Gitex 2024: 'du can even help clients with their actual AI blueprints,' says Fahad Al Hassawi
UAE telco is going for big-ticket integration and consultancy services on AI, cloud needs
Dubai: The UAE telco du can even help business clients ‘develop the blueprint’ for their AI plans as the company expands the scope of its services beyond network communications and connectivity.
So, what this means is that even if a client were to provide only the big picture on what it wants from going with AI, du can map out the actual solutions and then take those forward from concept to actual delivery. That's where the big margins come into play as well.
“We can do more than provide AI implementation help for enterprises,” said Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of du, on the opening day of Gitex. “It can either be that clients come up with the AI solutions that need to be integrated into their operations.
“Or we can help them with the full technology stack, which is build solutions that they need using our advanced technology, our teams, and our partnerships. We can easily create those blueprints for AI solutions.”
It was last week that du created two sub-brands – du Tech and du Infra. It’s du tech that will serve as the platform to take on enterprise level projects and help from everything to project mapping to its implementation. That means a sharpened focus on AI, blockchain and cloud projects. (As for du Infra, it will be about providing the network capabilities that can run solutions for its clients, whether businesses or government agencies.)
The splitting of the two verticals is about du aiming for higher margin services that builds on its established presence as a telecom services provider. (du has a standalone company, du Pay, that oversees all of its financial services offerings. The company is into remittances and will be adding more features incrementally. du Pay was launched earlier this year.)
AI projects are for ‘real’
These days, everyone in the tech industry and beyond is talking AI. According to Hassawi, the company is already doing real-time work on real AI projects.
Asked to name one, the CEO said: “We are doing a lot of factory and warehousing automation using AI tools, where these are used to manage quality assurance processes. Let’s say a product is being assembled, AI helps is the quality check of the final product.
“OK, let’s take a step back – AI even helps on the actual improvement of the automation process. These are real use cases of AI in the UAE – and we are doing that for clients.”
More data centers
du, which operates five date centers in the UAE, will invest in more such facilities, as the combo of AI and cloud computing services will require it, the CEO added. (Data centers are quite the trend as organizations work on how best to protect their data troves.
"If you are creating an environment for AI, more date centers and cloud support are absolute must-haves," said Al Hassawi. "We will keep putting investments where they are needed..."