Astra Tech, the leading consumer technology holding group in the MENA region, held its much-anticipated Botim 3.0 Ultra App launch event at the Museum of the Future in Dubai.
The event brought together industry leaders, innovators, technology enthusiasts, and experts from across the world to witness the unveiling of the world’s first Ultra app.
Botim 3.0 Ultra App
The groundbreaking event highlighted a product demo, where attendees got an exclusive look at the new Botim 3.0 Ultra App in action and the demo showcased the app’s enhanced features, such as its latest GPT feature and international transfers and video services, among other impressive services. During his keynote speech, Abdallah Abu Sheikh, Astra Tech’s Founder and Botim’s CEO, took the audience through the enhanced key features that the new platform would house. He continued to share what Astra Tech strives every day to accomplish for its customers and highlighted Botim’s commitment to providing users with a seamless and user-friendly experience that the launch of the Ultra app will be able to create.
Fintech space
The keynote was followed by fireside chats and panel discussions on hot topics in the Fintech space such as the future of global payments, cybersecurity, ‘super vs ultra’, and more. Abdallah sat with Mike Butcher, Editor at large of TechCrunch, and chatted ‘Why Ultra’ and the vision of evolving a communications app into a single use platform for users across the region and globally.
This was followed by a panel discussing the Ultra app as a game changer by simplifying global payments and on the future of financial technology, featuring a lineup of prominent industry experts which included Nadia Ghissassi, VP of Mastercard; Ahmed Aly, Head of Middle East at MoneyGram International; Harish Parameswaran, VP of Micro Lending at Astra; and Kartik Taneja, Chairman of the Board of Neopay. The panelists shared their insights on the latest trends in the global payment space, as well as their predictions for the future.
Super vs Ultra
During the panel on “Super vs Ultra,” Mo Gawdat, Author, Podcast Host, and Founder of One Billion Happy, highlighted the significance of an Arabic GPT being introduced to labor camp workers, Arabic speakers, and the culture of the region. He said, “This two-way impact is very significant. By introducing GPT to the region, we are bringing it up to date with the pace of technology, and more importantly, we are helping GPT to understand the region, so that it can be more inclusive. This is a very, very important milestone.”
Joining Gawdat on the panel were Tiago, Director of Digital & eCommerce at Etihad Airways, Amine Sabri, Group Chief Financial Officer of Astra Tech, and Shayan Rahimi, Managing Director at Bidease, moderated by Mike Butcher. The panelists discussed the challenges and opportunities in the super app market and the future of commerce with chat.
Ramia Farrage, Senior Producer and Presenter at Forbes Middle East, sat down with Hasan Al Noon, Chief Technology Officer at AstraTech to discuss the pressing topic of Cybersecurity in Ultra apps. Through an interactive discussion, the audience was asked whether they believe cybersecurity is stronger in the west or in the Middle East, with an overwhelming majority believing it is stronger in this region. The conversation highlighted the region’s importance and efforts to preserve it.
Exclusive hackathon
An invitation was extended to students to participate in an exclusive hackathon at the event, with the aim of developing and presenting their ideas on how BOTIM features could be utilized for CSR initiatives. Astra Tech tasked these students with developing a telemedicine feature to seamlessly integrate with BOTIM and enable users to access medical consultations and advice from anywhere in the world where the winner walked away with Dhs10,000 .
tanvir@dubainewsweek.com
