From left: Malcolm Gladwell, Conal Byrne, and Jay Shetty at the Web Summit Qatar 2025.
Doha, Qatar: The second edition of Web Summit Qatar took place last month with a resounding success, drawing praise from global industry leaders who gathered in Doha to discuss the future of technology, media and entrepreneurship.
Among these influential speakers was Hollywood icon and entrepreneur Will Smith, who offered profound insights into navigating the future of business. Smith emphasised the importance of adopting a “beginner’s mind” when embarking on new ventures. “Be a child, asking all the questions. The worst thing you can do is pretend like you know when you don’t know. It is much better to accept not knowing and lean into not knowing.”
Making his first-ever visit to Qatar, Smith described the country as “beautiful and peaceful” with a distinct “energy of the future.” “I love it here, this is fantastic,” Smith said. “As an artist, that is extremely exciting to me, to be in a place that’s bubbling with anticipation of creating a future. I salute all of you here in that energy and in that space of creating not just the tomorrow for Qatar and the Middle East, but the future of our planet.”
Bestselling author and award-winning host of the podcast On Purpose, Jay Shetty, expressed his admiration for Qatar, particularly for its support of local talent and cultural heritage. Also making his first visit to the country, Shetty shared his long-standing desire to experience Qatar firsthand following its growing global presence through major events like the FIFA World Cup 2022™.
Shetty expressed enthusiasm about Qatar’s trajectory: “What truly impresses me about Qatar is the investment in your own people and community. The thoughtfulness shown by leaders here in supporting young creators is both special and remarkable. You’ve also invited so many of us for our insight and advice, which shows that the leadership here is providing tremendous support, which is beautiful to see.”
New York Times bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell discussed Qatar’s compact nature as an advantage in its developmental journey. “Small nations have incredible advantages when it comes to trying new things and being innovative,” Gladwell observed. “There’s a flexibility and ability to move quickly and experiment that’s just not present in larger countries. With bigness comes enormous burdens—many different constituencies, long institutional histories. The fact that Qatar is a small nation should be conceived of as your biggest advantage.”
The author praised Web Summit Qatar for fostering the cross-pollination of ideas by bringing together diverse perspectives—something he considers essential for innovation in the digital age. “As we get better at the rational organisation of information, we have to take care to continue to build and focus on these kinds of serendipitous interactions where a different kind of creativity emerges.”
Conal Byrne, Chief Executive Officer of the iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group, discussed a landmark agreement signed with the Government Communications Office to establish a cutting-edge podcast studio in the country, benefiting both podcast listeners and content creators throughout Qatar and the broader region.
