Egypt’s Tactful AI Reacquired By Founders, Sets Sights On Expansion In Middle East And Europe

Tactful AI, an Egypt-based company specialising in AI-powered customer experience solutions, is back under the leadership of its founding team following a buyback from Dstny, a European provider of business communication tools.

Originally acquired in 2022, Tactful was brought into the Belgian telecom group as part of its strategy to expand digital engagement offerings and improve AI-powered customer experience (CX). But after three years as a subsidiary, co-founders Mohamed El-Masry and Mohammed Hassan have regained full control of the business.

Now, with the company back in the hands of its original founders, Tactful AI is pivoting toward an independent growth strategy focused on the Middle East and Europe. The immediate goal is to strengthen its presence in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with a broader plan to move into the UK and Western European markets.

This new direction follows several years of focused investment in research and development. Since its founding in 2016, Tactful AI has positioned itself as one of the first homegrown platforms in Egypt built specifically to manage and optimise digital customer experiences using artificial intelligence.

Over the past three years, the company says it has invested more than USD 5 M in developing its platform, which combines real-time conversation management and analytics with no-code flexibility. This allows businesses to scale support operations while maintaining oversight. It is being positioned as a viable alternative to larger global players developed locally but engineered to meet international standards.

Even during its time under Dstny, Tactful kept its core technical operations rooted in Cairo and Cambridge. That dual presence helped shape a product that balances international standards with deep regional relevance. Clients such as Fairmont, Address Hotels, El Araby Group, and Lazurde are among those using the platform to streamline communication across digital channels, improve support team efficiency, and gain actionable insights into customer behaviour.

It has already been adopted in a number of industries, including retail, e-commerce, hospitality, and financial services, helping to manage all customer interactions across digital channels in real time, while also improving the productivity of support teams through automation.

With the company back in the hands of its original leadership, the focus now turns to scaling product capabilities and deepening its presence in strategic markets.

El-Masry described the reacquisition as a reset, a chance to return to the company’s core mission and drive innovation without external constraints. He also emphasised the importance of continuing to invest in AI technologies that reflect regional languages, behaviours, and business needs. This will help it stay competitive and adapt to the evolving demands of customer engagement.

The reacquisition represents a return to a vision that began in Egypt and now has the potential to scale far beyond it.