News
Dubai Is Building A New Mall In The Metaverse
The virtual shopping center will set a new standard for immersive online shopping experiences.
The metaverse still feels like a distant and obscure concept for average consumers. However, for leading brands, this parallel digital universe is already worth investing in, and retailers are building out virtual stores as quickly as possible.
Retail group Majid Al Futtaim has taken metaverse retail to its next logical progression, unveiling the “Mall of the Metaverse” in Decentraland to compliment its brick-and-mortar outlet.
Customers will be able to engage with “immersive retail experiences” in the new virtual mall, where various brands, including Carrefour, VOX Cinemas, THAT Concept Store, Ghawali, and Samsung Store, will soon set up for business.
Khalifa bin Braik, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management, is confident that the Mall of the Metaverse “will become a prominent retail and entertainment destination for customers who seek digital experiences from their favorite brands.”
Meanwhile, Fatima Zada, the director of Omnichannel and Digital, Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, notes an increase in demand for digital experiences, with his team using “behavioral science and data” to plan a retail future that eclipses simple online shopping.
Also Read: Introducing Bard, Google’s Response To ChatGPT
Dubai has already made significant progress in metaverse development, and last year, the Dubai Mall unveiled a digital version of its Etisalat store. These announcements collectively aid the city’s metaverse strategy, which hopes to create 40,000 jobs and bring $4 billion to the economy over the next five years.
News
EDT&Partners Buys eFlow To Bolster AI Learning Push
The Middle East-founded platform is adding engagement tech as the consultancy firm widens into regulated workforce training.
EDT&Partners has bought eFlow, an AI conversational learning platform founded in the Middle East, for an undisclosed sum. The deal marks a push by the consultancy business to tighten control over last-mile learning across education and workplace training.
EDT&Partners, long rooted in universities and public-sector work, is targeting a broader “knowledge economy” in which learning is continuous and embeds into daily workflows. Clients in regulated industries are pressing for digital learning that is both responsible and actually completed — not just designed.
“Education remains at the core of who we are,” said Pablo Langa, founder and managing partner at EDT&Partners. “At the same time, we are intentionally expanding into the broader learning ecosystem, particularly in highly regulated industries”.
eFlow delivers courses through chat-style interactions, using AI prompts to keep students and employees on task. The premise is blunt: engagement is the bottleneck in digital learning, and completion rates lag unless the platform actively supports the learner.
The acquisition folds eFlow’s engagement layer into EDT&Partners’ strategic and technology work, including Lecture, the firm’s open-source GenAI framework. The pitch is that institutions and employers can launch programs that people actually finish.
Co-founder Bassel Jalaleddine said the deal gives eFlow “the strategic and operational backbone needed to scale responsibly,” and stressed the platform’s intent to support educators rather than replace them.
Also Read: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health Is A Private Space For Health Data
The move also strengthens EDT&Partners’ footing in the Middle East. The region is pushing workforce reform and talent development, and low-bandwidth, messaging-based learning travels well across emerging markets and community training programs.
eFlow’s co-founders, Jalaleddine and Samer Bawab, will join EDT&Partners as senior leaders. Both brands will run in parallel for now while teams and platforms are aligned ahead of industry events next year, including Bett 2026 in London.
The deal underlines demand for tools that move beyond content libraries toward engagement and completion — a direction echoed in corporate training budgets and government skills agendas.
EDT&Partners Buys eFlow To Bolster AI Learning Push
Abu Dhabi Rolls Out Barq Ultra-Fast EV Chargers
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health Is A Private Space For Health Data
Deliverect Rolls Out Self-Order Kiosks Across MENA
Emirates Post Issues Stamp Set Celebrating AI In UAE Schools
Clicks Bets On Physical Keyboards With CES 2026 Launch
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Leaks Point To February 2026 Reveal
Syria Rolls Out First National Tourism Discount Card
Belkin Launches Wireless HDMI Adapter With 131-Foot Range
