Asana names Washmen, a Cloudfresh customer, the AI Breakthrough in EMEA at the 2026 Work Innovation Awards. Award singles out most capable organisation using AI to deal with processes under the hood Last updated: May 04, 2026 | 15:19 Washmen, a UAE-based visionary customer of Cloudfresh - Asana's EMEA Partner of the Year - has won the AI Breakthrough category at the 2026 Work Innovation Awards. The award singles out the most capable organisation that doesn't stop at ideas and uses AI to deal with processes under the hood, speed up output, and make everyday work easier and more effective. The judges are looking for workflows where AI actually delivers real impact by taking over routine tasks so teams can focus on bigger priorities. They want to see that the tech isn't just stuck in a trial phase or isolated to one specific department. Instead, it needs to be fully up and running, clearly understood, and actively used across different teams as adoption continues to grow. "Washmen represents exactly the kind of bold, results-driven creativity the Work Innovation Awards celebrate. By building a fully integrated, AI-powered operational system at scale, they've set a new benchmark for how organisations can scale efficiently while maintaining consistency and quality at every stage," said Josh Abdulla, Chief Customer Officer at Asana Washmen's award-winning setup runs on four AI Teammates. Each one picks up where the last leaves off, with no need for manual handoffs. Together, they've cut average claim turnaround time from 2-3 days to 6 hours. Each active AI Teammate produces work equal to 1 full-time employee, while automated workflows have reduced manual effort across operations and customer service by 40-50 per cent. SPONSORED LINKS BY PROJECT AGORA The system also flags high-risk damage cases before items reach production, which matters in a business where a single claim on a luxury item can exceed Dh10,000. "We are humbled by the award. At Washmen, we are convinced our adoption of AI is still in its early stages. As co-founders, Rami and I see it as our mission to reimagine our company as if we were launching it today, and then build out the processes and organization to deliver on that rejuvenation. Asana, because of its early and continuous AI innovations, has become an integral tool within our AI stack," said Jad Halaoui, Co-Founder & COO at Washmen Washmen's engineering team linked its internal dashboard with Asana to automate 7,500 monthly task cards. This setup removes manual data entry by syncing physical facility scans with digital boards in real time. Cloudfresh helped deploy these workflows in under two weeks by focusing on practical, daily scenarios. This hands-on approach allowed the team to adopt the technology quickly and build confidence in the new system. The collaboration led to a 35 per cent weekly time savings and cut repetitive tasks by half. These gains improved customer response times by 30% and sped up internal approvals. As a result, Washmen now meets its service-level agreements more consistently. Cloudfresh continues to support Washmen as they expand their use of Asana Enterprise and Asana AI Studio, adapting the system as their operations grow and change. "Working closely with Washmen, we've seen first-hand how a mature Asana setup can be taken to a completely different level. As one of the first organizations in EMEA to deploy Asana AI Teammates, Washmen moved from structured task management to a self-running operational model - where damage claims are assessed, resolved, and closed autonomously at a scale of 25,000 items a day. That's what it looks like when implementation is done right," said Norbert Durko, General Manager for the Middle East at Cloudfresh. Get updates on topics you choose. YOU MAY LIKE

Washmen, a Dubai-based dry cleaning and laundry service, has raised $6.2 million in a Series B round led by multinational venture capital firm AddVenture. Henkel, Cedar Mundi Ventures, B&Y Partners and Clara Ventures also participated, bringing the company's total funding to $7.8 million. Founded in 2015 by Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui, Washmen has transitioned from an asset-light model connecting customers with partners to owning its supply chain. The company launched its own 30,000-square-foot facility last month and now claims to be the largest dry cleaning and laundry business in the UAE. Customers can schedule pick-up and drop-off times via mobile app, with a standard 48-hour turnaround or next-day delivery for a 50% premium. The funding will support technology development in Beirut and strengthen UAE operations.