Catalyzing Change: With Web Summit Qatar, Paddy Cosgrave Is Playing The Long Game

There’s no question that Web Summit has come a long way since founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave launched the enterprise—which today runs some of the world’s largest technology events—by staging a 150-person conference in Dublin in 2009. Since then, Web Summit has seen over a million people attend the events it has organized around the globe, spanning cities like Lisbon in Portugal, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and, since 2024, Doha in Qatar. Much has changed for Web Summit over the years, but Cosgrave tells Inc. Arabia that its founding purpose has stayed unchanged.

“What’s remained consistent ever since I started this company is that our fundamental drive is to connect the people who are going to change the world, and to do that in a meaningful way, which enriches them as people, but also delivers very tangible results,” Cosgrave says. “That could be investment: for example, a company called TechMet came to Web Summit Qatar in 2024, and, six months later, received a US$180 million investment from the Qatar Investment Authority. It could also be sales, it could be new leads, new business partners, it could be new hires. Very often, it’s inspiration! So many founders have told us that they were inspired to launch a business—or pivot their business model—because of the people they heard and met and engaged with at our events. And, of course, the other tangible result is supporting the local ecosystem in developing as a global technology center.”

That final measure of impact Cosgrave mentions is going to be especially evident at this year’s installment of Web Summit Qatar, running in Doha from February 1-4, 2026, which is set to host over 30,000 attendees from more than 120 countries, 1,600 startups, over 700 investors, and more than 800 media from around the world. The event has clearly grown by leaps and bounds since its first edition in 2024—and the ecosystem surrounding it has also been mirroring that momentum.

“When we first started discussing a Web Summit event in Qatar, I think we were imagining an event of 10,000 or 15,000 people; we’re going to have more than 30,000 people at this year’s edition,” Cosgrave shares. “But I think the shared aim of ourselves and our partners in Qatar is to make sure that their city and their country are renowned around the world as a global technology hub, not just now, but in the decades to come: a place to do business, a place to grow your business, a place to help shape the future. There are a large number of metrics we can look at, like the number of memorandums of understanding signed, or the number of startups that register with Invest Qatar [the country’s investment promotion agency] during the event—all of which are growing, but there’s also a less tangible impact that is to do with reputation, and how people feel. We’ve seen that happen in Lisbon over 10 years, where it has been transformed into a global technology hub, and I think anyone who comes to Web Summit Qatar will feel that buzz and realize that something truly special is happening there too.”

Paddy Cosgrave speaking at an earlier edition of Web Summit Qatar. 

That long-term vision is set to be on display in the voices and ideas shaping this year’s Web Summit Qatar. Speakers from around the world are congregating at the event, with the agenda including internationally renowned names like Canva co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht, Omnicom Group Chairman and CEO John Wren, and Lumi founder and CEO Colin Kapernick, as well as local figures of note like Qatar Foundation Chairperson HH Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, Qatar Museums Chairperson HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Invest Qatar CEO Sheikh Ali Alwaleed Al-Thani, and others. And as for the topics that will be discussed at the conference, its 14 different content tracks allow for a myriad of themes to be explored.

“Of course, artificial intelligence will continue to take center stage,” Cosgrave says. “We’ll be talking about where it’s going, who is funding it, and how executives, innovators, and investors can get real value from the technology. We’ll also be looking closely at how technology is changing the way content is made, shared, and consumed, the rise of quantum computing and its growing influence on the tech world, and the breakthroughs in fintech, energy, government, health, and manufacturing that are pushing global innovation forward.”

Cosgrave highlights that one of Web Summit’s hallmarks is that its focus is not just on today’s technology leaders, but also on the companies shaping the next generation of innovation—and that’s something its Qatar edition also incorporates. “For example, Revolut is now Europe’s biggest and most valuable fintech, but when it came to our event in 2015 looking for investors, it was tiny,” Cosgrave recalls. “At Web Summit Qatar 2026, we’re bringing a record number of startups—alongside all the biggest names in current global tech—and among these startups, there will be companies that in five or 10 years will be among the biggest and most impactful in the world. And the other focus is being global—bringing startups not just from the West Coast of the US, but from all around the world.”

Cosgrave also believes that the scale of Web Summit Qatar this year is reflective of broader changes taking place within the host nation’s innovation landscape. “In my view, the most important element of growing any tech ecosystem is having the leadership and vision to drive that change, and inject that dynamism,” he explains. “We’re very fortunate that the State of Qatar has set out very clear and ambitious long-term plans to do so, and especially that in Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor Al Thani, Director of the Government Communications Office, we have a partner who sees the role that Web Summit Qatar can play in helping the country meet those goals. Already in the three years we’ve been here, we’ve seen a number of significant developments which are hugely positive in achieving those goals. There have been specific measures by the State of Qatar: the Startup Qatar Investment Program, for instance, has been a huge success, and the US$1 billion Fund of Funds launched by the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani at Web Summit Qatar also sent a very clear message around the globe. The data suggests that local startups are growing at a significant rate, and also expanding internationally, and we’re seeing global venture capital funds locate in Qatar. So, that would indicate a growing appetite for entrepreneurship and innovation. One impact that all this is having on how we organize the event is that demand is just soaring. Our Startups Program sold out weeks ago, and the event floor similarly—we’re really having to be very innovative in how we use and create space to make sure that everyone who wants to be on the event floor can be there!”

Web Summit founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave.

But this is not to say that attendance alone will guarantee meaningful outcomes—the true value of Web Summit Qatar shall lie in how participants choose to navigate the experience before them. And Cosgrave, for his part, has two suggestions to share in this regard. “One is to have a very clear set of objectives, and plan your meetings and your schedule ahead of time to have maximum impact on that,” he shares. “Our app is unlike any other event app, in that it allows attendees to connect, to schedule meetings, and really get time with the people that they need to meet. As well as meetings, pick out the talks that could be impactful, and go and hear from the people leading their fields, and building the technologies of tomorrow. But the other key aspect is to be spontaneous, and to allow yourself every opportunity to make the connections you didn’t expect to make, or didn’t even know you needed to make. Go to meetups: Web Summit curates hundreds of meetups for people with shared interests. Go to Night Summit, and meet new people and talk and engage. We heard recently from a founder who came to our Lisbon event and got a big investment while he was there—from an investor he met at Night Summit!”

From Cosgrave’s point of view, such interactions—both planned and unexpected—are precisely what Web Summit Qatar has been built to enable. And in those moments of connection, the event moves from being a gathering of people to a catalyst for what comes next. “We work incredibly hard to create not just a fantastic environment on the event floor, but also to maximize the potential for these incredible people to meet other incredible people that they maybe didn’t even know they needed to meet, but who then go on and change the world together,” Cosgrave says. “So, I’d suggest that people embrace the event, because it really can be life-changing.”

On The Map: Q&A With Paddy Cosgrave On Qatar’s Place In The Global Tech Conversation

Given Web Summit’s international purview, you’ve had exposure to business ecosystems the world over. How do you see Qatar and the wider MENA region featuring in global conversations around business and technology? What do you think the region is getting right, and where is there still room to do more?

“As I mentioned, having a clear vision and the leadership to drive that vision is most important. For founders, obviously ease of doing business is often cited as being hugely significant, and the State of Qatar has taken numerous steps to ensure that for founders or firms coming into Qatar, it’s becoming ever more clear and straightforward. But there’s always more that can be done there for any country, and I know that’s something the State of Qatar is always looking at very closely. One other thing I’d call out that Qatar is getting right is that there’s a huge emphasis on education, and the importance of education. We’ve seen from China that investing in high-quality education has had a very significant impact on their advance into dominating almost every technology sector globally; so, to see Qatar investing very significantly in education is extremely positive. And, in general, there’s a desire and a willingness to invest in new sectors and to think in decades, not months or years. And as I travel the world with Web Summit, there’s no question that there’s an understanding globally of course that the region is diversifying, and seeking to invest in the future, and that Qatar, in particular, is becoming an increasingly significant player in technology, both through its investments globally, and its drive to promote innovation right here.”

Pictured in the lead image is Web Summit founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave. All images courtesy Web Summit.