Abdul Qavi Publishes Op-Ed on Agentic AI and Product Leadership in the GCC

A Rasmal op-ed by Abdul Qavi outlines how agentic AI can move the GCC beyond apps to outcome-driven assistants, with clear guidance for product teams.

DOHA, QATAR, September 8, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A recent opinion piece by Abdul Qavi, Product Lead at Rasmal, sets out a practical view of how agentic AI could reshape digital products in the Gulf. The article explains how the region can move beyond app-centric design and towards goal-driven assistants that plan, act, and learn.

Agentic systems do not wait for prompts. They take a user’s goal. They plan steps. They choose the right tools. They learn from feedback. This shift affects product strategy, delivery, and governance across the GCC. It offers a path to faster service, fewer errors, and better user experience.

The op-ed focuses on product leadership. It recommends small, scoped launches. It stresses measurement over hype. It favours API-first architecture, explainability, and clear action logs. It underlines the need for layered guardrails and human oversight for higher-impact actions.
Regional context matters. The GCC has invested in cloud, data centres, and bilingual language models. Policy conversations are active. Product teams can turn this groundwork into outcomes. That means local relevance, stronger trust, and better resilience.

The article points to use-cases that are concrete and measurable. Public service assistants can renew licences, assemble documents, and schedule appointments. Trade corridor agents can help with customs, tariffs, and port bookings. Banking copilots can triage AML/KYC alerts and prepare escalation packs. Industrial copilots can process IoT data and draft work orders. Each case is bounded. Each case has clear metrics.

“Agentic AI changes how we design and deliver digital products,” said Abdul Qavi. “Teams in the GCC can move early by focusing on real use-cases, clear guardrails, and talent development.”

The op-ed calls for Arabic-first design and local oversight. Interfaces must work in Arabic and English. Voice and multimodal flows should be tuned to the region. Evaluation should include Arabic-speaking domain reviewers. The aim is accuracy, cultural fit, and dependable behaviour.

Governance is a design issue, not an afterthought. The piece outlines three layers of control. First, the prompt and tool layer: input validation, allow-lists, and red-teaming. Second, the policy layer: role-based access, data minimisation, and contextual consent. Third, the human layer: review queues, break-glass escalation, and usage analytics.

“The region has made big strides in infrastructure and policy,” said Abdul Qavi. “The next step is disciplined delivery: API-ready services, audited actions, and outcome metrics that prove value.”

The op-ed suggests a delivery path that product leaders can adopt now:

- Start small: Pick bounded processes with clear success criteria.
- Design API-first: Let agents read, act, and log safely. Avoid brittle scraping.
- Measure outcomes: Track task success, latency, error rates, and overrides.
- Harden controls. Add layered guardrails and transparent audit trails.
- Scale by proof: Expand only after safety and ROI thresholds are met.

The article also encourages regional alignment. Shared standards for identity, consent, payments, and records would speed cross-border services. That would let an assistant built in Doha work in Riyadh or Dubai with confidence. Interoperability would support growth while respecting data rules.

Key Themes from the Op-Ed
- From apps to agents: Users ask for outcomes, not screens.
- Product leadership: Ship smaller. Measure faster. Keep a tight feedback loop.
- Governance: Build with auditability, prompt safety, and data controls.
- GCC advantage: Young infrastructure, aligned policy, and fast decision cycles.
- Talent: Upskill product, data, and engineering together.

Background: Key Questions and Answers
What is agentic AI?
Agentic AI is software that accepts a goal, plans multi-step tasks, uses tools and data, and adapts with feedback to deliver outcomes. Unlike chatbots that await prompts, agents complete tasks end-to-end while keeping a record of actions.

Why does it matter to product teams in the GCC?
The region is building cloud capacity, bilingual models, and data services. Agentic patterns turn that investment into visible results: faster service delivery, fewer manual hand-offs, and better user experience. Product teams can pilot tightly scoped agents that show measurable impact within existing systems.

Which early GCC use-cases make sense?
Public assistants for licence renewals and appointments; trade-corridor agents for customs filings and slots; banking copilots for AML/KYC triage; industrial maintenance agents translating IoT signals into orders. These use-cases are repeatable, governable, and measurable.

What should teams do first?
Pick a narrow process. Integrate via APIs. Add layered guardrails. Measure outcomes. Scale by proof, not by promise.

What architecture works best?
API-first, event-driven services. Pair retrieval (for policies and procedures) with versioned knowledge bases. Treat memory as a first-class system with scope and expiry. Keep prompts, tools, datasets, and evaluation artefacts portable to avoid lock-in. Prefer explicit schemas over scraping.

How do we handle Arabic and voice?
Design bilingual interfaces from the start. Support Modern Standard Arabic and common Gulf dialects where possible. Tune speech and transcription to local accents. Involve Arabic-speaking reviewers in evaluation. This improves accuracy, inclusion, and trust.

What governance do we need?
Three layers. Prompt/tool layer: input validation, allow-lists, red-teaming. Policy layer: role-based access, data minimisation, contextual consent. Human layer: review queues, break-glass escalation, usage analytics. Make explainability standard. Every high-impact action should carry a why/how trail.

How do we measure success?
Use outcome metrics: task success rate, time-to-completion, error/override rates, and user satisfaction. Track the total cost of intelligence across tokens, retrieval, storage, orchestration, and human review. Scale only when these metrics improve with real traffic.

What are the main risks?
Prompt injection, tool abuse, silent failure, bias, and data-residency breaches. Mitigate with strict scoping of actions, defence-in-depth testing, culturally aware evaluation, and sovereign-cloud deployments where required. Publish operational safety scorecards as programs scale.

What is the regional opportunity?
Shared standards for identity, consent, payments, and records would enable safe, cross-border agents. This would let an assistant built in Doha operate in Riyadh or Dubai with confidence, while respecting local laws and user expectations.

About the author
Abdul Qavi is Head of Product at Rasmal. He writes on startups, digital transformation, and innovation in the MENA region.

About Rasmal
Rasmal is a business and startup publication. It covers founders, funding, and the digital economy in the MENA.
Media contacts: Press: pr@rasmal.com | https://www.rasmal.com/

Safiya K
Rasmal Inc
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