Pratyush Goel pulled ahead decisively in the final rounds on Tuesday, retaining his crown against 251 rival teams. The pressure was visible.
For the second consecutive year, Goel—this time partnered with Kalai from Al-Shaya—claimed the title of Dubai’s Smartest at the 3rd IBPC Dubai Corporate Quiz held on 18th February. His previous victory came solo, representing Abu Dhabi Investment. This time, the stakes felt higher.
The numbers tell part of the story. 252 teams. Eight finalists. Four brutal rounds testing everything from QR code origins to Jane Goodall’s research, from IKEA’s founding principles to Hans Zimmer’s compositions. By the time Giri Balasubramaniam—the legendary quizmaster known as “Pickbrain”—called the final question, only one team had maintained the pace.
“Veni, Vidi, Vici,” Pickbrain declared when describing the winning duo.
The evening unfolded in two distinct phases. Rashmi Furtado, president of Greycaps, one of Asia’s premier live quizzing companies, designed the preliminary round. Her reputation for sharp wit and unforgiving difficulty preceded her. The written prelim tested participants across business strategy, innovation, pop culture, science, and global affairs—questions referencing Kodak, Tiffany & Co., Tesla, Netflix, FedEx, Pepsi, and Nike. The average scores were notably high. Furtado and Pickbrain both acknowledged what the cut-off revealed: the UAE’s corporate community is getting sharper.
Eight teams survived to the finals, representing Ericsson, Deloitte, National Bank of Bahrain, Alshaya Group, Godrej Consumer Products, and Blue Star Limited. Then Pickbrain took command.
His style transformed the competition. Trademark energy, humour, razor-sharp repartee—he elevated intellectual combat into spectacle. The audience leaned in. The final four rounds—Around the World, Innovation, Saluting the Pioneers, and Beyond the Box—demanded breadth and speed. Thomas Edison appeared. So did Tanishq. Business frameworks collided with scientific breakthroughs.
Siddharth Balachandran, chairman of IBPC Dubai, framed the evening’s purpose early on. “The IBPC Corporate Quiz is a celebration of knowledge, of curiosity, critical thinking, and the shared joy of learning. Each year, it brings the UAE professional community together to honour intellect, exchange ideas, and recognise the power of informed minds in shaping the future.”
The audience included H.E. Mr. Satish Kumar Sivan, Consul General of India for Dubai and Northern Emirates, who stayed for the entire competition. His assessment was blunt: “I am speechless and proud to see the intellect at its best.”
Also watching from the crowd: IBPC Vice Chairman Sunil Sinha, Secretary General Dr Sahitya Chaturvedi, Major Sharafuddin Sharaf of Sharaf Group, Suresh Kumar (chairman emeritus of IBPC Dubai), Ankur Gupta from Tata Sons MENA, and Aditya Singh of Titan Company Ltd. The gathering reflected IBPC Dubai’s expanding influence, particularly among younger professionals, women, and emerging corporate talent.
The 2026 edition signals a shift in how corporate knowledge competitions function in the region. What began as intellectual contest has evolved into networking platform, community builder, and—perhaps most significantly—a barometer of the UAE’s professional culture. Quiz nights have existed for decades globally, but the scale here and the calibre of participants suggest something more deliberate: a celebration of learning as corporate value.
Prizes ranged from luxury hotel stays and curated experiences to gadgets, airline tickets, and jewellery gift vouchers. High stakes met high energy.
For Goel, the back-to-back victory cements a reputation. Defending a title carries different pressure than winning it the first time. Expectations shift. Competitors study your style. The element of surprise vanishes.
Yet he navigated the gauntlet. Strategy, speed, scholarship—the trifecta that quiz veterans preach. His partnership with Kalai proved crucial; two minds covering more ground, cross-checking instincts, splitting the cognitive load across four unforgiving rounds.
The format tested more than recall. Around the World demanded geographical and cultural fluency. Innovation probed understanding of breakthrough moments—not just what changed, but why it mattered. Saluting the Pioneers required knowledge of forgotten architects of progress. Beyond the Box rewarded lateral thinking, the ability to connect disparate threads into coherent answers.
What the evening revealed, beyond individual brilliance, was the depth of knowledge across the UAE’s corporate sector. When 252 teams sign up, when preliminary scores run high, when eight finalists can trade blows across four rounds without anyone collapsing—that speaks to systemic intellectual investment. Companies are hiring thinkers. Professionals are staying curious.
The quiz culture in the UAE has matured over three editions. Early iterations drew curiosity. Now it draws commitment. Teams prepare. Companies sponsor. Audiences pack venues. The intellectual entertainment sector, long dominated by sports and music, is carving space for competitions where the only equipment is knowledge.
Pickbrain’s presence underscored the event’s ambition. He’s conducted thousands of quizzes across continents, elevated the format into theatre. His involvement signals IBPC Dubai’s intent to position this competition among the region’s premier intellectual contests.
The partnership between defending rigour and accessibility worked. Questions ranged from specialist (business frameworks, patent histories) to accessible (pop culture, global brands). A forensic accountant and a marketing coordinator could both contribute. That balance kept all 252 teams engaged, even those eliminated in prelims.
For IBPC Dubai, the quiz aligns with broader membership goals. Younger professionals seek community beyond industry silos. Women increasingly occupy leadership roles in the organisation. Emerging talent wants platforms that showcase capability beyond job titles. A quiz delivers on all three: cross-industry mixing, merit-based competition, and visibility.
The 2026 edition also reflected growing corporate investment in employee engagement. When Ericsson, Deloitte, and National Bank of Bahrain send teams, they’re signalling values: learning matters, intellectual curiosity deserves time, corporate culture extends beyond quarterly targets.
Whether this momentum sustains depends on maintaining quality. Dumbing down questions would kill credibility. Letting it become insular—dominated by the same few organisations—would drain energy. The challenge for IBPC Dubai is scaling participation whilst raising standards. Early signs suggest they understand the balance.
By the time Pickbrain announced the winners, the room had spent hours immersed in questions spanning centuries and continents. From Walt Disney’s animation breakthroughs to FedEx’s logistical innovations, from Pepsi’s branding wars to QR code ubiquity—the quiz mapped how knowledge compounds across domains.
Goel’s repeat victory will make the 4th edition fascinating. Can anyone dethrone him? Will he attempt a three-peat? The target on his back just grew larger.
For now, in Dubai’s corporate arena, one truth held firm on 18th February: knowledge reigned supreme. And the reigning champion showed no signs of abdication.