ADGM Think Series

The UAE’s tech ecosystem is the 6th fastest-growing in the world. The partnership between a VC and a fast-growing venture goes a long way to contribute to this ecosystem. In line with SC Ventures recent office opening in Abu Dhabi, we deep dive into the factors that contribute to the success of a startup. Tune in to hear Gautam Jain of SC Ventures discuss the potential of the region, how their selection process works, what features a fast-growth firm has and what sectors they are optimistic about.

This special edition is the preview of the upcoming ADFW – seen in just it’s second edition as one of the most influential gatherings of financial leadership in the world. As the event draws close, we sit down with the some of the ADFW organising team to provide a bird’s eye view of the week. With over 10,000 attendees expected this year, we reflect on what to expect across the 4 days of ADFW.

What are contributing factors that grow the local fintech ecosystem? How can we launch more founders in this space, and what can we expect in the coming years? We sit down with Suneel Gokhale from VentureSouq and deep dive into topics such as founder’s traits, regulatory framework and product offering that play a critical role in the success of Fintech.

The phenomenal growth of Abu Dhabi’s capital market is making global headlines. With global interest from issuers and investors deploying capital from leading asset managers, what makes Abu Dhabi’s capital market ecosystem so attractive? This one-of-a-kind session brings ADX and the Abu Dhabi IPO Fund together to talk about factors that are contributing to this success.

What are the top challenges faced by banks in the region? Hosted by ADGM Academy, in this episode, we discuss how academics are contributing to enhancing the global financial industry. We sit with Dr. Thouraya Labben from United Arab Emirates University, an institution that has undertaken a project to identify the top challenges being faced by the banking sector in the region. This episode will detail the findings from the 12+ banks and asks how can academia solve these challenges.

Investments into digital assets are a mainstream asset class. This is happening at a global scale and rapidly evolving technologies are making the world of crypto even more connected than before. The hour has come to solidify safeguards around consumer protection, mitigate financial crimes and maintain market integrity. We sit down with World Economic Forum’s Arushi Goel to discuss the findings of their recent white paper on cross-crypto regulations.

The GCC Family Office market has grown to a multi-trillion dollar sector and this episode will meet Northern Trusts Family Office expert, George Triplow, to shed light on the inner workings of a Family office – What are their strategic mandates, how are they different from the ones operating in the US/EU and what can we expect in the next 10 years?

Accelerator models have evolved and so have the funding strategies of investors over the last couple of years. Why is now a good time to be investing in early age startups and how do venture studios build successful companies from the ground up? Marc Wesselink from VentureRock shares his experience and insights on early age startup funding and investment KPIs

AI is the most consequential technology of our times. From ChatGPT to UAE’s Falcon LLM, there has been noteworthy progress globally and this session breaks down the origin of AI, where it is headed and its implication on the financial sector.
Technology Innovation Institute's Merouane Debbah shares his experience and insights on the possibilities of AI.

Financial crime is a multi-trillion business run by highly sophisticated and tech focused criminal organizations. UNODC suggests over 2.7% of global GDP is lost to money laundering and financial crimes. How can businesses and society stay ahead of the curve and mitigate their everyday risks? Dickon Johnstone from Themis shares his experience and insights on financial crimes and risks.