Dubai, UAE: The UAE’s marketing landscape continues to evolve, moving from visibility-focused campaigns to verifiable impact and measurable growth. Embodying this shift, the 4th Edition of The Great Marketing & Business Minds UAE 2026 is set to take place on 29th January 2026 in Dubai, uniting the region’s most influential marketing and business leaders for a deep dive into performance-driven marketing, data integration, and the evolving accountability of brand leadership.

The event will spotlight the ongoing transformation of the UAE’s marketing ecosystem, from execution-led strategies to integrated, data-informed frameworks that prioritize ROI, brand credibility, and sustained business impact. As CMOs across the GCC face growing responsibility to connect brand narratives with commercial results, this edition of The Great Marketing & Business Minds will explore how marketing leaders can balance creativity with accountability, storytelling with measurement, and technology with human insight.

The 2026 edition will also feature an esteemed jury panel, including some of the region’s foremost marketing leaders and innovators from diverse industries. Key jury members include Sanaya Zubairy (Zurich International Life Insurance, Middle East), Jon Barber (Vice President, Marketing & Communications TECOM Group), Suad Merchant (Chief Marketing Officer - GEMS Education), Aaryan Kapur (Group Head - Digital Marketing - Aster DM Healthcare & Medcare Group), Samir Talkhani (Senior Vice President, Head of Digital Consumer Acquisition & Sales - Mashreq Bank), Balaaji Vaidyanathan (Director & Head – Marketing, CEEMEA, Franklin Templeton), Zeeshan Haider (Head of Marketing & Communications- Al Wathba National Insurance) and other distinguished professionals. Their collective expertise will help spotlight how marketing in the UAE continues to mature into a globally recognized, data-driven ecosystem.

CMOs in the UAE are increasingly embedding ROI, analytics, and cross-platform insights into their strategies. According to recent industry studies, more than 90% of marketing leaders in the UAE now prioritize measurable impact over traditional visibility metrics. This focus on integration, accountability, and insight-driven growth is driving marketing excellence across the country, reinforcing the UAE’s reputation as a regional benchmark for innovation and strategic brand performance.

In this context, The Great Marketing & Business Minds UAE 2026 stands not just as a celebration of excellence but as a reflection of where the industry is heading - towards smarter integration, sharper measurement, and marketing that delivers purpose, performance, and long-term value.

Paurush Sonkar, Founder of Digital Stallions Forum and the organizer of The Great Marketing & Business Minds UAE, shared his vision for this year’s edition:

“The 2026 edition celebrates how far the UAE marketing ecosystem has evolved, uniting leading marketers and digital strategists from over 30+ brands to showcase impactful, data‑driven work that drives business growth, sets new industry benchmarks, and amplifies the region’s role as a hub for strategic marketing excellence and innovation.”

About Digital Stallions Forum UAE

Founded in 2020 by marketing veteran Paurush Sonkar, Digital Stallions Forum UAE serves as the premier networking platform for Chief Marketing Officers, Marketing Heads, and Digital Marketing Heads across the UAE, spanning all sectors. Since 2021, it has hosted the annual The Great Marketing & Business Minds UAE, an event aimed at celebrating marketing excellence. Building on the 2013 launch of its India BFSI chapter, which now includes over 200 members from 75+ financial brands, the forum delivers practical insights through panel discussions and networking.

The 3rd Edition, held in February 2025, gathered leading brands including Mashreq Bank, Zurich Life Insurance, Century Financial, Fynd, Al Wathba Insurance, Ferns & Petals, Aster DM Healthcare, and many more, for a distinguished client-side jury, panel discussions, a gala awards night, and extensive networking. The upcoming 4th Edition, slated for 29 January 2026 at Pullman Downtown Dubai, promises even greater collaboration among UAE's top marketing minds.