AI adoption is moving beyond individual productivity tools towards intelligent systems capable of executing tasks, coordinating workflows and supporting business operations. Achieving this transition requires connected systems, accessible data and strong governance, alongside a redefinition of how people contribute through judgement, creativity and relationships.
In an exclusive interview with CNME, Rany Tannouri, Regional Sales Director at Sibia Technologies, discusses how organisations can become genuinely AI-enabled, why the UAE provides a strong environment for translating AI experimentation into measurable outcomes, and how telecom operators can evolve into digital transformation partners. Tannouri, also explores TravelAd’s approach to engaging international travellers and explains how AI-powered enterprise communications could simplify customer experiences and government services.
How can organisations move from employees simply using AI tools to becoming genuinely AI-enabled enterprises?
For me, there is a big difference between employees using AI and a company actually being AI-enabled. Today, a lot of people are already using tools like ChatGPT or Copilot to write emails, summarise documents, research topics, prepare presentations or analyse information. That’s useful, but I see this as the first stage.
The next stage is when we start delegating actual tasks to AI. Instead of asking AI to help you do something, you give it an objective, access to the right information and systems, and then your role becomes more about reviewing and validating the outcome.
Then you have a third level, which I think is where things become interesting: AI agents and workflows that can manage parts of day-to-day operations with much less human involvement. This is when we move from using AI to actually working through AI.
But companies cannot get there just by buying more AI tools. Data needs to be accessible, systems need to communicate with each other, and there needs to be clear governance around what AI can access and what actions it is allowed to take.
I also think this will change people’s roles. If AI can take care of more of the repetitive execution, people can spend more time on judgement, relationships, creativity, and the things they are individually very good at.
What makes the UAE a strong environment for converting AI experimentation into measurable government and business outcomes?
One of the things I really like about the UAE is the speed at which new technologies can move from an idea into something practical. There is obviously a very strong push around AI from the leadership, but what I find more interesting is that the conversation is already moving beyond simply saying, “We are using AI.”
The questions are becoming much more practical. Did it make the service faster? Did it improve the citizen or customer experience? Did it reduce manual work? Did it improve productivity? Can we deliver a service differently because AI is now available?
The UAE also has a strong ecosystem where government entities, telecom operators, technology companies and the private sector work quite closely together.
That makes it easier to take an idea, test it and, when it works, move towards implementation.
I think the next few years will be especially interesting because the measurement of AI success will change. It will not be about how many AI initiatives or PoCs an organisation has. It will be about what those initiatives actually delivered.
How can telecom operators evolve beyond connectivity to become digital transformation partners for enterprise customers?
I see a huge opportunity here, particularly from what we are experiencing through our work at Sibia Technologies across the Middle East and Africa. Telcos already have something that many technology companies would love to have: infrastructure, reach, large enterprise customer bases and established relationships with those customers.
The question is what else they can build on top of that.
Today, an enterprise doesn’t only need a SIM card, internet connection or fibre. They also need cloud communications, AI, cybersecurity, customer experience solutions and many other digital services. If operators can bring these together, their conversation with the customer changes. Instead of discussing only connectivity and price, they can start discussing the customer’s actual business challenges and how technology can solve them.
We are already seeing this transition in different markets. But it also requires a different mindset from the operator. You need the right technology partners, the right solutions, technical capabilities and, importantly, sales teams that are comfortable having a broader technology conversation with customers. For me, that is how the telco moves from being a connectivity provider to becoming a real technology partner.
How is TravelAd helping brands engage international travellers through more relevant and measurable digital communications?
The idea behind TravelAd is actually quite simple. International travellers are a very valuable audience, but reaching the right traveller, at the right moment and with something genuinely relevant is not always easy. With TravelAd, we are looking at this differently by combining telecom reach with digital engagement. The platform allows brands, tourism organisations and other stakeholders to engage inbound international travellers through channels they already use, such as SMS, WhatsApp and other messaging platforms.
For me, the important part is the context. Someone who has just arrived in Dubai, for example, has completely different intentions and needs from someone sitting at home somewhere in Europe or Asia seeing a general advertisement about Dubai.
If you understand that travel context, the communication can become much more relevant. It could be an attraction, an experience, a restaurant, an event or another service that makes sense at that particular point in the traveller’s journey.
At the same time, the engagement becomes measurable. We can understand whether people interacted with the communication, showed interest in an offer or took an action, rather than looking only at advertising impressions.
And there is a bigger story behind TravelAd as well. It shows how telecom infrastructure can be used for much more than connectivity. It can help create an ecosystem connecting travellers, brands, tourism organisations and service providers.
How will the convergence of AI and enterprise communications reshape customer experience and government services
I think this is going to completely change what we consider a communications platform.
Traditionally, communications technology was mainly about connecting two people.
A customer calls or sends a message, an employee receives it, understands what the customer wants, searches different systems for information, and then tries to resolve the request.
With AI, that model starts to change. The platform itself can understand what the customer is asking, understand the context, access the organisation’s knowledge and systems and, increasingly, take actions on the customer’s behalf. That last part is very important. We are moving from AI that can answer to AI that can actually do.
Imagine this from a government perspective. Today, citizens often need to know which government entity, website, application, or department they need for a particular service.
In the future, I think that complexity can disappear from the citizen’s perspective. You simply explain what you need, and the AI understands the request, accesses the relevant government systems and coordinates the processes behind the scenes.
The same applies to enterprises and their customers. For me, the best customer or citizen experience is ultimately the one where the technology becomes almost invisible. The person shouldn’t need to understand how complicated the organisation is behind the scenes. They should simply be able to say what they need and get it done.
Image Credit: Sibia Technologies
Source: Tahawul Tech