I'm at GITEX Global 2026 in Dubai This December. Let's Meet.
GITEX Global, 8 to 11 December 2026, and for the first time in its four decades in Dubai the expo is at Expo City rather than the World Trade Centre. I'll be on the floor with two shipped apps, one in build, and two founder slots open. If you build things, find me.
GITEX Global 2026 runs 8 to 11 December at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City Dubai, with the Scale summit a day earlier on 7 December at Dubai World Trade Centre. The show has been in Dubai for more than forty years; this is the first time the expo is not at DWTC. I'm going, for the expo days. If you are building something, I'd like to meet you there.
This is a short post: what the event is this year, why I'm making the trip from Surat, what I'm bringing, and how to find me in a hall with 200,000 other people.
What is different in 2026
The venue. GITEX ran at Dubai World Trade Centre for more than four decades; this year the expo moves to the Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City, the site built for Expo 2020. The organiser is calling it the first time ever at DEC, and is pairing it with something called TechCation, citywide events outside the halls. The Scale summit stays at DWTC for its one day.
For a visitor that means planning around two venues on two days, and a longer ride from the usual hotels. Worth knowing before you book.
Why I'm going
Three reasons, none of them a stand.
First, founders. I take on two a quarter to own product, brand and growth as one accountable person, and the ones I want to work with are the ones who are shipping, not pitching. GITEX is the densest room of them within a three-hour flight of Gujarat. India and the UAE run on the same WhatsApp, the same rupee-dirham corridor and mostly the same working hours.
Second, the products. ShotPop is live on the App Store this month. Arth, which reads the bank alerts already on your phone and files them as transactions without anything leaving the device, is in build for 2026 and is built for exactly the kind of person who walks the halls at GITEX: running money across two countries and tired of spreadsheets. I want to watch people use both.
Third, broadcast. A lot of what I have built that is not an app is live-event infrastructure: TempleCast, CrewCue, vMix Helper. GITEX is a four-day live production at a scale I do not get to see in Gujarat. I am going to stand at the back of the main stage and look at the cabling.
What I'm bringing
- An iPhone with ShotPop, Celeste and the Arth build on it. Five minutes with either is more useful than a deck.
- The site. Every product, every system, every number, with a status. It was built for exactly this: something to point at in a loud room.
- Two founder slots for Q4 2026 and the first of 2027. If you are shipping and want one person across product, brand and growth, that conversation is best had in person.
- Nothing to sell on the day. No stand, no badge scanner, no follow-up sequence. If we talk and it is useful, we will both know.
How to meet
Message me on X or email hey@jaybutani.com with the day and a hall or stand number, and I'll come to you. I'll post which hall I'm in each morning on X. Coffee near the halls is fine; a walk of your stand is better.
If you are a founder from India or the Gulf building a consumer app, a commerce site, or a live-event system, and you have shipped something, you are who I'm looking for. If you have not shipped yet, come anyway and show me what is stuck.
FAQ
When is GITEX Global 2026?
The Scale summit is on 7 December 2026 at Dubai World Trade Centre. The expo runs 8 to 11 December 2026 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City Dubai.
Where is GITEX Global 2026 held?
For the first time, at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in Expo City Dubai, North and South Halls, rather than Dubai World Trade Centre. The one-day Scale summit remains at DWTC.
How big is GITEX Global?
The organiser expects more than 200,000 attendees from 180+ countries, 6,800 exhibiting companies and 400+ government entities in 2026.
How do I meet Jay Butani at GITEX 2026?
Message @buildjayy on X or email hey@jaybutani.com with a day and a hall or stand number. Daily hall location is posted on X each morning of the expo.
Sources: Dubai Exhibition Centre, GITEX Global 2026 for dates, halls and attendance figures; gitex.com for the 7 to 11 December framing and the Scale summit. Photography and the venue render are the organiser's, from gitex.com, credited on each figure; retrieval date and origin URLs are recorded in the site repository.
- 16 Sep 2026
- Published. Hall and day-by-day location to be added on X during the expo.
Product builder from Surat. Ships his own apps, runs live broadcasts, and takes on a few founders a year for product, brand and growth. hey@jaybutani.com