Amazon Acquisition of Souq, Alexa’s Impact in Saudi, Regulations & Privacy | Dr. Raf Fatani 93

Dr Raf Fatani, Amazon General Regional Manager, Alexa, MENA. He grew up and studied in the UK and later moved to the UAE, when Amazon acquired souq.com in 2017. Amazon utilized 18,000 beta testers in Saudi to teach Alexa to understand and speak Arabic from different regions and with different accents. Tech-savvy Saudis are the most engaged Alexa users in the word, with the average customer having 11 connected devices. This technology is truly life-changing, especially for elderly and disabled populations. Raf keeps his mother in mind while improving Alexa, ensuring ease of use and safety. In this episode, he addresses Mo’s fears about Amazon, Alexa, and voice recognition and shares his personal outlook on happiness, marriage, boundaries, and the future of Saudi Arabia.
0:00 Introductions
1:56 Move to UAE, acquisition with souq.com
8:20 Amazon criticisms
10:30 Amazon in Saudi
11:46 Amazon Go supermarkets
14:04 Whole Foods
17:04 Arabic Alexa
28:30 Raf’s mother
33:08 Measuring engagement
37:14 Why “Alexa”?
38:31Tech-savvy Saudis
41:20 Regulations, legality, privacy
49:12 Working with government
54:25 Career advice, hiring process at Amazon
1:04:36 Happiness, marriage, divorce
1:11:15 Stress, boundaries, words of wisdom
1:17:08 Professional and personal goals
1:22:10 Amazon’s impact on Saudi
1:29:07 Parting words
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Credits
Raf Fatani | Guest
Mo Islam | Host & Founder
Ahmed Hussein | Marketing & Brand Manager
Ryan Ismail | Show Manager
Mubashir | Editor
Youssef Hamieh | Production Manager
Katie Janner | Sound Editor
Edgar Ydel & Christian Rufo | Sound Engineers
Chaima Boudchar | Translator
#podcast #saudi_arabia #podcastersofinstagram #spotify #podcasting

[@SaleemSadiqChannel]

برنامج لمس القلب شكرا جزيلا❤

[@jaffar2372]

Amazing and informative!! Love Raf

[@Sundusart]

Rise and shine 🙌

[@GGw8926]

ماشاء الله نبي .. مقابله باسر البحري

[@a.alhashimi780]

Great information thanks, عقب is after in Emirati 😅not before

[@ahmedhezam6466]

Great episode as usual, thank you

[@jjaa1]

I still hate Amazon SA app interface it should be like The US

[@jjaa1]

All Arabic people speak English, wasted efforts we will speak to her in English anyway