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Khaleej Times
21-04-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE among few places in world where businesses want to relocate, say AI startup founders
Artificial intelligence (AI) is still considered 'a fancy word' in some parts of the world, but the UAE means business and is leading in building solutions for the region and the world, said industry players. Speaking during the Dubai AI Week on Monday, the startup founder said Dubai and UAE are among the few places in the world where companies want to relocate amidst global geopolitical issues. The ongoing tariff war between the US, China, and other countries has caused uncertainty globally in terms of policies and taxes. The UAE enjoys the status of a tax haven as there is no income tax in the country. 'Dubai has always been early when it comes to AI. The UAE set up the Ministry of AI before anywhere else on the planet. It shows the maturity and insight into what this region is thinking about. "As we have grown, what good I've seen is that the UAE ecosystem has started moving away from fancy to real business use cases, which will matter a lot. There are zones and hot spots in the world where AI is still a fancy word. It's refreshing to see that in the UAE, it's a means of business, and this is the ecosystem that we want to integrate,' Akshat Prakash, CTO and co-founder of said during a panel discussion at the Dubai AI Week on Monday. Prakash added that the UAE is the best amalgamation of the Eastern and Western worlds, culturally and geographically, because it is a highly multicultural society .'Geographically, given the political climate of the world, there remain few places that you want to relocate to and build a company. To state very unapologetically, if you look at Asia, Europe, Africa and other regions, Dubai stands out in terms of attracting talent. When we relocated to Dubai, nobody said 'no' to relocating here in our team. Cultural and geographical aspects are strong that put Dubai at the forefront and next hub for AI,' co-founder said during the panel discussion. Nuha Hashem, co-founder of CozmoX AI, said during the dotcom era, there was a gap in terms of adopting technology in this part of the world. 'What you see in terms of technology companies here, they started building AI even before it became a hot topic. They are not just building solutions for region but for global audiences. We are seeing a shift where the gap is becoming smaller. Dubai is doing the right thing by attracting talent to build AI solutions here. They have resources and opportunities to build the future right from the region,' she said during the panel discussion on the topic of 'Fueling the Future: Investing in AI Startups within Dubai's Ecosystem.'
Khaleej Times
28-01-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE: Over 100 students graduate from national coding programme open to citizens, residents
Over a hundred students graduated from the Samsung Innovation Campus 2024, the largest number yet, a spokesperson for the Samsung Gulf Electronics said. In partnership with the Ministry of AI's National Program for Coders, 120 students graduated in the course. The three-month hybrid programme is open to UAE citizens and residents aged 18-29 and considers those who have a basic understanding of statistics, object-oriented language and syntax. Shafi Alam, director of DTC (direct-to-consumer) business and corporate marketing at Samsung Gulf Electronics, said that the programme could benefit anybody from any field, and that the main purpose is 'to help them find a better job". He added that this year's batch of students was the largest in terms of numbers and diversity as well, with students from 26 nationalities. 'We learn a lot from students and we get insights on how we can enhance this programme,' Alam added. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. The programme is open to university-aged people who have an interest in coding and AI, not necessarily just those with a computer science, or related fields degree. Alam said that it's open for all because 'AI is a topic that attracts people from different walks of life and different specialisations. This is the beauty of this programme.' In this batch of graduates, three students received a top student award for their high achievements. One of those students, Abhinav Kamballoor Kottayil, said it was unexpected when his name was called upon to receive the 'Top Student Award 2024'. 'It is a big surprise for me to get this award and I would like to thank Samsung for this amazing course and experience.' For students to get a good grasp in the course, the programme starts with basic maths and algebra subjects and moves on to more advanced topics like machine learning and deep learning. For Kottayil's capstone project, he developed an emotional recognition system using a facial recognition system, which he said was 'a great learning experience' for him. This is the third edition of the Samsung Innovation Campus, which saw its largest number of students graduating yet. The UAE is the only country in the Gulf region that partnered with Samsung to host this programme as part of its Artificial Intelligence Strategy to become a global leader in AI by 2031. In June 2024, the AI office signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Samsung Gulf Electronics to further advance the adoption and development of artificial intelligence in the country.
