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TiE Women MENA Crowns Five Regional Winners Ahead of GITEX Global Final

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TiE Dubai, the regional chapter of TiE Global, has officially announced the five regional winners, who will compete at the seventh edition of the TiE Women MENA program 2026. Following a series of virtual regional finals held from September 8 to 17, five women founders emerged as track winners, one from each category. In the country tracks, Naglaa Mohamed, Co-Founder of P-Vita (Egypt), Lea Mehaweg, Co-Founder and CEO of Maison Safqa (Saudi Arabia), and Anuscha Iqbal, Co-Founder and CEO of Qanooni AI (UAE) took top honours. Rowan Alawi, CEO of Trase, won the Rest of MENA track, while Aisha Alyassi, Founder and Brand Director of SCULP, was named the Emirati track winner.

This year drew 250+ licensed, women-founded businesses, up from almost 200 in 2025, with strong showings in AI and SaaS, AgriTech and FoodTech, HealthTech, sustainability and fashion. From this pool, 228 founders were shortlisted and 46 went on to pitch in the regional finals, where each track named one winner and two runners-up. Founders were assessed on their idea, go-to-market strategy, team strength, competitive advantage, product-market fit, financial objectives, and operational and technical viability. Each finalist was paired with dedicated mentors who worked closely with them to get pitch- and market-ready, helping them sharpen and scale their businesses ahead of the regional finals.

At the regional finals, shortlisted founders pitched before juries drawn from venture capital, technology, banking, media and innovation. The Egypt panel featured Angeliki Karayianni of Nokia, Dina El-Shenoufy of F6 Ventures and Haifa A, formerly of Riyad Bank; Saudi Arabia brought together Abdulrahman AlJiffry of 500 Global, Dalia Nabil of Nokia and former Google and Microsoft leader Roberto Croci. The Rest of the Middle East jury included Dalia Amin of Nokia, Dr. Islam Shdaifat of JoVision and Nesma Abdel Azim of Wamda, while the UAE panel comprised Aamer Sheikh of Homegrown Ventures, Jacopo Carlo Canale of Global Ventures and May El-Rafie of Nokia. The Emirati track was judged by Lucy Chow of Pact Ventures, Saeed Alnofeli of in5 Innovation Centers and Sönke Peters of Nokia.

At Expand North Star in GITEX Global 2026, the winners will receive a dedicated pod to showcase their businesses, gaining direct access to investors and other key stakeholders. The five founders will now compete for the MENA title at the finals in December at GITEX Global 2026.

Beyond the winners’ circle, the 2026 cohort tells a clear story of founders building for the region’s most pressing challenges. AI ran through almost every track, powering solutions in legal services, construction, livestock health, prenatal care and community platforms, while sustainability shaped ventures turning farm waste into fertilizer, discarded yarn into premium textiles and smart sensors into water savings of 30-45% in a water-scarce region. Equally striking was the number of founders designing products specifically for women, from safe mobility to mental wellbeing and maternal health.

The program is run by TiE Dubai and powered by official partner Nokia, alongside longtime partners TECOM, Dubai Internet City and the in5 Innovation Centers. It is further supported by a wide network of ecosystem partners that continue to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial network.

5 mentors, the majority TiE Charter Members, will continue supporting the cohort beyond the finals.

Carlina Marani and Shameema Parveen, Co-Chairs of TiE Women MENA 2026, commented, “The quality of the candidates and their pitch decks was exceptionally high this year, and what stood out was the diversity of sectors represented. We saw everything from Emirati food products and AI-powered solutions for water conservation and fetal health to second-hand and sustainability-focused businesses. Across the program, there was a clear sense that these women are building businesses with the intention to create meaningful impact. Their enthusiasm was infectious throughout the finals, both online and in person across the UAE and Emirati tracks.We are now looking forward to the GITEX finals and to seeing these companies continue to grow and make their mark across the region.”

Despite MENA startups raising USD 150 million across 27 deals in April 2026, the funding gap for female-founded startups remained stark, with just USD 2.5 million going to them in H1 2026, or 0.14% of the region’s USD 1.7 billion venture funding. TiE Dubai remains committed to closing the gap through practical support, mentorship, funding access, visibility and a clear path from pitch to market, backing women entrepreneurs with regional networking and community engagement initiatives that strengthen their growth and presence in the ecosystem.

In the MENA region, the program has supported more than 1,000 women-led businesses, curated 350+ pitches and awarded AED 380K in equity-free prize money over the past four years. Globally, TiE Women has become one of the largest pitch platforms for women entrepreneurs, receiving more than 11,000 applications across 62 countries and accelerating over 500 women-led startups.

Aisha Alyassi, Founder of SCULP, winner of the Emirati track of TiE Women MENA 2026, reflected, “Being named a TiE Women MENA Regional Winner is an incredibly meaningful milestone, especially as a founder building SCULP from the ground up. The experience has pushed me to think bigger, sharpen my vision, and connect with a community of women who genuinely believe in what we’re building and where it can go.”

Danial Mausoof, Vice President MI Segment, MEA at Nokia, said: “At Nokia, we believe that innovation thrives when diverse perspectives, bold ideas and entrepreneurial ambition come together. We are proud to partner with TiE Women MENA and support a platform that gives women founders across the region the visibility and mentorship they need to turn innovative ideas into businesses with real impact. The diversity and ambition we have seen throughout this year’s program are a strong reflection of the depth of entrepreneurial talent across MENA. We congratulate all five regional winners and look forward to seeing them taking their businesses to the next level and showcase the innovation emerging from the region on the global stage.”

Ahead, all five regional winners will continue one-to-one work with their assigned mentors to sharpen their pitch, go-to-market strategy and investor materials ahead of the MENA finals at GITEX Global 2026 in December.  For more information, visit the official TiE Women website.

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TrendAI™Expands Vision One with New Security Capabilities for AI Agents and Application Development

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TrendAI™, the global AI security leader and enterprise business unit of Trend Micro  Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), has announced new capabilities for TrendAI Vision One™. These include the private preview of Autonomous Vulnerability Discovery and expanded support for Claude’s Compliance API, which now covers Claude Code and Cowork sessions. Together, these services help enterprises identify exploitable vulnerabilities in source code before attackers do, investigate how AI agents operate, and maintain oversight as AI adoption scales.

The need for this oversight is growing rapidly across the region. According to research conducted by The Harris Poll for Dataiku, 62% of UAE chief information officers believe their organisation have more than 50 AI agents running in production, yet only 18% have a fully unified view of agents across platforms, data environments, and business applications. At the same time, AI is accelerating both how quickly code is written and how quickly attackers can identify flaws. Security teams therefore need to keep pace with AI adoption without losing visibility into what is happening across their environments.

The new capabilities extend TrendAI Vision One™ across both software development and AI agent activity. TrendAI Vision One™ Autonomous Vulnerability Discovery is powered by AESIR, TrendAI’s agentic exploit-remediation engine, which identifies and validates vulnerabilities, including zero-days. It also verifies fixes in customer source code. The engine uses purpose-built, multi-model AI architecture that relies primarily on Anthropic models and has outperformed single-model and agentic system scores on the CyberGym Leaderboard. Every finding is validated by experts from the TrendAI™ Zero-Day Initiative™ (ZDI), the world’s largest vendor-agnostic bug bounty programme. The Autonomous Vulnerability Discovery is deployed and operated on Amazon Bedrock from Amazon Web Services (AWS), enabling the full workflow to run within the customer’s AWS environment

In parallel, the expanded Claude Compliance API integration brings Claude Code and Cowork session records from Claude Enterprise into TrendAI Vision One™.  These records include prompts, responses, and tool calls, each tied to a verified user. It enables security teams to investigate AI activity in context, correlate it with endpoint, identity, cloud and network signals, and build custom detections for relevant agent behaviour.

Commenting on the announcement, Salah Suleiman, Managing Director, South Gulf, TrendAI™, said, “AI is changing both how software is built and how work gets done across the enterprise. Code is being written faster than ever, while AI agents are increasingly able to access systems, call tools and act on behalf of users. As organisations across the UAE and the wider region scale AI at pace, their security teams need to identify vulnerabilities early while maintaining clear visibility into what AI systems are doing and whether their actions align with organisational policies. With these additions to TrendAI Vision One™, we are helping organisations move faster with AI while maintaining the context, oversight and control needed to do so securely.”

TrendAI Vision One™ also continues to ingest activity logs from Claude Enterprise, covering user logins, administrative actions and configuration changes, as well as from Claude Platform, covering administrative, system and resource events. Autonomous Vulnerability Discovery is now available in private preview to select enterprise customers running on AWS, while Claude’s Compliance API integration in TrendAI Vision One™ is available to TrendAI Vision One™ customers using Claude Enterprise.

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ZWSOFT and Logicom Saudi Arabia Partner to Expand Access to Professional CAD Solutions in the Kingdom

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The Strategic distribution partnership aims to accelerate digital transformation across Saudi Arabia’s architecture, engineering and construction sector

ZWSOFT, a global provider of engineering design software, has appointed Logicom Saudi Arabia as their distributor in the Kingdom, strengthening access to professional computer-aided design (CAD) solutions for local businesses.

The partnership combines ZWSOFT’s engineering software expertise with Logicom’s established distribution capabilities and local partner network to support Saudi Arabia’s architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector. The collaboration aims to help businesses improve productivity and modernise workflows through accessible, high-performance and cost-efficient design technologies.

At the heart of the offering is ZWCAD, ZWSOFT’s flagship CAD solution, featuring DWG compatibility, a familiar design environment and cost-efficient licensing. The partnership will help resellers, system integrators and end customers access these solutions and address evolving project requirements, supporting the Kingdom’s wider digital transformation ambitions under Vision 2030.

Naim AlHammami, Country Manager, ZWSOFT Saudi Arabia, said: “With the surging demand for advanced tech solutions in Saudi Arabia, ZWSOFT set out to find a proven, high-caliber distribution partner. Logicom Saudi Arabia is uniquely qualified to drive this expansion, backed by a strong product ecosystem and an established track record in enterprise hardware and software distribution.”

Fadi Karzon, General Manager of Logicom Saudi Arabia, said: “We are pleased to partner with ZWSOFT to bring innovative and cost-effective CAD solutions closer to businesses across Saudi Arabia. By combining ZWSOFT’s technology with Logicom’s local market expertise and strong partner ecosystem, we aim to empower our partners and customers with the tools they need to enhance productivity, drive innovation and support the Kingdom’s digital transformation goals.”

Through this partnership, ZWSOFT and Logicom aim to expand the availability of professional design software across Saudi Arabia and strengthen support for the country’s growing engineering and construction industries.

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PlanRadar Research Highlights Project Delivery Risks for UAE Construction Teams Ahead of 2027

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PlanRadar, a leading platform for digital documentation, communication and reporting in construction and real estate projects, has highlighted key project delivery risks facing construction teams as activity across the UAE continues to grow.

PlanRadar’s Construction Survey Report 2026: Managing Project Changes in the Age of AI surveyed 1,728 construction professionals responsible for on-time and on-budget delivery across 14 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The findings were also explored in PlanRadar’s webinar, Managing Mid-Project Changes in the Age of AI.

The research comes as UAE construction output is projected to reach US$130.8 billion by 2029, up from a record US$107.2 billion in 2024, according to Knight Frank. As project volumes and stakeholder complexity increase, the ability to manage changes, approvals and project records efficiently will remain central to delivery performance.

One of the clearest concerns identified in PlanRadar’s research is the impact of delayed approvals and slow responses. These were the most common pain points reported in the management of mid-project changes, including RFIs, change orders and variation requests. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said approvals are often received after agreed timeframes, while one in four estimated that delayed approvals typically add more than a month to project timelines.

Among teams where approvals are almost always late, month-long project delays were more than twice as likely as among those where late approvals are rare.

Ibrahim Imam, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of PlanRadar, said: “In a market delivering projects at the UAE’s current pace, small delays in decision-making can quickly become much larger delivery problems. Going into 2027, companies need clearer ownership, predefined approval routes and faster access to the information decision-makers need. The aim is not to eliminate change—change is inevitable—but to ensure every change is visible, traceable and acted on before it affects programme or cost.”

PlanRadar’s findings also show the financial impact of unmanaged changes. Two in three respondents said that mid-project changes lead to budget overruns in many or most of their projects. However, the research indicates that stronger process control can improve outcomes: four in five respondents using a central digital tool to track changes reported an improved ability to control costs or protect project margins.

Information fragmentation is another challenge. Nearly eight in ten respondents said that at least half of their project documentation is spread across unconsolidated channels, including emails, messages, phone calls and verbal instructions. Among those who could easily locate documentation, 70% felt confident that their records clearly showed responsibility for delays and cost impacts—double the proportion among those who found documentation difficult to locate.

Administrative workload compounds these pressures. Nearly half of respondents reported spending 11 or more hours each week on administrative tasks. Among those using a central digital tool with integrated AI functionality, two in three said they save at least two hours per week, per project, on administration and coordination.

Andrey Belogortsev, Regional Manager for MENA and APAC at PlanRadar, said: “The immediate opportunity for construction teams is to build reliable, connected workflows around the information already being generated on site. When changes, approvals and supporting evidence are captured in one accessible record, teams can identify issues earlier, engage the right people faster and maintain accountability throughout the project lifecycle.”

“AI can add real value when it is applied to repetitive, time-consuming work within those controlled workflows. It should support professional judgement—not replace it—by giving project teams more time to focus on decisions, risks and exceptions that require their expertise.”

The survey found that 58% of respondents believe AI can reduce workload across their biggest day-to-day challenges, while 65% believe it can streamline major administrative tasks.

Building on this need, PlanRadar has introduced AI Agents, allowing customers to create agents in plain language or use ready-made options to complete defined actions. Each action is logged, attributed and limited to the permissions of the user who created the agent, enabling teams to automate routine work while retaining oversight and control.

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