By Kelly-Marie Fernandes, CXO, Digital Innovation Strategy, Clickivity
MENA’s growing focus on AI, personalisation and customer intelligence presents an opportunity to build on lessons learned in more mature markets and accelerate the journey towards data-driven growth
My journey with data started about a decade ago in the UK. At the time, businesses like Experian and Dunnhumby were helping shape how organisations thought about customer data. Experian was using data to help businesses better understand consumers through personas, modelling, addressability and analytics. Dunnhumby demonstrated how a retailer’s own first-party data could be used to drive loyalty, customer value management and monetisation.
Over the years, I watched the market evolve. Advertisers became more sophisticated in how they used audience data. Data onboarding made customer intelligence addressable. Identity solutions gave organisations a fuller picture of their customers. Publishers, retailers and other customer data owners explored ways to generate greater value from the data they already possessed.
Then I moved to Dubai. One of the things that struck me was how differently many businesses thought about signals. Context was king. Publishers focused on the strength of their content and environments. For many years, growth in the region allowed organisations to be less dependent on sophisticated customer intelligence and to exert less pressure to maximise the value of every customer interaction. I still remember being told there wasn’t much need for personas in MENA.
In the current environment, the region is entering a new phase of maturity. To maximise the use of their marketing budgets, organisations are increasingly looking towards smarter advertising, retention and customer value management.
At the same time, organisations across the region are investing heavily in AI. The UAE is globally spearheading public-sector innovation with a framework to transition 50% of federal government sectors and operations to autonomous “Agentic AI” within two years. According to MAGNiTT, AI startups in MENA attracted a record $858 million in funding in 2025, accounting for 22% of all venture capital deployed across the region. Gartner forecasts IT spending across MENA will reach $169 billion in 2026, with software spending expected to grow by 13.9% as organisations accelerate adoption of AI-enabled technologies. Additionally, many organisations are investing in CRM platforms, loyalty programmes, analytics tools and customer data platforms. To make all of this effective, they now need a connected view of their customers.
From my experience and conversations in the region, where these initiatives do not deliver their full potential, it is often because the data at the core has not been collected consistently, processed robustly or made actionable.
There are five key foundations required for success: clean and complete data, enrichment where relevant, predictive modelling, addressability and clear governance. With these levers in place, marketing becomes more relevant. Customer experiences become more personalised. Retention strategies become more sophisticated. New monetisation opportunities emerge. AI becomes more valuable because it is operating on a stronger understanding of customers and business context.
This becomes particularly important as commerce media continues to gain momentum across the region, which at its core is a customer intelligence opportunity. This extends beyond retail to any organisation that owns customer data, including telco, real estate, fintech, healthcare and travel, all of which sit on rich datasets spanning purchases, loyalty programmes, digital interactions and customer service touchpoints. The opportunity is to create more relevant experiences while helping partners better understand and serve those audiences.
Success depends on the quality of the underlying data and the organisation’s ability to turn that data into actionable intelligence. I worked with a customer intelligence firm whose modelling capabilities focused on identifying the customer cohorts and behaviours most likely to drive business outcomes, demonstrating the value that can be unlocked when organisations develop a deeper understanding of their customers.
In many ways, MENA has an advantage. There is an opportunity to learn from the journeys of more data-mature markets while establishing the right foundations.
When we work backwards from the customer, it becomes easier to identify value, create better experiences and power innovation.
