UAE: AI Will Create New Opportunities, Not Replace Jobs, Says Expert

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Artificial intelligence will not replace jobs but rather create new opportunities, a UAE telecom company chief executive has said. Speaking at the Envision 2025 tech event in Dubai, du CEO Fahad Al Hassawi said AI should be seen as a driver of efficiency and innovation.“Many people see AI as a threat to job security. But there is another side to this. AI will create jobs in a more efficient and innovative way,” he said.

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Envision is a tech event created by du Tech, which brings national and international experts to discuss the potentials of advanced AI, robotics, next-gen cloud, and secure digital infrastructure to build smart communities. Al Hassawi explained that while he understands the concerns of AI replacing jobs, he said there is a flip side.

“It will create many new jobs, but [done] in a different way, more efficient, and innovative. And the collective outcome of this is more jobs, skills, and prosperity for everyone,” he said.

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Sovereign clouds

Moreover, du's chief ICT officer, Jasim Al Awadi, said that if no sovereign cloud is used, artificial intelligence deployment will be affected. Sovereign clouds are a type of server that allows organizations to comply with the rules and regulations of specific regions to enhance data security.

He explained,“Moving forward, with AI, if you don't have a sovereign cloud hosted locally, your AI deployment will be hindered.” He added that although international companies, namely Google, have provided these services in the UAE, building it inside the country will be more beneficial.“Building it nationally in a sovereign environment backed up with the latest technology, is a big claim,” Al Awadi said.

“It really makes me proud to say that we were one of the first that deployed such service in UAE,” Al Awadi said. In June of this year, du became the first local hyperscale cloud provider in the country.

During the opening keynote, Al Hassawi noted that 94 per cent of businesses believe that AI is a key driver of growth, and that 42 per cent of companies in the UAE have already started deploying AI.

“Here we are in a nation that is only 53 years old, outpacing Silicon Valley and embracing the technology that will define the next century,” Al Hassawi said.

The UAE has already taken steps to become a“world leader in AI” with the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031. Abu Dhabi earlier this year announced a new government digital strategy for the year 2025-2027 to advance its position as an AI-powered government, making it the first city to do so.

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