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Tahawul Tech
09-05-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
Hitachi Vantara leads the charge in AI-powered, sustainable IT infrastructure
Rehan Shahid, Regional Channel & Alliances Manager – Middle East & Pakistan at Hitachi Vantara, spoke to Sandhya D'Mello, Technology Editor, CPI Media Group, about the transformational role of AI across its three defining phases—Perception, Generative, and the emerging Agentic AI—while addressing the complexities of hybrid cloud adoption and the urgent need for sustainable infrastructure. The following excerpts explore how Hitachi Vantara is helping enterprises navigate this rapidly shifting landscape—simplifying complexity, maximizing ROI, and driving purposeful innovation. Interview excerpts Hitachi Vantara is known for driving innovation through AI. How do you see AI transforming enterprise IT operations, and what role does your company play in this evolution? AI is truly transformative for enterprise IT operations, and at Hitachi Vantara, we've been at the forefront of this evolution for years. We view AI in two phases—Perception AI, which supports decision-making through data-driven insights, and Generative AI, which represents a more recent revolution fuelled by accelerated computing and GPU advancements. Generative AI, in particular, has democratised access to AI capabilities—enabling anyone to create new content, generate reports, and even build presentations simply by using prompts. However, success with AI isn't just about the technology—it's about knowing how to engage with it. Being able to prompt effectively and interpret results critically is what turns AI into a collaborative tool rather than a disruptive force. This is where human-AI interaction becomes central. At Hitachi Vantara, we don't just provide AI infrastructure; we distinguish ourselves by offering end-to-end AI solutions. We help enterprises define their AI use cases, build the infrastructure, and—most importantly—align each initiative with measurable ROI. This turnkey approach empowers organizations to adopt AI meaningfully, ensuring that technology serves business objectives and not the other way around. Sustainability is a growing priority in enterprise IT. How is Hitachi Vantara integrating sustainable practices into its solutions, and what impact do you see in the Middle East and Pakistan region? Sustainability has become a critical focus for everyone—from individuals to organisations and nations. With the rise of AI-powered data centres and their massive energy consumption, the urgency around sustainable infrastructure has never been greater. For context, powering a single gigawatt AI data centre can cost up to $40 billion, with global projections pointing to the need for 200 gigawatts—amounting to a staggering $8 trillion. This kind of energy demand can rival that of entire cities, making sustainability both an environmental and financial imperative. At Hitachi Vantara, we are taking a leadership role in driving sustainable enterprise IT. Our infrastructure is ranked among the world's most energy-efficient. In fact, four of the top five systems globally rated by ENERGY STAR for sustainability are from Hitachi Vantara. We are also ranked number one in the Carbon Product Footprint (CPF) initiative, which assesses the total environmental impact of a system—from raw material sourcing and manufacturing to shipping and energy consumption during operation. Our innovation in this space is underpinned by patented technologies that significantly reduce energy consumption. This is especially relevant for high-growth regions like the Middle East and Pakistan, where large-scale digital transformation and AI adoption are accelerating. As these regions invest in giga-scale projects, the need for sustainable IT infrastructure becomes even more crucial. Through our end-to-end CPF-qualified ecosystem and ongoing investment from Hitachi Ltd., we are committed to helping the region—and the world—achieve its long-term sustainability goals. Hybrid cloud adoption is accelerating across industries. What are the biggest challenges organisations face in implementing a hybrid cloud strategy, and how does Hitachi Vantara help simplify this transition? Hybrid cloud has emerged as the dominant model for enterprise IT, offering the flexibility to keep critical data under one's own control while leveraging the scalability of the public cloud. However, implementing a successful hybrid cloud strategy comes with its own set of challenges. One key challenge is determining which workloads should reside on-premises and which are better suited for the public cloud. This involves understanding application requirements, associated costs, and compliance or latency considerations. For 'Day One' customers just starting their cloud journey, the complexity lies in assessing this balance. Meanwhile, 'Day Two' customers—those already operating in the public cloud—often face cost overruns and begin re-evaluating what workloads might need to be brought back on-premises, a process known as repatriation. At Hitachi Vantara, we simplify this transition by offering a flexible, unified infrastructure and data management platform that supports seamless workload mobility between on-prem and cloud environments. We help customers optimise hybrid strategies not only for performance and compliance, but also for cost efficiency and operational control. Our approach ensures mission-critical applications can run securely on-prem, with the agility to shift to the cloud during peak periods—enabling enterprises to strike the right balance and future-proof their IT operations. Looking ahead, what key AI-driven and cloud innovations do you foresee shaping the future of IT infrastructure, and how is Hitachi Vantara positioning itself to support this transformation? The future of IT infrastructure is being redefined by the rapid evolution of AI, moving through three transformative phases. We began with Perception AI, which supported data-driven decision-making and reporting. Today, we're deep into Generative AI, which empowers users to create content through natural language prompts. But the next wave—Agentic AI—is where the most profound shift will happen. Agentic AI refers to systems that can take autonomous actions without human intervention. For instance, imagine your system noticing you're running late to a meeting and automatically notifying the next attendees. These AI agents will act on behalf of users in context-sensitive ways, making operations more seamless and responsive. However, with this power comes responsibility. Organisations will need to define clear boundaries for what agents can and cannot do—just like HR departments manage human roles. In fact, IT teams will increasingly resemble HR functions, responsible for creating, nurturing, deploying, and managing these digital agents. Hitachi Vantara is already preparing for this future. We're actively developing AI agents for use across sectors including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and energy. Our work focuses not only on creating these agents but also on embedding them within secure, scalable, and sustainable hybrid cloud infrastructures. By combining our deep enterprise expertise with AI and cloud innovation, we're helping businesses transition into a future where IT is intelligent, autonomous, and adaptive. Image Credit: Hitachi Vantara
Tahawul Tech
24-04-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
'Security is everyone's responsibility' – Firas Jadalla, Genetec
Firas Jadalla, Regional Director for the Middle East, Turkey & Africa at Genetec spoke to Daniel Shepherd from CPI Media Group at the Genetec empower360 roadshow in Dubai. The event delved into the importance of open architecture and IoT technologies in developing smarter cities. There was also a strong focus on new trends in access control technology, simplifying video management and providing advanced scalable solutions. With almost 20 years at the Genetec, Firas Jadalla has witnessed their humble beginnings in 2005, to its expansion across nine Middle Eastern cities. In addition to their focus in Dubai and Riyadh, Genetec has local teams in Doha, Cairo and Cape Town South Africa. They have also been recognised as a leader in innovation worldwide with headquarters in Montréal and offices in multiple countries. Which security trends do you believe organisations should keep in mind when it comes to secure solutions? When you consider security, we are seeing more awareness around cybersecurity which was triggered by the pandemic. We see more end users and system integrators looking for solutions that can meet the current challenges of cybersecurity. Another element is an increased focus on unification. 20 years ago, people were interested in the idea of having an interface between physical security solutions. They wanted to have alarms, control systems and video feeds interfaced together, which we now know as integration. Today, the trends are more focused around unification. In integration multiple different systems are combined definitively for efficiency and unification represents a unique concept. To elaborate on the last point, how does unified security differ from current security solutions businesses use? When we talk about a built-in unified product there is a big difference between that and an integrated solution. A unified solution is built from the ground-up with the same code and aspects as most physical products. With unified solutions we take one solution that can meet all your requirements such as physical security, video management, access control system, license distribution system, intercom and more. Some projects might not require all these features, but broadly it provides one solution with one interface. Consider it like Microsoft Office which includes Excel, PowerPoint and Word under a familiar interface. With the Genetec Unified Platform, it is one platform and one interface that meets all these requirements in a seamless package. This is advantageous because it becomes easier to deploy, train employees or perform updates without breaking any links. Do you see cloud security solutions becoming more common or is hybrid still popular with your customers? All of us in Genetec agree that the cloud is going to dominate the future of security solutions. For us it is not a question of will, it is a question of when. When will we see this adoption reach over 50%? When will over 50% of physical security installations rely on an on-prem cloud? When you look at enterprise solutions, there is a bigger appetite for hybrid verses cloud. If we look at small deployments like shop cameras, the owners will likely prefer everything to be linked via cloud. However, with bigger examples like airports that use thousands of cameras it becomes more meaningful and cost effective to use a hybrid solution. Hybrid offers the best of both worlds as you can address issues related to bandwidth and the cost of bandwidth whilst being able to use cloud access from anywhere to gather insights. Can your security centre solutions incorporate and develop alongside the changes we are seeing in access control technology? Our flagship product offers a unified platform for management control. What you get with this platform is that every time a software update is available you only need to do it once to keep things running smoothly. There are no unnecessary integration links or interfaces. Our latest products feature an element called GUS (Genetec Upgrade Service) which when enabled, automatically checks for updates during night hours. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you would like to say to our readers? As a company, Genetec has taken a very strong stance on cybersecurity since 2016. We've seen people become aware of the importance of having a secure security solution right after the pandemic. During that time more people were working from home leading to an increase in the number of cyberattacks. We've continued to encourage our system integrator, channel partners and end users to give cybersecurity the importance it is due. At Genetec, with have improved our solutions with built-in cybersecurity and created guidelines for our system integrator during deployment to tighten security measures. Our solution includes many features such as, encryption to avoid man-in-the-middle attacks between cameras and the servers' workstation. I would like to take this opportunity to remind people of the critical nature of their own security systems and at the end of the day it is everyone's responsibility. Whether it's Genetec being the supplier, our system integrator deploying it or the end user running it, everyone is accountable. We must all work together to share the responsibility. Image Credit: Genetec
Tahawul Tech
08-04-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
Continental advances AI Integration to boost efficiency, protect client trust
DIFC-licensed firm strengthens its market position amid rising demand for wealth and succession planning. Continental Group, a leading insurance intermediary and financial services provider, is strategically integrating AI across operations—from automating repetitive tasks like invoice processing to enabling real-time access to complex product documentation—significantly boosting efficiency and accuracy. While AI tools have transformed internal workflows and advisor capabilities, the firm takes a cautious approach to client-facing AI due to the sensitive nature of wealth and insurance services. Anselm Mendes, Executive Director, Sales and Technology, Continental Group spoke to Sandhya D'Mello, Technology Editor, CPI Media Group on how the company sees promise in generative AI, analytics, and conversational interfaces, particularly to meet the diverse needs of multi-generational clients. Challenges such as data privacy, untested technologies, and talent shortages are met with a culture of continuous learning and innovation. Interview excerpts: We've heard Continental is integrating AI into various aspects of the business. What specific technologies are you using and how are they making a difference? We're applying AI across several areas of our operations – from sales and marketing to training and day-to-day processes. The most visible impact has been through automation tools that handle repetitive tasks like invoice processing and data entry. We're also using machine learning for client profiling and product matching, while implementing systems that can quickly pull insights from our extensive product documentation. The measurable benefit is that our teams can work faster with fewer errors, which means better service for clients. I've personally found AI helpful for strategic planning and problem-solving – it's like having an additional perspective in the room. Can you share a specific example where these technologies directly improved a client experience? At this point, most of our AI implementation is happening behind the scenes. Take our medical insurance operations – we've automated invoice processing using RPA, dramatically cutting turnaround times on what used to be a painfully manual process. Another example is how our advisors can now instantly access answers from technical documents, underwriting guides, and product specifications. Questions that once required hours of research are now answered in moments, letting our team focus on what really matters, which is understanding each client's unique situation. We're being intentionally cautious with client-facing AI. Given the sensitive nature of wealth management and insurance, we need to thoroughly train our systems and verify information before it reaches clients. We're working toward more personalized solutions and eventually providing clients direct access to these tools, but we won't rush something this important. Your approach seems quite measured compared to some competitors who are racing to implement client-facing AI. Is that deliberate? Absolutely. We're taking a steady, thoughtful approach to integrating technology that balances innovation with client experience. We're maintaining control over the quality of information and service by testing and refining these systems internally first. This has been particularly important for our cross-border wealth structuring and insurance solutions, where precision is non-negotiable. Trust takes decades to build but can be damaged in an instant. Our approach ensures technology enhances rather than undermines that trust. While there is tremendous potential with this tech, it ultimately serves as an enabler that complements and empowers our team's interpersonal engagements. What emerging technologies are you most excited about for Continental's future? The potential of generative AI, advanced analytics, and conversational interfaces is tremendous. We're seeing fundamental shifts in how people interact with technology, and we need to evolve alongside these changes. What's fascinating is how technology helps us serve multiple generations within the same client families. Different generations have vastly different preferences for communication and accessing advice. Some prefer face-to-face meetings while others want digital solutions they can access anytime. Technology gives us flexibility, but it doesn't replace the human element. Our clients still deeply value the personal relationships, diverse perspectives, and specialized expertise our team brings. Technology simply frees up more time for those meaningful conversations. What challenges are you facing as you integrate these new technologies? Emerging technologies come with their own set of challenges. Building expertise takes time, and experimentation requires patience, especially when you need the level of accuracy, reliability, and security our business demands. We're dealing with the reality that newer technologies haven't been fully battle-tested, which raises the stakes when handling sensitive personal and financial information. Data privacy and protection are constant considerations, both from regulatory and ethical perspectives. Finding skilled talent is another challenge. There's fierce competition for people with both technical expertise and financial services understanding. Our approach has been to foster a culture of continuous learning. We give our team members space to experiment, encourage knowledge sharing, and promote awareness of how these technologies are being used across different industries. It's about building capabilities from within rather than just importing solutions. Celebrating 30-year legacy, expanding total active insurance coverage to $6.9 billion The company recorded a 26% increase in premiums, reaching $124 million from $98 million. Continental's total coverage for life clients grew by 5% in 2024, adding $800 million to the existing coverage. The firm now has nearly $6.9 billion in active life coverage under management, which has resulted in greater financial security for thousands of families and businesses, ensuring they have the support needed to navigate life's uncertainties with confidence. 'Continental Group's legacy is a story of thousands of families safeguarded, aspirations turned into reality, and three decades of trust garnered in the Middle East,' said Ashok Sardana, Founder & Managing Director, Continental Group. 'Since 1994, our mission has been to provide not just financial solutions, but peace of mind and long-term stability for families and businesses. That principle will continue to guide us as we move into the next phase of Continental's growth.' The firm's role in securing financial stability was underscored by $7.4 million in claims processed in 2024, including $3.2 million in non-motor claims and $2.4 million in motor claims and $1.7 million life and critical insurance claims ensuring clients receive timely support when they need it most. These payouts have provided crucial financial relief during unexpected crises, helping clients focus on recovery instead of financial strain. 'This 30th anniversary celebrates the relationships we've built and lives we've touched. Our commitment goes beyond just offering solutions. We have been building a framework that ensures financial security across generations. As we move forward, transparency, and a client-first approach will remain at the core of everything we do,' said Akshay Sardana, SEO, Executive Director, CFS DIFC Limited.
Tahawul Tech
26-03-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
Suhoor Networking Evening Archives
CPI Media Group's in association with Hitachi Vantara and supported by Citrix, Veeam, VAD Technologies, and SentinelOne, brought together key technology stakeholders for an exclusive Suhoor networking event on March 19, 2025, at Fairmont The Palm, Dubai. The evening fostered insightful conversations, industry collaborations, and celebrated the spirit of Ramadan.
Tahawul Tech
26-03-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
TahawulTech hosts exclusive Suhoor Networking Evening with industry leaders
CPI Media Group's in association with Hitachi Vantara and supported by Citrix, Veeam, VAD Technologies, and SentinelOne, brought together key technology stakeholders for an exclusive Suhoor networking event on March 19, 2025, at Fairmont The Palm, Dubai. The evening fostered insightful conversations, industry collaborations, and celebrated the spirit of Ramadan.
