At Imagine 2026, HP said AI must make work “less faff, more flow”. 
Only 20% feel work is healthy; tech friction still drains productivity. 
HP IQ and NearSense promise connected devices and smoother hybrid collaboration. 
New AI PCs, secure printers and Z workstations target performance and quantum‑ready protection. 
HP claims productivity gains, but lasting impact depends on cutting real‑world complexity.

MENA startup funding hit a record $7,5 billion in 2025. 
Total value jumped 225%, with debt making up $4 billion. 
Saudi Arabia and the UAE led, raising $5 billion and $2 billion. 
Early-stage deals stayed strong, signalling a healthy pipeline. 
Fintech dominated with 58% of funding, raising balance concerns.

Travel brands are doing everything “right”, yet direct bookings remain stubbornly low. 
Discovery now happens on AI tools and social, not just Google or OTAs. 
Many hotels are effectively invisible before travellers even reach a booking page. 
TypeHero structures content around real traveller intent across search and AI. 
The goal is steady visibility and fewer bookings controlled by OTAs.
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ALTÉRRA has taken a strategic stake in UK connectivity firm Wireless Logic. 
The bet centres on IoT to cut waste and lower emissions. 
Its platform links devices, from EV chargers to farm and factory sensors. 
Real-time data helps fleets, grids and farms run more efficiently. 
Investors see secure connectivity as essential climate infrastructure, not flashy innovation.

Sheikh Hamad backed Germany’s Neura Robotics via Prime Capital SA. 
A €1 billion round, led by Tether, valued it near €4 billion. 
Neura builds “cognitive robotics” that adapt, learn and work with humans. 
Clients include Kawasaki and Omron, with nearly $1 billion in orders. 
Middle Eastern capital is flowing into advanced European AI-driven systems.

Blackstone will invest $250 million in UAE fintech ADGT. 
ADGT offers “unified payment” and compliance tools for digital and gaming commerce. 
The firm unites global capital and regional partners to scale locally and abroad. 
Blackstone sees “significant opportunities” in the UAE despite near-term challenges. 
The deal signals serious, long-term commitment to MENA’s digital economy.

zypl.ai raises $5,5 million in bridge funding, lifting valuation to $80 million. 
Carbide Ventures led the round, praising “team, product, and growth”. 
Its zGAN synthetic data model helps banks navigate “economic turbulence”. 
More than 60 financial institutions use its tools across 20 markets. 
The no-code Lucid platform simplifies AI deployment within complex banking systems.

Starting an online store feels “unnecessarily complicated”, with too many fragmented steps.
Genstore AI “builds the store for you”, generating structure, listings and design.
Built-in dropshipping, marketing and multi-channel selling reduce early risk and friction.
It favours speed over control, suiting beginners, creators and quick product tests.
Not endlessly flexible, but it gets shops “live” faster than most alternatives.

Search hasn’t vanished, but AI now acts as “the interface” and decision shortcut.
Brands not inside the answer are “not even in the conversation.
” Traditional SEO falls short; AI favours clear, structured, citable content.
Answer Engine Optimisation shifts focus from ranking to being included.
Early adopters report stronger leads and steady AI-driven growth.

LEAP will move to 31 August–3 September amid regional conflict disruptions. 
Organisers want “strong international attendance” and a full roster of speakers. 
Since 2022, it has driven over $42bn in investment commitments. 
Recent deals include AI cloud and robotics manufacturing partnerships worth billions. 
Other major events have shifted, showing the region’s need for agility.

Modern travellers want context and meaning, without rigid group tours. 
Herodot AI turns your phone into a guide using photo recognition. 
It generates personalised audio in 20+ languages, adapting tone and depth. 
Map tours and offline downloads offer structure without sacrificing freedom. 
An affordable alternative, it reduces friction when curiosity strikes.

Teams feel stuck as work bounces between apps, relying on “copy‑paste and human memory. 
” SaaS sprawl grows, with firms running dozens or even hundreds of tools. 
Traditional automation brings “drag‑and‑drop fatigue”, developer bottlenecks, and unpredictable task pricing. Assista promises: “Type a sentence. 
Real actions happen” across 600+ integrations. It targets team-wide adoption with natural language workflows and enterprise-grade security claims.

Clients say “AI” but expect automation, revenue gains, not just a chatbot. 
Agencies face soaring demand but aren’t built to ship real software. 
White-label AI agent platforms let them resell automation under their brand. 
‘Chatbot = replies; AI agent = replies + action’ sums it up. 
Success comes from packaged outcomes, tiers, and measurable ROI, not hype.

AI use is widespread, yet teams feel it is “fragmented” and stuck in individual silos. 
Traditional tools drive duplicated work, rising costs, lost context, and risky data handling. 
Chaturji offers a “collaborative AI workspace” with shared Rooms and multiple models. 
Knowledge compounds as chats become reusable documents, not disposable conversations. 
Shared pricing, privacy controls, and team context make AI “work the way teams work”.

Meetings feel busy, but notes scatter and decisions “quietly fade” after conversations end. 
In India, constant language switching breaks generic AI tools built for “clean English”. 
MeetMinutes adapts to real work, handling mixed languages without losing nuance or intent. 
It treats “compliance as the foundation”, aligning with India’s DPDP data rules. 
The tool turns meetings into clear decisions, owners, and searchable institutional memory.

Arageek Joins Ai Everything as an official Media Partner. 
Cairo will host Ai Everything MEA Egypt 2026, the year’s first all‑AI expo and summit. 
Egypt pitches itself as a “bridge” for Arabic‑first AI, backed by strong government readiness rankings. 
More than 350 companies, including Microsoft and regional startups, will showcase practical AI products. 
Founders, banks and policymakers will debate “sovereign AI”, funding, and long‑term execution beyond pilots.

RiseUp Summit returns to Cairo from 5–7 February 2026, set beside the striking Grand Egyptian Museum. 
Launched in 2013, it has grown into a global meeting point beyond regional borders. 
Organisers expect over 100,000 attendees from 50+ countries and 120 cities. 
The agenda blends AI, business, creativity and capital, plus mentoring and satellite events. 
Hosting at the GEM signals Cairo’s ambitions as a serious global entrepreneurship hub.

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Full-stack building remains “slow, fragmented, and unforgiving” despite better frameworks and abundant AI tools. 
Websparks targets setup pain, acting as an “AI Full-Stack Engineer” from prompt to production. 
One prompt generates frontend, backend, integrations, and deployment-ready infrastructure. 
Unlike no-code tools, it keeps “real, editable code” and modern frameworks. 
The aim is simple: collapse the gap between idea and shipping.

MENA fintech success hinges on “everyday financial behaviour”, not funding headlines or shiny technology. 
Leading firms show “restraint”, working with banks, regulators, and employers to earn trust. 
Products succeed when they fit cash habits, faith considerations, and informal economies. 
Much impact is invisible infrastructure, quietly powering payments, credit, and savings. 
The region adapts global playbooks to local life, rather than copying them wholesale.

Biotech progress in MENA is “incremental” and driven by regulation, local needs, and fragile supply chains. 
The region favours “specificity over scale”, from Saudi genomics to UAE biosimilars and agri‑biotech. 
Startups focus on infrastructure, trust-building, and adapting global science to local realities. 
Across Saudi, UAE, Egypt, and Jordan, biotech grows “quietly and contextually”, not through hype.

MENA logistics thrives by “absorbing local complexity” rather than owning trucks or warehouses. 
Startups shift from assets to orchestration, making chaos “legible” through data and visibility. 
SMEs drive demand for flexible models that reflect missed calls, COD, and patchy addressing. 
Saudi and UAE firms show discipline over disruption, improving predictability without heavy capex. 
Across Egypt and Jordan, trust-building and localisation matter more than speed or scale.

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Mohammed Kamal

Mohammed Kamal, Author at Arageek

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Arageek: MENA&#039;s Tech Pulse — Web3, AI &amp; Startups

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