Global energy leaders call for more AI investment at ADIPEC
ADIPEC, the UAE’s annual gathering of leaders in the global energy industry, got underway in Abu Dhabi on Monday, with CEOs from BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies sharing the stage with Microsoft and other tech giants as artificial intelligence becomes central to the energy transition.
The conference, which runs through Thursday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, will also spotlight sustainability, hydrogen, carbon capture and geopolitics, reflecting how energy markets are evolving beyond oil and gas production. ADNOC, Masdar and XRG convened 100 global technology, investment and government leaders at the “Enact Majlis” ahead of ADIPEC to emphasize the intersection of energy and AI, The National reports.
Hosting the event is Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, who serves as UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and also heads ADNOC and Abu Dhabi-owned renewables firm Masdar. Among the top tech executives in attendance is Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, which recently invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi AI firm G42. ADNOC and Microsoft announced a new agreement on Sunday to integrate artificial intelligence throughout the UAE company’s operations and support Microsoft’s global AI and data center expansion.
Pointing to volatility in the oil market, where prices have plummeted 33% in the past two years, Al Jaber called for massive spending on data centers and artificial intelligence, reckoning that investments from the global energy industry should reach $4 trillion a year. Near-term uncertainty is real, while long-term demand remains strong,” Al Jaber said. “Our response to meet that demand should focus on data, not the drama.”
Also in Abu Dhabi, Amos Hochstein, Managing Partner at TWG Global, and formerly Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Energy & Investment in the Biden administration, said in an interview with CNBC that the U.S. “needs billions” in power‑infrastructure investment to modernize and secure its energy systems.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, meanwhile, met on Saturday with Doug Burgum, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior and Chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council, who came to attend ADIPEC 2025. Burgum and Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg took a tour of the UAE’s Upper Zakum oil field on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative forum heads to Tokyo
Saudi Arabia’s flagship business forum, the Future Investment Initiative, is expanding its global reach with a conference in Tokyo.
The FII Priority Asia Summit is slated for Nov. 30 to Dec. 1, and represents a strategic move by the kingdom to strengthen partnerships with key Japanese financial institutions, Nikkei Asia reports.
Major players such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui are expected to attend the event, which is often referred to as “Davos in the desert.”
The FII Institute, founded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has also sponsored conferences in Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro and Miami, where U.S. President Donald Trump spoke in February.
Saudi LEAP conference chalks up $14.9 billion in new investments
Saudi Arabia kicked off its LEAP25 conference with a flurry of billion-dollar deals and a campaign to rebrand the kingdom as a cauldron of tech innovation on par with Europe.
Opening the annual LEAP event in Riyadh on Sunday night, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha ticked off a series of investments worth $14.9 billion that were due to be signed this week.
Al-Swaha attributed the kingdom’s tech growth to the Vision 2030 roadmap introduced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017 to diversify the economy and wean it off its longtime dependence on oil sales.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Al-Swaha said. “As a tech force, as His Royal Highness said, this region is the new Europe.” Based on the number of startups gestating in the kingdom, he said, Saudi Arabia would be the fifth largest tech hub if it were located in the EU zone.
Touted as the biggest tech exhibition in the world, LEAP25 attracts many of the major biggest players, including Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, Cisco, SAP, Amazon Web Services, Alibaba and Huawei.
More than 1,800 international and local exhibitors, including 680 startups, are populating the exhibition floor at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center.
Among the deals announced at the event, Groq, a U.S.-based artificial intelligence firm, said it will invest $1.5 billion in a project developed with Saudi Aramco to launch the world’s largest AI inferencing data center in Saudi Arabia, Arab News reports.
U.S.-based Databricks pledged to invest $300 million over the next three years to upskill Saudi citizens, build the company’s business in the kingdom, and contribute to the local digital economy. SambaNova, another U.S. software firm, agreed to invest $140 million to build advanced AI infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Tara Brady, President of Google for Europe, the Middle East and Africa said the company will contribute $70 billion to the kingdom’s economy over the next 10 years.
Al Zeyoudi goes to Las Vegas to pitch Emirati tech at CES
Every October, the tech world floods into the UAE for GITEX. This week, the UAE joins the global crowd in Las Vegas for CES, the mother of all tech conferences.
Leading the Emirati corporate leaders and policymakers on the U.S. pilgrimage to the annual Consumer Electronics Show is Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s globe-trotting Minister of State for Foreign Trade.
In Las Vegas, Al Zeyoudi participated in a CES panel on geopolitical challenges to global trade, where he described the UAE’s efforts to bridge markets and facilitate trade flows, according to an Emirates News Agency dispatch.
He also highlighted the country’s three-year-old campaign to sign more than two dozen free trade agreements around the world.
“The UAE’s dynamic tech ecosystem… offers fresh opportunities for US companies looking to scale their operations and access high-growth markets,” Al Zeyoudi said at CES on Wednesday.
“As we expand our partnerships in advanced technology, we aim to foster innovation, create jobs, and accelerate the adoption of next-generation technologies.”
During the three-day visit, Al Zeyoudi met with executives from tech companies specializing in AI, health, and automotive technologies, including Accenture, Qualcomm, the Consumer Technology Association, Skylo and MGM Resorts International, the state news agency said.
Eric Trump to deliver keynote at Abu Dhabi crypto conference
This week’s Bitcoin MENA conference in Abu Dhabi will showcase some of the key cryptocurrency players in the incoming Trump administration, including the President-elect’s son Eric, who will deliver the keynote to a crowd of 6,000 at the ADNEC center.
Also speaking at the Gulf’s biggest crypto gathering is billionaire Steve Witkoff, who has been appointed the new White House envoy for the Middle East, Reuters reports. Witkoff is co-founder of World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency platform launched in September that Donald Trump and his family helped form.
Both Trump and Witkoff will be holding “whales-only” chats in the conference’s VIP lounge, where admission requires a $9,999 pass for whales, the crypto nickname for large players who have potential to move markets, the news agency said.
Other speakers with close ties to World Liberty Financial include Justin Sun, the 32-year-old Chinese founder of blockchain platform Tron, Reuters reports.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served a four-month U.S. prison sentence this year for crypto-connected money-laundering law violations, will also hold a whale session at the conference.
Oil chiefs at ADIPEC ponder where energy market is headed
Abu Dhabi’s annual ADIPEC conference opened on Monday, bringing cabinet ministers, oil executives and investors to the UAE capital from around the world to ponder where the energy market is headed.
Kicking off the four-day event was Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Group CEO of ADNOC, Chairman of Masdar and COP28 President, who pointed to the growing power appetite of AI data centers.
“No single source of energy is going to be enough to meet this demand,” Al Jaber said in an address to the opening session at Abu Dhabi’s ADNEC hall. “We need to integrate renewable energy, nuclear energy and gas in the most cost and carbon-efficient way.”
On the eve of ADIPEC, Al Jaber hosted a gathering for industry leaders called ENACT Majlis that included Microsoft President Brad Smith, Mark Carney, the Chairman of Brookfield Asset Management who serves as U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance; Shell CEO Wael Sawan, BP CEO Murray Auchincloss and Princess Beatrice, founder of the U.K. advisory organization BY-EQ.
Amid OPEC production cuts and pressure to shift away from fossil fuels, CEOs from some of the world’s biggest oil companies at ADIPEC rated conflict in the Middle East and friction between the U.S. and China among their top concerns.
BP CEO Murray Auchincloss said he was worried about protecting personnel and safeguarding supplies because of the geopolitical tensions in the region, Bloomberg reports.
“The conflict in the Middle East is probably the top risk of all right now,” Auchincloss said during a panel discussion on Monday. “We operate across five or six countries in the region — we are worried obviously about the security of our people and the security of energy supplies.”
Shell CEO Wael Sawan pointed to today’s U.S. elections and Donald Trump’s campaign promise to increase tariffs on China. “Longer term, what happens on the U.S.-China axis” is a concern for oil companies, Sawan said at the conference.
Oil companies are concerned, Sawan said, about energy demand, supply chains and the impact that sour U.S.-China relations “could have on the redrawing of the energy complex globally.”
UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Al Mazrouei, meanwhile, said during his opening remarks at ADIPEC that his country plans to invest up to $54 billion to meet sustainable energy demand over the next six years, aiming to “decarbonise our economy and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.”
GITEX was a whirlwind – What should I do now to follow up?
GITEX was a behemoth conference that welcomed 6,000 delegates and over 100,000 visitors to Dubai last week. Those who participated found a whirlwind of innovation, tech insights, and networking, but the real magic happens after the event – when you follow up.
If you’re wondering how to turn those connections into new opportunities, here’s a quick guide on best practices after getting home from the investment extravaganza.
The golden rule is don’t wait too long. Ideally, you should reach out within 48 to 72 hours of the event while the conversation is still fresh in everyone’s mind. On the other hand, huge conferences put you together with so many people that follow-up can be a bit different.
Given the amount of time required to attend the conference and then travel back home, folks are pretty waterlogged until midweek with catching up from what they missed, and there’s a decent chance your message will fall into the “respond later” category.
Try to target follow-up for a 10-day window from the end of the conference so the connection is still recent but you haven’t bombarded your new contacts as soon as they are back online. Additionally, put a reminder on your calendar for three days after you’ve sent these notes to ping anyone who hasn’t responded.
Follow-up Tips
1. Personalize Your Message: Refer to a specific detail from your conversation – whether it’s about their business, a shared interest, or a session you both attended. This makes your follow-up feel more genuine and thoughtful.
2. Keep It Short and Sweet: People are busy so get to the point quickly. Your follow-up should be friendly, clear, and concise. Don’t overwhelm them with too much information at once.
3. Offer Value: When possible, offer something valuable in your message, whether it’s a relevant article, a connection they might benefit from, or simply the next steps for continuing your discussion. Make it about them, not just you.
4. Connect on LinkedIn: If you haven’t already, connect with them on LinkedIn. Send a brief message mentioning where you met and express excitement about staying in touch.
5. Follow Up on Promises: If you promised to send more information, do it. Send the presentation, the additional info, or the proposal as promised. Being reliable goes a long way in building trust.
Email Follow-up Template
Let’s make this easy – here is an email template you can edit to your liking:
Subject: Great meeting you at GITEX!
Hi [Name],
It was a pleasure meeting you at GITEX! I really enjoyed our chat about [specific topic]. I’d love to explore how we can collaborate further. Let me know if you’re available for a quick call in the next week.
Looking forward to staying connected!
Best,
[Your Name]
Planning for Next Year
GITEX 2025 might seem far away, but the best time to start planning is now! Take notes on what worked this year and what didn’t. Did you attend enough sessions? Did you focus on the right networking opportunities? Start setting your goals for next year based on this experience.
It’s also worth revisiting the connections you made periodically throughout the year. You don’t need to wait until GITEX 2025 to reconnect – check in periodically to see how things are progressing in their world, and you’ll find yourself in a much better position when the next GITEX rolls around.
Remember, successful networking is about nurturing relationships. Your follow-up is where the seeds planted last week at GITEX start to grow.
Catching up with Yossi Vardi, wisecracking patriarch of Israel’s startup culture
Leaning back on a white couch in the lobby at Tel Aviv’s Habima national theater, where he was hosting one of Israel’s top technology conferences, Yossi Vardi gets ready to shmooze. At 80 years old, he dresses in a scruffy black winter jacket and positions himself at the foot of Habima’s grand curving staircase.
Inevitably the investors, CEOs and government ministers rushing to lead panel discussions at last week’s DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival catch his eye and pause to say hello. In Hebrew, English and Yiddish, Vardi trades quips with them – many of whom consider him their mentor – basking in his reputation as the adorably ornery grandpa of Israel’s startup culture. He doesn’t always remember people’s names so he asks them to draw close and examines their conference badge. One budding entrepreneur wouldn’t leave after a two-minute pitch, and Vardi told him his idea wasn’t worth listening to.
Over the arc of Vardi’s career, which took him from procuring crude for the energy-starved nation in the 1970s as chairman of the Israel National Oil Company to selling ICQ, the first widely used instant messaging software that his son Arik created with three friends, to AOL in 1998 for $407 million, Vardi has been a leader in Israel’s tech world. He has since led, invested in or helped build more than 70 startups, and is in demand as a speaker around the world about how Israel earned its name as the Startup Nation. He was the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Life Achievement.
In between Vardi’s brief conversations with roughly two dozen conference participants heading up the stairs, The Circuit interviewed him about the difficulty of raising venture capital, investor concern about Israel’s judicial reforms, normalization with Arab countries, artificial intelligence and what makes a good startup entrepreneur.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
The Circuit: How do companies survive this period when investment capital is drying up?
Yossi Vardi: First of all, they need one very important thing, which is luck. The second thing is money. Money has been disappearing very quickly and therefore some companies will perish and some companies will resolve this by being acquired by other people. We saw it in 2000, we saw it in 2008 to a lesser degree and we’re going to see it again now. It’s not a pleasant situation, but this is business, this is the cycle. Companies that were lucky enough to do a financing round in the few months before the latest crisis are in a better position. It also depends on the financial responsibility of the money managers. They have to cling to their cash because cash in this situation is like oxygen. You cannot fake it. You can’t fake having money when you don’t have money.
Israeli startup executives are marching in the streets against the government’s proposed judicial reforms and some companies are threatening to take their money out of the country. What impact does that have on foreign investors?
We are now in a very, very sensitive situation. Some people say it will be disaster, while the government says everything is wonderful. We have to stare directly at the crisis and figure out how to resolve it, because the question is not who is right and who is not right. Suppose the worst scenario appears and we lose the tech industry. Some people will say we are sorry. But it’s too serious to just say we’re sorry. We are playing here with a nuclear economic situation. I really hope that we get sober and learn how to reduce the risks. There is a lot at stake. If things look risky here, people will say let’s hedge our risk and create companies in the United States or in France. They are going to do it. Not in order to anger the government, not in order to make a political statement. It’s just to have a prudent investment. This is how markets work and we should all become adults and realize it. It would be a pity to see this magical place get hurt.
What impact do the normalization agreements with the Gulf states have on investment?
You have to remember that the two fundamental agreements Israel has reached with Arab countries are with Egypt and Jordan, which stopped the killing of people. This is something holy. We must arrive at some kind of arrangement with the Palestinians. I think the Abraham Accords are important. They enhance the legitimacy of Israel in the eyes of other members in the region. So they’re a segue for us to do more things. In this respect the Abraham Accords are important and I hope they will develop further. When the economic situation of the world is good, we get a wonderful flow of funds. I don’t think business with the Gulf states is going to tilt the needle, but it’s very welcome.
How do you distinguish the hype from the reality in all the news about artificial intelligence?
Everything is hype because most of the world doesn’t run on facts. The world runs on stories. Like people don’t have to learn to write anymore. ChatGPT will do all the writing for them. And then after the hype, there is a reality check and people get sober. For now, AI may be hype but it’s very important. Nobody knows yet what it will become.
What are the characteristics of successful Israeli entrepreneurs?
The most important thing is entrepreneurs who are passionate – people who persevere and are committed. Number two, you have to have talent, which we have here in abundance. Three, you need people who are decent, who act like a mensch, who are honest. Fourth, you need people who are curious so they will expand the basis of their general knowledge and have references for future things that we don’t even know about today, what we used to call renaissance people. People with culture and ideas, not just tech. Tech is good but if you want to use tech, you have to have a wider view.
What developments in Israeli tech are you most excited about?
It’s not about this technology or that technology. It’s about something within Israeli society, within the character of the people who create this very special place. I think all these things stem from something much more fundamental, some kind of a cultural DNA. It goes back hundreds of years. These are people who wake up in the morning as a community, willing to take responsibility, willing to take charge, willing to stand for something. Israelis have a set of characteristics that can be regarded as negative in certain areas, like being a bit aggressive or cutting corners. But when you come into a startup environment, all of a sudden, these deficiencies turn into advantages.
