Among the headline sponsors at Trescon’s twin summits CARE and DATE, held in Dubai, was Magure, an emerging force in the AI product and services space, led by CEO Akhil Koka.
The CARE (Climate Action & Renewable Energy) and DATE (Digitization, AI & Emerging Technologies) summits held in November 2025 at Madinat Jumeirah were designed to foster innovation at the intersection of technology and sustainability. The conferences brought together global leaders, investors, and innovators across sectors looking to accelerate solutions for a smarter, greener future.
Magure, one of the primary event sponsors, was at the center of this convergence. With a deep understanding of the region’s evolving technology landscape, Koka has led Magure’s transformation from a services company into a full-fledged AI platform provider built to meet the complex, fast-moving needs of governments and enterprises across the Middle East and beyond.
In conversations at the CARE and DATE Summits, Magure CEO Akhil Koka discusses the company’s vision, its journey, and the rapidly evolving AI landscape in the region.
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The American Bazaar: For readers who may not know much about Magure, how would you describe the company and what it does?
Akhil Koka: Magure is an AI product and services company. We’ve spent the past eight years building a strong foundation in services, and we’ve now channelled those learnings into product development. One of our key platforms is called MagLabs, a solution that enables AI use cases for governments and enterprises. It’s locally deployable on any cloud infrastructure, and it’s built to be sovereign and hosted within the specific country where it’s used.
What motivated you to start Magure, and what gap were you aiming to fill?
Although AI is now gaining a lot of buzz, our journey started much earlier. Over the last few months, I’ve personally done around 200 customer meetings to understand the current realities of AI adoption. A lot of AI projects are still in the experimental phase, but now is the right time to begin unlocking real value for customers.
Our strength lies in working with customers on their transformational journey. We start small, deploy the platform, develop a couple of use cases, and grow their AI capabilities over the course of a year. That steady, collaborative process is where we really stand out.
Given the context of the conference, how is Magure helping businesses or consumers make more sustainable or efficient choices?
In the UAE and across the GCC, there’s a strong ambition around AI. However, many organisations are still figuring out how to begin — what works, what use cases to start with. That’s where we come in. We guide them through the process, starting small and proving the value of AI before they make major investments or large-scale deployments.
What challenges do you face in scaling sustainable tech across the region?
As with any scaling effort, there are challenges. One major issue is education. While there’s a lot of hype around AI, the reality on the ground is different. Many companies still associate AI solely with tools like GPT, without understanding the broader potential.
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So those challenges are going to continue to exist, potentially infrastructure challenges, but again, that’s being put to bed. Hopefully Stargate comes along in the UAE. The models are also maturing, so things are getting better. But yes, the usual challenges are there—you just work through them.
Are there any recent innovations or success stories from Magure that you’re especially excited about?
Yes, absolutely. We began working with a digital bank, starting with a single use case—KYB (Know Your Business) automation. Now, we’re engaged in 15 different AI use cases with that same client. What we’ve learned is that AI can be highly repeatable. For example, we now offer Banking AI-in-a-Box: we deploy our platform at a bank, implement a couple of initial use cases, and expand from there.
Every day, we’re working with new industries and discovering new AI use cases that deliver meaningful value to customers. It’s exciting.
What’s your long-term vision for Magure over the next 10 to 15 years?
We want to become one of the Middle East’s AI unicorns. That’s the standard we’re setting for ourselves. We have a strong management team, an experienced board, and a shared ambition that aligns with the UAE government’s vision. Nothing is done at a small scale—we aim big and work relentlessly to get there. Hopefully, we’ll be among the first AI unicorns in the region.