Growing investment in AI across the Gulf is creating new demand for digital products, customer experiences and technology services. 

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R/GA is formally establishing its MENA business in Abu Dhabi after more than a decade of working with organizations across the region. Bertrand Morin, who has led the company's regional work, has been appointed Executive Director, MENA, with more hiring planned and a dedicated office expected later this year. Further expansion is planned from 2027. 

The new operation builds on work that is already underway rather than marking a first entry into the region. Over the years, R/GA has worked with organizations including G42, Wio Bank, National Bank of Kuwait, Banque Saudi Fransi, Emirates NBD and Bank Al Etihad. Its recent projects have increasingly involved digital products and customer experiences, giving the company an established base as more businesses in the Gulf look at how new technology can be incorporated into their services. 

From Regional Work to a Permanent Base 

A recent project with Abu Dhabi-based G42 provides a useful example. Earlier this year, the companies launched Alpha.G42.ai, a generative interface that allows users to interact with the organization through an AI system rather than a conventional website. R/GA worked on the strategy, experience design and engineering alongside G42's teams. The project was developed in Abu Dhabi and shows how some of the company's regional work is moving beyond conventional digital experiences. 

More work of this kind is likely to emerge as the UAE's technology investment expands. Abu Dhabi's digital strategy for 2025 to 2027 includes AED 13 billion in investment and more than 200 AI solutions across government. The UAE has also announced plans to introduce agentic AI across half of its government sectors, services and operations within two years. For companies like R/GA, the opportunity sits in helping organizations turn those capabilities into products, services and customer experiences that people actually use. 

R/GA has been building its own capabilities in that direction. Following its return to private independence in 2025, the company established a $50 million Innovation Fund and acquired Addition, an AI system design and development studio. The acquisition added technical expertise to a business already working across brand, commerce and experience design. The Abu Dhabi expansion comes as that broader shift inside the company gives it more capabilities to offer regional clients. 

“Independence has been transformative for R/GA and it has given us the freedom to invest in new talent, build new capabilities, develop our own AI tools and products, and chart our own course. And we chose to invest in setting up in Abu Dhabi because of the sovereign ambition and the AI infrastructure being built here. It’s an exciting market to be in and we’re looking forward to harnessing the potential of key technologies to help the region’s leading brands deepen their relationships with customers and give them a reason to be loyal. We've always been driven by the mission ‘to design the future, not the familiar’, and that’s exactly what we hope to achieve in this market.” said Robin Forbes, Global CEO of R/GA

The new operation will serve clients across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region, with further hiring planned as the team grows. Putting more people on the ground should allow R/GA to build on relationships it has developed over years while pursuing new work in a market where technology investment is increasingly reaching businesses and government services. 

R/GA's arrival adds another international company to a technology sector that has expanded around government investment, major infrastructure projects and local technology firms. What makes the announcement notable is that the company is formalizing a business that has already been operating in the region rather than entering the market for the first time. Its existing relationships and growing technical capabilities now give the company a stronger base from which to pursue the next phase of its regional business. 

Abu Dhabi has spent heavily on technology infrastructure and attracting international companies. Whether those investments produce a deeper technology industry will ultimately depend on what gets built and adopted locally. R/GA's decision to commit more people and resources to the market is one indication that there is already enough activity beyond the infrastructure itself to support a larger services business. 

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