Microsoft Gulf’s chief operating and marketing office Ihsan Anabtawi hailed the potential of digital transformation in hastening the region’s economic ambitions from the firm’s Hall 7 GITEX stand.
Ihsan Anabtawi, COO and CMO of Microsoft Gulf, highlighted the key areas that he believed could help organisations tackle some of humanity’s biggest issues. “Three main technologies are now key to the fourth industrial revolution: AI, mixed reality and quantum computing – which will bring unknown benefits,” he said. “Collectively, we can use these technologies to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.
“We’re now reaching the intersection of technology and industry, which makes things very interesting,” he said. “Businesses are now preparing for a future where they expect themselves to become software companies, and that is the foundation of digital transformation.”
Willing to concede that digital transformation had become an “overused term”, however, Anabtawi highlighted the four areas where he believed businesses could capitalise on modern technology. “The main objectives they have to look at are engaging customers, empowering employees, optimising internal operations and transforming the nature of their products and services – this is the North Star of the change,” he said. “They have to look at their customers’ unmet needs and sentiments while delivering the user experience to employees that they expect from their personal app usage.”
Anabtawi added that the kinds of technologies underpinning this economic shift could be used to accelerate the pace of change in the Middle East. “The UAE is now looking at shifting to renewable energy, while Dubai is striving to move in innovative ways and diversify its economy,” he said. “The UAE wants to be a country that doesn’t just consume technology, but also produces it. Digital transformation and the fourth industrial revolution can play a huge part in achieving these goals.”
