It’s a big week for global economies tied to the dollar with the US Federal Reserve widely expected to cut interest rates at its meeting.

Interest rates are a signal of how the Fed views the health of the economy and where it thinks things are heading. The decision heavily affects the economies of Gulf countries such as the Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, whose currencies are tied to the dollar.

It also directly affects consumers. For example, a cut could make it cheaper to borrow to buy a car or a home, and to use your credit card, but may also lower returns on your savings.

In this week's Business Extra, host Salim Essaid is joined by James Swanston, a senior Middle East and North Africa economist at Capital Economics, to explain how the Fed's decision on interest rates could ripple through the region’s economies.

People across the UAE and the region have noticed web pages loading more slowly, shows taking longer to stream and Wi-Fi going in and out.

This is because the undersea cables that support all those things have been damaged.

In this case, we’re looking at cuts to cables that lie at the bottom of the Red Sea. Around the globe, such cables run along seabeds and are the very foundation of internet connectivity.

Depending on where in the world you are, you might have a different set of these cables to thank for your ability to go online.

On this episode of Business Extra, host Salim A Essaid discusses what exactly makes this incident so critical, what’s next, and how it all comes back to the web user.

Despite billions being spent over the past few years on artificial intelligence investments, a recent MIT Media Lab report found 95 per cent of organisations have produced zero returns so far.

But is that really the case for companies who are offering AI solutions? How are those in the Middle East performing?

In this episode of the Business Extra podcast, host Salim Essaid is joined by Mohammad Abu Sheikh, founder and chief executive of CNTXT AI, a UAE-based data and AI solutions company.

Later, he is joined by Amit Joshi, a professor of AI, analytics and marketing at the IMD Business School to look at the bigger picture and the disconnect between implementing AI and profit.

And to explore the impact of this on hiring AI specialists and attracting talent, Dana Alomar, The National's future editor, joins the conversation.