The convention center was massive.

Like, actually massive. GITEX Global 2024 in Dubai—one of the world's largest tech conferences. Thousands of exhibitors. Hundreds of thousands of attendees. Startups from everywhere pitching everything. I'd convinced my parents this trip was educational. "It's a tech conference. I'll learn about AI, startups, innovation. It'll be valuable for my future." That was true. But it wasn't the whole truth.

The whole truth: I wanted to see if the things I was learning—coding, business, entrepreneurship—actually mattered in the real world. I wanted to see what adults building real companies looked like. I wanted to know if I was remotely on the right track.

I got answers. Just not the ones I expected.

Day One: Feeling Very Small

The first booth I walked into was showing some AI-powered enterprise solution for supply chain optimization.

The founder was explaining their technology to a group of serious-looking people in suits. I caught maybe 30% of what he was saying.

"...blockchain integration for immutable record-keeping..."

"...predictive algorithms reducing inventory overhead by 23%..."

"...enterprise deployment across 47 countries..."

Everyone was nodding like this made perfect sense.

I stood there thinking: I'm in way over my head. Then I walked through startup alley. Hundreds of early-stage companies with booths, eager founders ready to pitch anyone who stopped. Most weren't the AI-blockchain-enterprise complexity I'd just encountered. They were solving specific problems:

A platform connecting freelance delivery drivers in emerging markets.

An app helping small restaurants manage inventory without expensive software.

A tool for construction companies to track materials and prevent waste.

These made sense to me. I could see the problems. I could imagine using the solutions.

And suddenly: I didn't feel quite so lost.

The Founder Who Actually Talked to Me

His name was Arjun. Indian startup. Building something in the fintech space—helping small businesses access credit. I stopped at his booth. Read the poster. He could tell I was young, probably a student, definitely not an investor or potential client.

He talked to me anyway.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

"I'm still a student. IB. But I've been learning to code, did some internships, built a small e-commerce project..."

"What did you learn from the e-commerce thing?"

Not "how much revenue did you make" or "how many users did you get."

What did you learn.

We talked for twenty minutes. He told me about starting his company three years ago. The mistakes he made. The pivots he had to do. How the first version of his product was completely wrong.

"Everyone here," he gestured around the conference, "we all started not knowing what we were doing. The difference is, we kept going anyway."

That conversation was worth the entire flight to Dubai.

The Panel I Barely Understood

I attended a panel on "Scaling AI Products in Emerging Markets."

Five founders/executives on stage. All brilliant. All accomplished.

They talked about:

• Infrastructure challenges in developing markets
• Data collection in low-connectivity environments
• Balancing innovation with regulatory compliance
• Unit economics at scale
• Building teams across geographies

I understood the words. I didn't understand the depth.

These weren't theoretical problems from a business class case study. These were real challenges these people faced building actual companies.

And the solutions weren't clean. They were messy, context-dependent, "we tried three things that didn't work before finding something that kind of works."

This was what real entrepreneurship looked like. Not the polished success stories. The complicated middle where nothing is clear.

The Startups That Made Me Realize I'm Not Ready

I saw startups with:

• Teams of 50+ people
• Offices in multiple countries
• Millions in funding
• Products used by thousands of companies
• Complex technology I didn't fully understand
• Business models that took me several minutes to grasp

And I thought: I'm nowhere near ready to build something like this.

Then I'd see:

• Teams of 2-3 people
• Working out of apartments
• Bootstrapped or minimal funding
• Solving one specific problem well
• Technology I could mostly understand
• Business models that made immediate sense

And I'd think: Maybe I could try something like this. Not now. But eventually.

Both reactions were useful.

The Pattern I Started Noticing

After two days walking around, talking to founders when they'd talk to me, watching pitches, attending panels—I noticed something.

The most impressive founders weren't the ones with the most complex technology.

They were the ones who could explain their solution clearly.

Who knew exactly what problem they were solving and for whom.

Who had tried, failed, adjusted, tried again.

Who were honest about what they didn't know yet.

The complexity came from solving real problems, not from trying to sound impressive.

This felt important. I wasn't sure why yet.

What I Learned About AI (The Hype versus The Reality)

AI was everywhere at this conference. Every booth mentioned it. Every pitch included it.

"AI-powered" "Machine learning-driven"
"Intelligent algorithms"

Some were legitimate. Using AI to actually solve problems in clever ways.

Many were... questionable. AI seemed to mean "we have a basic algorithm that does simple pattern matching."

One founder was honest with me: "Everyone says AI because investors like it. We're doing basic data analysis, but if we call it AI, people pay attention."

This taught me: buzzwords matter less than substance. Real solutions show themselves through clarity, not jargon.

Also: I'm learning machine learning at the right time. Not too early (when I'd be lost in theory), not too late (after the hype has died). Right in the middle where I can learn to actually apply it, not just talk about it.

The Networking Part (Which I Was Terrible At)

Everyone was networking. Exchanging cards. Scheduling meetings. Making connections.

I had... none of that.

I'm 17. I don't have a company. I don't have a card. I'm not fundraising or hiring or looking for partnerships.

I'm just a student trying to learn.

A few times, people asked: "What do you do?"

"I'm a student. Learning about tech and business. Here to see how real companies work."

Most people smiled politely and moved on. They were busy. I wasn't useful to them professionally.

A few stayed and talked anyway. Those conversations were the best ones. They weren't networking. They were just generous with their time.

I learned: networking isn't just about exchanging value. Sometimes it's just about curiosity and generosity.

The NorthStar Event

Part of GITEX included NorthStar—a section focused on startups, innovation, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Pitch competitions. Workshops. Investor meetings.

I watched startups pitch. Five minutes to convince a panel of investors why their idea deserved funding.

Some pitches were smooth, polished, confident. Some were nervous, stumbling, but honest.

The best ones weren't the most polished. They were the ones that made you immediately understand the problem and believe the solution could work.

Watching this taught me more about business communication than any class ever did.

You have to know your problem deeply.
You have to articulate it simply.
You have to show why you're the right person to solve it.

And you have to do all of that in minutes, under pressure, while people judge you.

I wasn't ready to do that. But I understood what I needed to learn to eventually do it.

The Moment of Doubt

Third day. Evening. Exhausted from walking around all day. I was sitting in the food court, surrounded by founders, investors, executives, all doing real business.

And I thought: What am I even doing here? I'm not building a company. I don't have a groundbreaking idea. I'm just a student who's curious. Everyone here is actually doing something. I'm just... learning. Then I remembered Arjun's comment: "We all started not knowing what we were doing." Everyone at this conference was once where I am now. Not knowing. Just learning. Just curious. The difference: they kept going. They started something even when they weren't ready. They learned by doing. I couldn't start a serious company at 17. But I could keep learning. Keep building small things. Keep preparing. This trip wasn't about launching something today. It was about understanding what I needed to learn to launch something eventually.

What I Realized About Scale

I'd been thinking about entrepreneurship in terms of building one thing that works. This conference showed me: successful companies are really about scaling something that works. Anyone can build a prototype. Some people can get their first few customers. The hard part is going from 10 customers to 100 to 1,000 to 10,000.

That requires:

• Operations at scale
• Team building and management
• Financial systems that work at volume
• Technology that doesn't break under load
• Business models that still make sense when bigger

I understood none of this deeply. But I saw it was the real challenge. Building something people want is step one. Scaling it is the actual work.

The Technologies I Saw (And Didn't Understand)

Blockchain for supply chain (still confused how this works practically) Edge computing for IoT devices (vaguely understand the concept, not the implementation)

Quantum computing applications (completely lost)

Advanced robotics for manufacturing (impressive, no idea how it actually works)

Synthetic biology startups (didn't even know this was a thing)

The range of technology being built was overwhelming. I understood maybe 40% of it.

But here's what I did understand: the technology alone doesn't matter.

What matters: does it solve a real problem? Will people pay for it? Can you build a sustainable business around it?

Those questions applied to everything, whether I understood the tech or not.

The Gap Between My Skills and Reality

I left Dubai understanding my gaps more clearly:

What I know:
Basic coding, web development fundamentals, some business theory, how to learn quickly.

What I don't know yet:
How to build products at scale. How to lead teams. How to navigate regulations. How to raise funding. How to make complex business decisions with incomplete information.

What I thought before the trip:
Maybe I'm close to ready to start something.

What I know after the trip:
I'm not close. But I'm on the right path. Learning the right things. Building the right foundation.

I need a few more years. More experience. More projects. More failures. More learning.

And that's okay.

The Question I'm Left With

If I were to start something today, what would it be?

I don't have an answer yet. But GITEX changed how I think about the question.

Before: What's a cool idea I could build?

After: What real problem do I understand deeply enough to solve? Who would pay for that solution? How would I actually reach them?

Those are harder questions. Better questions.

I don't have answers. But I'm starting to understand what I need to observe, learn, and experience to eventually find answers.

What Dubai Actually Taught Me

Not "here's how to start a company."

Not "here's the cutting-edge technology you need to know."

What it actually taught me:

Real entrepreneurship is messy.
The success stories are clean. The actual work is complicated, full of uncertainty, rarely goes according to plan.

You don't need to understand everything.
You need to understand your problem deeply and your solution well enough. Everything else, you figure out as you go.

Starting before you're ready is normal.
Nobody feels ready. The ones who succeed are the ones who start anyway and learn fast.

Scale is the real challenge.
Building a prototype is step one. Building a business is the actual work.

Clarity matters more than complexity.
The best founders could explain their business simply. Jargon and buzzwords weren't impressive. Clear thinking was.

Being young and learning is an advantage.
I don't have to have it figured out. I have time to observe, learn, build skills, try small things, fail safely.

Was It Worth It?

The flight. The cost. The time away from IB work.

Was it worth it?

Yes. But not for the reasons I expected.

I didn't leave with a startup idea. I didn't make useful connections. I didn't learn specific skills.

I left understanding what I don't know. Understanding what real entrepreneurship looks like. Understanding that I'm not ready yet, but I could be eventually.

That clarity was worth the trip.

I'm back in Hyderabad now. Back to IB work. Back to internships. Back to normal life.

But something shifted. I saw what's possible. I saw what it actually takes. I saw where I might fit eventually.

And I know I'm not ready yet. I've got years of learning ahead.

But for the first time, I can see the path. It's not clear. It's not certain. But it exists.

And that's enough to keep going.

If you ever get a chance to attend a major tech conference—go.

Not to network (though you might). Not to learn specific skills (though you will). But to see the real world of building things. To understand the gap between where you are and where you want to be. To get clarity on what you actually need to learn.

That perspective is invaluable.