SCC Middle East move will bolster AI knowledge

SCC’s move into the Middle East will provide the channel player with an opportunity to not only expand its geographic operations but an ability to gain and share experience in a region that has wholeheartedly embraced agentic artificial intelligence (AI).

The firm announced the move into the Middle East earlier this week, opening a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based operation headed by Daniel Valle, CEO of SCC Middle East, who has already set about establishing the business and hiring as the firm looks to build a staff of 50 by the end of the year.

Valle said there was a significant opportunity for SCC to make an impact in the market and take a lead on helping customers with their technology needs, particularly around AI.

“I believe there’s a big opportunity for innovation at space,” he said. “We not only have a channel-friendly region, but a region that requires solutions and someone in the middle with stronger opinions to help them drive the agenda for agentic AI, AI deployment, technology, sovereignty and resilience.”

The UAE jostles with China as one of the leading adopters of AI, with Valle saying UAE leadership is determined to use and extend the technology across its public services.

“What the region wants to do is to diversify their economy. The economy has historically been led by oil, and they know that oil is declining over the years,” he added. “The leadership here is extremely smart, and they are using [technology] to support a diversity strategy.”

Valle’s task is to build the business, and he believes there is an opportunity to challenge incumbents and come in with the advantages of acting as a startup but with the muscle and 50-year experience of SCC behind it.

“We’re hiring, meeting customers and having incredible conversations,” he added. “I think there’s a big opportunity for innovation.”

He said that SCC had a long-term vision for the Middle East and was committed to building a business that would be a fixture for years to come.

The knowledge gained around agentic AI should then be filtered back into the wider group and the benefits of having the UAE business will be felt in the UK and across the European divisions. 

“There is a bigger role for SCC to learn from the region, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re trying to understand, deploy and learn from what we’re doing here,” he said.

“We can analyse and assess whether this innovation coming from the region is usable in Europe, and my answer is yes. There are capabilities that we should export, so we can become an exporter of capabilities from the UAE into Europe,” he added. “There is a massive opportunity for us to learn the use cases. Infrastructure is one thing, knowing what to do with it is another thing.”

Valle said he was enthused about the opportunity to grow the business in a region that was open to technology innovation and was one of the world leaders with the adoption and use of AI tools.

“We are more than fired up, we are going to make a dent here, 100%. There’s no choice about it,” he concluded.