The United Arab Emirates has set its sights on attracting 10,000 artificial intelligence companies within five years, transforming what’s already the region’s densest AI ecosystem into a global innovation powerhouse that prioritizes human welfare over technological spectacle.
Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, revealed the ambitious target during a fireside chat at the Expand North Star 2025 event in Dubai, where he outlined a vision that breaks from conventional tech hub strategies. Rather than chasing flashy demonstrations, the UAE is betting that quiet, practical AI applications will prove more transformative than robot dogs and other gimmicks that dominate tech conferences elsewhere.
The country already hosts over 1,500 pure AI companies, the highest concentration in the region, but Al Olama made clear this represents a starting point rather than a destination. What’s driving the expansion isn’t just ambition, it’s a calculated philosophy about how technology should integrate into society. The boldest policy decision, according to the minister, wasn’t developing blockchain frameworks or AI strategies. It was deciding that safety, security, and equal opportunity would anchor every innovation decision.
That people first approach shows up in unexpected places. Dubai International Airport’s smart gate system lets UAE residents and citizens pass through without showing passports or interacting with humans, simply walking through gates that use facial recognition. It’s the kind of seamless experience that makes AI feel helpful rather than intrusive, a distinction Al Olama emphasized when contrasting genuine utility with attention seeking deployments.
The UAE’s strategy rests on three foundational principles, according to the minister. Safety and quality of life come first. Equality of opportunity follows. And a forward looking mindset that thinks in decades rather than quarters rounds out the framework. Abu Dhabi started investing in AI back in 2008, buying stakes in chip companies and AI ventures when the technology was still emerging, a timeline that illustrates just how early the betting began.
The National Cyber Security Council oversees AI model deployment to ensure systems remain safe, reliable, and responsibly implemented. That oversight reflects concerns about rushing innovation without adequate safeguards, particularly as AI capabilities advance faster than regulatory frameworks can adapt. The UAE is threading a needle, trying to move fast without breaking things or people.
Infrastructure represents one sector where AI has already delivered measurable returns. The technology has helped complete projects faster and more efficiently while enhancing safety standards and reducing costs. Tourism represents another opportunity, though Al Olama acknowledged the government is proceeding cautiously there to avoid privacy violations and data misuse, two risks that have plagued AI deployments in other countries.
If the strategy succeeds, analysts estimate AI driven industries could lift Dubai’s digital economy contribution from around 15 percent of GDP today to more than 20 percent by 2030. That shift would represent a fundamental economic transformation, moving the emirate from asset driven growth toward intellect driven expansion. But there’s a flip side. Failure to deliver tangible outcomes could turn Dubai into what some observers call a high profile testbed without deep local value capture.
The UAE raised 678 million dollars in startup investment during the first quarter of 2025, up 57 percent year over year, with AI and fintech accounting for nearly half that total. Those funding trends suggest investor confidence remains strong, though challenges persist. Women led startups in the Middle East and North Africa secured just 1.2 percent of venture capital funding in the first quarter of 2025, highlighting gender disparities that experts say could undermine long term sustainability if left unaddressed.
Attracting global talent remains central to executing the 10,000 company goal. Al Olama described it as creating a flywheel effect where the best and brightest minds can come work for the UAE, though that formulation raises questions about whether talent flows through the country or genuinely embeds within it. The minister positioned the UAE as perpetual students and listeners, claiming the government doesn’t know everything but commits to implementing good advice quickly.
Expand North Star 2025, organised by the Dubai World Trade Centre and hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, ran from October 12 to 15 at Dubai Harbour. The event drew 2,000 startups from 180 countries, with 22 percent focused exclusively on AI, alongside 40 unicorns and 1,200 investors managing about 1.1 trillion dollars in assets. Since debuting in 2016 as a regional entrepreneurial showcase, Expand North Star has enabled thousands of digital startups to secure multi million dollar investment deals and forge strategic partnerships.
The UAE became the world’s first country to appoint a Minister of Artificial Intelligence in 2017, launched the world’s first dedicated AI research university in 2020, and introduced Falcon, a highly rated open source large language model, in 2023. Under its National AI Strategy, the country aims to become a global center for AI development and deployment by 2031, using technology as a tool rather than an end goal.
Al Olama framed success not through metrics about company counts or funding totals, but through measurable improvements in people’s daily lives. He contrasted that with what he called failure, deploying gimmicks that generate headlines without making anyone’s life materially better. Whether 10,000 AI companies represents an achievable target or aspirational thinking remains to be seen, but the emphasis on human centered outcomes offers a different template than the move fast and break things philosophy that’s dominated tech development elsewhere.
