Alabbar Criticises Big Tech Monopolies and Says AI Will Upend ERP Software Within a Year

"You should not accept a monopoly. We need to protect our society, our country, our region," Alabbar said at Dubai Fintech Summit 2026, the flagship event of the DIFC-organised Dubai Future Finance Week.

He said he founded Noon to counter the hold that certain American players had on delivery services in the UAE. "I don't want one company to come in and control the e-commerce experience in our country," he said. "That's why I have a problem with the big tech companies. I'm not sure this monopoly can continue. But I believe that AI is going to change (things)."

Alabbar singled out Microsoft as an example of a supplier with which customers have little room to bargain. "How can you negotiate with Microsoft?" he said, according to the report. He named Meta as the one exception: "I negotiate with Meta, I don't negotiate with anybody else."

Noon has expanded into quick-commerce food delivery in recent years, and Alabbar claimed its 9-minute delivery service was the first of its kind in the world.

AI Adoption Gap

Alabbar also warned that companies slow to adopt AI will struggle as the technology keeps changing. "Those who use AI and those who are a little late in using AI, in another few months, the gap is going to get bigger," he said.

He went further on enterprise resource planning software, the systems companies use to run finance, procurement and other day-to-day operations, saying he believes such systems have "another 12 months to last" because of AI. He did not name specific vendors or explain what he expects to replace them.

The comments add a prominent Gulf business voice to the debate over whether AI agents will erode established enterprise software, a concern that has weighed on software makers this year. For regional executives, Alabbar's remarks reflect a push among some Gulf groups to build local alternatives to global platforms rather than depend on them.