Yango Group's Sergej Loiter on how AI is creating smarter experiences for communities, businesses and beyond
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How is AI used across different verticals?
AI is now central to how industries operate, innovate, and serve people. In the UAE, 82 per cent of business leaders say AI already impacts their organisation's achievements. What's exciting is how AI adapts to each sector's specific needs, moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach.
In media and entertainment, for instance, AI is driving hyper-localised, culturally relevant experiences. Yasmina, the human-like bilingual AI assistant, is a prime example. Its LLM is trained extensively on Khaleeji content and refined through input from Arabic-speaking experts and even local comedians to ensure the humour, references, and style resonate authentically. Yasmina can assist with daily tasks like 'How do you make Arabic coffee?' or explain complex topics like cloud seeding in simple terms. It reflects the Middle Eastern way of life, offering bedtime stories in both Arabic and English, and providing prayer time reminders with over 30 new Quran reciter voices introduced during Ramadan 2025. Through continuous training, Yasmina evolves to stay culturally relevant and human-like, aligning with the way people interact naturally in the region.
Among other examples of how AI is enabling the real world are last mile delivery and adtech solutions.
How do Yango's autonomous delivery robots use AI?
In a time where consumers expect deliveries within minutes, our autonomous delivery robots, recently deployed in Dubai in partnership with ROOTS, are a strong example of AI's practical benefits. Its AI-driven system ensures safe navigation even in complex city environments. The robots offer contactless deliveries within a two-kilometre radius in under 30 minutes.
They are electric-powered, helping reduce emissions in line with Dubai's Autonomous Transportation Strategy, which aims to convert 25 per cent of all transportation to autonomous modes by 2030, reducing CO₂ emissions by 30 per cent. They support sustainability, reduce urban congestion, and give residents more flexible delivery options.
Do AI-powered ad tech platforms change the way businesses connect with their audiences?
Sure. I have a background in advertising, so it's a subject close to my heart. I recall that even a decade ago we were successfully using AI-driven technologies to improve ad targeting and recommendations for businesses. And even today AI plays a role in the more operational or manual tasks. For instance, when it comes to visuals' creation, AI-technologies can produce them faster and more efficiently. Now we see the whole ad campaigns in which all visual materials are generated by AI.
AI also proved to be efficient in ad moderation and fraud detection. At the same time humans still excel AI at understanding local contexts, cultural nuances, and emotional aspects of the marketing process, including selection of appropriate channels, and I believe this won't change in the near future.
And what about the public sector using AI for services? What should governments consider if they want to use commercial AI for citizen-facing tasks?
The UAE is leading in AI adoption. I find the vision of the UAE leadership admirable as laid out in the country's National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031. It is an efficient and structured approach to step-by-step deployment of AI technologies framework that acknowledges the fact that AI is still very much a developing work in progress, and that trying to look at it solely from a hard regulatory perspective is not the right approach. And I honestly hope more governments in more countries adopt the UAE government's flexible attitude towards AI.
When deploying AI, it is important to uphold ethical standards, protect privacy, remain inclusive, integrate seamlessly with existing platforms, and build public trust through transparency. With all this in place, AI-driven technologies can really form an efficient tandem with humans that benefits communities, businesses and beyond.
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