The finger pointing has begun after Builder.ai, a Microsoft-backed AI start-up that boasted about its mobile app development tools, announced it had entered insolvency proceedings.
It's a huge fall for a company that once achieved unicorn status, receiving a valuation of more than $1 billion.
“This story holds significant relevance as the company undergoes bankruptcy proceedings,” a high-level Builder.ai employee told The National.
“Its founder, Sachin Dev Duggal, who has since moved to Dubai, has also been a prominent speaker at many conferences across the region, contributing thought leadership to the tech and business community,” the employee said in an email.
Mr Duggal was removed as chief executive from the London-based start-up back in March, although he curiously retained an association with the company, along the title of Chief Wizard.
In 2024, when Builder.ai was flush with investor cash and in the tech world's good graces, Mr Duggal briefly spoke to The National as he appeared at an event hosted by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, which had just announced a new AI centre.
“With this centre, we're helping to unveil a portal to global commerce,” he said at the time, reflecting on why Builder.ai chose DMCC as an ecosystem partner.
“We didn't want to be a software company just surrounded by other software companies, we wanted to be surrounded by potential customers and peers,” Mr Duggal added, referring to DMCC's reach and partnerships with gold, diamond, tea, coffee, crypto and gaming entities, to name a few.
According to employees and media reports, Builder.ai failed to meet revenue expectations. It had promised to make mobile app development as “easy as buying a pizza” but struggled to create reliable products, disappointing investors like Microsoft and sovereign wealth funds in Qatar.
Mr Duggal requested additional investment funds, as well as an emergency loan just months before he was stripped of the chief executive title.
Audits later revealed a high likelihood that sales projections had been fudged, causing concern about other potential financial irregularities.
Today, the company's website is blank, except for listing two email addresses.
Builder.ai's LinkedIn page, which has 288,000 followers, turned off the comment section for a post announcing the company's insolvency proceedings.
“Despite the tireless efforts of our current team and exploring every possible option, the business has been unable to recover from historic challenges and past decisions that placed significant strain on its financial position,” the post reads.
“We will work closely with the appointed administrators to ensure an orderly process and to explore all available options for parts of the business, where possible.”
However, unhappy comments still surfaced on other parts of the company's LinkedIn page.
“What are you doing to get all of your customers their code for completed apps they paid for?” one person wrote.
“Don't believe these fancy conferences, flying around, inviting celebrities … Its all hype and nonsense,” wrote another, seemingly referring to the various events where the former chief executive appeared and bestowed start-up wisdom in the UAE, Qatar and elsewhere.
It's unclear if there will be any surviving pieces of intellectual property that might help Builder.ai survive in a different iteration. The company has quickly become a cautionary tale of high-flying AI expectations meeting the realities of a competitive and crowded tech market.
Mr Duggal, whose confidence and bold projections helped to put Builder.ai on the map did not immediately respond to The National's requests for comment.
He did, however, post some thoughts on a Builder.ai alumni LinkedIn group.
"I don’t think the story is done yet, but irrespective if I can be of any help to any of you as you make this transition in life please know I’m I’m only a message away," he posted in part.
"And more importantly - if I didn’t listen, if I was short, if I was unreasonable - I’m sorry."
In the UAE, the DMCC, with which Builder. AI had an “ecosystem partnership”, said it was evaluating developments.
“We are aware of the reports concerning Builder.ai, one of several ecosystem partners of the DMCC AI Centre,” read a statement from the DMCC's head of public relations.
“We are actively assessing the situation and working to establish what impact, if any, this may have on our ecosystem partnership. For now, our operations and service delivery continue as normal and we remain focused on supporting our members.”
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Price: From Dh149,900
The specs: 2018 Jaguar E-Pace First Edition
Price, base / as tested: Dh186,480 / Dh252,735
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 246hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 365Nm @ 1,200rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
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Company%20profile
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
It
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
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The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
