Gitex Global & Expanding North Star Takeaways

Personally, Gitex Global has been a multiple debut: my first time exhibiting, my first time at such a big gig, and my first time in Dubai. It is one of the biggest tech events worldwide, seated in a regional power hub, which connects engineers, suppliers and decision-makers all around the world.?

Intro

Have you ever been to Vegas? Dubai is an engineering stronghold that has landed in the middle of the desert on the Persian Gulf Shore. Emirates independence was restored upon a compromise between a few distinguished families left behind by British protectors in 1971. According to one of the local writers, the country “was still in the 18th Century” when the first oil fields were founded, and the current head of government, Sheikh Mohammed, was born in a house without electricity.?

However, unlike many former colonies, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) found its path to growth, not getting spoiled with black gold (here’s to you, Venezuela!), reinvesting income coming from barrels into tourism, infrastructure, and financial services, becoming a Middle East beacon, a sort of hybrid between One Thousand and One Nights tales and modern capitalist hub.?

The event

First, Gitex is huge. It is organized for nearly 200k visitors, who block all drive routes and absorb all air conditioning capacity delivered in five days by Dubai World Trade Center. For now, the World Trade Center is a major exhibition area based in the strict Dubai downtown. It is worth mentioning that the event is about to move in 2026 to Expo City Dubai, which has much more space to expand in the Northwestern suburbs.?

There is enough exposition for big players like Huawei or Siemens, as well as local SMBies and government institutions. The UAE government takes a lot of care in exposing its abilities - mobile and desktop apps for uniformed forces, AI solutions for customs, or even… Cybertrucks for local Police Force. In many ways, Emirates are becoming, or at least aim to become a tech benchmark for other countries, automating, AI-ing (is there such a verb?), robotizing any possible aspect.?

What are the hottest topics at Gitex Global? For sure, it's smart cities, logistics, renewables, and manufacturing. Emirates seem aware that they are running out of oil and are preparing themselves for a smooth landing in the upcoming decades.?

In terms of Gitex Global, here are a few quick thoughts:

• service - outstanding; you may expect assistance and help almost everywhere from an army of people working there
• signage - sometimes it is hard to gain orientation, but it's not that bad
• food and amenities - expensive and rather not accessible, but that’s, I am afraid, a global standard these days
• General logistics - good, given the fact that many people were here
• Last, but not least - matchmaking app. Unfortunately, as a tech event, Gitex Global organizers really should think about coming up with something more usable. Frequent crashes, primitive filtering, and daily updates didn’t help in this crowded environment, where you had to walk literally kilometers to meet your leads. The app’s weaknesses have been exposed even more during episodes where Wi-Fi (generally good in the main area) slowed down a bit.?

Gitex Global organizers also remembered startups, creating for them a nice space near Dubai Marina, where Expanding North Star took place. Small desks, compact booths, and much better food trucks than at the main event provided a perfect environment to walk through rather early stages.

• Great kudos for pointing out the exhibitions' stages of development (pre-seed, Series A, etc.).
• Great disgrace when it comes to Wi-Fi - broken leg Camel speed at such an event simply doesn't look good.???

Dubai: business landscape

One term to describe Dubai? Scalable architecture - even the roads are built usually 6-path each, to secure increasing traffic over the next years. The UAE government displays a lot of continuity and long-term planning when it comes to investment in infrastructure.?

Logistics in UAE are crucial - the mainland country is a desert and rather an importer than an exporter of goods. Dubai harbor as well as airports, are key players in global supply chain ecosystems. Focus on renewables may partially correspond with the general huge consumption of energy - related to weather conditions (AC everywhere, I mean everywhere), and high exposure to the sun, which makes PV more effective than in Central Europe.?

I may be biased as an Expo City Dubai supplier, but I admit it: this is a blueprint of how cities may look in the future. The 15-minute city is a concept that is missing in the Dubai landscape, and combined with a business center and plenty of amenities, it creates high-tech flourishing environments, which is a benchmark in the smart city world.?

There is high volume of investment in smart city, real estate, infrastructure, and all sort of security-related activities (military, customs, cyber security - you name it!). If you(r company) is an expert in some of the subjects above, you may expect business yet to come.?

(Central European) hitchhiker’s guide to the Middle East

Compared to Europe, doing business in Dubai is different.?

A few quick notes:

• Relationship beats marketing/PR/presence. You may have a powerful portfolio, strong SEO, enriched YT, and a nice product/service, but you need to meet f2f actually to make tangible business.?
• Stereotypes about ancient Muslim countries are… stereotypes. Muslim traditions are rather respected, but showing off Ladie’s arms is not a problem (at least, I have not noticed).?
• Although people seem reserved, breaking the ice with a polite joke may help you a lot. Don’t be afraid to take initiative, but respect local etiquette (especially towards women).?
• Despite advanced infrastructure, there are huge distances to be crossed, plan all trips ahead.
• There are very few people who will reject you at first sight, but on many occasions, kind words are just kind words.?
• Get ready to rumble when it comes to dates, deadlines, timelines, due payments, etc. Maintaining good relationships with reliable people may help you in tougher situations.?
• Dubai is actually full of attractions, seeing few of them is a must.?
• Access to beer is very, very, very limited, I suffered a bit ;)?