From a Dining‑Room Idea to MENA‑AI: A Story in Motion

It all started with a casual evening in my friend’s living room in California. Conversation drifted from vertical SaaS to agentic finance, to how AI was reshaping industries. We were discussing the overload of information, influencer impact and how such things can impact real knowledge and information. Poonam asked:

“Why don’t we do something about it and document and celebrate the AI work happening in MENA?”

In that room, over dinner, the seed was planted: launch a magazine spotlighting MENA innovation in AI.

That evening felt like the beginning of something. Little did we know it was the first spark of MENA‑AI—a mission that, months later, has transformed from an ambitious thought experiment into a fully-fledged organisation with a website, founding directors, and hopefully a fast-growing community across the region.

Why build MENA‑AI now?

My conversations with Nasser and Sharif, we saw two core truths driving us:

1. Too much noise, too little signal.
   Across discourses, there’s ample hype—oftentimes superficial—however a lack of trusted, independent, evidence-based analysis. We aimed to reduce the noise, champion fact-based research, and elevate voices that are truly doing the work.
2. Grassroots matters.
   Naseer insightfully emphasised, “connecting grassroots implementation—the actual builders in labs, startups, and universities—matters more than glossy strategy documents.” It’s the work done by local engineers, founders, and researchers that truly shifts the needle.

From day one, MENA‑AI has been designed as a machine for action—not just commentaries, but execution.

Conversations with the founding team

This has been a deeply collaborative journey. Here are a few highlights from our discussions:

• Sharif’s vision—we must integrate capital, policy, research, and practitioners. Sharif advocated for the live ecosystem directory on mena‑ai.org connecting founders, labs, and investors across Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Cairo, and beyond linkedin , X and Insta. That directory will become our connective tissue—uniting builders who might otherwise remain siloed.
• Naseer’s advice—ensure we don’t stop at macro‑level narratives. We must ignite the grassroots, amplifying implementation-ready teams over theoretical trends. His reminder was: match the sophistication of global AI with real, local solutions. --"Wise words indeed"

These dialogues shaped MENA‑AI’s DNA: a platform that doesn’t just convene thinkers—it activates doers.

What we've built so far

1. A public platform (mena-ai.org)
   It hosts our live directory, policy-roundtable announcements, early research findings, and startup spotlights. This site is our anchor—a place for shared visibility and real connections.
2. Support from MENA builders
   Early adopters from local AI labs, university programs, tech startups, and government regulators are stepping forward—volunteers, contributors, subject-matter authors. This demonstrates that the appetite for regional collaboration is strong.
3. Clear mission pillars
   • Magazine: Monthly digital issues spotlighting innovators, case studies, and policy breakthroughs—think Business meets Tech Review, with a MENA lens.
   • AICon: An annual conference built on rigor, not fluff—panels, hackathons, matchmaking, practical use cases, policy dialogues.
   • Volunteer & hiring roles: From editorial to events, data to marketing—you can help build, not just observe.

The launch pad: magazine and AICon

🗞️ MENA‑AI Magazine

In a few months, our first issue goes live. You’ll see:

• In‑depth features on university labs using Arabic LLMs
• Founder spotlights from Cairo to Riyadh
• Analysis of nascent AI policy frameworks across the region
• Tech deep dives (e.g. Arabic multimodal models like Falcon)

We’re curating stories that matter—because business narratives don’t always capture what’s happening on the ground. (Join us)

🎤 AICon 2025

A two‑day flagship event with:

• Hackathons
• Topic-based discussions 
• Curated networking sessions
• Research and tech showcases

We’re building a live platform for builders—engineers, regulators, funders—to collaborate in person. (Register interest)

Your invitation: get involved

If you’ve worked on AI in MENA—or want to—here’s how you can jump in:

• Builders (Startups, Labs, Researchers): Share your case study. Present at AICon or contribute to the magazine. We want real work from real people.
• Universities & research groups: Lead workshops, propose internships, submit papers or policy briefs. We’ll amplify and connect you.
• Investors & VCs: Join our  network. Sharif’s momentum here bridges funds with tech talent.
• Policy‑makers & regulators: Participate in roundtables shaping responsible, region-centric frameworks.

What this means to me

In my own work , I’ve always leaned into building—from agentic finance SaaS to open banking research, MENA‑AI is the reflection of the same instinct—but scaled and focused on a region I am passionate about.

The transition from casual dinner chat to a robust, multi‑pillar organisation has been swift—but deliberate. From the magazine’s first draft to AICon’s blueprint, to our growing roster of volunteers—it’s now a movement, not just an idea.

Looking forward

As we launch:

• We’ll publish our first magazine issue in coming months
• AICon dates and agenda will be announced soon
• Hiring and volunteer roles are now live on our website

Check out everything at mena‑ai.org. Join us, contribute, lead—this is a collective effort to build a credible, catalytic AI ecosystem across MENA.

A final word

Sharif spoke of “connection and acceleration.” Naseer reminded us of “ground‑level implementation.” Today, I echo them both—and add this: we are ready to build.

From that California dining room chat to where we stand today, MENA‑AI has never been about prestige—it’s about purpose, pragmatism, and people. If you’re building, teaching, funding, regulating—or launching—AI in MENA, I invite you to jump in.

Let’s reduce the noise, champion the builders, and shape a future where MENA leads in AI—not just follows.

Ashu Gupta
Engineer. Investor · Advisor · Editor, askashu.com
mena‑ai.org