Future of Business Podcast

Oman Is Building Its Own AI: Inside the Race for Local, Private & Secure AI with Khalil Al SinawiWhat happens when a country decides it needs its own AI infrastructure?In this episode of the Business Mentor Podcast, I’m joined by Khalil Al Sinawi, COO of Engine AI Oman, to explore the rapidly developing AI landscape across Oman and the Middle East.Khalil spent almost 13 years working in Petroleum , primarily in contracting, procurement and supply chain, before moving into AI. His journey into the sector began in 2018, long before the current explosion in generative AI.Today, his team is building Chat Engine, a locally focused AI platform designed around privacy, data security, Arabic language capabilities and the cultural needs of the region.In our conversation, we discuss:• Why Khalil moved from oil & gas into AI• Why he believes businesses are “losing their memory”• Building a local AI alternative for Oman and the Middle East• Why data privacy and security are becoming increasingly important• Hosting data inside Oman and offering on-premise deployment• The importance of Arabic-native AI and cultural context• Where AI adoption is accelerating across oil & gas, healthcare, government, logistics and marketing• Whether AI will replace jobs or make people significantly more productive• Why Khalil sees AI becoming more like a “companion” than an assistant• The AI tools Khalil uses himself• How a startup registered in 2025 has already developed its own AI product• His advice for entrepreneurs looking to build an AI business• What excites him about AI — and what genuinely concerns him• The importance of ethical AI and stronger governanceOne of the biggest themes from our conversation is that the future of AI may not simply be dominated by a handful of global platforms.There could be a growing demand for local AI built around local languages, cultures, regulations and data requirements.Khalil's advice to entrepreneurs is equally relevant: talk to people, share your ideas, test quickly, learn from what doesn't work and build a team that complements you.You can find out more about Chat Engine at chatengine.com, which Khalil says is currently available online and on Android.Listen to the full episode to hear Khalil's vision for the future of AI in Oman, the Middle East and beyond.

Are we trapped in an AI valuation bubble, or are we just scratching the surface of a multi-trillion-dollar technological shift?In this episode of The Future of Business Podcast, host Jay Dhillon sits down with venture capitalist, deep-tech entrepreneur, and founder of Axiom Innovations, Sergey. From analyzing early-stage startups in Silicon Valley to pioneering contact-free holographic interfaces and investing in physical robotics, Sergey shares an unvarnished, insider view on where institutional capital is moving—and how real businesses can separate speculative hype from practical bottom-line growth.Key Topics Discussed:The VC Filter: What tier-one investors look for in pre-revenue founders and why market size dictates unicorn potential.The 3 Stages of AI: The progression from Generative AI to Agentic AI, and why Physical AI (robotics and autonomous real-world hardware) is the true endgame.Hardware & Holographic Innovation: How Axiom Innovations is deploying touchless holographic tech to solve real-world hygiene constraints in surgery and streamline customer touchpoints in retail and banking.The Truth About Robotics: Why humanoid domestic robots are still years away, while warehouse automation, pipeline inspections, and perimeter security are scaling rapidly today.Practical AI Implementation for SMEs: How small businesses can eliminate operational bottlenecks, leverage vibe-coding platforms, and launch MVPs within 24 hours.Data Security & Privacy: Best practices for deploying local AI agents and private cloud architecture to protect proprietary customer data.Tools & Resources Mentioned:Vibe-Coding & Development: Lovable.devAvatars & Synthetic Voice: HeyGen, ElevenLabsResearch & Frontier Models: Perplexity, Claude, ChatGPT, KimiConnect with Sergey & Resources:LinkedIn: Sergey (Axiom Innovations)Newsletter: AI Capital NewsletterInstagram: @SergeyTheVC

Welcome to another episode of The Future of Business. Today, we dive into how artificial intelligence is actively breaking down the barriers of a slow-moving medical system. I am joined by Andy Moye, a former Navy pilot with a PhD in health economics who previously led Page to secure the first-ever FDA approval for AI in cancer pathology. Now serving as the CEO of GlidePath Health, Andy is building AI platforms to untangle the complex logistics behind advanced cell and gene therapies. We discuss the alarming 14-year technology adoption lag in healthcare, the devastating impact of administrative waste, and how AI orchestration will drastically shorten the time it takes for patients to receive life-saving treatments.Key TakeawaysCancer diagnosis still relies heavily on manual pathology methods that have remained fundamentally unchanged since the mid-1800s.The healthcare industry suffers from a massive adoption lag, where cutting-edge technology often takes up to 14 years to become standard practice.System backlogs have historically forced patients to wait 40 to 50 days just to receive a critical cancer diagnosis.Groundbreaking, curative cell and gene therapies like CRISPR and CAR T are severely bottlenecked by manual scheduling processes, spreadsheets, and phone calls.GlidePath Health is developing an enterprise AI orchestration platform to fully automate these logistical workflows, ensuring patients are treated faster to improve outcomes.Deploying AI in healthcare requires immense trust, rigorous data protection, cybersecurity compliance, and 99.9999% system uptime to ensure patient safety.Links & ResourcesGuest Website: AndyMoye.comBook: From Bunker Hill to the Boardroom: Battle Tested Leadership for Today's Executives by Andy MoyeConnect with Andy: LinkedIn

In this episode, Jay Dhillon sits down with Floyd Woodrow MBE DCM, a former SAS major and chairman of Quantum Group. Floyd applies elite military strategy to scaling high-growth tech ventures and is a pioneer in AI-driven performance coaching. Together, they explore how leaders can build resilience, attract top-tier talent during technological disruptions, and leverage AI to elevate—rather than replace—human potential. Key Takeaways·       Military Transition & Business Resilience: Floyd discusses the entrepreneurial nature of the Special Air Service and why transitioning into business requires ongoing growth, adaptability, and the right coaching. ·       The "Super North Star": Learn about Floyd's framework for finding your ultimate guiding purpose, which aligns values, strategy, and resilience to navigate life and business. ·       AI as an Elite Tool: Floyd explains that AI is far from replacing human intelligence; rather, it is a tool meant to eliminate bureaucratic administration and give leaders back their most precious commodity—time. ·       Data Security & Sovereign AI: A critical look at why heavily regulated industries must protect their data, and the growing global necessity for sovereign AI systems. ·       Redefining Education: Floyd shares his passion for engaging children's curiosity and shifting education away from rigid academic testing toward holistic human development. Relevant Links & Resources·       Websites: Explore more at Compass4life.com and Compass4life.co.uk. ·       Connect: Reach out to Floyd Woodrow on LinkedIn. ·       Floyd's Books: Be sure to check out Elite, The Warrior, The Strategist and You, and his children's sci-fi book Jesse Garges: The Compass. ·       Associated Companies: Learn more about Floyd's ventures including Financial Holdings (Volopa, Verve), Valkyrie (cyber security), Forensic Control, Tempus Magazine, Super North Star, and Enlightened.

In this episode of The Future of Business Podcast, Jay Dhillon sits down with veteran AI architect Jitendra Devabhaktuni to solve the biggest bottleneck in enterprise artificial intelligence: data privacy. Jitendra explains how businesses can utilize synthetic data systems to train and test powerful AI models without ever touching a single piece of real customer information.Key Takeaways:Discover why training AI on synthetic data is exactly like using a flight simulator to safely train pilots.Learn how the banking industry takes fraud transactions—which make up less than 1% of data—and multiplies them into millions of records to proactively train AI models.Understand how synthetic data enables life-saving research on rare cancers when access to real patient data is restricted.Find out why the EU AI Act is shifting from a roadblock into an accelerator, pushing enterprises toward synthetic data solutions.Hear why the modern AI advantage is no longer about having the most intelligent language model, but having frictionless access to data.About the Guest: Jitendra Devabhaktuni spent over 20 years managing digital transformations and ERP programs for large enterprises. He is the founder of LagrangeData.ai and the creator of the Synthol suite, which includes Synthol DB, Synthol Dataset, and Synthol Data Shield.Links & Resources:Try the free tier of Synthol (up to 5 data sets): synthhall.aiContact the LagrangeData team: [email protected]