2025 AUS-Chalhoub symposium highlights innovation in a changing luxury landscape

American University of Sharjah (AUS) hosted the 2025 AUS-Chalhoub Symposium, a forward-looking event that brought together students, faculty and industry leaders to explore the future of luxury retail in a fast-changing digital landscape. Held at the AUS School of Business Administration, the symposium featured a keynote address by Nick Vinckier, Vice President of Corporate Innovation at Chalhoub Group, who outlined five major trends shaping the luxury sector, including evolving consumer behaviors and the role of immersive technology. The event was part of an ongoing collaboration between AUS and Chalhoub Group to foster innovation and bridge academia with the luxury industry.

The symposium featured an internship competition that challenged teams to develop bold ideas using emerging technologies—such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, non-fungible tokens, blockchain and the metaverse—to transform the customer experience for a Chalhoub luxury brand. From a competitive pool of submissions, three teams were selected to pitch their concepts live before a judging panel of Chalhoub experts and a full auditorium. The winning team, composed of marketing students Sarah Saoud and Mai Mickdady, was awarded a full-time internship with Chalhoub Group for Summer 2025. The symposium was organized under the Chalhoub Group Professorship in Luxury Brand Management at AUS, reaffirming the university’s role as a hub for academic-industry partnerships and experiential learning in the region.