Gamechangers: AI | CARMA’s Mazen Nahawi Sees The GCC Becoming A Global Laboratory For Applied AI

According to CARMA founder and CEO Mazen Nahawi, a primary challenge his UAE-based media intelligence, public relations measurement, and market research firm helps its customers with is what he calls the “data deluge.”

“In the GCC’s hyper-connected and fast-paced media environment, organizations frequently miss critical narratives or emerging risks, because they are buried within millions of daily data points,” Nahawi says. “CARMA’s artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, specifically its AI coding and hybrid AI-powered platforms, solves this by shifting media intelligence from hindsight to foresight.”

The company’s capabilities are increasingly informing national-level decision-making, Nahawi adds. “CARMA’s landmark research initiatives, specifically the Kingdom Reputation Report, Qatar Reputation Report, and UAE Reputation Report, provide leaders with the ‘ground truth’ of their international standing,” he shares. “This allows GCC economies to manage their national brands with the same precision that a multi-billion-dollar corporation manages its reputation, ensuring that foreign investment and tourism strategies are backed by empirical evidence rather than intuition.”

This, then, informs how Nahawi sees the region’s role in the future of AI. “The GCC and MENA are no longer just consumers of global technology; they are becoming primary architects of an AI-driven future,” he says. “With the immense capital and political will being directed toward AI, I believe the region will serve as the world’s most advanced innovation laboratory."

Pictured in the lead image is Mazen Nahawi, founder and CEO of CARMA. Courtesy of CARMA.

Nahawi was one of the innovators celebrated in the 2026 edition of Gamechangers: AI, an annual Inc. Arabia showcase of the business leaders driving the AI revolution in the MENA. Check out the full list by clicking here.