Founder-led AI software Dubai & the UAE
I’ll come to you. I’ll build it first.
I’m Marcus Cent. I’ve spent nearly thirty years founding, scaling and selling technology companies, and I’ve been building businesses here in the UAE since 2008. Now I build custom AI software for my own businesses and for established UAE companies that are motivated to use modern development methods to solve real business problems. I’ll visit your business, find the problem worth solving, and build a working first version before you spend a dirham.
Or WhatsApp me directly: +971 56 884 4123
- First company 1997
- ResDiary, acquired by AccorHotels 2018
- In the UAE since 2008
In the room.
I work from your premises, not a ticket queue. Same city, same working week, same WhatsApp.
Founder from first coffee to go-live.
No account managers, no hand-offs. The person who listens is the person who builds.
Proof before payment.
You judge working software on your own problem, not a deck. If it isn’t worth building, I’ll say so.
Why I do this, and why the first build is free.
Plenty of studios will tell you they understand your business. I’ve run several. I started my first company in Glasgow in 1997, where I learned to offer end-to-end website development and marketing services. From there I discovered affiliate marketing and grew a sideline into a multi-million-dollar annual business with only a handful of employees.
I entered the SaaS space in 2003, building a company that created online booking and ticketing engines for hotels, attractions, venues and transport operators. I then co-founded ResDiary, the first real restaurant reservations platform running solely in a web browser. That business scaled to several thousand restaurants and was acquired by AccorHotels in 2018.
My affiliate business merged with a UAE business in 2008 and I moved to Dubai to run the newly named Clicksco, which grew into a group of more than 200 people and delivered more than $100m in revenue through search marketing. Since then I’ve run and invested in businesses here, including a car workshop, a villa renovation company, a B2C travel network and a home services company that all run on software I built.
AI has changed what one experienced person can build. Work that used to need a development team and months of waiting, I can now do myself in a fraction of the time. That’s why I can afford to show you before I ask you to pay. If the first version doesn’t earn its keep, you’ve lost nothing, and you’ll have an honest view of where AI does and doesn’t help your business.
Marcus Cent
I’ve built software that scaled, and businesses that sold.
- 2006
ResDiary
Co-founded. The first real restaurant reservations platform running solely in a web browser, which I planned, designed and built as a founding partner. It scaled to several thousand restaurants.
Acquired by AccorHotels, 2018
- 2008
Clicksco Group
Co-founded. I built the technology and the processes behind a search advertising group that grew to more than 200 people in nine countries.
More than $100m in revenue through search marketing
- 2003
iBooking.com
Online booking and ticketing as a service, which let any travel or transport company add sophisticated booking and payments to the website it already had.
Enabled the success of businesses like NakedBus in New Zealand and easyBus.com in the UK and Europe
- 1997
Marcat
My first company: a web agency in Glasgow, building websites and software in the first wave of the commercial internet.
Three entries in the Deloitte Fast 50
Those platforms were built the traditional way: development teams, long specifications and months before anything shipped. The same judgement now directs AI engineering.
Working systems, not demos.
Built with AI and in daily use. All three are businesses I’m part of, which is why I can show you everything.
AI from end to end
Visit Network
More than 20 destination travel sites on one platform I built. AI wrote the platform with me, through more than 5,000 changes, and AI is part of running it: researching and drafting guides, creating images and watching every site’s health, with people reviewing what is published.
- Destination sites live
- More than 20
- Built with AI coding tools
- More than 5,000 changes to date
Powerworks Garage
A custom CRM and operations platform that replaced separate tools and a shared spreadsheet at an independent car service workshop.
- In daily use since
- Spring 2026
- Customer records
- Around 3,000
A business I co-own.
The Garage Guys
A connected set of tools for a garage renovation business: enquiries, CRM, AI design concepts, proposals and contracts signed electronically.
- Launched
- July 2026
- Status
- First customer contract signed
A business I founded.
Come and see it running.
See Powerworks on the workshop floorThe Proof Build
Show, don’t pitch.
One real problem. One working piece of software. Built by me, on your sample data, and demonstrated at your premises. No fee, no obligation.
- What you get
- One working piece of software that solves one real problem in your business.
- Who it’s for
- Established UAE businesses, with the owner or managing director in the room.
- What it isn’t
- Not a production system and not connected to live customer data. It is proof the idea works for your business.
Free until you’ve seen it work.
How I work in detail- Free
The Conversation
A 30-minute call or coffee, or a walk-through at your premises.
- Free
The Proof Build
One working piece of software on one real problem, demonstrated at your premises.
- Joint venture or fixed quote
The Build
The production system, as a shared venture or for a fixed written price.
- Monthly
The Partnership
Hosting, support and continuous improvement.
I’d rather be your partner than your supplier.
My preferred way of working is not to charge for a custom system, or for hours worked. I’ve built and sold companies already, so I don’t need a salary from your project to pay the bills. That leaves me free to look for something better for both of us.
Where I can see a real opportunity, I would sooner build it with you and share in what it earns. It is an option, never a condition, and it only happens when it is a clear win for both sides.
Start-ups are my forte, and my passion.
Creating a profitable business from the seed of an idea is what I enjoy most and what I have done most often. I do every stage of it myself, and I always back myself. Where there is a benefit in being a partner, I can come in as an investor as well as a hands-on founder.
- 01
Find the idea
- 02
Create the brand
- 03
Scope the solution
- 04
Build it
- 05
Win the first customers
- 06
Make it profitable
Three ways to take a build forward
A new business
If the software opens up something that could stand on its own, we set it up together and both own a share of it. I can invest in it as well as build it.
A joint venture
I put in the software and my time. You put in the business and its customers. We agree in writing how the result is shared.
A fixed quote
If you would simply rather pay for the work, you get a fixed written price for the system. I don’t bill by the hour.
What people ask first.
- Is the Proof Build really free? What’s the catch?
- Yes. The catch is that I’m choosy: with the decision-maker in the room. I do it because working software sells better than any proposal, and because AI has made a first version quick enough for me to afford it.
- Do I have to buy anything afterwards?
- No. If you want it in production, we agree a partnership or you get a fixed written quote. If not, we shake hands and you keep the written recommendations.
- Is my data safe if AI is involved?
- The Proof Build never needs your live data: I build it on sample or anonymised records. In a production system, AI is given only the specific documents or messages a job needs, and a person approves anything that matters. Before any build I set out in writing which AI services the system would use and what data they would see, so you decide with the facts in front of you.
- Do I have to pay for a build at all?
- Not necessarily. My preference is a partnership: where there is a real opportunity, we set up a new business or a joint venture and share what it earns. If you would rather simply pay for the system, you get a fixed written quote. I don’t bill by the hour.
- What do you need from me?
- The decision-maker in the room for the visit and the demonstration, one specific problem that keeps recurring, and sample data or documents I can build against.
- What does a production build cost?
- It depends on what the Proof Build shows is worth building, so I don’t quote before I’ve seen the problem. You get a fixed written quote before committing to anything.
Thirty minutes on a call, or I’ll come to you. No slides.