Interview: Shaping AI’s future in the UAE (19459000)
At Gitex 2025, the largest tech event in the Middle East in Dubai, Chiara Marcati discusses the UAE’s ambition to be a global leader for artificial intelligence.
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Andrea Benito,
Computer Weekly Published: October 13, 2025 at 17:13
Chiara’s move to AI71 from consulting was motivated by her desire to see technology have a tangible, human-centred effect. “After years of consulting, I realized I wanted to combine the technical skills I had with my ability to make a difference for people and organizations,” she says.
AI71 offered a perfect balance between innovation and business transformation, as well as the ability to see the results of our work in real-time.
Marcati works at AI71, an artificial intelligence (AI), company created by Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council. She says that her role is to help organizations integrate AI into their operations, to ensure technology adoption is meaningful and adds real value.
Her excitement comes from solving complex business problems and transforming process in ways that improve decision-making, everyday work, and efficiency.
AI ecosystem emerging in Abu Dhabi
Unlike traditional tech ventures that evolve in isolation, AI71 sits within a government-orchestrated ecosystem built to accelerate AI adoption across every layer of industry and public administration. Abu Dhabi does not only invest in AI talent and infrastructure separately. It orchestrates research centres, sovereign computing capabilities, global partnerships, and new AI governance positions into a single strategy framework.
In the early days of AI, the UAE was one of the first countries to appoint an artificial intelligence minister. This was a signal that AI was a priority for the country. Today, major institutions and ministries in the UAE are appointing AI advisors and chief AI officers to ensure that AI strategy is integrated into operational workflows and not treated as a separate innovation track.
Marcati says, “It is a bold strategy.” “Other nations are watching because the UAE doesn’t wait for AI to evolve around it, they are building infrastructure, regulation and talent pipeline at the exact same time. It’s unique.
The role of AI71: Transforming vision into scalable solutions.
This national strategy.
AI71 is a key player in the AI industry, building scalable AI products for government and complex industries.
In Abu Dhabi’s healthcare ecosystem, the firm is deploying AI for complex administrative cycles, such as hospital billing, compliance documentation and staffing. This reduces manual processing time, allowing staff to focus more on frontline care.
“My role is to help organisations integrate AI into the way they operate, to ensure that technology adoption is meaningful and creates real value”
Chiara Marcati, AI71
Meanwhile, in the construction sector – one of the UAE’s most strategic industries – AI71 is working with government entities to accelerate permit approvals, automate regulatory compliance checks and optimise project workflows, helping developers and authorities move faster without compromising standards.
In construction, AI71 works on compliance automation and workflow optimisation, reducing manual processing and accelerating approval cycles, which is a major priority in rapidly expanding urban development projects.
“These are not experimental pilots,” says Marcati. “They are full-scale deployments, and that changes the culture of AI adoption.”
She underscores that the company is not positioned as a traditional supplier but as part of a national AI enablement effort, designed to bring global talent into Abu Dhabi, build sovereign capability, and reduce dependency on external technology ecosystems.
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