By Scott Simmie

As you might recall from this post, Cypher Robotics and its Captis cycle-counting/inventory management solution recently attended the huge GITEX GLOBAL 2024 event in Dubai. It’s the world’s largest technology and AI exhibition, with some 200,000 attendees. It was a *huge* show.

But a lot of the work – and the opportunities – for both Cypher Robotics and InDro Robotics (which incubated Cypher and has a technology agreement with the company) took place away from the show floor. Cypher Robotics CEO and InDro Vice President Peter King spent much of his time in high-level meetings with executives from five of the largest companies in the United Arab Emirates.

“These were C-suite level meetings, where we were able to learn more about what these companies do – and discuss how both InDro and Cypher can offer solutions that could benefit them,” says King.

These aren’t companies where you can simply call and ask for a meeting with high-level executives. There needs to be a catalyst to facilitate such discussions.

And there was: The Government of Canada; specifically, the Canadian Consulate in Dubai.

Below: Cypher Robotics CEO Peter King (second from right) on the floor at GITEX GLOBAL 2024. Much of his time was spent off the floor, meeting with executives from the largest companies in the UAE

TRADE MISSION

Among the many responsibilities of the Federal Government is promoting trade between Canadian firms and international clients. Sometimes, there are large “Team Canada Trade Missions” which are led by a Minister and often covered by media. With these missions, there’s a specific push on the Indo-Pacific region. On other occasions, however, the government pulls together smaller groups with a very specific focus. Months before GITEX GLOBAL 2024 was to take the world stage, planning began for a mission in Dubai that would take place the same week.

Government officials identified five Canadian firms in the Canadian high-tech sector it felt might be a fit for the UAE market. InDro Robotics was invited to participate – and was the only company among those five from the robotics sector.

“They identified that our solutions could be highlighted in Dubai – not only for trade reasons, but also to help solve some really hard problems,” says Peter King. “We were obviously really pleased to be one of a small handful of technology companies to be on the federal government’s radar.”

Canada’s Consul General in Dubai, H.E. Tracy Reynolds, was at the helm of this program and coordinated a series of meetings with “the UAE’s most influential business and technology leaders,” reads a Government of Canada document outlining the program.

“Consul General Reynolds will lead a two-day outreach program that will allow selected Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) clients to pitch their products and solutions to Dubai’s conglomerates, which are considered to be major buyers of ICT products and solutions. The meetings will also allow the delegation to learn about the latest technologies being adopted by these organizations,” it adds.

WHY UAE?

Though historically an oil-driven economy, the United Arab Emirates has diversified greatly in recent years. It has evolved, according to the CIA’s World FactBook, “into a trade-oriented logistics and supply chain leader (with) strong foreign direct investment orientation; building trade and investment ties through partnership agreements…” The UAE Gross Domestic Product is the fourth highest in the Middle East (after Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel), with an estimated USD 719.733 billion GDP in 2023.

In Dubai, the skyline has been utterly transformed over the past few decades. It’s home to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and other ultra-modern architecture. Known also for its luxury shopping and high-end autos, Dubai has also embraced technology in recent years. In fact, the local police count Tesla Cybertrucks among their fleet.

Dubai has never been as dependent on oil as the other six Emirates that comprise the UAE – and Dubai has led the way in the UAE in terms of economic diversification. According to Wikipedia, “Oil production, which once accounted for 50% of Dubai’s gross domestic product, contributes less than 1% today. In 2018, wholesale and retail trade represented 26% of the total GDP; transport and logistics, 12%; banking, insurance activities and capital markets, 10%; manufacturing, 9%; real estate, 7%; construction, 6%; tourism, 5%. The International Herald Tribune described it as ‘centrally-planned free-market capitalism’.”

In other words, Dubai – and the wider UAE – are a significant and growing global marketplace.

Below: The Dubai Skyline at night. Photo by Ivan Siarbolin – https://www.pexels.com/photo/city-skyline-during-night-time-3787839/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95959711

HIGH-LEVEL AGENDA

With that context, it’s clear why the Canadian Consulate in Dubai sees opportunity. Being on the ground, Canadian Consul General Tracy Reynolds, Deputy Consul General Anthony Finch and Trade Commissioner Arun Basandai have an insider’s vantage point into the key economic players in Dubai and the UAE. And so, over the course of two days, they accompanied representatives of the five invited Canadian companies to five different high-level meetings.

The first was with one of the largest real estate developers in the entire UAE. Remember the earlier reference to the Burj Khalifa? This company owns it. In addition to real estate, its diverse portfolio includes retail, hospitality, and leisure. The firm’s Executive Director and its Head of Information Technology attended the meeting.

We don’t want to get into the details, but it was an excellent discussion – which included how solutions from both InDro Robotics and Cypher Robotics might be useful to that firm. 

From there, it was off to a massive global investment company that has been a major driver of Dubai’s spectacular growth. It’s involved with 10 sectors, including real estate, hospitality, leisure & entertainment, media, ICT, design, education, retail, manufacturing, and logistics and science. It owns hotels, parks, resorts, a huge arena, multiple large retail outlets – and is also involved in multiple projects to accelerate Dubai into a fully Smart City. There were fruitful discussions there as well.

Meeting three was with one of the largest retailers in Dubai and the entire UAE with an emphasis on the fashion and lifestyle industry. On the food and beverage side, it runs multiple name brand franchises throughout the UAE and is the distributor/retailer of major fashion brands. It’s a huge company with a massive rolling inventory across several sectors. As with the previous meetings, all five Canadian technology companies had a chance to discuss their offerings.

AND THERE WAS MORE…

Once again, it was C-suite meetings with the full support of senior Consulate staff. The group met with the CEO and Chief Strategy and Technology Officer (CSTO) of the leading shopping mall, retail and leisure company across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. It owns and operates 27 major shopping malls, multiple hotels, cinemas, etc. and has assets in excess of USD 18 billion and 44,000 employees.

The final meeting was with “a multinational retail franchise operator of 70 brands in 20 countries.” Those brands include Starbucks, Chipotle and Cheesecake Factory. The company runs hotels and major retail outlets with names you’d recognize. The company’s Chief Strategy and Digital Officer attended this meeting, and was able to learn about solutions offered by all five Canadian technology companies.

“These meetings were a tremendous opportunity to learn not only about what these leading UAE companies do, but also explore some of the challenges they face with operations at that scale,” says King. “There was significant interest in solutions from both InDro and Cypher – and I’m confident these were just the first of many conversations to come.”

Below: The Cypher Robotics cycle-counting and RFID scanning Captis, which can operate autonomously for five hours and also capture precision digital twins. Below that is the InDro Robotics Sentinel, designed for remote asset inspection, security and surveillance and digital twins

INDRO’S TAKE

We are pleased to have been selected to take part in this trade mission in the United Arab Emirates – and are exceedingly grateful to the senior staff at the Canadian Consul General in Dubai. These were exceptional meetings and, potentially, the beginning of new business relationships.

“These meetings were a significant step along Cypher’s long-term roadmap, which includes markets beyond North America,” says King. “Every business relationship begins with a discussion, and these were very productive introductory meetings for all of the Canadian firms on this trip. I’d like to extend our deepest thanks for Consul General Tracy Reynolds, Trade Commissioner Arun Basandani and Deputy Consul General Anthony Finch.”

InDro Founder and CEO Philip Reece is also pleased.

“These meetings were a remarkable opportunity for not only InDro and Cypher, but for four other innovative Canadian tech companies,” he says. “The Government of Canada recognizes the global shift toward Industry 4.0 and the role Canadian technology companies can play in that. We are pleased that InDro had this opportunity and extend our thanks to all those involved.”

If you’d like to learn more about InDro Robotics solutions, contact us here. For Cypher Robotics and Captis, reach out here.

Cover image of Dubai at top of story via Wikimedia Commons by Tim Reckmann, CC BY-SA 3.0