Hatem Dowidar Invests in Tactful AI Ahead of Series A

Former e& CEO Hatem Dowidar has announced a new Tactful AI investment as the Egyptian startup prepares its next-generation agentic artificial intelligence. This capital injection extends the company's Pre-Series A round, with financial terms remaining undisclosed.

This strategic move comes ahead of the firm’s planned Series A fundraising in 2027. The company is currently focused on introducing advanced agentic AI technology

specifically designed for customer experience (CX) operations.

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Dowidar, who led e& from 2020 until March 2026, brings more than 25 years of experience across telecommunications and technology. This includes his 16 years serving in key executive roles at Vodafone.

Understanding the Strategic Tactful AI Investment

Tactful AI develops infrastructure that allows enterprises to manage customer interactions, analyse conversations, and automate workflows across multiple communication channels.

Their next-generation technology addresses a common limitation in current AI applications. While many existing chatbots can answer routine questions, changing the underlying customer service process often requires extensive development work.

Tactful’s upcoming system will allow enterprises to build, modify, and evolve end-to-end customer experience workflows directly within their own organisations.

This approach aims to reduce development cycles from months to hours while retaining human oversight and approval at each step. The company plans to release further technical details in the coming months.

Growth and Market Traction

Tactful AI reports that its existing platform has recorded substantial growth since January 2025. According to the company, annual recurring revenue increased 11.7 times, while the monthly volume of customer conversations processed through the platform rose 32 times.

These are company-reported growth figures; Tactful has not disclosed the underlying absolute revenue or conversation volumes. Its diverse customer portfolio includes Elaraby Group, Raneen, 2B, Lucky One, Erada Finance, and Simplex.

Mohamed Elmasry, co-founder and CEO of Tactful AI, noted that Dowidar’s experience leading large technology and telecommunications businesses is particularly relevant. He believes this insight will prove vital as the startup continues to develop complex technology for enterprise customers.

Future Outlook for the Startup

Dowidar noted that enterprises are increasingly looking for practical, reliable ways to integrate AI into operations while maintaining security and control. He added that Tactful’s deployment history and upcoming technology convinced him of the team’s long-term potential.

The investment extends Tactful AI’s earlier $1 million Pre-Series A round, which was announced in February 2026 and co-led by Foras AI and M Empire. Founded by Mohamed Elmasry and Mohamed Hassan, the company operates across Cairo and Cambridge, UK.

The startup’s next phase will centre on launching its new agentic infrastructure, expanding enterprise adoption, and preparing for a major Series A round in 2027.

Why the Tactful AI Investment Matters to MENA Startups

This development highlights growing investor interest in AI companies building tools for large enterprises. In this sector, automation must work within existing legacy systems while maintaining human oversight.

For regional startups, Tactful’s approach reflects an opportunity beyond merely developing AI models or standalone chatbots. The real value lies in building the infrastructure that allows businesses to deploy AI across complex, high-stakes operations.

The next test will be whether Tactful can turn its reported growth into continued commercial traction. They must demonstrate that their upcoming technology can consistently make enterprise workflows faster to build, adapt, and manage.