S2 E2 - Outlook on Technology Shifts Shaping Businesses in the Next 5 Years

In this episode, host Radwa Hassan speaks with Charbel Zreiby, an expert in digital transformation and technology innovation. They discuss the outlook on technology shifts that will shape businesses in the next 5 years.

Charbel highlights the importance of embracing a digital mindset and adopting new technologies such as AI, blockchain, and IoT to drive business growth and stay competitive. He also emphasizes the need for companies to prioritize data security and privacy as cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated.

The conversation delves into the impact of automation on the workforce and the need for reskilling and upskilling to ensure employees are equipped to work alongside new technologies. They also touch on the role of government regulations in shaping the future of tech and business.

Overall, the discussion highlights the rapid pace of technological change and the need for businesses to stay agile and adaptable to thrive in the coming years.

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Podcast Description:

The B2B POD is the finest resource for knowledge on anything pertaining to the B2B sector. The podcast aims at providing topical and dynamic content, making it a vital tool for entrepreneurs to stay updated. Listen in as our season's host Radwa Hassan, brings together a variety of guests each week to discuss the relevant challenges of the industry.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Radwa: Hello and welcome everyone to a new episode by the B2B Pod by the pulse of Dubai. I have the pleasure to host a very special guest here in this episode, Charbel Zreiby, and today the title of our episode is The Outlook on the Technology Shifts Shaping Business in the next five Years.

[00:00:30] Intro: Welcome to the B2B Pod by the pulse of Dubai, with your host, Radwa Hassan, a podcast that touches upon everything that's going on in and around the B2B industry.

Charbel Zreiby is a renowned industry channel executive leader in the information technology sector. His passion for technology has fueled his journey of 22 years working closely with customers and partners and during which he has managed to build a successful track record with multiple industries.

[00:01:00] Charbel has been working with a channel ecosystem for the better part of his career in different leadership roles and with different global IT vendors covering the Middle East Turkey. And Africa Reach. Charbel is a regular speaker at multiple regional events and in addition to holding a master's degree in computer engineering, he's also certified in the fields of executive leadership, coaching, emotional intelligence, and others.

[00:01:30] Welcome to the B2B pod. Charbel, really a pleasure to have you here.

Charbel: Uh, hello Radwa, and thank you. Thank you for having me. And uh, thank you for the B2B pod team as well. Happy to be here. Thank you.

Radwa: And Charbel, I'm gonna give a bit of an introduction about really the title of our episode and where this is coming from, and the identification of the big six big technology trends coming from the fact that technology has engulfed us in.

[00:02:00] Ways than we can imagine. And when it comes to business, it has become pertinent to companies to be more adaptive and understand the tech landscape. The six technology trends that are expected to impact how business is done in the next five years are multi-cloud. edge computing, AI, machine learning, 5g data management and security.

[00:02:30] I personally see that they're very, very much shaping and changing everything that we do and not just technology and business. So, Charbel, you can just explain further your point of view and how you see these big technologies really being, uh, very important in shaping up the future in the present as well.

[00:03:00] Charbel: All right. So, uh, and be, before I start talking about the technologies, uh, and details, I just wanted to, you know, give an overview of how the technology is actually shaping the way we live and shaping everything that's around us. And we've witnessed, you know, the acceleration, especially after the pandemic.

We've witnessed that acceleration where we've seen that, uh, without technology. We couldn't have sustained, uh, the way we were doing business and we wouldn't probably were able to stay in lockdown for that much, uh, time that we had without having the ability to connect with other people, whether on a social level or on a professional level.

[00:03:30] So, Technology definitely can help us overcome a lot of the challenges that we could face, whether socially from a business perspective in healthcare and in many, in many industries. So it's very important to look at technology and how this technology is shaping, uh, the future on, in multiple angles and not just from, uh, you know, in, in the, in the business world.

[00:04:00] Now specifically, specifically in the business world. And we've seen, we've seen that, uh, the digital transformation has accelerated. We've seen that we were able to move a lot of the workforce into a remote workforce in, in a matter of few weeks. Some companies even like, went fully remote after that or like have, you know, adopted a hybrid workplace today.

[00:04:30] So, and without that technology we wouldn't be able to do that. So part of that digital transformation technology kept evolving and. We believe that there are specific, you know, technology shifts that are gonna be really part of the near future, and they are gonna shape up the near future and in no particular order, I can like, name them quickly.

I think. Uh, we live in a multi-cloud world and cloud is one of, uh, the, uh, you know, the foundations of, uh, what's gonna still happen in the future. We, we talk a lot about the. It's one of the things that we really need to look at, uh, in terms of connectivity. 5G today is actually changing the way we look at connectivity.

[00:05:00] And today, while 5G is, uh, already in, uh, in action, uh, let's say we're talking about 6G and the development of 6G and how 6G is gonna be different. We, we talk a lot about like artificial intelligence and machine learning. So, and these are gonna be a. In my opinion, they will exist in every single like solution that we see.

[00:05:30] And data in general. Data is in everything we do today. We create data, and data is gonna be really, and data management are gonna be really a hot topic to look at and definitely. LA last, but uh, by no means least of course, equally important is security. That's gonna really be a big and important player in every single aspect of what we do from a business perspective, especially with all of the, uh, you know, like the threat landscape that is changing regularly and actually at a very fast pace nowadays.

[00:06:00] So I believe that these are like the most important technology shifts that are gonna. Uh, be business drivers and shape the way we do business in the next, uh, few years.

Radwa: I fully agree with, with all of them. I see really how they all have evolved at a very fast pace and ha have made, made a big difference.

[00:06:30] And if, if we are to pick the top technologies that you believe really have the biggest impact and, and value, what would they?

Charbel: I would say, I would say edge computing and uh, and AI. That would be probably like the two, in my opinion, that are gonna make a big difference and uh, definitely security.

[00:07:00] Radwa: Okay. And if we take them each one individually, and if we start with edge computing, how do you see edge computing is really driving the future, and at the same time, how is it different from cloud computing?

Charbel: All right, so, so in order to answer you, let me just, you know, shed the light a little bit on, on cloud. Alright, so Cloud General is an operating, uh, it's an operating model. Mm-hmm. , it's not a location. All right. And, and cloud is not a new concept.

[00:07:30] Even, uh, if we go back in years, we used to have that concept, but in a different way because we did not have the right technology nor the right connectivity at the time. Right now, the way we look at cloud and. The trend started probably like I remember back in 2010, I was doing a presentation in one of DCIO events and the title was, the Journey to the Cloud Starts Now and this is when actually like the cloud was starting to become a trend.

[00:08:00] And since those days, we evolved from cloud being just a public cloud where actually customers can go and consume something remotely on a, on a with the hyperscalers. And, uh, we moved from the cloud first mentality to the data first mentality, which actually started creating, uh, some, uh, you know, repatriation from the cloud where customers started thinking, okay, so I don't need to put all my workloads on cloud.

[00:08:30] Or on a public cloud, I can have some of my workloads in my own data centers. And then technology evolved and we started talking about the ability to move workloads to the cloud and back to, uh, the private cloud, so from public to private. And we started also having multiple, uh, you know, uh, distributed environments.

And this is what we. What we call the edge. So today we live in a multi-cloud world where like me as an organization can have my data and workloads, uh, sitting in different type of clouds. 

[00:09:00] And the way I want to do it is by thinking where my data should be at which time, and it all depends really on what I need to achieve from a business.

So this multi-cloud world is actually gonna continue evolving. We are, uh, we're seeing a lot of shift today also, like, uh, for example to the, as a service model, I believe there will be a lot of advancements as well in terms of automation and others in the cloud world. 

[00:09:30] And now back to the edge, it is that distributed environment that we created is what we're calling the edge and.

A definition of the edge would be probably, it's where actually data is being created and it's actually being acted. where it was created. And an example of that, uh, like a quick example of that would be each one of us. Mm-hmm. So today each one of us is carrying a mobile device. That mobile device actually is generating data.

[00:10:00] It's connected probably to a smartwatch, which actually keeps telling us that, uh, you know, uh, your heart rate is going up, your heart rate is going down. This is how much you slept. We are an edge because when as we are carrying this watch, the data is being created around the clock. It's being analyzed on the watch or on the device itself, which we are carrying, and then I'm getting those insights.

[00:10:30] So as a user, those insights are gonna help me be more healthy. They're gonna help me understand maybe that I have a heart problem. They're gonna help me understand that if I have a sleep apnea problem. So each one of us, Is an edge today. And that's like a, the one of the simple examples that we can do or that I can give.

[00:11:00] And the edge is important and why? Because based on an IDC study, actually by 2025, we gonna see that 90% of the operational processes that are gonna be implemented within the organization is gonna be at the edge. So that really shows how the edge, uh, environment is gonna grow in the coming years.

Radwa: Yes, most certainly.

[00:11:30] And, and I really like what you said about we're all edge moving, moving edge computing. So yeah. Indeed, this is how we can, uh, very much link it. Yeah. To a real. .

Charbel: Yeah. And allow me, allow me, yeah. And allow me, if you want, uh, to, you can just, uh, give an energy why we considered the edge as, uh, the fourth industrial revolution.

Okay. So if we look back in time, uh, like we, well, people lived in three different, uh, industrial revolution. Okay? It started like with the water and steam, where like the water and, uh, boilers. So like a source of water or a boiler could have created, uh, you know, the ele electricity, right? So this created a new opportunity.

[00:12:00] Okay. A new opportunity, but for people who either had, uh, you know, like the means to be able to build those large boilers, right? Or like have access to a water source like a river, for example. Alright, so this was really like a centralized model where if there's a water source, we can have like a plant built next to it and, you know, transform this water into electricity and then run the plant.

[00:12:30] Okay? Now, This evolved into a distributed model, which is like electricity, and that was the second industry, Revolut. . Now electricity created a lot of opportunity, a lot of opportunities because now with the electricity, we can, uh, do a lot of things right? Mm-hmm. So, uh, and it's distributed so everybody has, uh, the capability to have electricity.

[00:13:00] So it created a lot of new opportunities, and that model actually is took uh, you know, uh, why it's called an industrial revolution, because it allowed, uh, the world to have like new, uh, like new ideas to be put into, into practice. And then the third industrial revolution is what we live in today. is actually the, uh, data center, right?

So, and like the digital, if you want, like world that we live in. 

[00:13:30] And this is where we started building those data centers. And we've put the infrastructure into data center. And these infrastructure serves a lot of workloads. They serve a lot of businesses, uh, and different types of thing. And these data centers evolved into being like, uh, let's say in a cloud or in a public cloud on a private cloud.

But it's still somehow central. because everything runs in that data center.

Radwa: Yeah.

Charbel: Alright. Whether it's on a cloud or like on

Radwa: Yes.

[00:14:00] Charbel: A public or private cloud. Now with the edge we're go and why the edge is thought to be the force industrial revolution is because everything is gonna be decentralized. And I gave you an example about how each one of us is a walking data center or, or is a walking edge.

but in every industry today, we can use the edge to build use cases that we thought were mm-hmm impossible. Previously in manufacturing, in healthcare and automotive, transportation, any industry that we can think of, education, any industry that we could think of, we can build edge use cases. And even if that use case is not there, the technology is available.

[00:14:30] For like all of us to think how we can use this technology and deliver the use case that is gonna help our customers deliver, uh, on their business outcomes.

Radwa: Perfect. And I think along with, with Edge in the fourth industrial revolution is going to be web three as well, which is also it reinforcing the decentralization movement that will really help a lot.

[00:15:00] So, that is, is going to be one, one move to the future. But that's, that's excellent. Thank you so much. Cherelle. And, and if we go to another technology trend that is going to change the future, but massively change, spark, definitely out the fourth industrial revolution, which is the AI and machine learning and the, and the two aspects of how.

[00:15:30] It looks like now how companies are, uh, some of them adapting AI and how the natural not, sorry, not not natural, but the ultimate and right way of taking in AI and avoiding the negatives of, of AI what's, what's your take on, on.

Charbel: All right. Uh, well that's like

Radwa: Two questions

Charbel: A topic that requires probably like, uh, no, no.

The, no, the AI topic is a topic that requires probably like two or three podcasts.

 [00:16:00] Radwa: Absolutely.

Charbel: So, yeah, so definitely first I want to actually like to highlight that we talk a lot about ai, which is artificial intelligence and machine learning. And sometimes there's this confusion that it's the same, but it's not.

And in, uh, you know, like in order to simp. You know, machine learning is actually. is a subset of the artificial intelligence. Okay. And machine learning enables machines, you know, to learn from, uh, data that has been created. So, past data, okay. Without, uh, you know, having it programmed. So I'll give you an example.

[00:16:30] Today we all, we all like use Netflix, right? And every time we go to Netflix and you're watching a specific series, you get recommendations because you've seen this or because you've pressed like, Uh, we recommend you to see those ones. So this is actually like one example of machine learning. Yeah. Right.

[00:17:00] And this is why it's very different, uh, than what artificial intelligence is, which is actually the technology that is used to create intelligence systems that can simulate human intelligence.

Radwa: Mm-hmm.

Charbel: All right. This is if you want like, the real definition of artificial intelligence. And until now, uh, both AI and ML haven't been just about like, you know, the algorithms or the programming.

Okay. But it's been evolved to a point where we started, you know, giving AI some tasks. 

[00:17:30] So for instance, we can like teach in AI to, let's say, do a task whether it's mechanical or digital, but then also we made sure that the decision is still like with us as a humans. So the AI does what it's tasked to do, but it actually does not take the decision when it should be like starting this task or stopping this task.

[00:18:00] Right. But the way things are evolving today, we're gonna see that AI is gonna actually start being part of the decision, and it's gonna be, it's gonna learn when to take that decision and based on which parameters. And the way it's learning to take, we can teach AI or, uh, you know, train ai, uh, to do specific tasks.

Uh, AI is gonna be trained to actually take some decisions, and this is where we will see a lot of the automation being driven solely by ai. And we're not gonna see like, uh, a human intervention in those. 

[00:18:30] So it's very important to see. AI is not just something that is programmed to do something like Chat GPT for example,

And like, uh, you know, it's a trend. It's a trend now, but I, I wouldn't call it a trend. I would call it like something like really big. And have you, have you ever experienced, have you tried Chat GPT?

Radwa: I have.

Charbel: Cause that's like a very, a very, you know, like a straightforward example.

[00:19:00] Radwa: It's mind blowing.

Charbel: Simple example of how ai,

Radwa: It's mind blowing \

Charbel: Exactly.

And. Now even I ask myself, if Chat GPT was here like a few years ago, uh, would I still go to school and university and graduate?

Radwa: Yeah.

Charbel: So, so would, would, would, it would be a like, valid question, but, or different,

Radwa: Or maybe to take something that is really difficult and then we go to space and say like, all right, we can.

[00:19:30] Charbel: Yeah, exactly. So, so I think, I think, you know, uh, AI really is gonna be, is gonna be like really the big, one of the biggest revolutions and the way, uh, like we do business and the way we live. And, uh, a lot of use cases, you know, like, uh, already use AI and we're gonna see like, uh, more use cases that are. Uh, you know, uh, use AI.

So AI started like chatbots. So you can go, you log on a website and then you get somebody high. How can I help you? And mostly that chatbot is trained to answer the common questions. Yeah. Okay. So it started, it started like something simple like that, and then it turned into like a, uh, something that you can train to do.

[00:20:00] More interactions. So for example, for Chat GPT, you can have a discussion. So it's like you start with a topic and even if you ask a question that is related to the, that is like, uh, vague, uh, like Chat GPT would consider that it is for this topic for the same topic. And then the answers are still the same.

[00:20:30] You know, like within the same context. So, and this is like something that is an evolution of like a, just a traditional chatbot. All right? So we're gonna see a lot of AI today that is in the business. A lot of AI that is in every, in every industry. And even today, like if you go on the web, You have, uh, AI, uh, powered websites that can help you do a lot of the tasks that we needed to, you know, download software for it or like we thought that we could cannot do.

[00:21:00] So AI really, really is becoming like part of like the whole, if you want, Business ecosystem. And even like in social media today, you can have AI tools where you can program them, uh, to like, uh, monitor your content, to suggest connections for you to do so many things. So it's really, really like whole new world that, uh, that is out there and that is for us to go and explore.

[00:21:30] Radwa: Certainly. And I would also. Raise my concern about that for the new generations that are in schools now and were gonna come out then. How really can the big techies take a role into making sure that they're not impacted with how powerful AI is going to be and it doesn't hamper their uh, will to to learn, to go to school.

It is becoming really difficult to convince this new generation to say, study. 

[00:22:00] Do that. Look into harder fields that you can explore for your career, or even for to be an, everybody wants to be a YouTuber or an entrepreneur. Now with AI it becomes even more difficult that they see that things are becoming much easier.

Why do you want me to, to, to do that effort? So,

Charbel: Yes, I agree. And I think, I think there will be some sort of governance. I mean, I cannot tell in which shape or format will be, but there will be in some, some sort of governance on how like AI can be used or practiced yet, even if, if we look at it, I mean we, we can look at it from both angles and I think like, let's say mentioning education and I think like AI can add a lot of positives to.

[00:22:30] But it's about like the education world on the taking that decision that, okay, now we need to start embedding AI in what we're doing or like in the learning systems that we have. And we're gonna let let people like use Chat GPT or like similar tools that are gonna get created to be able to respond to like, uh, let's say to write essays or anything like that.

[00:23:00] But then, I don't know, but we, we can look at it this way and also we can look. That from the, okay, I'm gonna resist the change angle. And eventually we've seen that throughout times with the technological advancements that, uh, many industries or many companies, even like large com famous companies who resisted the change and the evolution of the technology just disappeared.

[00:23:30] So, uh, it's, uh, I believe it's very important, like for each. For each industry to, you know, embrace the power of the technology that's available to them and understand how they can use this technology to be able to deliver better business outcomes, uh, to their customers, you know, and like to their organization and if you want better service to their customers, better products, et cetera.

[00:24:00] So, uh, I think if we look at AI from this angle, I think it's gonna be something big and it's gonna help in a lot of the, uh, industries.

Radwa: Yes, most certainly. And I think as, as you said, as as how we can integrate it and implement it. This is what makes the, the difference, even with machine learning, how you can improve the practices of AI and how it's used.

To make it assist and collaborate and compliment the human factor and not to replace it and bring something else and, and that's what makes things a little bit complicated when some organizations maybe are not aware of the consequences or how to use this technology in the best fashion.

[00:24:30] Charbel: Yes. And by the way, a fun example about AI and Chat GPT, uh, to be specific.

So I was actually reading an article yesterday where we were talking about, they asked University of Minnesota, they actually, uh, made Chat GPT do one of the low exam tests that they have, and actually they Chat GPT passed with a 75% and. 

[00:25:00] So, uh, score. So basically actually passed . So now, now were they looking like, uh, like all the students who, uh, did the exam actually scored much higher.

but, uh, what they were like surprised with that the exam, which had, you know, uh, multiple choice questions, some yes and nos, but also like some text to write mm-hmm. that AI was able to understand a specific law and a specific, or like to use a specific law. 

[00:25:30] Yeah. And a specific context. And this is actually what is the, uh, eye opener That was one of the eye openers.

Not just that it passed the exam, but the ability to understand the. And to use it in specific context. So, and this is how AI is really

Radwa: Like a student, big . It's learning so hard and fast, faster than the human pace.

[00:26:00] Charbel: Yes. Didn't study well, it didn't study well that day. Yeah.

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 Radwa: Charbel, we, we can't leave this topic without, of course, focusing on security. 

[00:26:30] It is very, very important. And now we're seeing that there is the next generation security, not the security that, that we've always talked about, but then there is another leap into security that is different, of course, with the multiple devices that people are using and how to control them and authentication and, and everything.

What would you really share with us is your view to the next generation security and how it's shaping up maybe also in our region here and your, your take on that.

[00:27:00] Charbel: Look, security is like a very important topic, and I think the way security is today, uh, it's really distributed in a sense of there's a lot of security solutions in the market today.

And there's no standardisation if you want, on how to use the security solutions. So based on one of the, uh, articles I was reading the other day as well, there is more than 6,000 I, uh, IT security or cyber security vendors today. 

[00:27:30] In the market and imagine like you need to take a decision on which security solutions from these, okay, maybe I will look at the top 20 eventually, but still the security if you want, as a model is really fragmented.

And today, when we have a multi-cloud world and that spans from the edge to the. 

[00:28:00] To the cloud, it's important that we really be able to have a security, uh, strategy that can really cover, uh, cover me in my data from the point of its inception. And it can be like edge or it can be, uh, a device like my phone or my laptop or anything like that, all the way to where eventually, like the data that I create is gonna be residing.

Okay. And, uh, also we need to make sure how we are gonna be protecting it, uh, while it's moving. 

[00:28:30] And this is where actually when we are going, uh, like in the near future and creating all those data pipelines, it becomes really like a question mark and how are we gonna like, manage those data pipelines?

Which is a different topic, but also how are we gonna be able to. Okay. While it's on the fly and while it's actually like sitting in, uh, in one of my multi-cloud components. So, and I believe what's, uh, what's really like what we are looking at today is how we can build a, or how we can achieve a zero trust environment, which is like a security model.

[00:29:00] Where resources are granted only after strict authentication and whether like, uh, the user is actually requesting it, it's an internal user or external user. So, you know, and this is what zero trust means, that we don't, we're not gonna trust anyone, okay. Especially that, you know, like in security, more than 90% of the attacks happen with the end user device.

[00:29:30] So they start there actually before actually they go into like the uh, infrastructure or the data center. It actually starts on the edge. So achieving that zero trust environment requires, uh, you know, several and making sure that, uh, you know, there's a framework. And today, I believe, like this is what, uh, NIST.

Radwa: M mm-hmm.

Charbel: is working on the National Institute of Standards and Technologies. 

[00:30:00] They've built their, uh, a security framework, which actually like helps achieve that zero trust environment and. , it's very important to look on, uh, for if I'm a customer today and if I have my own environment, how I can really go and achieve that zero trust.

It's definitely not gonna be maybe one player who's gonna be able to do to do that, but it's gonna give us an understanding on how we can really build a, a standard where really we can identify and classify all that data, all the assets that we have, have a multifactor authentication methodology that we use, have a sort of a, instead of having, you know, like, uh, a large network, we can probably create.

[00:30:30] Uh, have our network, what we call network segmentation. So where we divide the network into smaller and isolated segments. So if there's a breach, we can probably limit the scope of that breach, have a continuous monitoring and auditing for the, all the activities that's happening on the network. Make sure we use the right encryption for all the data that's going on the fly.

[00:31:00] And definitely, uh, it's a. You know, having a zero trust environment is not just something that you do once, it's something that has to be continuous, that it has to be assessed, it has to be, uh, you know, audited and you have, we have to take the decision on how we can improve it further, you know, because also the attacks are not like, Just attacks that are happening today.

The third landscape, as I mentioned at the start of, uh, uh, our discussion

[00:31:30] Radwa: Yes,

Charbel: Are continuously evolving and we need to make sure that every time we have something new, we are already ready for it. We don't need to pay the price so we can get

Radwa: Yeah, of course. And with security, I think just this technology is evolving, security and the threats are evolving and the, the, the hacking space or the attacks that were, would come, uh, definitely different than before. I think sci-fi movies that you we would watch is just like our becoming reality, I think.

[00:32:00] Charbel: Yeah. Imagine, imagine that. Uh, like somebody can take control Yes. Of any connected device, maybe X number of device, thousand number of devices, use those devices to, you know, probably like, uh, send a denial of service attack.

Yeah. So it's really, really like a

Radwa: reality.

Charbel: Uh, yeah, it's, it's, yeah. What we see in the movies actually is the reality. And uh, it's what we see in the movies are built on concepts. 

[00:32:30] And these concepts lived until we today have the technology, you know, to be able to apply those concepts. So probably these concepts were like some innovations, but we did not have the right technology to do them.

So. You know, transformed them into movies that we enjoyed. But eventually, uh, yeah. And I remember like one of the movies, if I'm not mistaken, mission Impossible. Like Tom Cruise was driving his, the car through the phone. And that was probably like 10 years ago.

[00:33:00] Radwa: Yeah.

Charbel: You know, today, now we, we are in a world where we have like, uh,

Radwa: Yes.

Charbel: You know, self-driving cars, right? So it's not even like we're controlling it. We, it's self-driving. So it's really, it's really mind blowing and we are lucky to be living in a, uh, period where we are really experiencing those technological advancements and how like the world is changing around us. It's, it's, uh, it's nice.

Absolutely. Actually,

[00:33:30] Radwa: So, very , very interesting and, and, uh, very insightful information. Thank you, Charbel. And that brings me to, um, my last bit of the episode, which I really like and love so much about sharing your recommendations to the listeners. And here we're gonna use your expertise to share the recommendations on two fronts.

One is for the clients and two, how they can pick among this overwhelming, uh, space of technology in the fast space and within the six big technologies, the most appropriate ones to make the decision. 

[00:34:00] And the other part of the question is how you can advise the other. Tech professionals and professionals who are listening to us as like to consult their customers and to be really guiding them as to what technology trends to adapt and to take them through that journey.

[00:34:30] Charbel: Great. Thank you Advo. And, uh, yeah, I mean, . Look, I, one of the takeaways probably is what I just mentioned, is that we are really lucky to live in a world that is evolving and where we can actually, we have technologies in our hands that can help us actually do a lot of the tasks that we could not do efficiently before.

So, uh, so generally speaking, I would say, To all the listeners that, uh, embracing the technology, embracing those advancements is very important for life. 

[00:35:00] Whether in the social life or the business life or anywhere. It's really important to embrace the technology and, uh, understand how we can use this technology in order to lead a better life, to have a better job or like, you know, to help our customers eventually, you know, or our clients.

So it's, it's very, I. And this is probably like, if you want the generic takeaway, most specifically, if I'm talking, uh, today to one of, uh, my customers, 

[00:35:30] I would probably tell them that, especially if I'm talking like with the business that today the technology is the enabler and the business already knows that.

But when planning, what projects that you have in the, in the coming years, So, and today customers plan their budgets and they plan their projects two, three years ahead. They don't just have a, you know, like short span of, uh, planning. 

[00:36:00] It's very important to incorporate those technologies and understand those technologies today, to know how these technologies can help you in your future projects because they might have a project that they want to achieve, and maybe AI can help them have a faster time to market. Maybe AI can help them, uh, have a, let's say, uh, better reach or help them understand where they have a better reach or edge solutions, for example, like in retail, right? So it's really important to understand those technologies, talk to professionals.

[00:36:30] If you don't know, uh, where to find the right data, talk to professionals, understand the technologies, and see how those professionals can help you build your plans and your business plans, and which technologies need to be incorporated. And this is how you decide who to partner with on your journey for the next few years, who are like the solution providers or like the IT vendors that you really need to be partnering with.

[00:37:00] In order for you to achieve the success that you want to achieve and, uh, be ahead of, uh, you know, your competitors or anything like that. Now, from a, uh, system integrators or like since, uh, I've been in channel as well for, uh, like the most part of my career, I would really, and this is the discussion that I'm having today with the, with our partners, is, , you need to change.

You cannot just look at what you've been doing has been successful for the last five, 10 years. And that take it for granted that it's gonna be successful in the next five [00:37:30] years.

Radwa: Yes.

Charbel: You need to start changing the way you do business. You need to start changing the discussion with your customers. You need to start talking more about what they want to achieve.

You need to tell them how they can achieve it. Create like, you know, your own. If you want intellectual property based on different solutions that you have bundled or a sort of a reference architecture that you can put your stamp on it and go drive it, that's gonna give you an edge on any other traditional, you know, solution [00:38:00] provider or like, Or system integrator, et cetera.

So it's really important for, uh, you know, those service providers and system integrators to really train their people on the different technologies that are out there and understand how they can use those to create the right solutions for their own customer base.

Radwa: Yes, most certainly, and I, yeah, can't agree more with, uh, the fact.

What really people used to do in the past five years will never gonna take them into the [00:38:30] future. .

Charbel: Yes, and I'll, and I'll give you, and I'll give you like a, like, you know, like a simple example today, if I provide a specific, you know, infrastructure and I'm used to sell this infrastructure to my customers today.

Probably they don't have an infrastructure need and they're not gonna talk to me. But they might be talking to somebody who can give them a IoT solution or maybe an AI solution, right? And while whether it's an iot, ot, or like AI or anything, it's gonna drive infrastructure, uh, behind it because everything has to run on something right?

[00:39:00] So eventually that traditional system, integrator, who believes that customer loyal, is loyal to them, is still loyal to them, but, but they're talking to somebody else who's giving them something different and they're not gonna go and buy the infrastructure from someone else. They are gonna buy it from that different provider that is actually talking to them about something else.

And this is really, really what's actually, we've, we've started seeing happening and we see, you know, a lot of AI startup. 

[00:39:30] Actually being born here in the region, we are seeing AI, for example, startups being, uh, born outside, but actually coming and starting, uh, their operations in the region. And they are looking for those people to partner with.

And, uh, so it's very important really to uh, to be really up to date with what's going. and, uh, really rethink the way we do business. If I'm talking from a, uh, you know, system integrator or service solution provider point of view,

[00:40:00] Radwa: Yes, certainly I like the quote that says, what got you here won't get you there.

So people, people really need to think within this context and to speed up. Try at least to match the pace of, uh, of change. Charbel, this was a very interesting episode. Thank you so much for your time and for all the insights and great knowledge that you have shared. And, uh, to our listeners, thank you so much for listening.

[00:40:30] Please feel free to send us any questions or comments and any inquiries, and we'll be happy to get back to you with the answers. Thank you, Charbel.

Charbel: Radwa, thank you very much. Was, uh, I really enjoyed our discussion and happy to be here and I wish, uh, everyone well and thanks.

Radwa: Thanks about that. All right.

Thanks everyone, and, uh, stay tuned for more episodes.

[00:41:00] In closing: Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the B2B Pod by the pulse of Dubai, with your host Radwa Hassan. This show is brought to you by Logichron. If you aren't already, make sure you subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Google, or Apple Podcasts. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can visit us on the podcast.ae and follow us on social media at the B2B pod.

See you next time.