Jigar Sagar's bold vision to transform UAE's entrepreneurial landscape

From sweeping shop floors as a 10-year-old in his father’s store to reshaping the entrepreneurship landscape across the UAE, Jigar Sagar’s journey is anything but conventional. In this exclusive interview with Gulf News, the seasoned founder, ecosystem architect, and investor opens up about the early lessons that shaped his business DNA, his insights on building accelerative platforms, and why he believes entrepreneurship needs a mindset shift more than a playbook. Whether he’s working with startups, governments, or future-forward tech, one thing remains clear: Sagar isn’t just building businesses — he’s building the systems that help others do the same.

I vividly remember watching my dad clean the glass showcases all by himself. I was curious and asked him why he did it, even though he had staff to handle those tasks. He just looked at me and said, “It’s my business, my responsibility.” That stuck with me! It taught me that having an ownership mentality is crucial. No task is too small or beneath you when it’s your vision on the line. Taking initiative isn’t optional. It’s foundational.

In the souq, brand loyalty didn’t exist; human loyalty did. I learned early on that selling wasn’t about pitching a product; it was about building genuine connections. I remember an elderly gentleman who kept coming back to our shop, not because of any special offer, but because my father always greeted him warmly, remembered details about his family, and took the time to listen to his stories. Over time, their relationship grew beyond simple transactions, rooted in trust and mutual respect. That’s still at the heart of how I approach customer experience: relationships first, transactions second.

Finance was never just numbers for me. It was the heartbeat of every business. Before “data is the new gold” became a buzzword, I saw how financial insights could expose truths, guide action, and shape strategy. Numbers show the real story.

Banking taught me systems: SOPs, KPIs, performance metrics, but it also revealed the gap between boardroom targets and customer realities. In the call center, I realised many processes were built for internal ease, not customer value. That disconnect still drives my obsession with designing systems around the user.

I stepped into Creative Zone as a finance manager with a single aim: to grow within a startup where I could bring real change. Growth, partnerships, and investment rounds followed. When I exited, it wasn’t from the industry, just from that chapter. I continue to remain deeply involved in economic zone development and public-private ventures.

If I could do it over, I’d hire essential people sooner. Early on, I was too deep in the business instead of stepping back to work on it. In hindsight, I wish I had hired a strong operations lead much earlier. Having someone dedicated to building scalable processes and managing day-to-day execution would have allowed me to focus on strategy and growth. This role could have accelerated our ability to scale, improved team collaboration, and enabled us to seize opportunities more quickly.

Delegation unlocks scale, and I learned that the hard way.

A true ecosystem isn’t just supportive; it’s accelerative. It should help you attain product-market fit or failure faster. It attracts customers, enables service delivery, and magnifies founder energy by letting them focus on their core mission.

I saw this firsthand when I helped launch a community platform designed to enable seamless service delivery. By integrating resources, support, and peer networks into one space, we saw a significant boost in customer engagement and retention. Founders no longer had to juggle multiple touchpoints; instead, they could focus on building their businesses while the platform handled the rest.

That experience proved to me that an accelerative ecosystem not only supports entrepreneurs but also propels them forward.

Experience paves the way for sharp instinct. But I always validate my gut feeling with data. Dashboards highlight friction points. Then it’s about what the team can handle, and where I need to step in personally.

AI and no-code tools are transforming the landscape by democratizing technology. Founders and managers who once dreamed of automation and digitization but lacked coding skills can now turn their ideas into functioning systems with ease. That’s a true game-changer!

Yet, tech remains under-leveraged in many back-office processes. For example, by automating client onboarding workflows and invoice generation, we eliminated repetitive manual tasks, reduced errors, and freed up the team to focus on higher-impact work. This kind of targeted automation not only boosts efficiency but also allows founders to channel their energy into growth and innovation.

Too many founders chase the “tech startup” label and forget tech is an enabler, not the product. Meanwhile, tech is underused in back-office and customer experience, places where automation can really move the needle.

People think PPPs (public-private partnerships) are just glorified vendor contracts. In truth, they’re shared-risk models where both sides bring unique expertise and resources to solve problems together. Real PPPs are built on collaboration, not just compliance. I’ve seen how true collaboration in these partnerships can unlock innovation, drive policy changes, and deliver outcomes that genuinely benefit communities.

Regulations create boundaries, not roadblocks. Agility comes from designing within those boundaries. And, when required, creating sandbox environments to test and iterate before scaling. This approach allows us to move quickly, learn from real-world feedback, and scale what works, all while maintaining trust and alignment with the objectives.

It’s not about the number. It’s about a mindset shift. Success is a world where millions believe they can build, solve, and lead. True impact is when the ecosystem sustains itself, becoming a self-propelling movement of builders.

If a founder thanked me ten years from now, I’d hope they’d say I didn’t just mentor or fund them, I helped them see what they were truly capable of. I opened doors they didn’t know existed, and because of that, they built businesses, created jobs, and became mentors themselves. That’s the ripple I’d cherish to leave behind.

To maintain balance and drive progress, I prioritize daily movement to protect both mind and body, commit to continuous learning by reading, absorbing, and listening, and establish clear priorities that I schedule around. I also ensure to have at least one meaningful conversation each day, knowing that connection fuels growth. Finally, I focus on taking small, positive actions consistently, understanding that these compound over time into significant results.

As a builder, I filter every new idea through a single lens: I ask myself, does this move my mission of enabling entrepreneurs forward.

As an investor, I rely on hard metrics like NPV, IRR, but gut matters too. It’s about aligning heart and spreadsheet.

I’m not chasing industries. I’m focused on infrastructure - the tools, services, and enablers that help founders go from vision to success. That’s where the real impact lies.

Yes. How do we make entrepreneurship truly accessible, without sacrificing quality? I’m chasing a model that combines trust, tech, and real community support for the next generation of builders.

I’d love to be remembered as a builder of builders. Not just someone who started companies, but someone who made it easier for others to rise.