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GLOBAL RETAIL INNOVATION STEPS INTO SMARTER PHASE DRIVEN BY AI AND AUTOMATION

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Based on your feature article about AI and automation in retail, here is a precise ALT text description for your WordPress post. This description is designed to be highly descriptive for accessibility while reinforcing your focus on "Smarter Retail" and AI technology. ALT Text Description "A futuristic smart retail store interior featuring AI-powered aisles where overhead sensors and computer vision cameras track inventory in real-time. A shopper is seen using a smart cart with an integrated touchscreen displaying a live tally of items and personalized digital coupons, illustrating the seamless fusion of automation and data-driven shopping experiences in the global retail sector.

Retail stores and supermarkets are now in the midst of an innovative transformation. Spaces that once used to be defined by stocked shelves and friendly sales associates are now experiencing the ripples of the accelerated digital transformation. Artificial intelligence (AI), automation and data-driven insights are paving the way for smart stores which, on one hand, offer shoppers personalised experiences, while on the other hand, help retailers better understand evolving customer behaviour.

Global trends show how food retailers are also piloting AI-first experiences that match personalisation and ease of eCommerce platforms. By integrating advanced features such as AI sensors, smart carts, autonomous checkout counters and real-time inventory engines, retailers are offering efficient, fast and hassle-free shopping. This shift also gives retailers the benefit of higher conversion and lower operating costs.

As technologies like AI continue to evolve, retailers are leveraging them to optimise pricing, predict consumer behaviour and enhance in-store experiences to create a dynamic retail environment internationally. Current trends indicate a shift towards AI-powered automation in supply chain management, augmented reality for enhanced shopping experiences, and AI-driven marketing strategies which will be discussed at Gulfood 2026, the largest global food show in depth.

Speaking of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Artificial Intelligence in Retail market report stated the nation is projected to grow from USD 16.82 million in 2023 to USD 157.86 million in 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.21 per cent. The UAE’s grocery market is also expanding rapidly, projected to reach USD 38.6 million by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7 per cent through 2029, with online sales accounting for 15 per cent of total sales. Likewise, Saudi Arabia’s online grocery sector was valued at USD 1.54 billion in 2024 and is expected to expand further, with a projected CAGR of 15.9 per cent through 2033.

Government initiatives to promote AI integration

The UAE government strives to capitalise on this positive market landscape by fostering a favourable environment for AI deployment and integration. Initiatives such as the UAE National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 aims to boost government performance and create new markets with high economic value by 2031, thereby positioning the country as a global hub for AI innovations. In line with this, the UAE government is encouraging retail businesses to integrate AI technologies into their operations.

Similarly, the UAE continues to host major global and regional events that accelerate the transformation of the retail sector and showcase the future of tech-enabled commerce. For instance, Gulfood 2026, the world’s largest annual food show, which is being held in Dubai, from January 26 to January 30 will showcase a wide array of innovations happening in the food retail sector. By convening global F&B leaders and decision-makers, including CEOs, heads of state, trade officials, investors, academics, scientists, tech innovators and more under one roof, it will set the ideal stage to lead open discussions and exchange ideas on the possibilities of AI integration and digital transformation in food retail.

Predictive Analytics and Demand Forecasting with AI

The growing momentum of technological innovations is further highlighted by increased use of AI-powered predictive analytics in the country’s retail market. Businesses are now leveraging data to forecast customer demand and optimise inventory management. AI-algorithms that accurately predict purchasing patterns, help retailers retain optimal stock levels, reduce waste and reinforce supply chain efficiency. It also helps retailers design engaging promotional campaigns, refine customer engagement strategies and align their stocks with seasonal trends. This aspect of predictive analytics is beneficial in the UAE’s rapidly evolving retail market, where demand fluctuations can be unpredictable and competitive pressures are high.

The country’s growing focus on AI-powered retail innovations is already being translated into real-world examples. Fully automated stores, such as Carrefour’s Dubai pilot, have proven that AI-powered retail is more than just a concept. These stores demonstrate how automation can improve efficiency, though they can also pose several challenges related to error resolution and data privacy.

Looking ahead, retailers that continue to embrace innovation are projected to unlock new market possibilities. The integration of AI will help refine everything from product selections and store operations to marketing campaigns, helping business leaders make informed decisions. Meanwhile, from a shopper’s perspective, the combination of advanced edge computing and digital signage can offer a personalised shopping experience. The integration of AI will also improve visual search capabilities, helping consumers to find items on retail websites simply with a picture of the item.

As the region’s retail sector continues to leverage AI’s vast possibilities, the key to success of these efforts lies in balancing innovations with customer centricity. The insights shared at Al-Futtaim’s AI in Retail Roundtable [3] offer a clear roadmap for GCC retailers to harness AI responsibly and effectively. In order to localise the experience, brands must design AI solutions that respect the region’s cultural diversity while meeting the expectations of an evolving customer base. Another key point highlighted during the roundtable is humanising the digital experience to ensure that technology strengthens emotional connections rather than replacing them. Retailers should also focus on seamless personalisation across channels, linking online and offline journeys into one unified experience.

Above all, the key to guaranteeing the success of this transformation is transparency and trust. By seeking consent and clearly communicating how data boosts customers’ convenience, retailers can build loyalty that lasts well beyond the transaction.

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9Z Globant Joins Elite Global Esports Network as Official Partner of the Esports Foundation

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Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native company that helps organizations thrive in a digital and AI-powered future, today announced that its 9Z Globant esports organization has been selected as an Official Partner of the Esports Foundation, one of only 40 organizations worldwide to earn this distinction. Beyond the partnership recognition, 9Z Globant has earned its place on the competitive stage through sport merit alone, qualifying for the Esports World Cup 2026, the most prestigious event in global competitive gaming, hosted in Paris.

Founded in Argentina in 2018, 9Z Globant has rapidly grown into a globally recognized brand in esports, combining elite competitive performance, content creation, and a deep-rooted connection with the next generation of fans.

“Saudi Arabia’s investment in esports has created a platform for organizations like 9Z Globant to compete and grow on the world stage. Esports is no longer a niche, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry that moves culture, drives engagement, and builds communities at a scale few sectors can match. Being part of its growth in the Kingdom, alongside an organization that has earned its place on the global stage, is exactly the kind of opportunity that defines what Globant is here to do,” said Federico Pienovi, CEO of MENA & APAC at Globant.

The Esports Foundation Partner Program represents the highest tier of recognition in global competitive gaming, a rigorously curated cohort of organizations proven to shape the industry’s future at scale. While partnership status does not guarantee competition, each of the 25 titles featured at the Esports World Cup demands qualification through its own dedicated competitive circuit, a standard rooted in the Foundation’s guiding principle: Rise Above. 9Z Globant has risen to that challenge: the team has already secured its place on the Paris stage across three premier disciplines: EA SPORTS FC, Overwatch, and Counter-Strike 2. 9Z Globant’s qualification across multiple titles signals the kind of multi-dimensional, high-performance organization that the Esports Foundation was built to elevate.

“Saudi Arabia has established itself as one of the world’s leading hubs for the future of esports. Seeing 9Z Globant join the Esports Foundation ecosystem is a recognition of everything the organization has built over the past few years. At Globant, we’re proud to support that journey and help create new opportunities for players, creators, and fans as competitive gaming continues to grow on a global scale,” said Kevin Janzen, CEO of Gaming & Education AI Studio at Globant.

The Esports World Cup 2026 will bring together the best teams across multiple titles, in front of massive global audiences. “This is bigger than one team, and bigger than one country. 9Z Globant represents a generation of Latin American players, creators, and fans who always knew this moment would come. We have the talent, the hunger, and now the stage to prove it to the world. Competing at the Esports World Cup is the realization of something an entire continent has been building toward,  and we are just getting started,” said Francisco Postiglione, Founder & CEO of 9Z Globant.

Beyond the Esports World Cup, 9Z Globant has cemented its place among global elite competitors. The team recently secured qualification for the Counter-Strike Major,  the most prestigious tournament in one of the world’s most-watched esports titles, making it the only Argentine team to achieve this milestone.

Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as a driving force in global esports, with visionary investment and an extraordinary commitment to elevating competitive gaming worldwide. 9Z Globant’s partnership with the Esports Foundation is a natural convergence: two rising forces in the global gaming world, united by a shared ambition to push boundaries. Looking ahead, 9Z Globant is committed to going beyond competition, actively exploring opportunities through the Foundation’s global network to identify and develop emerging talent, fostering the next generation of players who can compete on the world’s biggest esports stages.

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NETSCOUT STRENGTHENS OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AGAINST AI-DRIVEN, INTERNET-SCALE DDoS ATTACKS

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NETSCOUT® (NASDAQ: NTCT), a leading provider of observability, AIOps, cybersecurity, and DDoS attack protection solutions, today announced continued investments in infrastructure and technology to double its Arbor® Cloud DDoS attack mitigation capacity to 33 Tbps, which is aimed at keeping critical digital services available during DDoS attacks, protecting revenue-generating digital operations, supporting always-on AI-driven businesses, and maintaining customer trust.

This capacity enhancement, coupled with NETSCOUT’s recent acquisition of DDoS network and infrastructure, reinforces the company’s commitment to delivering industry-leading cloud-based DDoS defense at global scale. By fully owning and securing end-to-end control over the platform, NETSCOUT has a clear path to scale innovative, resilient services for customers worldwide. Unlike cloud mitigation services that merely add bandwidth, Arbor Cloud combines global mitigation capacity with global threat intelligence, drawing on NETSCOUT’s unparalleled visibility into real-world internet attack activity. Spanning 16 global scrubbing centers, this significant increase in capacity equips customers with the ability to defend against the growing scale, frequency, and sophistication of DDoS attacks by consistently balancing mitigation capacity across all attack vectors in their environments.

According to Markets and Markets, the DDoS protection market size is expected to continue to grow, driven by increasingly sophisticated attacks and accelerated cloud adoption. Today, multi-vector attacks are the norm. Bad actors are launching more simultaneous attacks as well as quick hit and run attacks, forcing shorter response times from defenders. In addition, mega-botnets like Aisuru and Kimwolf have raised the ceiling on attack sizes with a few attacks approaching or exceeding 30 Tbps. Enterprises and service providers have a compelling need right now to improve the protection levels of their critical digital infrastructure.

“With the increased use of AI, threat actors are targeting organizations whose defenses are vulnerable to the new, more complex DDoS attacks designed to take down critical infrastructure,” stated Carlos Morales, SVP and general manager, Arbor Cloud, NETSCOUT. “As enterprises increasingly rely on AI-powered applications and cloud-native services, while at the same time, attack size and complexity continue to rise, implementing automated and proactive defenses for uninterrupted availability has become a business risk imperative. Arbor Cloud plays a key role in achieving that objective.”

Increasing Arbor Cloud capacity provides significant advantages, including:

  • Greater intelligent mitigation capacity – absorbs and blocks larger volumetric and more sophisticated attacks without losing effectiveness.
  • Multiple threat mitigation – handles multiple concurrent targets (e.g., from carpet bombing attacks) or multiple attack vectors simultaneously.
  • Consistent operational performance – protects critical infrastructure, ensuring capacity does not become a constraint as attack size and frequency increase.
  • Faster stabilization post spikes – acts as a shield wall preventing attacks from reaching customer infrastructure and creating collateral damage that lasts well beyond when the actual attack subsides.
  • Operational confidence – provides added assurance for mission-critical sectors, like financial services, hospitals, retail, and the public sector, which require that protection remains available when legitimate traffic surges and cyberattacks occur simultaneously.

Arbor Cloud plays a critical role as part of NETSCOUT’s multi-layered, adaptive DDoS protection, combining on-premises DDoS defense with cloud-based traffic scrubbing services that are tightly integrated via automated cloud signaling. This hybrid design stops attacks as close to the source as possible while seamlessly absorbing loud volumetric attacks in the cloud. Offering comprehensive global protection, Arbor Cloud is supported by a 24×7 Security Operations Center staffed by NETSCOUT’s DDoS protection experts. The capacity expansion is expected to be fully completed by the end of August 2026.

This investment reinforces NETSCOUT’s long-standing leadership in DDoS protection by combining one of the world’s largest dedicated DDoS mitigation networks with decades of cyber defense expertise, industry-leading threat intelligence, and global Internet visibility. As digital infrastructures continue to evolve rapidly, and AI accelerates both innovation and cyber threats, NETSCOUT remains committed to providing organizations with the scale, intelligence, and operational resilience required to confidently protect what matters most.

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Dynatrace Brings Autonomous Operations to Enterprise AI, Moving from Insight to Action

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Dynatrace (NYSE: DT), the leading AI-powered observability platform, announced major advancements to Dynatrace Intelligence that help automatically resolve incidents, prevent disruptions, and accelerate operations while maintaining the human oversight and governance enterprises require.

Building on the introduction of Dynatrace Intelligence earlier this year, Dynatrace is adding new autonomous agents for incident triage and remediation, and no-code custom agent creation capabilities. The platform is also expanding its ecosystem of integrations, bringing insights directly into the tools and workflows teams already use.

AI systems typically lack the real-time context and controls to make reliable decisions, with most AI initiatives promising automation but often unable to deliver on production goals. Dynatrace addresses this by combining agentic AI with deterministic, real-time understanding of complex environments, creating AI that acts on facts, not guesses.

“Our operations teams are under constant pressure to manage increasingly complex environments while maintaining reliability and speed,” said Angel Marchena, Director of Technical Operations at Western Governors University. “Dynatrace helps us reduce manual effort by providing automation that is grounded in real-time context, which allows our teams to focus on higher-value work while improving operational outcomes.”

How Dynatrace Intelligence Works

Dynatrace Intelligence goes beyond providing answers to acting on them automatically. The release introduces:

  • Autonomous SRE Agent: Triggers autonomously on newly detected problems to determine whether they are part of an existing investigation. If confirmed, the agent enriches the investigation with additional insights and updates the detected problem with a reference to the ongoing investigation.
  • Cloud SRE Agent: Coordinates remediation activities and integrates with agents across AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud environments, centralizing findings to provide a single auditable record for autonomous operations.
  • Agent Builder: Enables customers to create and deploy custom AI agents without code, extending autonomous operations to workflows unique to their environments.
  • Enhanced Dynatrace Assist: Newcapabilities bring natural-language investigation and agent-ready workflows to even more users.
  • Expanded Integration Ecosystem: New integrations with hyperscalers like AWS, Azure and Google; enterprise platforms like ServiceNow, Atlassian, and PagerDuty; developer tools and leading AI technologies enable teams to resolve and remediate across the systems they already use.

AI That Acts on Answers, Not Guesses

Unlike approaches that rely primarily on probabilistic outputs, Dynatrace Intelligence grounds every action in deterministic, real-time system understanding. Every action is rooted in environment-specific context and designed to be transparent, auditable, and governed – giving enterprises the confidence to automate increasingly complex operational workflows.

“Most observability platforms stop at data – leaving humans to find answers, determine what to do, and execute,” said Steve Tack, Chief Product Officer at Dynatrace. “With these advancements to Dynatrace Intelligence, we’re helping organizations move from understanding problems to resolving them automatically. By grounding agentic AI in deterministic context, Dynatrace enables enterprises to automate operations with confidence while maintaining governance and control.”

“Enterprises investing in AI-driven observability have an opportunity to turn data into intelligence that translates into trusted, autonomous action,” said Stephen Elliot, Group VP, IDC. “The gap between AI-generated insight and safe, governed execution is one of the biggest concerns; customers need a deterministic, real-time context with automation and auditability to drive trusted and reliable outcomes.”

Cloud SRE Agent, Enhanced Dynatrace Assist, and the expanded integration ecosystem are available to SaaS customers on DPS today. Autonomous SRE Agent and Agent Builder are expected to be available in August.

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