed by its agreements with Hikvision and Ezviz.

In a candid interview with CNME and tahawultech.com Editor Mark Forker during GITEX 2024, Syed Yusuf Maricar said a huge turning point for the company was inking its distribution deal with Chinese video surveillance leader Hikvision.

“We started out in 2004, with a team of two people, and we were operating out of a small office in Bur Dubai. We’ve been on this journey for 20 years, but after a couple of years, we had signed partnership agreements with most of the leading network vendors across the UAE. I’d say a huge turning point for us as a company was when we became a distributor for Hikvision. There a huge global company, and that propelled us into a different sphere across the reseller and distribution space,” said Maricar.

Maricar explained its business model, and paid tribute to its team of employees, and said the company was ambitious and was keen to expand beyond the UAE.

“Shiva Group has a very broad portfolio, we have an export division, a distributor division, a retail division, and a projects division. We have about 135 employees that serves across all those business units, and a key ingredient in our success is our people. Our aim is to expand our business, not only in the UAE, but across the entire Middle East region,” said Maricar.

GITEX 2024 represented the first time Shiva Group exhibited at the conference, which he claimed had become global.

He outlined the impact AI is having across all key industry verticals.

“This is the first time that we have attended GITEX as an exhibitor, and truly is a fantastic unique conference, it is no longer a regional event, it has gone global. GITEX has the ability to connect investors and start-ups with all the major technology players on a global scale. The theme of GITEX is undeniably AI, and at this year’s event, we are showcasing and demonstrating new products that are infused with AI technology. Every business, regardless of their industry vertical wants to use AI, but at the end of the day, AI is all about outcomes. We are a distributor for Ezviz, and they have an incredible Wi-Fi home-based automation solution that is transforming the smart home space. There is huge demand across the board, and developers are coming to us and looking at other areas in which we can automate products and leverage the capabilities of AI,” said Maricar.

Maricar then focused on the partnerships it has nurtured, cultivated and grown with some key technology solution providers, and how AI simply represents the future.

“We have positioned ourselves as a master distributor across the UAE, and our partnerships with Hikvision, Ezviz, D-Link and Cisco have made us a hugely respected brand. We have an 80% market share for Ezviz in this region. Hikvision is a $12bn company, and are a global leader in security and surveillance, and we play a key role in terms of driving their growth across the UAE. We are a distributor that is specialised for networking, and we are in the business of connecting people. We have a set of partners in the UAE, who drive our business, and we have plans to expand into the projects business, because ultimately without networking products then you can’t execute anything that you want to do. AI and Machine Learning is the future, if you’re not using it already, you will be eventually, there is no doubt about it, that’s just the reality, and AI is the future,” said Maricar.

The General Manager of Shiva Group concluded a brilliant interview by highlighting the burgeoning growth in the smart home space, and how they are well placed to capitalise on new opportunities that will inevitably emerge.

“The current market size of the smart home vertical is $8bn, but that is projected to grow to $20bn by 2029, so the opportunities in this space is absolutely huge. Governments across the region believe it will become a trillion-dollar marketplace, and we are in a great position to continue to grow and solidify our position as one of the leading, innovative and transformative distributors in the UAE,” said Maricar.