with Loulou

Jayesh Patel is the CEO of Wio Bank, the digital bank that in less than four years has become the account 1 in 3 new UAE businesses choose and the fastest way to see how AI, ownership and the Gulf economy are actually changing on the ground.

Before Wio, Jay built Liv. at Emirates NBD. Before that, he was a Deloitte and IBM consultant on the road to Fortune 500 clients, an MBA at Tuck, an engineer at three different universities. In this conversation with Loulou he opens the whole playbook: how he turned down a dream job offer for 12 months to close three skill gaps a mentor named, how he rebuilt Wio's org around AI so a lawyer could build an SMB onboarding platform on a weekend and a Chief Commercial Officer could vibe-code an auto loan product, and why he now describes himself as "a better founder than a CEO."

For founders, operators, career changers and anyone deciding what to do next in the Gulf economy, this one is essential.

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Chapters

02:11 Inflection points: engineering, IBM, Deloitte, the road to Liv

11:45 The 12-month pause: turning down a dream job to close three skill gaps

16:33 "The loneliest job in the world", what CEO actually feels like

17:16 The AI bet: pushing an org that didn't want to be pushed

28:53 How Wio actually decides what to build (the five-question filter)

32:22 The 50/50 rule: consistent revenue and crazy ideas

35:13 Rebuilding the org around AI: the lawyer, the CCO and Claude

43:13 Middle managers, the education system and who is at risk

50:50 Employment to ownership: why Wio is optimistic on the SME shift

57:29 The magic wand question, going to Mars

59:01 Loulou's close: ownership, curiosity, why you have to adapt

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Is the software business dying? Loulou sits down with Ahmad AlZaini, co-founder and CEO of Foodics, at the 11-year mark of the company for the operator's read on the biggest question in tech this year: what happens to software when AI agents replace the human at the login screen.

Foodics is the restaurant operating system for the region: 40,000+ locations across the GCC, Egypt and Jordan, $13B in payments processed to date, on track for $14B by end of year, 700 people, licensed by the Saudi Central Bank, backed by a $198M capital raise including a record $170M Series C. Ahmad is a Forbes-recognized entrepreneur with executive credentials from Harvard, Stanford and MIT, and was appointed to the Endeavor Saudi board of directors in 2026.

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Chapters

01:42 Foodics at 11: the top line, $13B GMV, 40,000 locations, 40% revenue outside Saudi 

04:08 From Al Khobar to Aramco to Foodics: why the founder was never supposed to be a founder 

09:43 Investor due diligence in reverse: not all money is equal, cap-table hygiene from an acquirer's chair 

14:47 Growth capital advice: do not take from Saudi at growth stage, go global, come back with matched terms 

18:36 40 SF VC meetings, 3 term sheets: how to raise when nobody knows where Riyadh is 

21:04 Talent reverse migration: C-suite relocating from Boston, NY, SF, Paris and London to Riyadh 

23:54 AI is out of the box: the Anthropic February 2026 SaaS selloff explained 

31:15 The PhD intern: how a fresh graduate should show up with an AI use case, not a certificate 

33:37 The pricing shift: nobody pays for logins in 2030, everyone pays for outcomes and usage 

43:09 The exit conversation: if for one minute you decide you need to exit, you are not in the right business 

48:45 Secondary markets, buybacks, and why every employee should have liquidity options 

53:46 The under-30 Saudi generation: high-school AI hackathons, curiosity, and where they spend

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Ahmad AlZaini

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alzaini/

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Is the Middle East entering a new golden age?

Loulou sits down with one of the most well-connected geopolitical economists working today for a structural read on the region recorded as the US-Iran 60-day MOU process opened, Strait of Hormuz traffic restarted, the IMEC corridor returned to the working-group table and Saudi Arabia pivoted NEOM capital into AI infrastructure. The episode is built to hold whether the ceasefire holds or slips: Middlebrook's read is 10 to 20 years out, not week to week.

Dr. Peter Middlebrook is the CEO of Geopolicity and has advised the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations, the British Government, the Iraqi Prime Minister's office, and governments across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. He is the author of two new books in 2026: "How to Make Britain Great Again" and "Rich Student, Poor Student."

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Chapters:

1:43 The US-Iran ceasefire, the Hormuz reopening and the return to business

3:58 Why Dubai is a replacement for New York

9:40 Why the Gulf is no longer a single bloc

16:34 IMEC explained: Mumbai to Jebel Ali to Piraeus

19:02 MENA youth unemployment: NEET and the 30% problem

21:20 White-collar work, debt, social protection and the climax of capitalism

25:20 Hybrid governance: phones, governments and the Sixth Estate

33:48 Saudi's pivot from megaprojects to AI data centers

36:41 Why society itself has to change

41:16 China, state capitalism and the West losing the critical raw materials race

46:15 Albania appointed an AI minister: why the Gulf is next

47:10 Closing: a long-term investor's case for the Middle East

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Dr. Peter Middlebrook

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-middlebrook-14477018/

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What happens to your job when the most powerful companies in the world are laying off thousands of people not because they are failing, but because they are betting on AI instead, and your region is also in a war that is reshaping who can hire and who has to cut?

In this episode of With Loulou, Loulou Khazen Baz sits down with Justin McGuire, Founder and CEO of MCG Talent, the Middle East's leading recruitment firm for marketing, communications, creative, product, data and digital talent.

They get into the specific role Justin removed from his own firm and rebuilt with ChatGPT, why the people who feel safest in their seats are actually the most exposed, the one LinkedIn move that lands an offer, and the playbook he gives fresh graduates to land three offers in a market where 65% of UAE professionals now say finding a role has become harder.

For students, fresh graduates and anyone navigating a redundancy in 2026, Loulou and Justin close with what AI-native actually means in the workplace, why "knowing how to prompt ChatGPT" is not enough, and which careers in MENA are still hiring at premium salaries this quarter.

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Chapters:

05:10 The GCC is no longer a place of safety. It is still a place of opportunity.

08:43 The war pressed fast-forward on AI: how employers are actually responding

12:46 Where the marcom briefs are going: creative directors yes, graphic designers no

14:05 The fragile middle: 5 to 8 year managers under fire

17:34 Why the GCC is three years behind Silicon Valley on AI

23:04 The role Justin replaced with ChatGPT (and the lawyer he stopped using)

28:43 The micro-niche business: the winning shape for the AI era

33:28 The LinkedIn secret weapon: comment, do not just post

39:54 Don't apply for jobs on LinkedIn. Here is what to do instead.

42:13 Side projects: the AI portfolio that landed the hire

47:09 Antifragile: using the shock to come out stronger

53:40 The middle-management lifestyle trap

59:03 The 50+ side door: the access older candidates have that nobody else does

Follow Loulou Khazen

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Justin McGuire

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jumcguire/

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Where do you put your money in the Gulf right now? Loulou sits down with one of the UAE's most experienced investors to read the region as it actually is in June 2026: the regional war still the dominant story, the World Cup just under way and more.

HE Faisal Belhoul is a veteran Emirati investor and entrepreneur, former Vice Chair of Dubai Chambers, and chairman of UAE second-division football club Fursan Hispania (co-built with Real Madrid legend Michel Salgado). He has been one of the most consistent backers of operators building global businesses out of Dubai for two decades.

For students, fresh graduates and aspiring founders, Belhoul closes with the single quality he backs in founders, the apprentice model he believes in, and the line he was given by a founder he is mentoring: "I eat 'no' for breakfast."

Chapters:

01:57 - The Three Big Stories of the Week

03:15 - Football as a Family Affair: 22 Years Waiting for Arsenal

5:28 - Mohamed Salah and Football's Soft Power

16:38 - Why Sport Survives the AI Era

20:52 - Dubai Chambers and the Private Sector's Role

26:29 - How Moove Grew From $10M to $400M Revenue

36:43 - Can Expats Still Build a Life Here at 60?

38:10 - Golden Visas and What Comes Next

43:01 - INJAZ and the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

44:44 - The One Founder Trait Belhoul Backs: Perseverance

Follow Loulou Khazen

Instagram: /louloukhazen

LinkedIn: /louloukhazen

X (Twitter): /louloukhazen

Follow the guests

HE Faisal Belhoul

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faisalbelhoul/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faisalbelhoulofficial/

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