Llama Design Drive’s First UAE Cohort Unveils AI Solutions

At the inaugural Llama Design Drive Demo Day — Meta’s AI accelerator program, which was held in partnership with Startupbootcamp — 30 innovators, including 22 startups and eight artificial intelligence (AI) experts, showcased AI solutions at an exclusive event hosted by the Dubai Future Foundation, marking the program's finale. Nineteen teams presented their AI applications to some of the UAE’s most prominent companies, including the national flag carrier Emirates Airlines, luxury goods retailer and distributor Chalhoub Group, Dubai Holding, a global company that develops and manages a portfolio of companies and investments, and the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), among others. 

Launched through Meta's partnership with Startupbootcamp MENA, Llama Design Drive is an accelerator program that empowers startups by connecting them with industry leaders, providing an opportunity to collaborate with top corporations and tackle real-world challenges through innovative AI-driven solutions. By nurturing these collaborations, the program accelerates the development of impactful AI technologies, playing a crucial role in boosting the UAE's standing as a global leader in artificial intelligence. 

The initiative leveraged Meta's open-source large language model (LLM) Llama 3.1, enabling startups to create innovative solutions for challenges in sectors like mobility, aviation, energy distribution, retail, and real estate. Participants in the program have the opportunity to be fast-tracked into a global initiative sponsored by Meta, with the potential to receive up to $500,000 for product development. 

Over the span of four weeks, startups and individual engineers were mentored by Meta's team to create innovative prototypes using the open-source Llama 3.2 LLM. Their goal was to tackle seven unique challenges set by leading corporate partners, driving real-world AI solutions. 

In a statement about the initiative, Abdulaziz AlJaziri, deputy CEO of Dubai Future Foundation said, “Dubai Future Foundation partners with global technology giants under its efforts to enhance Dubai’s startup ecosystem. This latest partnership with Meta is bringing some of the UAE’s largest national enterprises together with innovative startups to solve challenges in line with the objectives of Dubai’s economic and social agendas. We are proud to champion efforts that inspire bold thinking and reinforce Dubai’s position as a platform for piloting and scaling ingenious ideas.” 

Meanwhile, Joulan Abdul Khalek, policy programs manager, Africa, Middle East, and Turkey at Meta added, “This initiative illustrates the power of open-source AI to bring people together to solve complex challenges with innovation. The use cases presented today are truly impressive, demonstrating creativity, technical skill, and a deep understanding of industry needs. We’re proud to support these pioneering teams, whose work will not only make a difference here in the UAE but will also inspire future AI innovations across the broader region and the world.”  

The Challenges 

The participating companies identified challenges in seven areas for the cohort to solve using AI.

Emirates Airlines presented the challenge of reducing travel anxiety for people with disabilities and senior travelers. Indigo Hive, a global strategic partner for personalized AI solutions with offices in Dubai and São Paulo, retrained Meta's Llama model to introduce "MyTravelGuide," a conversational chatbot on WhatsApp designed to offer expert travel guidance to those with accessibility needs. Meanwhile, Icom Innovation, an AI solutions provider, unveiled "Ike," an AI-powered companion that provides comprehensive accessibility support. By combining real-time data verification with Llama’s multimodal capabilities, Ike delivers personalized assistance, ensuring a smoother and more inclusive travel experience for people with disabilities. 

Luxury goods retailer and distributor Chalhoub Group posed the challenge of wanting to understand customer sentiment. In response, Dubai-based AI company Transcend Technologies stepped in to develop "Chalhoub Analytics," a platform that uses Llama 3 deep learning to enhance brand and store performance analysis, offering luxury brands valuable insights for strategic decision-making. Another startup, Fitch Technologies, a Dubai-based web design and advertising technology (adtech) agency, tackled inventory management issues by presenting “FocastIQ,” a predictive analytics tool designed to optimize stock levels, minimizing both overstocking and stockouts for a more efficient retail experience. 

Dubai Holding, which stated that its goal was to enhance sustainability and improve emissions calculations, partnered with CarbonSifr, an all-in-one climate and sustainability platform based in Dubai, which developed a powerful multi-agent AI solution. The platform automates the tracking and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by utilizing localized supply chain data and integrating Llama AI for more efficient data processing and insight generation. The tool was built to allow Dubai Holding to meet its sustainability goals through actionable insights derived from accurate, region-specific carbon data. 

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) wanted a solution to enhance decision-making and optimize routes. Ahmad Joudi, a business intelligence engineer at Amazon, developed an innovative AI chatbot to support this mission. The chatbot streamlines mobility data, offering RTA analysts instant access to valuable insights and local transportation data, empowering them to make more informed decisions and improve overall efficiency in route planning. Byanat, a UAE-based portal that offers advanced open data systems for public access and utilization, also stepped in, developing a platform that taps into mobility data from various sources, to enhance user interactions with an AI-powered chat feature. Meanwhile, Oryx, a data analytics and software startup specializing in Big Data solutions showcased “TransfeX,” a solution that utilizes Llama’s data processing capabilities to boost the efficiency of public transportation by analyzing and optimizing route connections.