Kuwait: Expanding on its leadership role in Kuwait’s digital landscape, talabat, the leading on-demand online ordering platform in the MENA region, participated as an Executive Sponsor in the second edition of the roundtable series hosted by the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) and organized by The Business Year (TBY), under the umbrella of the Thought Leadership Circle, titled “Reshaping the Digital Landscape”.

Held at Chairman's Club in KIPCO Tower and headed by H. E. Omar Saud Al-Omar, Minister of State for Communication Affairs, the roundtable brought together key representatives from private and public sectors to explore cooperation opportunities aimed at realizing Kuwait’s strategic vision of becoming a regional hub for digital innovation and AI. talabat’s participation in the discussion comes as an extension for its ongoing efforts to enable the country’s digital transformation and adoption of the latest technologies, in line with its committed support for Kuwait Vision 2035.

Representing talabat Kuwait as one of the key private sector participants in the roundtable, Bader Al-Ghanim, Vice President and Managing Director, shared valuable insights on talabat’s position as one of the most notable tech success stories in Kuwait and the region. He highlighted the company’s role in building a digital-first, people-centric business model that relies on entwining partnerships, talent integration, and the latest technologies across the market.

“It’s fascinating what a company can achieve when different parties collaborate, each contributing a different strength and perspective on the industry – a scenario we’ve seen repeat itself with every new strategic partnership that expands talabat’s network,” commented Al-Ghanim. “However, such integration can only yield its full potential in the presence of a smart infrastructure, supported by advanced telecoms networks, and a future-ready sector, which has the human capital to adopt and run emerging technologies.”

Throughout the discussion, Al-Ghanim underscored four primary axes of talabat’s sustainable growth in Kuwait and across MENA: foundations of a regional integrated digital hub; strategic collaborations; cybersecurity and resilience; and investing in human capital and the digital workforce.

“It’s vital to remember that any market, no matter how digitally driven, begins and ends with people,” noted Al-Ghanim. “Despite the novelty of talabat’s business model and the market’s unfamiliarity with on-demand e-commerce in its earliest days, our success is owed to our people-centric culture, which listens closely to the market’s needs, honors and celebrates the human talents who drive the business, whether employees or partners, and invests heavily in the development of human capital and preparing a future-ready pool of talents capable of utilizing the latest technologies in line with our market’s needs.”

On this note, Al-Ghanim expanded on the numerous technologies utilized at talabat, including the latest AI tools to translate data into valuable insights that allow for constant service development in line with people’s evolving needs and aspirations – including customers as well as riders and other partners. Furthermore, these insights point to areas of development within the company’s human resources, which consequently enabled the learning and talent development department to innovate new approaches to upskilling employees and future professional talents.

Equally integral to talabat’s success is its rigorous cybersecurity strategy, which guarantees the utmost safety for all customers’ transactions and personal information as well as stakeholders’ data. Nonetheless, Al-Ghanim highlighted the importance of fostering a culture of cyber awareness that engulfs all parties, from service providers to merchants, customers, financial partners, telecom operators, and the public sector at large – especially in light of the development of new fraud schemes that accompany almost every new digital technology.

The roundtable discussion further highlighted Kuwait’s existing achievement on its mission to establishing itself as a regional digital hub, namely represented by its growing digital infrastructure and culture of collaboration, which encourages dissolving silos and growing through strategic partnership – a format that resonates with talabat’s journey of business growth and regional expansion.

It is worth noting that talabat’s sponsorship of the roundtable series, hosted by KDIPA and organized by The Business Year, is part of a broader set of strategic efforts by the company to strengthen digital capabilities in Kuwait. This includes its continued support for Academy X, the country’s largest initiative dedicated to empowering women in technology and entrepreneurship.