In the age of AI abundance, the cost of being chosen is going up
Dubai, October 07, 2026: As artificial intelligence makes it easier to produce content at scale, the challenge for brands is increasingly shifting from creating more to deciding what deserves attention. This was among the key themes to emerge at the third edition of the Communicate AI Conference 2026, held on 29 September at Dubai Knowledge Park under the theme ‘The Age of Abundance’.
Organised by Communicate, the leading Middle East advertising and media platform, in partnership with NordStella, the region’s leading community-driven event and content powerhouse, speakers explored how brands and agencies can differentiate their work in an environment where speed and scale are no longer sufficient.
During the event, discussions examined how the rapid adoption of AI is changing the way brands approach search, content creation, advertising and audience engagement. Speakers also emphasized the growing role of conversational AI in consumer decision-making, with one of the region’s leading hotel groups noting that around a third of its bookings now begin through conversational AI search, surpassing traditional search.
The role of agencies also came under discussion, as brands increasingly use AI internally to develop ideas and concepts before engaging external partners. Brands now treat AI as a baseline expectation rather than a reason to pay agencies more, and want partners with strong opinions who can kill weak ideas and accept outcome-based pricing. Speakers warned that much of what is sold as “AI-powered” is automation in disguise, and that over-optimised AI risks trapping brands in an echo chamber where discovery disappears.
The travel sector provided another example of this shift. Speakers highlighted that destinations are now marketing to machines as well as people, chasing share of answer over share of voice, and finding that AI trusts reviews, editorial and creator content over anything a brand says about itself. Luxury, beauty and platform leaders drew firm lines on AI influencers, arguing that AI cannot smell a fragrance, match a skin tone or earn trust it has never lived.
The panel on Arabic and AI concluded that AI speaks every dialect but still misses the culture behind it, while a dissection of AI campaigns gone wrong found most failures were idea problems, not technology problems. As one speaker put it, AI can scale content, but it will not scale meaning.
Julien Hawari, Editor-in-Chief of Communicate, said: “Product costs are dropping, but the cost of being chosen is going up. Every brand in this region now has the same tools and the same output. Within two years, the brands still competing on volume will be invisible, and the agencies still selling AI as a feature will be gone.”
The conference featured 30+ speakers and executives from TikTok, Meta, Snap, talabat, ADNOC Distribution, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, Accenture Song, WPP Media, NVIDIA, Parfums Christian Dior, Mashreq Bank, Samsung Electronics, Accor, Mindshare and other organisations.
Sahar Rafique, Managing Director of NordStella, said: “What became clear throughout the conference is that the AI conversation has moved on. The question is no longer whether the industry will use AI, but how it will use it without losing the judgement, context and human thinking that make the work meaningful.”
WPP Media was the strategic partner for the 2026 edition. The event is further backed by TikTok as Silver Sponsor, Disrupt.com as Featured Partner, Vinfast as Tech Showcase Partner and Sherpa Communications as the official PR Partner alongside Million as Supporting Partner.
Building on the momentum of this year’s edition, Communicate and NordStella will continue to bring the region’s marketing, media and technology communities together to examine the developments shaping the industry and create platforms for the conversations that will define its future.
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