Senior executives from advertising, media, technology, finance, retail, tourism, entertainment and other sectors will explore where AI’s capabilities meet their limits and what human creativity brings to the table.
Dubai, 22nd September 2026: Communicate, the leading Middle East advertising and media platform, has announced the third edition of the Communicate AI Conference, taking place on 29 September 2026 at Dubai Knowledge Park, in partnership with NordStella, the region’s leading community-driven event and content powerhouse.
Under the theme “The Age of Abundance,” senior leaders from advertising, media, technology, finance, retail, tourism and entertainment will explore what’s left for agencies to sell now that AI has made content creation faster and cheaper than ever, and where human judgement, taste and strategic thinking still command a premium.
At the heart of this year’s conversation is a question the industry has been avoiding: “If a machine can generate 100 versions of your ad in the time it takes to order a coffee, what exactly is the client paying an agency for?”
More than 90% of advertisers use AI for media planning and creative generation, according to an AI in Advertising Survey. Meanwhile, 96% of the region’s marketing and advertising professionals have used AI tools, but only 26% use them regularly, and 70% worry about over-reliance on AI without human oversight.
Julien Hawari, Editor-in-Chief of Communicate said: “We didn’t pick ‘Abundance’ because it looks good on a backdrop, but because it’s the sentence nobody wants to say in front of a client: the work got cheap, and cheap work is everywhere. Taste is the only thing left that commands a premium, and half this region doesn’t know how to price it. This edition is where we make people say that out loud.”
Sahar Rafique, Managing Director of Nordstella said: “Every agency deck in this region has an AI slide now. That stopped being a differentiator a year ago. What decides who’s still standing in two years is whether they can prove a point of view a machine can’t fake.”
The agenda skips the theory and goes straight for the arguments. “Do You Still Need an Agency?” puts fee models and traditional agency structures on trial. “AI Ads Gone Wrong” dissects the year’s worst misfires against the human-made work that still wins. “Do You Speak AI-rabic?” asks whether regional culture and local nuance are the edge AI can’t touch. “Who Owns the Future: AI Influencers vs Human Influencers” pits a virtual creator against a real one. “Investing in the Future of AI and Entertainment” follows the money into the region’s creator and entertainment economy, and “AI Impact on Tourism Marketing” tackles a sector selling something no algorithm can fake: the trip itself.
Speakers include senior voices from Google, TikTok, Meta, Snap, talabat, ADNOC Distribution, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, Accenture Song, Parfums Christian Dior, WPP Media, Mashreq Bank, TECOM Group, Danube Home, Samsung Electronics, Accor, Mindshare and more.
WPP Media is the strategic partner for the 2026 edition. Mario Soufia, SVP of Strategy, Growth and Marketing at WPP Media, said: “Our focus remains on meaningful client growth. WPP Open brings together our people, AI and intelligence to help clients make better critical decisions.”
The event is further backed by TikTok as Silver Sponsor, Vinfast as Tech Showcase Partner and Sherpa Communications as the official PR Partner.
For the marketers, agency leaders, media owners and creators shaping what comes next: this is where the region works out its answer.
To view the full agenda and register for Communicate AI Conference 2026, visit https://nordstella.me/upcoming-event/communicate-ai-conference-2026/