The global surge in artificial intelligence (AI) investments propelled by the increased demand in rising digital industries, from digital health and future finance to cybersecurity and public services, has ignited a race among businesses to secure specialized talents, sustain the relentless pace of their tech innovations, and their position among the early adopters of AI. A Goldman Sachs research says that global investment into AI could reach $200 billion by 2025, while Bloomberg has reported that the generative AI alone could have a $1.3 trillion market value by 2032.
This growth is driven by a widespread acknowledgement amongst global leaders that AI solutions are an increasingly vital tool for driving enhanced productivity and higher growth. As Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Abu Dhabi-based AI enterprise Presight, recently told the GITEX Tech Waves podcast: โToday youโll see companies applying AI and AI evolving. In five, 10 yearsโ time, it will get smarter, and when it gets smarter, youโll get more efficiency and shorter routes to answers for difficult and complex questions. In return, that will be to the betterment of society and the world we live in.โ
Read: UAEโs AI firm G42, Microsoft to launch two AI centers in Abu Dhabi
Showcasing AI breakthroughs
Over 3,500 of the worldโs leading brands investing in AI solutions will converge at the Dubai World Trade Center from October 14 to October 18 for the worldโs largest tech and startup event, Gitex Global 2024. The exhibition and conference will bring together the biggest tech community in the world, from experts, founders and investors to government leaders and senior executives, to showcase their breakthrough AI technologies, discuss mutual synergies, and forge key collaborations to catalyze future advancements in the industry.
The event will spotlight the opportunities and challenges surrounding the AI global economy, including ethical development, quantum computing, large language models (LLM), policies and regulations, real implications of AI in edtech, health, and finance, and the future of work and employment. The rapid AI emergence still impacts the job market according to recent studies. In 2022, Deloitte estimated that there were only 22,000 AI specialists in the world while, last year, it was predicted that only half of all AI-related jobs could be filled.
UAEโs bold steps
Leapfrogging several global markets, the response of the UAE, which has been increasingly successful as a global hub for the AI industry, consists of a robust long-term government agenda to harness the full potential of AI to empower individuals, communities and organizations. Aligned with the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence and a clear vision to become the world leader in AI by 2031, the country has invested in integrating AI into public services, energy, tourism and education.
Read: AI to contribute $100 billion to UAEโs GDP by 2030
In Dubai, the leadership has shown profound commitment to making the emirate the worldโs fastest, most agile and future-ready city by launching the Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence. This highly strategic annual plan aims to accelerate the adoption of AI applications, looking at achieving the targets of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 by adding AED100 billion ($27.2 billion) yearly to the emirateโs economy and boosting productivity by 50 per cent through the adoption of digital solutions.
Whoโs coming to Gitex Global 2024?
As the worldโs largest tech and startup event, Gitex Global aligns firmly with the widely recognized UAE AI-driven economy, with Dubai as the fastest-growing international hub for AI experts, leaders, academics and top voices in the industry.
Headliners include the most powerful tech giants driving AI dynamics globally, such as Adobe, Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Builder AI, Dell, G42, Google, HPE, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Open AI, and Oracle, among many others. Middle Eastโs premier companies and organizations advancing AI and projecting the regionโs native tech to the world, such as Presight, e&, Technology Innovation Institute (TII) and Khazna, will also present their products and innovations at the show.
A premier lineup of international speakers will join the stage for discussions in AI, featuring names such as Isabell Gradert, VP of central research and technology at Airbus (Germany), Michael Spranger, president of Sony AI (Japan), Axel Voss, member of the European parliament (Belgium), Stephen Ibaraki, founder of the UN/ITU AI for Good (Canada), Jong-Soo Choi, CTO of Samsung (South Korea), and Dr Priya Singhal, EVP of Biogen (USA).
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