Dubai AI Week 2025: Sheikh Hamdan's Vision for AI Future

Post by : Layla Badr

Photo: Dubai Government Media Office

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, reaffirmed Dubai’s strong commitment to accelerating the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This will help unlock new opportunities and further establish Dubai as a global leader in AI businesses, talent, and innovation. His comments were made during the closing of Dubai AI Week 2025, which saw over 30,000 experts and participants from more than 100 countries.

Dubai AI Week 2025, organized by the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence and overseen by the Dubai Future Foundation, included 10 major events across the city. The week featured over 250 sessions, panel discussions, workshops, and the launch of more than 30 new initiatives, partnerships, and agreements between the government, private companies, investors, and startups.

The event attracted global experts, innovators, and AI enthusiasts, including students from schools and universities in Dubai. Some of the world’s biggest tech companies like Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, IBM, Amazon, NVIDIA, and Cohere also took part in the event.

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His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said, “This year’s Dubai AI Week has been a huge success. We’ve decided to hold the next Dubai AI Week in April 2026, with the goal of doubling the number of events and attracting more top tech experts from around the world. Dubai AI Week will become a major annual event that brings together the best minds in technology.”

He added, “Artificial Intelligence is changing the world in ways we’ve never seen before. Those who are ready for the future are the ones who are building the foundations today—by supporting ecosystems, empowering talent, and making sure AI is used responsibly.”

Sheikh Hamdan also shared that Dubai plans to continue moving forward with AI to create a better future. The next phase will focus on setting up more AI companies in Dubai, working with global experts, and giving government leaders new guidelines to develop AI strategies that improve life for everyone.

Dubai’s goal is to bring AI skills and technologies into schools, universities, research centers, and innovation hubs, while also fostering an environment where billion-dollar AI ventures can grow. Sheikh Hamdan emphasized that Dubai’s strong digital infrastructure, flexible laws, and dedication to AI talent make it the perfect place for global AI investment.

Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Vice Chairman of the Dubai Future Foundation, explained that Dubai AI Week builds on many years of expertise and successful initiatives by the Dubai Future Foundation. "This event has become a leading platform that brings together experts, companies, and key figures who are shaping the future of AI," he said.

He also highlighted Dubai’s ability to adapt quickly to new changes. “The UAE’s development model focuses on global partnerships and fast changes, which are key to preparing us for the era of AI,” he added.

Key Events During Dubai AI Week

One of the highlights was the AI Retreat, held at the Museum of the Future. Over 150 global AI experts, policymakers, and industry leaders took part in this gathering. The Dubai Assembly for AI attracted more than 10,000 visitors and participants, including delegations from countries like South Korea, Canada, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, and the United States. This event featured new technologies from companies like Meta and Microsoft and showcased innovations from over 60 startups.

The Dubai AI Festival, held in partnership with DIFC, attracted over 10,000 participants, including 500 investors and experts from 100 countries. More than 100 speakers shared their knowledge over 40 sessions and 30 roundtable discussions.

There was also an event called AI Week in Schools, which ran from April 21 to 25, 2025. This initiative, supported by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), introduced more than 10,000 students from 60 schools in Dubai to AI concepts and how they might impact the future.

The Global Prompt Engineering Championship brought together nearly 3,800 participants from 125 countries. The competition focused on finding the best AI prompt engineers in four categories: AI in Coding, AI-Generated Art, AI in Gaming, and AI-Generated Videos. Winners received a total prize pool of AED1 million.

Another key event was the Machines Can See Summit, which became the region’s largest platform for discussions on computational power and machine learning. Over 3,500 leaders, researchers, investors, and policymakers gathered at this summit.

Finally, the Agentic AI Hackathon, supported by Hackmasters, welcomed 170 emerging talents who worked on challenges to create AI models that solve real-world problems.

Strategic Announcements and Developments

During the week, several important announcements were made. du unveiled a new AED2 billion hyperscale data center project in collaboration with Microsoft. Additionally, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) launched its AI Strategy 2030, which includes 81 projects and initiatives.

Several reports were also launched, such as the ‘15 AI Use Cases in Government’ report, showcasing AI applications in government services. The ‘Dubai State of AI Report’ assessed over 100 AI use cases in areas like urban planning, healthcare, finance, and mobility.

One interesting finding was from a joint report between the Dubai Government Human Resources Department and the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government. It showed that 97% of government employees believe that generative AI improves government operations.

AI in Education and Healthcare

AI’s role in education and healthcare was a major focus of the week. The University of Birmingham – Dubai announced Dubai’s first-ever PhD program in Artificial Intelligence.

In healthcare, the AI in Healthcare Forum explored how AI can transform the healthcare industry. Experts from top global health organizations discussed the future of AI in healthcare.

Additionally, HIMSS 2025 examined how AI is changing healthcare through innovations like generative AI, genomics, precision medicine, and digital transformation.

AI and the Public Sector

The 8th International Conference on Quality Education brought together over 500 participants from 31 government agencies to discuss how AI can empower public institutions.

The AI Initiative in Arab Media, announced by the Dubai Media Academy, aims to create a comprehensive AI-driven content ecosystem that supports Arabic language technologies. This initiative will respect cultural and social aspects of the language while creating digital content for Arab audiences.

Dubai AI Seal and ALiF Initiative

Another milestone was the celebration of the first certified AI companies under the Dubai AI Seal. This seal helps identify trusted AI companies and encourages collaboration between the government and AI developers.

Dubai Health also launched the ALiF initiative, which provides AI training for individuals and organizations in the healthcare sector. This initiative is the first of its kind in the UAE and MENA region.

Dubai AI Week 2025 was an exciting event that highlighted Dubai’s growing role as a global leader in AI. With key events, strategic announcements, and new collaborations, the city is setting the stage for a future where AI plays an important role in shaping our lives and improving society. The next Dubai AI Week in 2026 is expected to be even bigger, with more events and more experts from around the world coming together to explore the future of AI.

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