At the 10th Edition HR Tech Summit and Awards 2026, held on February 12 at the Shangri-La Dubai, one name stood above the rest. DAMAC Group walked away with three awards in a single night. That alone tells you something important about where this UAE-based conglomerate is heading with its people strategy.
The wins did not come from grand gestures or flashy announcements. They came from a deliberate, technology-led effort to fix how the company hires, rewards, and manages its people. And the results are now on the record.
Three Awards, One Clear Direction
DAMAC Group claimed three top honours at the summit. The group won Best Digital Rewards and Recognition Platform for DAMAC Elevate, Best AI-Powered Talent Acquisition Implementation for its use of Phenom, and Best Tech-Enabled HR Operations.
Each award represents a different part of the HR function. Together, they point to a company that has invested seriously in building a connected, data-driven approach to managing its workforce. The HR Tech Summit, organized by UBS Forums Pvt. Ltd., brings together senior HR and business leaders across the region to recognize organizations that use technology and data to transform how people are managed.
DAMAC Elevate Puts Employee Recognition in Real Time
DAMAC Elevate is the group’s internally built digital rewards and recognition platform. It launched in late 2025 and it changes the way employees at DAMAC receive appreciation.
Before platforms like this, recognition in large organizations often moved slowly. A manager might acknowledge strong performance weeks after the fact, or through a chain of approvals that felt detached from the actual moment. Elevate removes that delay entirely.
The platform allows real-time recognition at every level, ranging from peer-to-peer acknowledgements to endorsements from department heads. Employees receive points they can redeem through a global catalogue of rewards. Department leaders, in turn, get access to AI-driven analytics that reflect team performance and cultural engagement.
Hussain Sajwani, Founder and Chairman of DAMAC Properties, attended the platform’s launch personally and described it clearly. “DAMAC Elevate is not just a platform. It is our way of showing that every contribution is seen, valued, and celebrated,” he said.
Recognition, when it happens quickly and consistently, shapes how employees feel about their work. DAMAC built a system to make that consistency possible at scale.
Phenom AI Speeds Up How DAMAC Finds Talent
For large organizations, the process also tends to generate enormous amounts of manual work. DAMAC addressed this directly through its implementation of Phenom, an AI-powered talent acquisition platform.
Phenom uses applied AI to automate and personalize the recruitment cycle. It handles candidate sourcing, screening, and matching. It also manages candidate engagement throughout the process and gives HR teams clearer visibility into talent pipelines. DAMAC’s use of the platform earned it the Best AI-Powered Talent Acquisition Implementation award at the summit.
Research from Phenom’s own platform data shows that companies using its Talent CRM report up to a 49% reduction in time-to-fill roles. Separately, a 2025 study found that companies using AI in recruiting report up to 85% time savings in the overall hiring process.
For DAMAC, a group that recorded USD 9.8 billion in property sales in 2025 and operates across more than 15 countries, the ability to find and place the right talent faster is not a small efficiency gain. It directly supports the pace at which the business grows.
How DAMAC Made Its HR Operations Smarter
The third award, Best Tech-Enabled HR Operations, reflects changes DAMAC made to the daily mechanics of running its HR function.
The group introduced workflow automation and tech-enabled self-service tools across its HR operations. These tools reduced the need for manual intervention in routine processes. They also improved data accuracy and gave HR teams more time to focus on work that actually requires human judgment.
This matters because most HR teams in the region still carry a heavy administrative load. A WTW analysis published in late 2025 noted that many HR functions across the Middle East remain spreadsheet-based and time-intensive, largely due to historical regulatory environments that shaped operating models. DAMAC moved deliberately to change that within its own walls.
M.P. John, Chief Human Capital Officer of DAMAC, summed up the approach in his own words. “Our focus has always been on building strong systems that enable performance and support our people. These awards reflect the discipline, collaboration and forward-thinking approach of our teams.”
AI is Already Reshaping HR Across the Middle East
A 2025 PwC survey found that 75% of employees in the Middle East already use AI in their work. That figure surpasses the global average of 69%. Meanwhile, Deloitte’s 2026 Middle East Human Capital Trends report highlights a regional shift away from HR being purely process-driven, toward placing the worker at the centre of every decision.
Research from WTW also shows that nearly two-thirds of HR organizations are actively planning or already deploying generative AI in their operations. Among HR professionals who have adopted AI tools, 70% say it saves them significant time.
The Great Place to Work 2026 HR Trends report notes that organizations across the Gulf are integrating AI in ways designed to enhance human capability, not replace it. The goal is efficiency, fairness, and better decision-making, with people still at the center of the experience.
DAMAC’s triple win at the summit fits precisely within this wider momentum. The company is not simply adopting tools. It is building systems that make its HR function genuinely stronger.
The investment DAMAC has made in HR technology, across rewards, talent acquisition, and operations, reflects a clear understanding that people systems need to match the ambition of the business.
The three awards at the HR Tech Summit 2026 confirm that the infrastructure DAMAC has built is working. It gives the group a strong foundation to attract better talent, retain existing employees, and make faster, fairer decisions across its HR function.
