Tech News
Talent wars in tech: Building skills pipelines instead of poaching

Poaching might win a headline, but it rarely builds a team. In the middle of the ongoing talent wars in tech, smart leaders are shifting from bidding wars to building skills pipelines. Instead of chasing the same senior engineers, they are cultivating early-career talent, partnering with universities, and opening internal routes to progress. The payoff is durability: lower churn, stronger culture, and capabilities that match the roadmap.
Talent wars in tech need a new playbook
Raiding competitors is costly and noisy. It also risks morale, because internal colleagues see higher-paid roles filled from outside. Meanwhile, non-compete clauses and premium salaries inflate hiring budgets. Therefore, the strategic move is clear: design a pipeline that brings people in earlier, develops them faster, and keeps them longer.
Work with universities to make pipelines real
Universities are ready partners, especially when collaboration benefits everyone—organisations, academics, and students. Big brands already attract graduates; however, smaller or fast-growing firms often fly under the radar. Consequently, they should amplify their presence through Careers Fairs, guest lectures, and campus projects. University Careers Services can help match lesser-known employers to motivated talent.
Go beyond long internships
Classic internships help, yet they touch only a few students and depend heavily on individual performance. Instead, consider shorter, sharper formats: one-week immersions, structured job shadowing, and skills sprints. These options are easier to resource, still deliver insight, and widen access.
Use “real play,” not role play
Students learn fastest through authentic problems. Co-create real challenges with faculty, then invite student teams to propose solutions. Add a small prize and showcase the winning ideas. You gain fresh thinking and free consultancy; students gain experience that translates to the workplace. As a result, your brand becomes memorable before recruitment begins.
Bring academics into industry
The exchange should flow both ways. Invite lecturers for short “industry residencies” so they can refresh their teaching with live examples and current constraints. Their updated courses, in turn, produce graduates who arrive job-ready.
Join advisory boards and co-design curricula
At a strategic level, apply to a University Advisory Board. Share what skills gaps you see, and help shape course content. Run gap-analysis workshops together; prioritise the capabilities your teams will need in 12–24 months. Include alumni voices, because they bridge the classroom and the shop floor.
Explore knowledge exchange and emerging tech
Universities often house labs, computing resources, or data expertise that can accelerate your R&D. In fast-moving fields—artificial intelligence, for instance—structured knowledge exchange lets both sides move quicker, with clearer ethics and better governance.
Encourage and advance the talent you already have
Pipelines are not only external. Internal mobility keeps knowledge in the building and sends a powerful signal: grow here. Start by identifying high-potential employees through reviews or a simple talent program. Then, provide transparent routes to new roles, including cross-functional projects that expand networks and skills.
Next, offer stretch assignments with visible outcomes. Pair emerging talent with mentors who have navigated similar steps. Crucially, highlight success stories—people need to “see it to be it.” When employees believe progress is possible, retention improves and recruitment spend falls.
Moreover, consider executive education with university partners. Short, targeted programmes can upskill cohorts in data fluency, product thinking, or AI literacy. Because the content is tailored, the impact lands quickly on live projects.
A practical roadmap to start this quarter
First, map your most repeatable entry-level roles and the skills that matter. Second, pick two universities and propose a challenge brief and a one-week immersion. Third, create a lightweight internal mobility guide that spells out pathways, application windows, and evaluation criteria. Finally, name ten mentors and match them to early-career employees.
Within one cycle, you will have a visible pipeline, a stronger campus presence, and early wins that compound over time. Importantly, you will rely less on the churn and noise of the market.
The bottom line
The talent wars in tech won’t disappear. However, companies that build skills pipelines—through genuine university partnerships and deliberate internal growth—will spend less fighting fires and more delivering products. That edge compounds. And so does loyalty.
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Tech News
Ramco Systems Celebrates 20 Years in the Middle East, Unveils Vision for the Future at Milestone Event
Doubles down on AI-native applications and localized innovation to shape enterprise technology in the region
Ramco Systems, aglobal enterprise software company offering next-generation SaaS-enabled platforms and products, celebrated two decades of powering enterprise transformation in the Middle East. To mark this milestone, Ramco hosted Ramco@20 – Experience That Matters, a full-day event in Dubai designed to showcase its regional journey, highlight cutting-edge innovations, and bring customers and industry leaders together for forward-looking discussions.
The first half of Ramco@20 convened senior HR and payroll leaders from across the region for a thought leadership forum on the future of employee experience. Industry leaders discussed how enterprises in the Middle East are moving beyond traditional HR process optimization toward more intelligent, intuitive, and employee-centric models of workforce management. Conversations explored balancing automation with empathy, using AI thoughtfully, and elevating payroll as a trust-building touchpoint.
The second half welcomed a large gathering of customers across business units – Global Payroll, Aviation MRO, ERP, Services Resource Planning and Logistics – along with partners, and industry influencers, for a celebration honouring the relationships that have defined Ramco’s two-decade journey. Ramco’s leadership unveiled its technology vision: shifting from Systems of Record to Systems of Intelligence through AI-native applications, agentic workflows, and conversational UX. The leadership’s address also emphasized its investments in platform modernization and localized initiatives, while outlining a roadmap to further strengthen Ramco’s focus for the next 20 years.
Abinav Raja, Managing Director, Ramco Systems, said, “The Middle East has been a cornerstone of Ramco’s growth story for two decades and has shaped our thinking in profound ways. The region’s appetite for transformation has inspired us to design solutions that combine global best practices with local relevance. This milestone is built on the trust and partnership of our customers, and our commitment is clear: double down on AI-native, API-first applications that incorporate special features aligned with the region, platform modernization, and customer-centricity. We are shaping the future of enterprise technology with solutions enabling businesses to focus on what truly matters: growth and people.”
Sandesh Bilagi, Chief Operating Officer, Ramco Systems, said, “Our presence in the Middle East has been built on strong partnerships and a commitment to delivering outcomes. This region is not merely a market for us, but also a proving ground for ideas that redefine global enterprise technology. The presence of all our business units in this region makes the Middle East a key pillar and reflects the confidence our customers have placed in us for twenty years.“
“Our investments in agentic AI, conversational UX, and platform innovation are designed to deliver enterprise applications that are intuitive, secure, scalable and integrate regional nuances,” Bilagi added. “We also focus on customer-focused initiatives like local deployment and training because every digital journey is, at its core, a human journey. The region is setting global benchmarks, and we are proud partners of the next era of enterprise innovation.”
Over the past two decades, Ramco has partnered with leading enterprises across the region, enabling digital transformation through innovative solutions. Its work in the Middle East has been shaped by sectors and functions that demand precision at scale – payroll, aviation, manufacturing, conglomerates, trading, infrastructure, professional services and logistics – giving Ramco an execution depth that continues to define its competitiveness in the region.
Tech News
Vertiv and Caterpillar announce Energy Optimization Collaboration to Expand End-to-End Power and Cooling Offerings for AI Data Centers
Vertiv, a global leader in critical digital infrastructure, and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), a global leader in power systems, today announced the signing of a strategic undertaking to collaborate on advanced energy optimization solutions for data centers. This initiative will integrate Vertiv’s power distribution and cooling portfolio with Caterpillar’s, and its subsidiary Solar Turbines’, product and expertise in power generation and CCHP (Combined Cooling, Heat and Power) to deliver pre-designed architectures that simplify deployment, accelerate time-to-power and optimize performance for data center operations.
A Powerful Collaboration:
This collaboration directly addresses the growing demand for on-site energy solutions that deliver reliable power and cooling. Together, the companies are able to offer a fully integrated solution with validated interfaces and performance, enabling customers to accelerate design, installation and deployment.
- Caterpillar and Solar Turbines will supply power generation solutions, such as natural gas turbines and reciprocating engines, to deliver dependable, scalable electric power and thermal energy for CCHP.
- Vertiv will provide a complete portfolio of power and cooling solutions and services, packaged as modular, pre-designed blocks, to shorten design cycles and standardize deployment.
The Customer Advantages:
- Accelerates Time-to-Power – by utilizing predesigned, modular reference architectures to speed up deployment time.
- Lowers PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) – enables improved energy efficiency and carbon footprint because the system is optimized end-to-end: power, cooling, distribution and dynamic load management, compared to traditional design.
- Global lifecycle support – the offering is backed by the trusted, global service and support networks of both Vertiv and Caterpillar.
“This collaboration with Caterpillar and Solar Turbines is a cornerstone of our Bring Your Own Power & Cooling (BYOP&C) strategy and aligns seamlessly with our grid-to-chip framework by offering resilient, on-site power generation solutions. This is optimal for customers looking to reduce or eliminate grid dependence,” said Gio Albertazzi, CEO, at Vertiv. “By combining our complementary technologies, portfolios and expertise, we are enabling coordinated integration. Our pre-engineered, interoperability-tested building blocks let customers execute design, build and deploy concurrently, with predictable system performance.”
“As AI-driven workloads continue to accelerate, the demand for robust and scalable power infrastructure and cooling is becoming increasingly critical,” said Jason Kaiser, group president of Caterpillar Power & Energy. “Our collaboration with Vertiv will enable us to deliver integrated, on-site energy solutions that lower PUE and meet customers’ evolving needs.”
This initiative directly addresses the growing demand for on-site energy solutions and offers a coordinated, customer-first approach to solution design and implementation. The Vertiv and Caterpillar Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) represents a pivotal step in further refining this ecosystem, enabling customers to overcome energy constraints and deploy optimized AI centers.
Tech News
ASUS Presents “Design You Can Feel” at Dubai Design Week — A Multi-Sensory Journey Through Craftsmanship, AI, and the Future of Laptop Design
ASUS has opened the doors to its most immersive exhibition yet, Design You Can Feel, at Dubai Design Week 2025 — where emotion, functionality, and innovation collide to shape the future of personal technology. Featuring the exclusive Zenbook Ceraluminum™ Signature Edition and the world’s lightest Copilot+ PC, the Zenbook A14, the showcase invites visitors to experience how ASUS is transforming everyday devices into objects of desire — built to be felt, owned, and adored.
Held at Atrium Building 5 in Dubai Design District (d3), the interactive exhibit replaces the traditional tech display with a sensory journey — spotlighting not just what ASUS builds, but how it makes people feel. It is a rare chance for consumers to get up close, try the devices, and even purchase them at exclusive Design Week prices.
“Zenbook has always been about design that connects emotionally. With the Copilot+ PC lineup, we’ve reached a new era — one where your device responds to you, understands you, and becomes a seamless part of your creative and personal life,” said Coraline Lin, Marketing Director of, ASUS.
WHAT VISITORS EXPERIENCED INSIDE “DESIGN YOU CAN FEEL”
Zenbook Ceraluminum™ Signature Edition
The centerpiece of the exhibit, crafted from ASUS’s proprietary Ceraluminum™ — a material that blends the durability of ceramics with the weightlessness of aluminum. Available in four finishes inspired by nature, this ultra-premium collectible edition laptop was built to redefine what luxury tech feels like. The tactile experience is unforgettable — and so is the fact that visitors can purchase it on-site.
Visitors can also explore the AL-FORM Furniture Range — a collection of sculptural chairs that explore the materiality of Ceraluminum™. One chair in the collection is made entirely from Ceraluminum™ — and visitors are encouraged to touch, guess, and interact. It’s design that tells a story — and acts as the perfect lead-in to a purchase moment.
To complement the experience, a bespoke Ceraluminum™ Bukhoor burner adds a UAE-inspired sensory layer to the space — signaling ASUS’s deep respect for local culture while showcasing just how far the material can go.
INTERACTIVE HIGHLIGHTS
“Thincredible Table”
A hands-on disassembly experience where visitors can explore what makes ASUS laptops ultra-thin, ultra-durable, and ultra-desirable — from board design to external finishes. The more visitors understand what’s inside, the more they’ll want to own one.
SUSA by Future Facility
A conceptual piece redefining device interaction — made from oxidized Ceraluminum™ and powered by AI. It challenges everything we know — and want — from modern devices.
Tech-Art Installation by Dr. Ahmad AlAttar
A brainchild of Emirati roboticist and artist Dr. AlAttar, this immersive artwork transforms touch into sound — a symbolic bridge between human emotion and machine response. It embodies ASUS’s message: the future of tech is alive, reactive, and emotional.
EXCLUSIVE DESIGN WEEK OFFERS — AVAILABLE ON-SITE AND ONLINE
For the first time ever, ASUS is uniting a design exhibition with a purchase campaign. Visitors can shop exclusive deals of up to AED 2,000 off on select Zenbook and ProArt laptops — both in-person and through the ASUS eShop.
Featured devices include:
- Zenbook S16 (UM5606) – 16” Copilot+ powerhouse
- Zenbook DUO (UX8406CA) – Dual-screen innovation
- Zenbook A14 (UX3407) – The world’s lightest Copilot+ PC
- ProArt P16 (H7606) – Creator-grade performance
- ProArt PZ13 (HT5306) – Versatile 2-in-1 detachable
- ProArt PX13 (HN7306) – Convertible creator experience
Whether you’re a creative professional, a student, or a tech enthusiast — this is the moment to own the most advanced ASUS laptop at the best price of the year.
Visit ASUS at Atrium 5, d3 — feel the design, fall in love, and take it home.
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