Following Ru’ya 2026, StrongYes continues its Beyond the Target series with Deliveroo. Mercedes Oakley, Head of People at Deliveroo Middle East, on ownership, global exposure, and why the next generation of Emirati professionals should be building careers in tech.
The UAE has made decisive progress on the first Emiratisation question: whether the private sector can meaningfully absorb national talent. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE), more than 190,000 Emiratis were working across nearly 32,000 private sector establishments in the first half of 2026, more than double the roughly 92,000 recorded at the end of 2023.
The next question is more consequential. Not simply whether Emiratis enter the private sector, but whether they find the opportunities to build meaningful, long-term careers within it.
StrongYes’ view is that the digital and platform economy deserves a far bigger place in that conversation than it currently gets. Banking, aviation and energy have long been important destinations for ambitious nationals, and for good reason. But the digital and platform economy offers a different proposition: the chance to take on responsibility early, see the direct impact of business decisions and build careers connected to international markets.
To be precise about the opportunity: it is not only about taking part in the platform economy as a user or service provider. It lies in building professional careers inside the technology companies that design, operate and scale these platforms, across product, data, commercial, operations, finance and people roles.
Deliveroo is a strong test of that thesis.
A generation ready for more than a seat
The talent pipeline is expanding, supported by a decade of national investment in education, skills and workforce development. That progress is increasingly visible at the hiring table.
“The UAE has invested significantly in education, skills and creating opportunities for the next generation, and we continue to see the results of that investment in the calibre of Emirati talent entering the workforce,” says Oakley. “We’re meeting young Emiratis who are educated, ambitious, digitally savvy and eager to build meaningful careers across a wide range of disciplines.”
That description matters. Ambitious, digitally fluent professionals are unlikely to remain engaged in roles designed primarily to satisfy a hiring target. They want to see their own fingerprints on the business.
Where impact is visible by dinner time
That is the nature of the platform business model. Many decisions, from a new merchant tool to a customer promotion, show up quickly in how customers order, how restaurants manage demand and how riders work. For an early-career professional, that short feedback loop can be a career accelerator in its own right.
“Here at Deliveroo, we combine the pace and innovation of a global technology company, now backed by DoorDash’s scale, with the opportunity to make a tangible, visible impact on the UAE market,” Oakley says. “Our people are trusted with real ownership and responsibility, allowing them to see the impact of their work on customers, merchants, riders and the communities we operate in.”
This is the point too many Emiratisation conversations still miss. For many employers, the real test of Emiratisation begins after recruitment: in the first years of employment, when a young professional decides whether the opportunity offers a genuine career or simply a position. Employers who hand over real responsibility early are not taking a risk on Emirati talent. They are making one of the strongest retention moves available to them.
A local role with a global ladder
Following DoorDash’s acquisition of Deliveroo in October 2025, the company became part of a larger international local-commerce business, gaining access to the scale, resources and global reach of the wider DoorDash group. For a young Emirati in Dubai, that changes the ceiling of what a first job in tech can lead to.
Oakley is clear that recruitment is where the work begins, not where it ends.
“Hiring is only the start,” she says. “We believe the best idea can come from anywhere, and that everyone should have a voice, regardless of their title or how long they’ve been with the company. Add learning and development opportunities, exposure to colleagues and projects across Deliveroo’s and DoorDash’s international markets, and a hybrid way of working, and you have an environment where careers can progress.”
Two ideas in that answer deserve attention from every HR leader in the region.
The first is voice before title. For young professionals used to contributing in digital environments, a workplace where ideas carry weight regardless of seniority is more than a perk. It can be the deciding factor in where they build a career.
The second is international exposure built into the role. Emirati professionals who work alongside colleagues and projects in other markets develop a global benchmark for their own performance early. That is exactly the kind of talent the UAE’s long-term economic ambitions depend on.
Skills that will not expire
One of the biggest risks early-career professionals face is developing skills that become less relevant as AI reshapes work. The platform economy offers a particularly relevant environment for developing digital capabilities. Technology, data and AI increasingly shape how these businesses run operations, understand customers and make decisions, so employees build skills alongside evolving systems.
“We consider the tech sector a place where you can build an exciting, long-term career,” says Oakley. “As part of DoorDash, we’re connected to a global technology business that invests heavily in AI and digital skills, encourages experimentation and supports its teams in continuously upskilling. This creates opportunities to develop skills that will remain valuable as the digital economy evolves.”
The most valuable thing an employer can offer a young Emirati in 2026 is not a job title. It is a skills trajectory. The employers that make continuous learning part of the career itself will be best positioned to attract and retain the next generation of national talent.
Advice to the next generation
Asked what she would tell young Emiratis looking to build careers in the digital economy, Oakley keeps it direct.
“My advice is to be curious, challenge how things are done and take ownership early. There’s no limit to what you can achieve when you’re willing to learn, take initiative and make the most of the opportunities around you. You get out what you put in!”
It is advice that cuts both ways. Young professionals who take ownership early need employers willing to give it to them.
Three lessons for employers
1. Give measurable business ownership, not responsibility on paper. Emirati professionals who own a real outcome in their first year see their impact, and talent that sees its impact stays.
2. Build cross-border exposure into development plans. International projects should not be left to individual networking. Structured cross-market work turns a local role into a global career.
3. Make AI and digital upskilling part of everyday work. Not an occasional training initiative, but the way work gets done. With AI reshaping every function, this is now the core of the employee value proposition.
The next chapter
The first phase of Emiratisation focused heavily on expanding private sector participation, and the UAE has made significant progress. The next chapter will be measured in careers built, skills compounded and leaders developed.
The platform economy could become one of the places where that shift is most visible. It connects technology, commercial decision-making and customer impact in ways that can give young Emirati professionals a broader view of business from early in their careers. Deliveroo’s approach offers one illustration of that possibility: hire well, trust early, open the international door and keep people learning.
That is what moving beyond the target looks like.
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