Episodes
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Anthony Thomson is an understated Brit with a notable record: he founded two of the UK’s best known “challenger banks”, namely Atom and Metro. He holds advisory roles with ASX listed Humm Group, ila Bank and Wio Bank, right here in the UAE.
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As the UAE Tech Podcast has progressed we’ve become more and more interested in gaming. There’s been a load of reasons for this. The advent of the Metaverse, and the idea 3D technologies will drive the next iteration of the Internet. Hardware, from haptic suits to ridiculously expensive VR kits. Blockchain based gaming and NFT markets. It just seems like a lot of the high-level themes we’re discussing are converging in this space.
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Hannes Sjöblad goes by the “nom de guerre” Hannes ‘Sapiens’: a reference, of course, to humankind, or perhaps the famous book by Yuval Noah Harari. The subject of our collective humanity has come into focus recently. As the capability of AI has filtered into mainstream consciousness, the debate on our relationship to machines is no longer hypothetical.
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Isabella Williamson is Associate Director at Consulum. She is examining how governments in the GCC and around the world are positioning themselves in what might be the future of the digital economy. From Seoul to Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Norway, this episode provides up-to-date case studies and hints at a broader question: is government itself profoundly transforming?
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From October 2020 to very recently Aisha Sheikh has worked as an Experience Lead and UX Architect for Magnopus, where she led the design team for the Expo2020 Dubai Xplorer App. Some of our listeners have probably used the app: it allowed anyone with an internet connection to experience Expo through the eyes of a robot or avatar, engaging in treasure hunts, puzzles and augmented reality.
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Alex Shevchenko, the CEO and Co-Founder of Aurora, doesn’t fit nearly into either of these camps. He believes blockchain developers urgently need to learn from and assimilate with the best of Web2, particularly when it comes to consumer acquisition and UX.
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This week we’re talking to Marta, on her journey from a Mom working in retail in Ireland, to falling down the rabbit hole that is crypto trading… and learning to love it. Please note that none of this is financial advice. Always remember to do your own research.
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According to Sabrina, Paris was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to begin regulating this space. More recently the European Law on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) was approved in April, replicating and perhaps in some cases improving on the French Law in some areas.
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Karl Tlais is the CEO and co-founder of Iadvisory, a Dubai Future Fellow, and a strategic advisor in the Digital Economy in the UAE. Back in the heady days of early 2021, Karl held a notable discussion on Artificial intelligence at the Capital Club. Shortly after, John Lillywhite worked with Karl to combine three emerging aspects of the UAE digital economy into a single white paper: AI, Virtual Assets and Massive-Multiplayer Online Worlds.
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Scott Page talks so fluently on NFTs and emerging Web3 infrastructure, that it’s almost easy to forget his previous incarnations as a saxophone and rhythm guitarist for Pink Flloyd, Supertramp and Toto.
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This is an unusual episode at the intersection of tech and human aspiration. What if instead of registering, cataloging and surveilling human beings, technology could be repurposed to helping them start their lives anew?
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The quick pitch for Metapolis is “shopify in the Metaverse.” Co-founder and chief commercial officer Sandra Helou has dubbed it MaaS, or “Metaverse as a service platform.” Behind the clear business use-case of an interoperable and accessible sales and events platform, are some astute insights into how the digital economy will emerge over the coming decade.
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According to Oliver Studd, during the height of the financial crisis in Germany, it was the locally owned community banks that didn’t need a bailout. For Oliver and his team at Valhalla Network, we will always need banks and access to banking services. This isn’t to argue that either, in their current state, are fit for service: this episode begins with a blistering introduction into how a modern bank actually works.
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Saba Homami is CEO and Co-Founder of PROES, a French deep tech company based out of Grenoble which is producing a new generation of Radio Frequency technologies. With an MSc in Physics alongside her business partner Jules, the company recently won a national award in France and at CES Las Vegas.
RF technologies underly many of the innovations in 5G, IOT and Cybersecurity that we’ve discussed on the UAE Tech Podcast in the past. How do these devices talk to each other? What are the challenges with communicating to a device underground, a drone in the sky, or devices in forests trying to avoid the breakout of a forest fire?
This problem is known in French as “Zone Blanche”, or in English as a “Black Spot”; areas with little or no communications and radio infrastructure. Can a French startup help innovate across the communication stack, and why is the UAE such a promising market? -
Leo Dovbenko is CEO and Co-Founder of YallaMarket and YallaHub, an aggregator providing ecommerce fulfillment and warehousing services. What’s interesting about Leo is that he began his journey training as a software engineer, but found his real passion working in bars and swish restaurants as a student at Uni. Pretty soon he was working with big brands, and managing larger locations.
As so often on the UAE Tech Podcast, this is a story of taking a slightly different path. By combining experience in the F&B industry with software design, development and a clear enjoyment of business strategy, Leo found himself riding the coattails of a booming food-tech industry.
Tune in for a discussion on 15 minute delivery, the VC industry, the importance of data, and why quick commerce will be an increasing percentage of revenue for the high-street store going forwards. -
Legends of Bezogia is an Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORG) combining tokenomics, NFTs and competitive ranked gaming with the blockchain. That means players can invest in a Bezoge avatar, mint magic blocks, sell in-game items and become part of the Bezogia community.
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The UAE has long invested in cybersecurity, hosting globally significant conferences and attracting talent in this space for at least the past decade. At the same time, the field of cybersecurity is shifting as the sophistication of the digital economy matures. Satista estimated that the digital economy will grow to $53 trillion US dollars next year, up from 13.5 trillion in 2018.
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As the global economy faces a period of sustained economic uncertainty, we talked about Cashew’s early mission, the importance of forming partnerships with banks and larger institutions and why expanding into markets such as KSA or Oman, makes the UAE an increasingly attractive destination.
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‘Yap’ means ‘Pay’ backwards. It’s a neobank established in the UAE, working on a move to KSA, and offering a range of services for B2B and B2C clients. The company markets itself as a financial technology - not a bank.
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The idea is called “cCommerce”, or “collaborative commerce.” According to Investopedia, it means “the optimization of supply and distribution channels to capitalize on the global economy by using new technology efficiently.
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