The meeting served as a vital evaluation milestone for this pioneering, integrated knowledge-industry experience.
In its first institutional gathering since officially transitioning from a “Center” to a “Group,” TRENDS held its semi-annual meeting for the year 2026. The meeting was held in the main conference hall at the Group’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of Dr. Mohammed Al-Ali, Chairman of the Board, alongside board members, corporate directors, and the entire team.
Organized by the Corporate Communications Department, the meeting served as a vital evaluation milestone for this pioneering, integrated knowledge-industry experience. It brings five specialized companies together under a single umbrella:
- TRENDS Research & Advisory
- TRENDS Global
- TRENDS Barometer
- TRENDS Observatory for the Study of Social Phenomena
- TRENDS Training Institute
Empowerment to Harvest
In its opening address, the Board of Directors emphasized that 2026 is not merely another year on the institutional calendar but rather the Year of Harvest, following years of building a robust knowledge and administrative infrastructure. The Board noted that the transition into a Group structure was not a cosmetic change, but a strategic response to the demands of a new phase.
This phase requires delivering an integrated suite of research, advisory, training, and polling services — rather than isolated offerings — and doubling regional and international competitiveness by diversifying knowledge tools and elevating the ambition from “providing studies” to “generating impact.”
Numbers & Indicators
The meeting reviewed achievements from the past period, moving beyond narrative praise to measurable indicators, including:
- International Presence: Opening new offices across the globe, expanding geographical coverage to more than 10 countries.
- Institutional Partnerships: Signing new cooperation agreements with prominent regional and international research and academic institutions.
- Awards: Securing several prestigious awards in the fields of research and institutional excellence.
- Outputs: Publishing hundreds of forward-looking studies and reports, some of which have been actively adopted in policy dialogues at both local and international levels.
This harvest was not limited to quantitative metrics; it also represented a qualitative leap in content quality, rapid responsiveness to regional shifts, and the teams’ capacity to provide deep analytical readings of regional events.
An Era of Impact
The meeting unveiled the approved action plan for the second half of 2026, which departs from traditional patterns to focus on:
- Re-engineering Knowledge Production: Launching targeted research initiatives tailored to address global priorities, rather than general topics.
- Tool Development: Upgrading training and media tools by incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for data analysis and content creation.
- Maximizing Impact: Establishing a clear mechanism to track the influence of studies and recommendations and to measure policymakers’ engagement.
Strategic Discussions
Participants engaged in discussions on core themes reflecting an acute awareness of the current phase, most notably:
- Synergy Among the Five Companies: Agreeing on clear operational mechanisms to prevent duplication of efforts, ensuring clients interact with a unified, integrated team.
- Administrative Decentralization: Granting general managers broader decision-making powers, coupled with an internal oversight system to ensure the quality and sustainability of outputs.
- Empowering Young Talents: Recognizing them as the engine of innovation, while establishing leadership programs to qualify the next generation of researchers and content creators.
- Fostering a ‘One Team’ Culture: Ensuring that rapid growth and geographical expansion do not come at the expense of institutional spirit and collective identity.
Forthcoming Challenges
With complete transparency, the meeting did not overlook the future challenges facing the Group. Key points raised included maintaining a delicate balance between urgent advisory services and long-term, in-depth research that builds academic prestige.
Discussions also addressed navigating increasing international competition in research, advisory, and training by delivering higher-quality, faster-produced work, alongside building a unified knowledge identity to ensure that TRENDS remains the ultimate point of reference across the diverse branches and products of its five companies.
Meaningful Change
Dr. Mohammed Al-Ali, Chairman of TRENDS Group, emphasized that the upcoming phase represents a qualitative leap requiring collective institutional awareness and an openness to innovation, without compromising the academic credibility that the institution has accumulated over years of empowerment.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, Dr. Al-Ali stressed that the real harvest is not the quantity of production, but the amount of change effected in reality. He affirmed that the Group will work to ensure its reports serve as catalysts for dialogue, rather than mere documents left on shelves.
