Noha Gad

Email has become one of the most familiar tools in everyday life, used for work, communication, and now even financial transactions. As digital banking continues to evolve, it has created faster and easier ways to send money without relying on traditional methods, such as cash, checks, or in-person transfers.

One of the most practical examples of this shift is email money transfer (EMT), a payment method that allows people to send funds using only an email address. It offers a simple alternative for personal payments, shared expenses, and small business transactions, especially when speed and convenience matter.

What is an email money transfer and how does it work?

An EMT is a retail banking service that allows users to transfer funds between personal accounts using email and their online banking service. Commonly used in Canada, EMTs are provided by the largest banking institutions and are considered a secure way to transfer money.

An EMT works through a simple online banking process. The sender logs in to their bank account, chooses the option to send money, and enters the recipient’s email address along with the amount to be transferred. In many cases, the sender sets up a security question or verification step so that only the intended recipient can claim the money. Once the transfer is sent, the recipient gets a notification by email with instructions on how to accept the payment.

EMTs offer several practical benefits that make people use them in everyday payments. This includes:

• Convenience: EMTs make sending money much easier, as they can be done online in a few steps. Users do not need to visit a bank branch or handle cash, which saves time and effort.
• Swift transfers: In many cases, the recipient is notified almost immediately after the transfer is sent. This makes EMTs a useful option when users need to transfer money quickly.
• Simplicity: The process is usually straightforward and does not require complicated banking details. Most people only need an email address and access to online banking.
• Privacy and security: Since the transfer is handled through secure banking channels, users do not have to share sensitive account information directly. This adds an extra layer of protection in everyday transactions.

Although EMTs are convenient, they are not always the best option in every situation. Like any payment method, it has a few limitations that users should understand before relying on it:

• Availability: An EMT is not offered by every bank or financial institution. In some cases, both the sender and recipient must have accounts with participating institutions for the transfer to work.
• Transfer limits: Many providers place limits on how much money can be sent in a single transaction or within a certain period. This can make it less suitable for larger payments.
• Security questions: Some transfers rely on security questions or passwords to release the funds. If these are forgotten, shared incorrectly, or guessed by someone else, it can create problems.
• Fees and charges: Some banks and service providers apply fees to send or receive money. These charges make the method less attractive for some users.

EMTs can be a useful payment option for small businesses, freelancers, and service providers who want a simple way to receive funds. It is often used for invoice payments, deposits, and smaller transactions where speed and convenience matter. It is especially practical for businesses that handle lower-value payments, such as consultants, tutors, local service providers, or small online sellers. 

Finally, EMTs have become a practical part of modern digital banking thanks to their speed, convenience, and simplicity. They are useful for everyday personal transfers and small business payments, where moving money quickly and securely is often the top priority. However, users should keep in mind possible limits, fees, and availability issues before choosing this option, especially for larger or more complex transactions. 

Roudny Nahed, Partnership Manager at MusicGrid

Not long ago, branding was largely a visual exercise. Companies competed through logos, typography, colors,and carefully designedvisual identities. Today, however, brandsinteract with people through far more touchpoints than ever before. Mobile apps, digital banking, podcasts, connected cars, retail environments, customer service, and voice assistants have transformed how consumers experience brands. In this new landscape, sound has becomean essential part of brand identity.

The question is no longer whethersound matters. The question is whether brandsare using it intentionally.

For many businesses across the Middle East, sonic branding is still viewed as something reserved for advertising campaignsor television commercials. In reality, it is much more than a memorable melody. A sonic identity is a strategic system that gives a brand a consistent voice across every customer interaction, reinforcing recognition, trust, and emotional connection.

The region is entering a period where this distinction will become increasingly important.

Across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and the wider GCC, businesses are investing heavily in digital transformation and customer experience. Governments are encouraging innovation, while private organizations compete to differentiate themselves in increasingly crowded markets. Visual branding alone is no longer enoughto create memorable experiences. Brands now need identities that can be heard as clearly as they can be seen.

What makes this particularly interesting is that the MiddleEast possesses one of the richest cultural soundscapes in the world.

Every city has its own rhythm. Every region carries distinct musical traditions, instruments, dialects, and emotional cues that instantly create a senseof place. The challenge is not a lack of cultural identity, it is translating that identity into modern brand experiences.

Too often, organizations adopt generic music that could belong to any company in any market. While visuallythey present themselves as local, authentic, and culturally connected, their audio tells a completely different story. The result is a disconnect between what customers see and what they hear.

The brands that will lead tomorroware those that bridgethis gap.

Creating a regional sonic identity does not simply mean adding traditional instruments to a composition. It requires understanding how culture influences emotion, how audiencesinterpret musical elements, and how audio can evolve across different channels while remaining unmistakably recognizable. The goal is not to sound traditional. The goal is to sound authentic.

This approach becomes increasingly valuable as organizations expand their customer touchpoints. A customer might first hear a brand while using a banking application, later encounter it inside a branch, then hear it again duringan event, on social media, orwhile waiting on a customer service line. Every interaction contributes to memory. Consistency across these moments creates familiarity, and familiarity builds trust.

Research consistently shows that people process sound faster than many visual cues, making audio one of the quickest ways to triggerrecognition and emotion.When used strategically, a sonic identity becomesmore than background music—it becomes an extension of the brand's personality.

For the MiddleEast, this represents a significant opportunity.

As the region continuesto invest in tourism, entertainment, financial services, hospitality, and smart cities, brands are competing on experience rather than products alone. Experience is inherently multisensory, and sound is one of its most powerful yet underutilized dimensions.

The conversation around branding in the region is evolving. We are moving beyond asking how a brandlooks and beginning to ask how it feels,how it behaves, and increasingly, how it sounds.

The organizations that embrace this shift today will not simply create stronger campaigns. They will build stronger memories. In a marketplace where attention is increasingly difficult to earn and even harderto retain, a distinctive sonicidentity can becomeone of the most valuableassets a brand owns.

The Middle East has always had a powerful voice. The next step is ensuring its brands do too.

Ghada Ismail

Every startup dreams of growing fast, but growth doesn't happen just because you launch a great product. No matter how innovative your app, e-commerce store, or SaaS platform is, people need to know it exists.

Today, it's easier than ever to launch digital ads on platforms like Google, Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn let anyone create a campaign in just a few minutes, in addition to traditional channels, like TV, Radio, and Email Campaigns. But running ads is one thing, while running ads that consistently bring in customers is another.

Many startups learn this the hard way. They spend thousands on campaigns that reach the wrong audience, use messaging that doesn't resonate, or fail to generate meaningful results. That's why hiring a media buyer isn't simply another marketing expense. It can be one of the smartest investments an early-stage business makes.

A Media Buyer Is More Than Someone Who Buys Ads

Despite the name, media buyers do much more than purchase advertising space.

They build advertising strategies that match your business goals, choose the right platforms, manage budgets, test different creative materials, monitor campaign performance, and make ongoing improvements based on real data.

Their job is to make sure your marketing budget delivers the best possible return. Instead of chasing clicks, they focus on attracting the people who are most likely to become customers.

They Help You Avoid Costly Mistakes

For most startups, marketing budgets are tight, so every riyal needs to count.

Without experience, it's easy to overspend on the wrong audience, overlook important performance metrics, or keep investing in campaigns that simply aren't working. These mistakes can quickly eat into valuable capital.

A skilled media buyer knows what to look for and can spot problems before they become expensive. Often, the money they save through better campaign management outweighs the cost of hiring them.

They Reach the Right People

Modern advertising platforms offer powerful targeting tools, but knowing how to use them effectively takes experience. A media buyer understands how to reach the people who are most likely to be interested in your product based on their interests, online behavior, demographics, or purchasing intent.

The result is usually better-quality leads, higher conversion rates, and a lower cost to acquire each customer.

They Let Data Guide Every Decision

Every campaign generates valuable insights, from conversion rates and customer acquisition costs to return on ad spend. A media buyer knows how to interpret this data and turn it into smarter decisions.

Instead of asking whether people clicked on an ad, they're asking bigger questions: Which audience is converting best? Which message is driving sales? Which platform deserves a larger share of the budget?

By constantly testing and refining campaigns, they help improve results over time.

They Give Founders More Time

Startup founders already have enough on their plates. Between building products, managing teams, talking to investors, and serving customers, there's little time left to master digital advertising.

Hiring a media buyer means founders can focus on growing the business while someone with the right expertise handles campaign performance and optimization.

Growth Becomes Easier to Scale

As your startup grows, your advertising needs become more complex.

An experienced media buyer knows how to increase budgets strategically, test new audiences, and expand into new markets without letting customer acquisition costs spiral out of control. That makes growth more predictable and sustainable.

Choosing the Right Media Buyer

Not every media buyer is the right fit for every startup. Look for someone who understands your industry, has experience working with businesses at a similar stage, and is transparent about how they measure success.

The best media buyers don't just share reports filled with numbers; they should be willing to explain what those numbers mean and how they're helping your business grow.

To Wrap Things Up…

Advertising is one of the fastest ways for startups to reach new customers, but it can also become one of the fastest ways to waste money if it's not managed properly.

A good media buyer helps you make smarter decisions, spend your budget more effectively, and attract customers who are genuinely interested in your product. In a crowded digital marketplace, that expertise can make the difference between campaigns that simply generate clicks and campaigns that drive real business growth.

Noha Gad

In the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), some deals begin with a handshake, while others begin with pressure. Companies often explore ways to grow, strengthen their market position, or secure strategic assets, and not every approach is friendly or straightforward. Against that backdrop comes the bear hug strategy: a takeover offer so attractive on price that it becomes hard for the target company’s board to ignore. It sits in the space between persuasion and confrontation, combining a premium bid with the clear message that the buyer is serious about a deal. This strategy matters because it can shift the balance of power in negotiations. For shareholders, it may promise immediate value; for management, it can create difficult questions about independence, timing, and long-term strategy.

What is a bear hug strategy?

A bear hug strategy is a takeover approach in which a company makes an offer to buy another company at a price well above its current market value. The idea is to make the proposal attractive enough that the target company’s board feels strong pressure to consider it seriously. This tactic is often used in M&A when the buyer wants to move quickly or reduce the chance of rejection. By offering a substantial premium, the acquirer is not only signaling confidence in the deal but also putting the target’s management in a difficult position. The offer may appear generous on the surface, but it is designed to limit the board’s room to refuse without disappointing shareholders. This strategy aims to benefit shareholders with a high offer and pressures the board to negotiate, risking management changes and drawing intense scrutiny on the company's performance and valuation. 

Companies usually use this strategy to speed up negotiations and reduce the chance of being blocked by management. A rich premium can also discourage competing bidders, helping the buyer protect the deal and avoid a bidding war. A bear hug strategy serves as an alternative to a fully hostile takeover. Instead of forcing a fight from the start, the buyer tries to make the offer attractive enough that the target company may eventually engage voluntarily, which can reduce legal disputes and transaction friction.

Pros and Cons:

Although this strategy offers several potential advantages, it also comes with notable risks that both sides should consider carefully.

• Premium offer: A bear hug strategy can give shareholders a higher purchase price than the company’s current market value. This makes the offer immediately attractive, especially for investors who are focused on short-term gains.
• Faster negotiations: Because the offer is already generous, it can push the target company to respond more quickly than in a normal acquisition process. This may reduce delays and help the buyer move toward a deal before market conditions change. 
• Strategic advantage: The buyer may secure an important asset, brand, or business line before competitors step in. This is especially useful when the target company fits neatly into the buyer’s long-term growth plan. By acting early, the acquirer may strengthen its market position and expand more efficiently.
• Market signal: A strong premium can signal that the target company has hidden value or strong future potential. This may improve investor attention and increase confidence in the company’s prospects.

Risks to consider

• Management resistance: The target’s board or executives may strongly oppose the offer, even if shareholders see value in it. They may believe the company is worth more than the buyer’s offer or that the deal is not in the company’s long-term interest. This can create tension and make the process more difficult.
• Defensive measures: The target company may try to block or delay the takeover by using legal, financial, or structural defenses. These may include appealing to regulators, encouraging shareholder opposition, or looking for another buyer. Such tactics can increase the time, cost, and complexity of the deal.
• Bidding war: Once the offer is public, other buyers may step in with competing bids. This can push the price higher and reduce the original buyer’s chance of winning the deal. In some cases, the buyer ends up spending far more than planned.
• Integration challenges: Even if the acquisition succeeds, combining the two companies can be complicated. Differences in management style, systems, culture, and operations may create friction after closing. If integration is not managed well, the strategic value of the deal can be reduced.

Finally, a bear hug strategy can be a powerful way to push an acquisition forward, but it is never a simple decision. The premium offer may appeal to shareholders, yet management resistance, bidding competition, and integration challenges can quickly complicate the outcome. In M&A, the real question is not just whether a deal is possible, but whether it is worth the cost and the pressure it creates.

Noha Gad

Saudi Arabia is moving decisively from AI experimentation to large-scale national implementation, with conversational AI and intelligent chat systems emerging as a central pillar of its Vision 2030 economic transformation. According to recent figures released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), 98.1% of establishments in Saudi Arabia had internet access, with nearly 33.1% of them using AI technologies across various activities.

The ‘Establishments ICT Access and Usage Statistics 2025’ report found that the use of digital services among establishments expanded in 2025, as the usage rate of e-government services reached 93.2%. Additionally, 79.1% of respondents use the internet for conducting electronic banking services, while 55.2% of establishments use social media platforms for advertising. 

A survey conducted by the Saudi Center for Opinion Polling in 2025 stated that 49% of the Saudi population uses AI tools, with 31% interacting with AI on a daily basis. Individuals use AI tools across various aspects of life: personal (29%), work (31%), study (22%), and home (18%).

These numbers signal a tipping point in the Kingdom’s digital transformation. High internet penetration and rapid AI adoption among businesses are converting piecemeal pilots into scalable, economy-wide systems that improve efficiency, broaden access to services, and create new value chains.

Conversational AI and intelligent chat systems are being embedded across public services, banking, retail, healthcare, and tourism to automate routine tasks, personalize customer journeys, and support decision-making with real-time data.  As Saudi organizations move from using AI for isolated functions to deploying it as a core operational capability, the Kingdom is positioning itself to export digital services, attract tech investment, and build a skilled AI workforce, turning high adoption figures into tangible economic and social outcomes.

AI chatbots in banking 

The rapid expansion of fintech in Saudi Arabia, fueled by Vision 2030, has positioned AI as the central driver of this transformation. Financial services are being reimagined through AI, where algorithms and automation augment human expertise, thereby eliminating long queues, stacks of paperwork, and rigid approval processes. 

Chatbots powered by intelligent large language models (LLMs) have transformed into digital concierges as they do not merely answer balance queries but anticipate customer needs, suggesting micro-investments, alerting on spending habits, or tailoring loan options. This personalization, made possible by AI in fintech, is rapidly becoming the benchmark for customer-centric finance in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, Chatbots have significantly enhanced customer service performance, improved customer satisfaction, and raised the productivity of bank personnel.

Traditional financial systems usually take days or even weeks to manually process credit scoring, compliance checks, or customer onboarding. The integration of AI into bank operations has dramatically compressed these timelines. Machine learning (ML) systems can process enormous amounts of structured and unstructured data at a pace impossible for human teams. For instance, know-your-customer (KYC) verifications that once involved lengthy document trails are now automated. A model trained on behavioral and biometric patterns can confirm identity within seconds, reducing friction for the client and minimizing the risk of error.

As speed alone would be insufficient if trust were not equally reinforced, Saudi institutions are embedding fintech machine learning deep into their security infrastructure.  ML analyzes each transaction not in isolation but in the context of millions of historical data points. Subtle anomalies, such as unusual device login, atypical transaction frequency, or geographic discrepancies, trigger automated alerts. What once took analysts hours to detect now unfolds in real time. AI technologies also play a central role in providing personalized services as predictive models map individual spending patterns, saving behaviors, and life events to deliver highly specific product recommendations.

Care without waiting

Healthcare chatbots are AI-powered virtual assistants that can chat with patients through text or voice, answering questions, booking appointments, and providing health information, using natural language processing, all without human intervention. These chatbots are revolutionizing healthcare in Saudi hospitals and clinics as they offer 24/7 support, reduce appointment wait times, and improve patient engagement. According to Grand View Horizon, the healthcare chatbot market revenue in the Kingdom is expected to reach $132 million by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.2% between 2025 and 2030.

The integration of AI chatbots in healthcare is genuinely changing the way patients interact with hospitals and clinics across the Kingdom. Unlike traditional hospital reception desks that close at night, AI chatbots in Saudi hospitals provide 24/7 support, offering immediate healthcare access and instant responses to patients in remote areas. Other benefits include:

• Providing Arabic-language support. Having Arabic-language medical chatbots that understand various dialects ensures that language would never become a barrier to accessing healthcare information. Thus, the Kingdom introduced an AI health coach, supported by live voice and video features, allowing people to speak naturally with an Arabic-AI assistant. This makes healthcare guidance more accessible, personalized, and convenient.
• Streamlining appointment scheduling. Chatbots can handle appointment bookings, deliver medical reports, and answer common patient inquiries immediately through a platform people already use daily.
• Providing personalized medical guidance. AI-powered patient support system can provide personalized health guidance based on individual patient histories, symptoms, and preferences. 
• Reducing hospital burden. AI chatbots can perform initial symptom assessments and guide patients to the appropriate care level, whether it is a virtual consultation, a scheduled appointment, or urgent care.
• Enhancing chronic disease management. AI-powered patient engagement platform can send medication reminders to patients with chronic conditions, track their vital signs when integrated with IoT devices, and provide timely health tips.

Smarter retail and e-commerce experience

A recent study conducted by Visa showed that 90% of consumers in Saudi Arabia are embracing AI as part of their shopping journeys, using AI tools to assist with shopping. Additionally, the ‘Digital Consumer Trends 2026 Report’ published by Deloitte stated that 66% of consumers in the Kingdom now actively use AI tools. These figures affirm that the Kingdom has reached a defining moment in its digital evolution, with generative AI reshaping the way people search, shop, work, and make decisions. The rise of AI-powered assistants, notably chatbots, fueled this transformation.

AI chatbots have reshaped the way businesses interact with customers and how consumers make purchasing decisions. Retailers and e-commerce platforms in Saudi Arabia leverage AI chatbots to actively guide customers through the entire purchasing journey, from product discovery to checkout. Online platforms, such as Namshi and Noon, employ AI to analyze customer data for targeted advertising and suggestions, leading to higher conversion rates. Agentic AI Personal Shoppers is another advanced technology that can understand complex requests across text, voice, and images. This technology allows customers to upload a photo of a desired style or describe a need in Arabic or English, then autonomously searches the product catalog, checks real-time stock, and stages a personalized cart ready for checkout. This capability enables retailers to provide an always-on personal concierge that executes the shopping journey on behalf of every customer, instead of offering suggestions.

Transforming citizen-government interactions

The Kingdom is actively deploying AI-powered chatbots across its government services to modernize citizen interactions, moving beyond simple information provision to create a more integrated, conversational, and proactive digital government experience. With the Tawakkaln App at the heart of this transformation, individual government entities deploy their own AI chatbots to improve their services. For instance, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing introduced the Balaby chatbot on its Balaby platform to provide citizens with instant, AI-generated answers about municipal services, such as issuing commercial licenses or submitting reports.

The Digital Government Authority launched the ‘Smart Search Tool’ to streamline citizen engagement and service navigation, allowing users to search for government services. This tool utilizes natural language processing to understand complex beneficiary queries.

To sum up, the integration of conversational AI across Saudi Arabia's economy is more than a technological upgrade; it is the gradual emergence of a new national identity. In banking, healthcare, retail, and government, AI chatbots that understand context, anticipate needs, and speak the language of the people are breaking down barriers of geography, bureaucracy, and time. What was once reserved for the few—financial advice, specialized healthcare, government services, or premium shopping experiences—is now available to anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection. As these intelligent systems become integral to everyday life, they are reshaping the way services are delivered and how citizens perceive their relationship with the institutions that serve them. The true success of this transformation will ultimately be measured not in adoption rates, but in the quality of lives improved and opportunities unlocked for every user.