It's a new year and already it's been filled with some tech and social challenges. Starting off with the TikTok ban in the US also impacting people outside the country.

Is Dubai now looking to be the Creator Economy hub in the MENA region? Influencers in Qatar should prepare for new legislation that will impact them.

At CES 2025, Delta is bringing YouTube Premium to its in-flight entertainment. What about the possibilities of Netflix, Disney+, and other SVOD joining in? All this and more are covered in our latest episode.

Additional reference links during the episode

- TikTok STEM feed launches in Saudi Arabia

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Yasser Masood (LinkedIn, Instagram) ​Gazanfarulla Khan (LinkedIn, Instagram) ​The Geeky Nomads podcast (Instagram, Threads)

After many months since our previous episode, Yasser Masood and Gazanfarulla Khan return for the next episode exploring some highlights of the year: recent developments in Qatar, including tech events focused on Web Summit Qatar 2025 and WSJ Tech Live, AI initiatives across the GCC region, Apple's expansion plans in Saudi Arabia, and Talabat's IPO.

Additional reference links during the episode:

1. ​⁠Apple's expansion in Saudi Arabia⁠
2. ​⁠PWC report on AI investments in the GCC⁠
3. ​⁠Qatar unveils Fanar⁠
4. ​⁠Dow Jones and WSJ in Qatar⁠
5. ​⁠Finding his stolen AirPods

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If you're keen to suggest topics that you'd want to hear more about, follow us on our accounts below and drop us a message

• ​Yasser Masood (LinkedIn, Instagram)
• ​Gazanfarulla Khan (LinkedIn, Instagram)
• ​The Geeky Nomads (Instagram)

Picking up from our previous episode, Khan and I continue to recap our experience at the inaugural Web Summit Qatar 2024.

The last tech event I attended was CES 2019 (before everyone was locked in). The next best opportunity came with the inaugural Web Summit Qatar in February 2024. We managed to cover as much with a divide-and-conquer approach. With many interesting panels/sessions covering multiple conference tracks, there was plenty to cover and the onsite podcast booth setup was our way to crunch it all. Read all about Web Summit Qatar 2024 on the blog.

Prefer to watch as a video? ⁠⁠Watch the video version⁠⁠. Related videos to some of the discussions during the episode

• Conversation with TikTok on the Creative Studio in Qatar
• talabat usage habits in Qatar

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If you're keen to suggest topics that you'd want to hear more about, follow us on our accounts below and drop us a message

• ​Yasser Masood (⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠)
• ​Gazanfarulla Khan (⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠)
• ​The Geeky Nomads (⁠Instagram⁠)

After quite a long time, I got to attend a tech event since the last one was in 2019 (yes, before everyone was locked in). The opportunity came with the inaugural Web Summit Qatar in February 2024.

Hosted by Yasser Masood and Gazanfarulla Khan, we managed to cover as much with a divide-and-conquer approach given the scheduling of many interesting panels/sessions covering multiple conference tracks. The best thing was the onsite podcast booth setup, which allowed us to record onsite. This is Part 1 of our overview of the Web Summit Qatar, with Part 2 to follow. Read all about Web Summit Qatar 2024 on the ⁠blog⁠.

Prefer to watch as a video? ⁠Watch the video version⁠. ---

If you're keen to suggest topics that you'd want to hear more about, follow us on our accounts below and drop us a message

• ​Yasser Masood (⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠)
• ​Gazanfarulla Khan (⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠)
• ​The Geeky Nomads (⁠Instagram⁠)

Let’s introduce ourselves! We’re two ‘Khans’ who want to make this podcast different. How? Our focus is on the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) spanning tech, social media, digital and other related topics; sometimes, we'll even include the Indian Subcontinent (South Asia) region given the large diaspora present.