Future of Infrastructure: Delivering Amazing for the World Cup

with Mohamed Abuagla

Mohamed Abuagla is the Chief Executive for Hayya, the organization in Qatar responsible for helping the country manage the massive influx of people for the World Cup, while providing a seamless experience for fans.

Future of Infrastructure

Host Jeremy Goldberg, Worldwide Director of Critical Infrastructure at Microsoft, is on a journey to learn more about how infrastructure is being built around the world, by talking with public servants, philanthropist, artists and place-makers who have spent their lives working in the public interest. This is a series to help us build things and plan for the future while putting people first.

Delivering Amazing for the World Cup

byMicrosoft

Mohamed Abuagla is the Chief Executive for Hayya, the organization in Qatar responsible for helping the country manage the massive influx of people for the World Cup, while providing as seamless experience for fans entering the country, using transportation, and attending the games. 

“The vision behind [Hayya] was basically to create a system or an app or an experience, you know, a platform that brings everything in one place.” — Mohamed Abuagla

Visit the Future of Infrastructure site for transcripts of all episodes. 

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Mohamed Abuagla | LinkedIn

Hayya

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Episode summary

Mohamed Abuagla is the Chief Executive for Hayya, the organization in Qatar responsible for helping the country manage the massive influx of people for the World Cup, while providing a seamless experience for fans entering the country, using transportation, and attending the games.

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Delivering Amazing for the World Cup

Mohamed Abuagla is the Chief Executive for Hayya, the organization in Qatar responsible for helping the country manage the massive influx of people for the World Cup, while providing as seamless experience for fans entering the country, using transportation, and attending the games.

A Challenging Task

Mohamed Abuagla, Chief Executive for Hayya explained the challenge that faced the organization ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar:

“The vision behind [Hayya] was basically a scheme to – to , you know, from the top was basically to create a system or an app or an experience, you know, a platform that brings everything in one place.

So what you want it to do is you want it to make sure that everyone has access to everything that they need from before they came into the country, during the time they spend in the country, and after they leave the country, in one place. But that was extremely challenging because of several factors.

We had the pleasure and the unenviable task of being the intake, the interaction point with fans. So from a higher perspective, we actually built three touchpoints where you interact with fans or visitors in the country.”

Delivering a Holistic Experience

In order to deliver on their vision for Hayya, Abuagla explained three crucial touchpoints that they addressed:

“The first touchpoint is the app. So we had a digital touchpoint, and through that you got all the information that you needed and you were able to transact information and – and bookings and what have you that you needed to do.

The second one was a virtual touchpoint, which you could send us emails, WhatsApp messages, or phone calls, and we had, you know, a 24/7, 700-agent contact center that spoke eight languages, you know, just to make sure that everybody was getting the support and the help that they needed 24/7.

And then the third touchpoint was the physical touchpoints. So we had service centers. I had people, you know, that were working at borders, you know, at the airports, at the land borders, at – every stadium had support centers and service centers. We had two major service centers in the middle of the city. You know, we had additional ones at, you know, hotels and what have you.”

Building for the Future

Abuagla went on to explain that the project’s success has led to a desire to implement it permanently:

“The biggest testament for the success of the project was the fact that it was the first project to be considered a legacy project. So you know, it’s actually activated as a legacy project.

… And by the word legacy, it’s legacy for the country. So it’s not really legacy tech. It’s just that something that will be continuing going forward…

So, you know, the name of the – the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy was to deliver the project and create legacy. So, we were fortunate to be the first project that moved to legacy mode. And we were the first ones at the end of January to announce the continuation of Hayya as a gateway into the country.

And this is what we’re working through right now. We have announced it as an official entry visa system to the country. So you know, everybody that wants to go to the State of Qatar, now they need to apply, they go apply for Hayya, and that’s a continuing process. So we’ve moved from an event mode into a permanent setup, as well as we have a huge mandate to continue to build around those experiences. Qatar is hosting a whole bunch of events. The country hosts over 200 events per year.”

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