Overview
The UAE has positioned artificial intelligence as the cornerstone of its post-oil economic transformation. The National AI Strategy 2031 represents one of the most ambitious government-led AI programmes globally, targeting a contribution of up to AED 96 billion to GDP by the end of the decade. This page examines the strategic pillars, implementation progress, and sectoral implications of the UAE’s AI agenda.
UAE Landscape
The UAE was the first nation to appoint a Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, signalling executive-level commitment. Abu Dhabi’s establishment of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) created the world’s first graduate-level AI research university. Dubai’s AI Lab, the BRAIN initiative under ADNOC, and Falcon LLM from the Technology Innovation Institute represent flagship programmes driving applied research and commercialisation. Federal investment in AI infrastructure now exceeds AED 10 billion annually across compute clusters, data centres, and talent development.
Key Players & Initiatives
| Entity | Focus Area | Status |
|---|---|---|
| MBZUAI | Graduate AI research & talent | Operational since 2021 |
| Technology Innovation Institute (TII) | Falcon LLM, open-source AI | Falcon 180B released |
| AI Office (PMO) | National AI governance | Strategy coordinator |
| ADNOC BRAIN | Industrial AI for energy | Deployed across operations |
| G42 | Enterprise AI & cloud | Strategic partnerships active |
| Hub71 | AI startup incubation | 200+ portfolio companies |
| Dubai Centre for AI (DCAI) | Government AI integration | Established 2024 |
Policy Framework
The National AI Strategy 2031 rests on eight pillars: data governance, infrastructure, talent, research, adoption across sectors, regulation, international cooperation, and societal well-being. The UAE AI governance framework encourages responsible innovation while maintaining a sandbox approach that allows rapid experimentation. Federal data-sharing mandates require all government entities to make anonymised datasets available for AI training. The Comprehensive AI Governance Guidelines, issued by the AI Office, set standards for transparency, accountability, and bias mitigation across public-sector deployments.
Vision 2031 Alignment
AI sits at the nexus of virtually every Vision 2031 economic pillar. The strategy targets nine priority sectors – transport, health, education, energy, water, space, environment, technology, and traffic – for deep AI integration. By 2031, the UAE aims to automate 50 percent of government transactions through AI, reduce operational costs by 30 percent across federal agencies, and rank among the top five nations globally in AI readiness indices. Progress is tracked through the National AI Dashboard, with quarterly updates to the Cabinet.