By By Yousef Al Harmoodi,Chief Business Development Officer,Core42,Yousef Al Harmoodi, Chief Business Development Officer, Core42
Copyright gulfnews
The UAE has firmly positioned itself at the forefront of digital transformation. Over the past decade, the country has moved beyond early adoption to create an ecosystem where advanced research, sovereign infrastructure, and forward-looking regulation converge. This foundation has turned AI into a pillar of national progress, enabling breakthroughs that are shaping healthcare, finance, energy, and more.What sets the UAE apart is not just its ambition, but its ability to translate vision into action at scale, setting a global standard for responsible, innovation-driven growth. The momentum is reflected in the numbers. The UAE’s generative AI market is projected to reach $382.69 million (Dh1.4 billion) in 2025 and grow at a CAGR of 37 per cent to hit $2.53 billion by 2031. Agentic AI, still in its early stages globally, generated $34.1 million in 2024, is expected to climb to $49.1 million this year, and projected to surge to $352.2 million by 2030.These figures highlight what we already see every day. Our enterprises, public and private, are not content to watch this technological evolution from the sidelines. We intend to lead it, and to set an example for responsible innovation worldwide.But leadership comes with responsibility. The challenge before us as the business community within this nation is how to adopt AI at scale in a way that delivers value without increasing risk..This is the innovation-control trade-off that every enterprise and regulator is grappling with and solving it requires sovereign cloud infrastructure that is designed specifically for the UAE’s regulatory environment, growth ambitions, and global standing.Yousef Al Harmoodi, Chief Business Development Officer, Core42 .The challenge before us as the business community within this nation is how to adopt AI at scale in a way that delivers value without increasing risk. This is the innovation-control trade-off that every enterprise and regulator is grappling with and solving it requires sovereign cloud infrastructure that is designed specifically for the UAE’s regulatory environment, growth ambitions, and global standing.Enterprises in highly regulated sectors must look for cloud providers that make AI adoption simple, safe, and scalable. The right provider should deliver a sovereign cloud platform, high-performance computing, and advanced digital services that allow businesses to innovate confidently. Public clouds must provide everything needed to deploy, secure, and scale AI across industries and geographies without compromising on sovereignty or compliance.The UAE has already invested heavily in this future. Sovereign-grade public clouds now offer organizations a way to take advantage of advanced innovation while keeping full control over their data. Core42’s Sovereign Public Cloud, built on Microsoft Azure and powered by the sovereign controls platform Insight, was the first of its kind in the country and is already trusted by more than 50 customers across government and regulated sectors. It delivers full local jurisdiction over data while providing the scale, resilience, and interoperability of the Azure cloud platform – one of the most used cloud platforms in the world. Building on this foundation, the Signature Private Cloud, which is currently live in Customer Preview, delivers full digital sovereignty for sectors managing secret and top-secret data, including defense, national security, public safety, financial services, healthcare, and critical infrastructure. Together, these offerings deliver a comprehensive sovereign cloud portfolio that meets the full spectrum of enterprise and government needs.With compliance controls embedded into infrastructure, enterprises are free to focus on innovation. This gives them confidence to accelerate the journey from concept to deployment, knowing that regulatory requirements are met at every stage. Organisations of all sizes can transform ambition into action, converting ideas into real-world impact that drives economic growth and strengthens the UAE’s leadership in the AI era.Strong partnerships are central to this vision. Core42 and Microsoft recently marked the second anniversary of our Sovereign Public Cloud, a milestone that reflects the UAE’s commitment to sovereign AI leadership. We also jointly launched a comprehensive whitepaper on the critical role of Sovereign Public Clouds in the AI era, providing strategic insights and best practices for technology leaders to effectively adopt and deploy these solutions. By combining national expertise with the capabilities of a global technology partner, we are building the foundation for smarter healthcare, safer cities, and more intuitive digital experiences. The closer we align infrastructure with emerging global frameworks, the faster we can accelerate responsible innovation across every sector.The UAE’s approach proves that sovereignty and innovation are not opposing forces but mutually reinforcing pillars of long-term growth. With this foundation, our nation is not only ready to meet its ambitions but to define what responsible, trusted, and globally competitive AI leadership looks like for decades to come.– The writer is the Chief Business Development Officer at Core42
