Business
Yusif Jabbarov Joins Global Leaders at TYCOONS 2026 in Dubai to Discuss AI's Business Impact
September 9, 2026
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Yusif Jabbarov, Chairman of NEQSOL Holding, took part in TYCOONS 2026 in Dubai on September 6 — an invitation-only gathering held under the umbrella of the AIM Global Foundation and organised in coordination with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade, bringing together business leaders, investors, family offices, sovereign institutions, and policymakers from around the world under the banner "Where Capital Meets Conviction." The event served as a prelude to AIM Congress 2026, running September 7-9 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Structured around three pillars — trade and investment, the future economy, and family wealth and capital — TYCOONS 2026 drew participants representing a wide range of industries, investment strategies, and geographies. Despite that diversity, one subject recurred through nearly every session and side conversation: artificial intelligence.
Beyond the hype: implementation, speed, and risk
The AI conversations at TYCOONS 2026 went well past the technology's headline potential. Jabbarov described discussions that centred on the practical realities of implementation — how quickly AI can realistically transform individual businesses and entire industries, its effect on employment and productivity, the investment opportunities it is generating, and the risks and uncertainties that come with a technological shift moving this fast.
"The conversations went well beyond the potential of AI itself," Jabbarov said of the discussions. "We discussed the practical realities of implementation, the speed at which AI may transform businesses and entire industries, its impact on employment and productivity, the investment opportunities it is creating, and also the risks and uncertainties that come with such rapid technological change."
That framing — treating AI as an operational and capital-allocation question rather than a purely technological one — tracks with how NEQSOL Holding has approached its own recent strategic bets. As Chairman, Jabbarov has steered the group toward long-horizon digital infrastructure — including the Kardesa submarine cable system and the Trans-Caspian Digital Silk Way project — on the premise that the physical and data layers underneath AI-driven industries will matter as much as the applications built on top of them. That strategic direction has defined much of his first year in the Chairman's seat since handing the CEO role to Kirill Rubinski in May.
A room built for candid exchange
Jabbarov thanked H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade and President of AIM Congress, along with the TYCOONS and AIM teams, for the invitation and for creating what he described as an excellent environment for open discussion and meaningful connections. AIM Congress has positioned itself in recent years as one of the region's central venues for trade, investment, and future-economy dialogue, drawing sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and multinational executives to Dubai each September.
For NEQSOL Holding — an international group spanning telecommunications, energy, construction, and mining across eleven countries — the AI discussions at TYCOONS carry direct relevance. Vodafone Ukraine, Bakcell, and AzerTelecom all sit within a broader industry now weighing how quickly to deploy AI across network operations, customer service, and infrastructure planning, while the critical minerals business Jabbarov helped bring into the group's portfolio through the UMCC acquisition faces its own AI-driven questions around exploration, processing efficiency, and supply chain forecasting.
Part of a broader pattern
The emphasis on implementation speed and risk, rather than AI's abstract promise, reflects a shift increasingly visible across executive and investor gatherings this year, as boardrooms move from exploratory pilots to decisions about where AI actually changes unit economics — and where it does not. Jabbarov's remarks suggest NEQSOL's own approach will continue to prioritise the infrastructure layer: the cables, compute pathways, and digital backbone that AI-driven business models across the region will ultimately depend on, alongside continued scrutiny of where automation reshapes headcount and productivity within the group's own operating companies.
TYCOONS 2026 and the AIM Congress that follows it are expected to feature further AI-focused programming, with sessions on the future economy pillar addressing how emerging technologies intersect with trade corridors, sovereign investment strategy, and family office capital allocation across the Gulf and beyond.
