DMCC – the world’s flagship free zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise – has announced the launch of the DMCC AI Centre as Dubai’s latest innovation platform to advance pragmatic artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and the development of real-life use cases to scale throughout the MENA region.
During the launch event, DMCC spokespersons briefed over 60 select guests, including H.E. Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), Dr Marwan Alzarouni, Chief AI Officer, Dubai Department of Econoym and Tourism (DET), ambassadors, government ministers, AI companies and other industry stakeholders, on the new centre’s range of services and unique benefits.
His Excellency Khalfan Belhoul, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dubai Future Foundation, emphasised Dubai and the UAE’s commitment to becoming a world leader in AI by 2031 through the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence. He highlighted the opening of the DMCC AI Centre as a significant milestone in achieving this goal, fostering an environment that attracts new companies, encourages innovation, and solidifies Dubai’s status as a global hub for AI and emerging technologies.
Occupying two floors of DMCC’s headquarters in Uptown Tower, the AI Centre will be part of a newly integrated hub alongside DMCC’s established technology ecosystems the DMCC Crypto Centre and DMCC Gaming Centre. It will offer a modern and state-of-the-art space, providing members with world-class facilities including advanced co-working spaces, high-tech meeting rooms and an exclusive AI solution showroom.
DMCC is already home to over 50 AI and robotics companies from all over the world, including AMD, Autel Robotics, HIKVISION, Laipic, and QX Lab AI. As part of DMCC AI Centre’s wider value offering, DMCC has onboarded a range of leading AI players as official partners. Global custom software and app developer Builder.ai will support DMCC members build apps using AI technology, while UAE-based AGCC will run accelerator and market entry programmes to attract and scale up the best AI technology from around the world. One such event is already set to take place at Expand North Star in Dubai this October, with DMCC and AGCC organising a competition with a prize pool of USD 100,000 for start-ups to scale up practical, sustainability-focused AI solutions in the GCC region.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, said: “With AI projected to add over USD 15 trillion to the global economy by 2030, its transformative potential on global trade, supply chains and business is clear. Capitalising on this momentum, the DMCC AI Centre will provide companies, investors and partners with another world-class ecosystem from which to access the best AI services and solutions from Dubai. As we scale up these technologies and attract new service providers, these benefits will be extended to both AI and non-AI companies, creating a multiplier effect for DMCC’s business district and our community as a whole.”
Sachin Dev Duggal, Founder & Chief Wizard, Builder.ai, said: “We’re really excited to partner with DMCC AI Centre to bring practical, impactful AI solutions to DMCC’s business community, Dubai, and the MENA region. At Builder.ai, we believe in AI’s power to transform industries and enable every business and entrepreneur to become digitally empowered. Through this collaboration, we can help businesses across sectors tap into advanced technology that drives real and scalable growth. We’d like to thank Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC, for his visionary leadership and continuous innovation, which have positioned DMCC as a global hub for trade and technology, and made this collaboration possible. Together with DMCC, we’re committed to making AI more accessible and empowering companies to innovate and thrive in an increasingly digital world.”
DMCC’s Future of Trade 2024 report highlighted the transformative impact of AI on global trade which is expected to accelerate over the next few years, driven by major advancements in computational power, global flows of data and innovations in machine learning algorithms.
In particular, AI holds vast potential to reduce costs and increase trade productivity through the optimisation of supply chains, automation of services, enhanced market analysis, competitive monitoring, and integration with other cutting-edge technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, cloud computing, and additive manufacturing.
For more information on the DMCC AI Centre, please visit: https://dmcc.ae/ecosystems/ai
