R/GA, the leading creative innovation company for the intelligence age, announced its official expansion into the MENA region, formally establishing its business in Abu Dhabi.
While this dedicated presence is new, the move represents the formal culmination of a decade-long commitment and growing momentum in the region from R/GA, positioning the agency at the heart of the sovereign ambition and AI infrastructure investments that will shape the region’s future. Leading the business is Bertrand Morin, appointed as Executive Director, MENA.
The Abu Dhabi-based hub will serve clients across the wider region, with plans to hire more staff and further expansions planned for 2027 onwards.
R/G’s growing regional client portfolio
The formal entity was set up as a result of growing demand from R/GA’s growing regional client portfolio. The establishment of its business in the UAE will enable R/GA to further strengthen its offering to locally-based clients, harnessing the latest innovations in technology to create more valuable experiences to connect people and brands. This includes training custom brand AI models, building new, adaptive commerce experiences and creating personalised, generative interfaces.
Partnerships
During R/GA’s time in the region, the agency has partnered with leading organisations, including G42, Wio Bank, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Emirates NBD, and Bank Al Etihad. The work has included designing and building new brand systems, launching category-first digital products, and reimagining customer experiences for a mobile-first, AI-driven market. The business continues to grow, driven by expanded programmes with existing clients and new engagements across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
R/GA’s work has consistently pushed past “first in region” into world-first territory, with innovations built in the Middle East setting the pace for global markets. For example, R/GA’s recent work for G42 earlier this year, included launching a world-first generative interface redefining the future of the web, serving as a clear proof point of its ability to deliver MENA-led innovation with global impact.
“We’re thrilled to formally establish our presence in the MENA market, following over ten years of servicing clients and building intelligent brand systems that deliver differentiation, customer value and growth. We’re excited to welcome an expanded team on the ground, and turn our award-winning work into a permanent commitment. We’re the region’s ‘newest oldest’ player, with the trust and the track record to prove it. This region always moves forward, it adapts fast, has huge resilience, and bets on innovation, and that’s exactly how we work too,” said Bertrand Morin, Executive Director, MENA at R/GA.
“Independence has been transformative for R/GA and it has given us the freedom to invest in new talent, build new capabilities, develop our own AI tools and products, and chart our own course,” said Robin Forbes, Global CEO of R/GA. “And we chose to invest in setting up in Abu Dhabi because of the sovereign ambition and the AI infrastructure being built here.
“It’s an exciting market to be in and we’re looking forward to harnessing the potential of key technologies to help the region’s leading brands deepen their relationships with customers, and give them a reason to be loyal. We’ve always been driven by the mission ‘to design the future, not the familiar’, and that’s exactly what we hope to achieve in this market.”
“At G42, we value partners willing to question the familiar, not simply improve it. With Alpha.G42.ai, R/GA helped us explore a more fundamental idea: in an agentic world, the interface between an organisation and its audiences no longer needs to be fixed; it can be generated, intelligent and responsive to intent. That thinking came out of Abu Dhabi and travelled globally. R/GA choosing to put down roots here is another signal of something important: the UAE is increasingly becoming a place where the next generation of ideas is not simply adopted, but imagined and built,” said Faheem Ahamed, Group Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, G42.
Long-term growth plan
Following its return to private independence in partnership with Truelink Capital, and backed by a $50 million Innovation Fund, R/GA has been executing a long-term growth plan. A key milestone was the acquisition of Addition, an AI system design and development studio, deepening its technical depth in applied intelligence.
R/GA’s Abu Dhabi presence brings those AI-driven creative capabilities directly to one of the world’s fastest-growing innovation hubs. Globally, R/GA works across government and sovereign investment, financial services, AI and technology, health, and sport and entertainment. The Abu Dhabi presence puts R/GA’s global sector expertise locally in service of MENA clients, and gives the region’s brands a direct route to a global stage.
The company’s MENA operation is officially active, with plans to move into a dedicated new formal office space later this year. Senior leadership appointments are also underway in creative and delivery to support its rapidly growing team.
tanvir@dubainewsweek.com
