GCC region’s retail real estate sector is expanding rapidly, but traditional space-centric models are insufficient. A new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) titled “Imagining the Future of Retail: Beyond Space” offers a comprehensive examination of the strategic readiness of retail real estate developers across the Middle East.

Drawing on BCG’s project experience and interviews with senior leaders across the GCC’s major mixed-use, retail, entertainment, and lifestyle developments, the report says that the region’s retail real estate sector is witnessing its most ambitious physical expansion in generations, with millions of square meters of gross leasable area (GLA) under development across megaprojects in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dubai, and Doha. In several GCC markets, luxury retail space expansion has already outpaced growth in addressable consumer spending, reshaping sales per square meter and current development strategies. In addition, competition is intensifying as new supply comes online. Up to 25% of revenue at leading assets comes from non-GLA sources. Assets that lack digital and data capabilities may need to evolve to stay relevant in future customer journeys.

“The forces reshaping retail are converging faster than most operators recognize, and traditional space-centric models are no longer sufficient for what lies ahead,” said Andrea Pierobon, Partner at BCG Middle East. “The GCC has built world-class retail destinations, and the opportunity now is to rethink what retail real estate actually delivers in terms of moving from space-centric models to capability-led approaches.”

Factors Transforming the Traditional Retail Operating Model

The report identifies five converging forces that are systematically transforming traditional retail operating models. Retailers are reducing store size and numbers, opening smaller formats, and experimenting with new space as online commerce grows. The omnichannel imperative means retailers and developers can no longer treat digital and physical as separate strategies. Experience-led consumption is fundamentally shifting what consumers expect from physical retail environments, demanding immersive engagement rather than transactional convenience.

Retail media monetization represents an emerging value stream that most GCC operators have yet to capture, with global retail media revenues forecast to grow by $213 billion by 2028. AI-powered discovery is transforming how consumers navigate their shopping journeys, with more than half of consumers under 34 already using AI tools as part of their purchasing decisions.

BCG outlines three disruption scenarios (not predictions) that retail real estate leaders must actively plan for now:

1. What if: over 50% of retail sales move online, fundamentally challenging the economics of traditional mall development, as we see in advanced markets around the world
2. What if: Data replaces product margins as the primary value driver, shifting power toward operators who can capture and monetize customer intelligence, as we already see with many leading global retailers
3. What if: AI agents become the primary decision-makers in consumer journeys, disintermediating traditional brand and retailer relationships, as we see adoption of Gen AI and Agentic tools accelerating.

Three Archetypes, One Imperative

The analysis also identifies three distinct strategic archetypes emerging across GCC retail real estate, each requiring a different operating model, capital allocation strategy, and capability set. Community and convenience retail serve localized, high-frequency needs with efficiency and accessibility at its core. Experience-led destinations compete on immersive engagement, cultural programming, and social connection rather than transactional retail alone. Ecosystem platform developers position themselves as orchestrators of broader consumer and commercial ecosystems, capturing value through data, partnerships, and integrated services.

“There is an immediate opportunity to shape the next chapter of GCC retail real estate, and to innovate for future retail needs, rather than continuing with the traditional development model,” said Andy Veitch, Managing Director & Partner and Head of Consumer Practice, BCG Middle East. “Those who act decisively, by choosing a clear archetype, investing selectively in enabling capabilities, and shifting from space delivery to business model innovation, will define the category for the next generation.”

The report outlines future-proofing levers that operators must activate: redefining the value proposition, repositioning the tenant mix, creating experiential programming, building data and analytics capabilities, developing retail media offerings, enabling omnichannel integration, investing in sustainability and ESG, forging strategic partnerships, and transforming organizational capabilities.

However, the report reveals that most organizations remain tied to more traditional leasing models, siloed functions, and occupancy-led KPIs. Without targeted investment in data and analytic capabilities, customer experience design, and agile decision-making infrastructure, progress against these imperatives will remain uneven.

Hisense, a leading brand in global consumer electronics and home appliances, inaugurated its new Middle East & Africa regional headquarters in Building 13, Dubai Internet City, the Middle East’s leading tech hub and part of TECOM Group. The newly designed headquarters reflects Hisense’s innovation-driven culture, featuring a contemporary environment built to foster collaboration, creativity, and technological advancement.

The new headquarters reinforces Hisense’s long-term commitment to the Middle East and Africa, establishing a strategic hub to strengthen the company’s growing operations, partnerships, and innovation initiatives across the region. The milestone event brought together distinguished guests including Dubai Internet City’s top management and Hisense’s key partners, distributors, and main retailers across the region.

“The opening of our new office in Dubai Internet City represents our commitment to the UAE market and the broader Middle East region,” said Jason Ou, President at Hisense Middle East & Africa. “With the launch of our new UR9 and UR8 RGB MiniLED Series, we are bringing the most advanced display technology available to consumers here, delivering an unparalleled viewing experience that sets a new benchmark for premium home entertainment.”

“Dubai Internet City is home to a diverse community of global technology companies and more than 31,000 professionals that continue to advance the digital economy in the region and globally,” said Ammar Al Malik, Executive Vice President of Commercial at TECOM Group and Managing Director of Dubai Internet City. “Hisense’s new regional headquarters reflects its long-term commitment to the region and underscores Dubai’s position as a global hub for innovation, in line with the objectives of Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’.”

Dubai has been home to Hisense’s regional HQ for many years and continues to play a key role in the company’s growth across the Middle East and Africa. The UAE’s commitment to innovation, supportive business environment, and wealth of opportunities has made it an ideal strategic hub for regional expansion.

The inauguration also served as the platform for Hisense to unveil its most advanced television technology to date: the UR9 and UR8 RGB MiniLED Series. Designed to capture every thrilling moment of live sports and entertainment, the flagship models deliver stunning detail, vibrant colours, and true-to-life picture quality that brings fans closer to the action from their own homes. As an Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 26™ and a proud supporter of the first-ever Sensory Inclusive FIFA World Cup™, Hisense is helping create dedicated sensory spaces across all host stadiums, ensuring more people can enjoy the world’s biggest football tournament.

Powered by next-generation MiniLEDs, the technology delivers more accurate and vibrant colours, higher brightness, and deeper contrast, while reducing blue light exposure and optimizing power consumption.

Leading the range, the UR9 Series represents Hisense’s most advanced expression of RGB MiniLED innovation. Delivering what the company calls “Natural and Real Color,” the UR9 achieves authentic and vivid colour reproduction with exceptional brightness and contrast performance. The technology produces more natural skin tones and lifelike imagery, creating visuals that are not only striking but also comfortable for extended everyday viewing.

The UR8 Series extends the benefits of RGB MiniLED technology to a broader audience, offering high-performance displays across screen sizes ranging from 55 to 100 inches. Combining vibrant colour accuracy, impressive brightness, eye-friendly viewing, and energy-efficient performance, the series brings premium large-screen entertainment to more consumers across the region.

At Hisense, the belief in “Innovating a Brighter Life” inspires the company to develop technologies and experiences that make everyday life better and bring people closer to the moments that matter.

Unveiled in 1999, Dubai Internet City has nurtured the digital economy by uniting global leaders through its world-class ecosystem. According to an impact study conducted by the district in partnership with Accenture in February 2025, Dubai Internet City contributed AED 100 billion to Dubai’s GDP in the past 15 years.

UiPath, Inc. (NYSE: PATH), a leader in business orchestration and automation, today announced Maestro Case, a new AI-native UiPath agentic case management capability. Available today as part of the UiPath Maestro™ business orchestration capabilities, Maestro Case extends governed orchestration and automation to complex and exception-laden case management, allowing enterprises to manage dynamic, long-running cases with greater visibility, control, and execution speed.

In a recent UiPath survey of nearly 600 C-Suite and IT practitioners at large companies ($1B+ in revenue), 52% reported that the presence of hybrid workflows—a combination of static, repeatable processes and dynamic, context-dependent processes—across their day-to-day operations. Those dynamic processes, such as customer requests, investigations, and approvals, are managed through disconnected emails, spreadsheets, and point solutions, creating delays, inconsistent outcomes, and limited visibility.

Without a coordinated view of a case, with people, systems, data, and AI agents in a single workflow, it becomes difficult to ensure the right actions occur at the right time. Additionally, the valuable context of those actions can be lost as the case moves through teams and the organization, impacting resolution speed, compliance, and transparency, making it harder to scale operations without increasing complexity.

Maestro Case is designed for enterprises living in hybrid environments that need more than orchestrating defined paths. As a new capability with UiPath Maestro, Maestro Case treats the case as a dynamic business entity that carries its data, participants, timeline, and execution context across stages, actors, and systems. Configurable case and stage management agents help move work forward, while robots, AI agents, and people execute tasks within governed workflows. Human review and escalation can be built into the process for exceptions, compliance needs, and decisions requiring judgment. Additionally, as an AI-native offering, Maestro Case is fully supported by any coding agent of choice across every stage of a case, including build, test, debug, deploy, and operate.

“Modern case management is no longer about tracking work—it’s about orchestrating dynamic complex processes, where exceptions are the norm,” said Raghu Malpani, Chief Technology & Product Officer, UiPath. “With Maestro Case, organizations can bring together people, AI agents, systems, and business processes into a single coordinated experience. Teams can resolve complex cases faster, adapt to changing business needs, and deliver the visibility, governance, and agility required in today’s enterprise environment.”

Early design adopters are already seeing measurable results, reporting a 60–80% reduction in average case handling time, a three-to-five times increase in cases resolved without human intervention, and SLA compliance improvements of more than 25 percentage points. One financial services adopter projects more than $12 million in annual savings from leveraging Maestro Case to automate dispute resolution and KYC case workflows.