News

Tumodo & Tabby Drive Innovation In The UAE’s Travel Market

The collaboration signifies a significant step forward in digitizing MENA business travel, including the use of AI technologies.

Published

2 years ago

June 4, 2024

Nour Nasir

tumodo and tabby drive innovation in the uae's travel market

UAE business travel platform Tumodo is set to integrate its services with Tabby, a leading MENA shopping and financial services app, in a move that will further the digital transformation of the region’s travel market.

Tabby already helps millions of people in the MENA region stay in control of their finances. Now, with the integration of Tumodo’s platform, business travelers will gain improved control over their travel expenses, along with greater transparency and accountability.

“The collaboration with Tabby signifies a major step forward in our mission to digitize business travel in the UAE and GCC, including the use of AI technologies. Now, we can extend brands’ reach to a wider audience and lead to a sustainable future,” said Vladimir Kokorin, founder of Tumodo.

Tumodo’s MENA expansion also comes at a time where the company is doubling its efforts to promote sustainable travel. Tumodo is advising all customers and partners on how they can be more eco-friendly when it comes to travel, and how to minimize the ecological impact of business trips.

Also Read: Oracle Is Planning To Build Two New Cloud Regions In Morocco

By 2022, spending in the global business travel market had risen to $1.03 trillion. However, that figure is expected to surpass the pre-pandemic figure of $1.4 trillion sometime this year. Despite many companies continuing to prefer online meetings, the business travel market continues to grow rapidly and is expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2027.

The integration of Tumodo’s travel platform into Tabby’s service will surely enhance business efficiency and reinforce both companies’ commitments to sustainability. Meanwhile, the UAE will also benefit as it continues to grow into a leading business hub focused on sustainable practices.

News

At I/O 2026, Sundar Pichai Concedes AI Must Deliver Real Value

Gemini 3.5, a personal agent called Spark, agentic shopping, and Android XR eyewear are all aimed at making AI feel useful, not just impressive.

Published

6 days ago

May 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

at io 2026 sundar pichai concedes ai must deliver real value

Google

Google’s annual I/O developer conference (I/O 2026) has recently become a status update on the same question: can the company turn its AI spending into products people use every day? This year, chief executive Sundar Pichai described Google as being in a phase of hyper progress, while conceding this is the part of the cycle where people want to see real value in the products they use on a day-to-day basis.

The strategy on display was to push agents — AI systems that act on a user’s behalf — into nearly every Google product at once. Search now has an “intelligent search box” that returns generated explainer videos alongside links. Gmail, Docs, YouTube and Maps are gaining their own agent layers, including a Docs Live feature that turns spoken instructions into drafted text with citations.

Two new models, Gemini 3.5 and a cheaper Gemini 3.5 Flash, arrived the same day. Google says 900 million people now use Gemini, and that more than 50 billion images have been generated with it. The pricing tier names are likely to confuse buyers: a new AI Ultra plan launches at $100 a month, while the older Gemini AI Ultra drops from $250 to $200.

The flashier announcements were Gemini Omni, a video generator pitched as a more realistic answer to OpenAI’s discontinued Sora 2, and Gemini Spark, a personal agent that handles recurring tasks across a user’s Google account. A new universal shopping cart lets agents complete purchases across multiple retailers from inside Google itself, placing the company between the merchant and the buyer, and also owning the checkout.

Also Read: DJI Teases Dual-Camera Osmo Pocket 4P For 2026 Launch

Google also confirmed its Android XR eyewear, built with Samsung and frames from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. Audio-only glasses ship this autumn; a display-equipped version, which would superimpose live translations into the wearer’s field of view, is still in development. Both sets translate, however only the display version shows you the result.

What Pichai did not resolve is the bargain underneath all this. An agent is only useful to the degree it knows your calendar, your inbox, your shopping history and your physical surroundings. Google has now confirmed that, in time, the same context may carry advertising.