AI Talent in the UAE Has Doubled Over the Past Two Years: HE Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama

HE Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications spoke to Dataquest about how the UAE encourages diversity of talent 

The adoption of new age technologies has become pertinent for all industries and sectors in order to survive and thrive in the present day and age. However, one of the biggest drawbacks that industries tend to face when it comes to adopting and deploying modern technologies is talent crunch. If statistics are to be believed, a Korn Ferry report has found that as many as 85 million jobs could go unfilled by 2030 because there aren’t enough skilled people who can get hired against these positions.

Nevertheless, HE Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications is of the view that a talent crunch arises when industries focus on one specific talent pool. “The United Arab Emirates (UAE) encourages diversity of talent. It mustn’t be specific for a talent to have a particular nationality or geography. I believe the issues of talent crunch only comes up when you're focusing on one specific talent pool. When you witness things from a global perspective, you will see that there is an increased interest in AI and there is more and more talent coming into the workforce. When it comes to the UAE, there has been an increase in talent and not the contrary. The AI talent in the UAE has doubled over the last two years,” said His Excellency to Dataquest.

Message for Indian Companies Hoping to Collaborate with the UAE

His Excellency stated that the UAE-India CEPA agreement that was signed on 18 February 2022 has set the tone for future collaboration and cooperation. Some of the benefits that the agreement aims at introducing, according to the Ministry of Economy, UAE, are: 

• Clear and transparent rules on trade. 
• Enhanced market access.
• Government procurement opportunities.
• Greater information and guidance for SMEs.
• Lower tariffs.

“Our relationship with India goes back 1000s of years, and throughout history, we've had a great relationship with them. This is not going to change, it hasn’t changed over millennia, and it will not change over the future. We know for a fact that there is a perfect synergy between the UAE and India. When you look at it, India has the maturity in terms of market and the growth potential, and the UAE on the other hand has the agility in government and the diversity of people that come to it. So if we come together and work closer, we will be able to create outcomes that are far better. We're witnessing improved political, economic, and social relations, which will ultimately lead to better outcomes for the Indian community and developers,” added His Excellency.

While on the topic of the relationship that India shares with the UAE, His Excellency further commented: “India can be the global factory of high end technologies and products. I have no doubt that India can by far dominate, because of the sheer quality of talent. That said, I also think that the UAE can bring a lot of diversity to the table that can push research and development capabilities. It will be phenomenal if the best Indian entrepreneurs are able to meet people from around the world here in Dubai, create innovations, and then produce in India and export to the world leveraging the cutting edge global infrastructure, logistics and transport that Dubai is home to.”

How Dubai Provides a Favourable Environment for Companies of All Sizes

The minister is of the view that Dubai has progressed in term of both hard and soft infrastructure, which now provides a very conducive atmosphere for businesses to prosper. “People from around the world are flocking to Dubai to achieve their technical visions and to scale. Dubai is a city where companies can get access to 200 nationalities, and cutting edge infrastructure, along with an opportunity to serve 7.8 billion people around the world. This competitive advantage cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Our conventional trade and economy were created by souks and ports; on the other hand our new economy will be created by digital infrastructure, and with innovators from around the world who will not see boundaries but instead see infinite scale fuelled by everything that Dubai has to offer,” said His Excellency. 

The minister spoke to Dataquest at the GITEX Global 2022 event, being held from 10 to 14 October, wherein 1,40,000 people from over 170 countries are expected to participate. Dataquest is being hosted by the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to witness seven multi-tech themes experimenting in the metaverse, a decentralised future of the internet, and a sustainable global digital economy. 

DWTC says that it aims to make Dubai the world's leading destination for all major exhibitions, conferences and events, and has hence evolved from being the regional forerunner of the fast-growing MICE industry into a multi-dimensional business catalyst, focusing on venues, events and real estate management.