Digital Transformation in the Middle East: Insights from GITEX 2025

A global partnership, a regional launch, and a powerful message: digital transformation is no longer optional, it is essential.

At GITEX 2025, Custodia joined forces with Orange Business to bring CC1 to the Middle Eastern market. Together, we showcased how innovation, compliance, and partnership can reshape industries and empower governments, utilities, and financial institutions to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Across the GCC, organizations are facing mounting pressure to modernize. From legacy infrastructure to cloud-native architecture, the challenge is clear: how do you transform without disrupting core operations?

Kirk Miller discussed this with Orange Business. Here are the key takeaways:

Legacy systems often collide with new regulatory demands like cloud adoption and API-based data sharing. Kirk emphasized that modernization must be secure, automated, and compliant. Retiring legacy platforms and migrating data to the cloud supports a broader, sustainable strategy and grants the ability to uncover valuable insights for AI and machine learning.

With regulators like SAMA and the UAE Central Bank raising the bar, cyber resilience is now a board-level priority. Kirk Miller highlighted the importance of:

• Threat detection
• Encryption
• Incident response
• Audit trails

Quick access to regulated data, without relying on expensive manual recovery, gives boards confidence and aligns with regional mandates.

As regulated industries adopt AI and cloud-native services, maintaining governance, risk management, and auditability is critical. Structured data and strong recordkeeping are the foundation of compliance. The name of the game? Control and clarity.

With increasing regulatory pressure around data localization, Custodia and Orange Business help financial institutions:

• Centralize and reconcile data.
• Ensure AML and KYC compliance.
• Align with Saudi PDPL, UAE PDPL, and DIFC regulations.

Our tech-agnostic approach simplifies complexity, enabling operational agility while protecting against fines, brand damage, and trust erosion.

Beyond the tech, what truly impressed us was the integration of government and business - working together to make technology serve society. From renewing passports to driver’s licenses, the focus is on making tech work for people.

We also saw a bold shift in mindset:

• Utilities are now charged with innovation, dedicating 10% of their time to building start-ups.
• Banks, while cautious about the cloud, are beginning to explore secure, compliant adoption strategies.

This is a region on the move, and the appetite for transformation is real.

At GITEX, the keywords were clear: Innovation and Partnership. Together with Orange Business, we are helping clients simplify the complex, modernize their operations, and build a resilient, compliant, and sustainable future.

Digital transformation is not just about technology, it is about trust, agility, and growth. 

Explore how Custodia can drive your transformation journey forward.