The UAE’s app economy is entering a new phase of profitable, retention-led growth, according to new data unveiled by AppsFlyer at the inaugural MAMA Dubai 2025.
The research highlights two key shifts shaping the market’s evolution: a sevenfold surge in finance app installs between 2021 and 2024, and a 50 per cent drop in ad fraud year-on-year on Android, underscoring growing user trust and maturing marketing practices across the ecosystem.
These findings were presented at MAMA Dubai 2025, AppsFlyer’s first regional edition of its global marketing and analytics forum, held on 6th November. The event gathered over 400 marketing, brand, and technology leaders to discuss the future of growth and innovation across the Middle East’s fast-evolving digital economy.
Hosted at the Park Hyatt, the full-day event featured several panels with speakers from around the world, including representatives from HSBC, Libertex, Wolt, and AppsFlyer.
Discussions explored how transparency, creativity, and data collaboration are redefining customer engagement in industries once marked by transactional relationships. A recurring theme was the region’s growing strategic maturity – where success is increasingly measured not by scale alone, but by sustainable customer value.
“We’re seeing the UAE set a new global benchmark for sustainable app growth,” said Sarah Maina, Regional Manager for France and the Middle East at AppsFlyer. “Marketers here are showing that when you invest in data integrity, user trust, and creative innovation, profitability naturally follows.”
MAMA Dubai 2025
Opening the event, Sarah Maina and Dmitrii Muzychenko, Regional Field Marketing Manager at AppsFlyer, set the tone with an energising session titled “Future in Motion”, aligning the audience around a shared vision for innovation and growth.
The event then moved on to its first keynote, The State of App Marketing in 2025, featured Alex Grach, General Manager at AppsFlyer, who unpacked the key shifts reshaping app marketing this year. From emerging growth opportunities to evolving user behaviour, the session offered a practical roadmap for staying ahead in a rapidly changing ecosystem.
The second keynote, Winning the Game with Data Collaboration, featured Edik Mitelman, General Manager of Data Collaboration Platform at AppsFlyer, who explored how the rapid growth of retail media presents new opportunities for brands. Amidst the buzz, Mitelman urged marketers to stay grounded, taking a practical approach to unlocking value by leveraging what they already have – their audience, inventory, and data – to build more meaningful collaborations.
The first panel, The Next Era of Loyalty in Finance: CX, Trust & Performance, brought together Lesia Kupriienko, Industry Lead Finance at AppsFlyer; Vitaly Kolesov, Marketing Technology and Analytics Team Lead at Libertex; and Hazem El Taha, Senior VP, Global Marketing Technology at HSBC IWPB. The discussion explored how trust, seamless experiences, and data-led performance are redefining customer loyalty in finance – where relevance, not rewards, now drives connection.
Supporting the conversation, AppsFlyer report revealed that Finance, shopping, and lifestyle apps have emerged as the new growth leaders. Between 2021 and 2024, finance apps recorded an extraordinary 700 per cent increase in installs, fuelled by the nation’s push towards a cashless economy and a flourishing fintech.
The second panel, How Performance Marketing Will Look in the AI Era, featured Ligita Burnham, Solutions Marketing Lead for EMEA and LATAM at AppsFlyer, who unveiled a bold product vision for the age of autonomous marketing.
Burnham spoke about the transformational shifts reshaping the industry, explaining how AI is eliminating the human bottleneck in app creation and shifting the constraint back to marketing. She noted that generative AI and large language models are completing the transition toward machine-led marketing, with humans increasingly in an oversight role. As a result, performance marketing must become more automated – scaling faster, acting quicker, and optimising smarter.
She also spoke about the new agentic-led marketing era – in a world of AI she says “our role is to bring creativity, business intellegience, collaboration and strategy. Those are the things that given agents direction and purpose.” From AI-powered segmentation and creative optimisation to agentic recommendations and fraud detection, Burnham outlined how AppsFlyer was reimagining the marketer’s toolkit for 2025 and beyond.
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The third panel, From Play to Pay – Where Gaming Meets Commerce, gathered Sue Azari, Industry Lead eCommerce at AppsFlyer; Adam Smart, Director of Product Gaming at AppsFlyer; Anh Nguyen, VP of Marketing at Wolt; and Saikala Sultanova, Co-founder of the UA Society.
Together, they explored how gaming mechanics are fuelling loyalty, engagement, and commerce well beyond the gaming industry. While gaming installs have plateaued, the sector is innovating through hybrid monetisation models, immersive in-app events, and deeper retention strategies that keep players connected.
AppsFlyer’s Sue Azari comments, “The biggest takeaway from the MAMA event is that there is a big focus on a shift away from driving installs, instead we are moving towards sustainable growth, a bigger focus on loyalty and LTV. This region is amazing at being mobile-focused. Last year we saw that in the UAE, there were nearly 4 million shopping apps installs which grew 9 per cent year on year. So I’m excited for the industry to learn how to keep that growth going and how to drive retention and loyalty for shopping apps.”
The fourth panel, C-Level Hot Takes on the Future of Mobile Marketing, featured JD Morin, Senior Account Executive at AppsFlyer; and Wade Eagar, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Fast Ventures. The trio connected the dots between AI, customer experience, loyalty, and omnichannel strategy, offering senior-level insights into how brands can lead with clarity amid constant technological change.
The fifth panel, The Future of Leadership – AI Insight, Human Trust & the Power to Influence What’s Next, featured Dr. Kate Barker, CEO and Executive Coach, who explored how the fusion of AI and human intelligence is reshaping leadership and decision-making. She challenged leaders to look beyond disruption and focus on clarity, trust, and purpose in an era where data may predict everything – but humanity still decides what matters.
In the final session, The Perfect Storm: Turning Challenge Into Opportunity, One Step at a Time, was led by Darren Elliot, VP of Sales for EMEA at AppsFlyer, who closed the day with reflections, key takeaways, and an invitation to continue the momentum. His message underscored a defining shift in the market: as iOS gains traction among high-value users and Android remains dominant for reach, the focus is no longer on downloads – but on building loyalty and profitability.
In between sessions, two Motion Labs also took place which invited attendees to engage in interactive, hands-on discussions designed around curiosity, collaboration, and co-creation. Each roundtable focused on a key theme – AI, Retail Media, Gaming, Loyalty, or Fraud Protection – and was led by experts including Sue Azari (eCommerce), Lesia Kupriienko (Finance), Adam Smart (Gaming), Emmet Geaney (Data Collaboration), and Richard Earnshaw (Migration). The labs encouraged free movement between hubs, sparking conversations and fresh ideas that could be put into action immediately.
As the curtains closed on MAMA Dubai 2025, one message rang clear: the region’s digital economy is no longer defined by growth at any cost, but by growth that lasts. From loyalty-led innovation to AI-driven performance and transparent collaboration, the UAE’s app ecosystem is evolving into a benchmark for sustainable profitability – built on data, trust, and human creativity.
Speaking on the event, Hazem El Taha, Senior VP, Global Marketing Technology, HSBC, comments, “It was a fantastic experience to be part of MAMA Dubai 2025. The event brought together some of the brightest minds in the region, and the discussions were incredibly forward-looking. It’s great to see the level of collaboration driving innovation across industries.”
