Today's Edition
MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
Behind two promising AI-powered startups in Abu Dhabi is an advantage no accelerator programme can manufacture: family.
Brothers Thouheed and Thamjeeth Abdul Gaffoor founded Basetwo AI to help manufacturers avoid costly setbacks as they move products from the lab to full-scale production.
Husband-and-wife team Meenah Tariq and Omar Parvez Khan built Metric to give small business owners the financial clarity that traditional accounting couldn't provide.
Different problems, different industries. But similar "superpowers".
"Trust is extremely important in co-founders building something for the long run," said Thouheed, Basetwo AI's chief executive. "And this is built into family relationships."
Metric's founders believe being a married team allows them to move faster and navigate challenges better. "[We have] a co-founder relationship based on deep understanding and trust, constant support and access - think late night brainstorming sessions and strategy meetings on vacation," Meenah said.
From the Lab to the Factory Floor
With teamwork, the Abdul Gaffoor brothers have built a platform that's technically distinct. Rather than relying on historical data patterns like many industrial AI tools, Basetwo constructs digital twins of production processes grounded in physics.
"[Our platform] models the underlying chemistry and biology of the manufacturing process itself," Thouheed told Aletihad. The approach supports industries where a failed batch or delayed scale-up can mean missing market windows altogether - from pharmaceuticals to cosmetics and specialty chemicals.
Thamjeeth, Co-founder and COO, said engineers consistently described a lack of real-time understanding of how production systems behaved. Many still relied on spreadsheets and trial-and-error methods despite having access to large volumes of underused data.
With Basetwo's digital twins, engineers can now model production scenarios, predict performance at scale, and identify optimal operating conditions virtually before implementing them on the factory floor.
The innovation is already delivering measurable results, according to the company. One of the world's top 20 cosmetics manufacturers used Basetwo's platform to scale a new skincare formulation, reducing experimentation during the scale-up process by more than 50%. Across its customer base, Basetwo reports cycle-time reductions of between 30% and 40% and efficiency improvements of about 20%.
Giving SMEs a Financial Co-Pilot
Metric is tackling a different challenge: helping small and medium-sized enterprises make better financial decisions. Meenah and Omar's startup uses AI to transform complex financial information into practical business insights.
"We saw firsthand how business owners were held hostage by their fear of numbers," Meenah, chief executive and co-founder, told Aletihad. "Decisions are made daily based on gut feel and anecdotal evidence instead of real data, because traditional accounting is not built for SME owners."
To address that challenge, Metric uses artificial intelligence to analyse company data and translate it into insights and recommendations that owners can use to make day-to-day decisions.
"AI enables us to translate financial language that financial statements and ledgers speak, to business language that a small business owner understands," Omar explained.
Metric's platform includes Max, an AI-powered financial assistant designed specifically for businesses operating in emerging markets.
Depending on company size, users can input data manually via a mobile app, connect accounting or sales systems for automated syncing, or integrate Metric's tools into existing enterprise software environments.
Abu Dhabi as a Launchpad
Building from the UAE has shaped the growth trajectory of both companies.
"The UAE's Operation 300bn strategy is driving rapid expansion in pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, and personal care manufacturing, all sectors where Basetwo is already proven," Thouheed said. "Many of these facilities are newly built and digitally ready, lowering the barriers to adoption."
Meenah said that being headquartered in Abu Dhabi and supported by Hub71 has been a gamechanger for Metric. "Investors saw our move from Pakistan to the UAE as a de-risking move for their capital. We were able to raise our seed round from the UAE, with participation from funds across the GCC and angels globally," she said.
She added that the UAE's position as a bridge between developed and emerging markets provides startups with faster access to capital, talent and customer insights, supported by a highly diverse population.
