Kayvan Karim, Assistant Professor at School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University Dubai

The year 2025 will likely be remembered as the moment the global economy stopped simply automating tasks and started handing over the keys to autonomous agents. For decades, the promise of automation was simple: machines doing repetitive work faster than humans. But the last twelve months have ushered in a fundamental paradigm shift. We have moved from the era of static scripts to the age of “Agentic AI”, systems that don’t just follow orders but perceive, reason, and act to achieve complex goals.

In their 2025 Technology Trends report, Accenture’s analysts have termed the explosion of these capabilities as “The Binary Big Bang”. As generative AI becomes central to enterprise technology, the cost of development has plummeted, leading to a proliferation of new systems where digital agents act autonomously. These systems have given rise to Agentic AI, which acts as a proactive partner rather than a passive interface. These agents are now capable of “Superagency,” a collaboration architecture that orchestrates multi-agent systems to handle complex workflows that require specialised knowledge across different domains.

This shift is nowhere more palpable than in the Middle East. From the giga-projects of Saudi Arabia to the smart logistics hubs of Dubai, the region is leveraging this technological inflection point to decouple its economic future from hydrocarbons and rebuild it on a foundation of silicon and code.

The Economics of Intelligence

The catalyst for this revolution is a dramatic collapse in the cost of cognitive labour. When examining the economics of intelligence, Stanford University reported in its 2025 AI Index Report that the catalyst for this explosion in autonomy is the radical democratisation of computing power. Between late 2022 and late 2024, the inference cost for a system performing at the level of GPT-3.5 dropped over 280-fold. This trend accelerated through 2025, with hardware costs declining by approximately 30% annually and energy efficiency improving by 40% each year.

These economic shifts have lowered the barriers to entry, moving advanced AI from the realm of massive research labs to the operational budgets of mid-sized enterprises. As Menlo Ventures noted in their mid-year update, enterprise spending on model APIs more than doubled to $8.4 billion in the first half of 2025 alone, signalling a decisive shift from experimental “training” budgets to production-grade “inference” budgets.

The Middle East’s Sovereign Pivot

In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), this technological wave is being ridden with strategic intent. The region is not content to merely import Western or Eastern models; it is building its own “Sovereign AI.”

In the UAE, the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) has continued to push boundaries with its Falcon series. As highlighted by ITU in 2025, the Falcon LLM has evolved into a multi-modal framework capable of processing vision and audio, enabling it to interpret complex documents and charts locally without data leaving the country. Similarly, G42’s Inception has solidified Jais’s position as the world’s premier Arabic-centric model. By integrating Jais into the Microsoft Azure Model Catalogue, they have provided generative AI access to over 400 million Arabic speakers, ensuring that the nuances of the region’s language and culture are preserved in the digital age.

Saudi Arabia has matched this ambition with the launch of Humain, a PIF-backed AI champion. According to Reuters reports from late 2025, Humain is not only building massive data centre capacity but is also developing a voice-first operating system designed to replace traditional icon-based interfaces. This aligns with the Kingdom’s broader Vision 2030 goals, where AI is expected to contribute over $135 billion to the economy.

From Automation to Autonomy in Industry

The distinction between “automation” (following rules) and “autonomy” (making decisions) is best illustrated in the region’s critical infrastructure.

In the energy sector, Saudi Aramco and Yokogawa achieved a historic milestone at the Fadhili Gas Plant. As reported by Oilfield Technology, they successfully deployed autonomous control AI agents that utilise reinforcement learning to optimise the Acid Gas Removal unit actively. Unlike traditional systems, these agents adapt to changing environmental conditions without human intervention, reducing chemical and steam consumption by up to 15%.

Similarly, ADNOC partnered with G42 and Microsoft to launch “EnergyAI.” This agentic system automates complex tasks such as seismic analysis and geological modelling, compressing workflows that used to take months into mere days.

In logistics, the shift is physical. DP World has revolutionised container handling at Jebel Ali with the BoxBay system. As described by Marine Insight, this high-bay storage technology stacks containers up to 11 tiers high in a steel rack, allowing fully automated cranes to access any container without having to reshuffle others. This change increases terminal capacity by 300% and creates a safer, more efficient operating environment.

The GenAI Divide: Enterprises vs. SMEs

While giants like Aramco and DP World forge ahead, the picture for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is more complex. Project NANDA’s 2025 research highlights a “GenAI Divide,” revealing that while 95% of organisations are investing in AI, only 5% are extracting significant value.

For SMEs, the barriers are talent and infrastructure. However, the rise of Low-Code/No-Code platforms is providing a bridge. As reported by Gulf News, Zoho has seen 50% growth in the region, driven by businesses modernising legacy systems without the need for expensive engineering teams.

To further support this sector, the Saudi SME Bank launched Phase II of its Agency Model in 2025. By partnering with crowdfunding platforms like Manafa and Lendo, they have allocated SAR 240 million specifically to finance SME growth and digital transformation.

The Future of Work: A Divergent Path

The impact on the job market is profound. The World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs 2025” report predicts a divergent effect: while routine roles in administration and manual labour are declining, demand for AI and big data specialists is surging.

In the GCC, this dynamic intersects with nationalisation agendas. Governments are using AI to solve the skills mismatch. The Massar Al Ghurair platform, launched in the UAE in 2025, uses AI algorithms to match Emirati youth with career paths and upskilling opportunities. By automating career counselling and recruitment, the region aims to replace low-skilled expatriate labour with high-skilled local talent.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As we look toward 2026, the focus will shift from adoption to governance and integration. Gartner forecasts that IT spending in the MENA region will reach $169 billion in 2026, an 8.9% increase mainly driven by AI infrastructure.

We can expect the realisation of “Cognitive Cities.” In Saudi Arabia, NEOM is moving from earthworks to deploying a cognitive operating system that predicts resident needs. Meanwhile, Dubai’s Cashless Strategy aims to have 90% of all transactions be digital by 2026, creating a data-rich environment for further autonomous innovation.

The year 2025 was the year the machines started to think. The year 2026 will be the year we learn to live and work alongside them.

Artificial intelligence is emerging as an unexpected ally in one of humanity’s oldest struggles: turning dreams into reality. After years spent working with thousands of entrepreneurs, corporates, startups, and students, individuals standing at every possible crossroad of ambition, uncertainty, and reinvention, a pattern has surfaced with striking consistency. Most people are not held back by the size of their dreams. They are held back by the psychological distance between who they are today and who they hope to become. AI, with its growing ability to illuminate patterns, reduce overwhelm, and bring the future self-closer, is beginning to reshape this fundamental human challenge.

Across conversations in boardrooms, incubators, classrooms and quiet mentoring sessions, this distance appears in countless forms. A bright student maps out a compelling future but loses momentum within days. A corporate leader imagines a more meaningful life but finds the path too overwhelming. An entrepreneur gains clarity but cannot sustain action long enough to see results. Ambition is abundant. Follow through remains elusive.

The research behind this is both revealing and deeply human. Studies from UCLA, Stanford and other behavioral laboratories demonstrate that individuals act more consistently when they feel emotionally connected to their future self. Yet most people experience that version of themselves not as an extension of who they are, but as a stranger, someone they hope to meet one day but rarely feel responsible for today. As behavioral economists often explain, we don’t make sacrifices for strangers. And so the dream, however sincere, slips into the long grass of “someday. “This explains why nearly 92% of people fail to achieve the goals they set each year. Dreams are not the problem. The disconnect is.

People blame discipline or lack of motivation, but the truth is simpler. The human mind is wired to favor the familiar. The comfort zone, often demonised, is really just biology ­trying to protect us from the uncertain. Yet underneath those instincts lies an innate desire for growth, a longing to expand, to evolve, to become the person one senses they could be.

For years, the missing ingredient was structural support. A vision, no matter how inspiring, cannot survive without a scaffold. People needed a way to break overwhelming goals into manageable steps. They needed reflection, accountability, and a rhythm that kept intention alive long enough for identity to shift. Most never had access to that level of support. This is where AI has quietly begun altering the landscape of human development.

In recent global surveys, nearly 40% of people expressed willingness to use AI for emotional clarity, self-reflection, and goal-setting. The World Health Organization launched pilot programmes using conversational AI to support mental wellness in regions with limited resources. Early research across Stanford and MIT shows that AI-assisted coaching improves consistency, habit adherence, and long-term follow through. The reason is not complicated. AI offers something the human mind struggles to maintain: clarity without fatigue.

It notices emotional cycles, the midweek dip, the avoidance that follows stressful meetings, the patterns that appear but go unrecognised. It highlights the small behaviours that shape larger outcomes. It breaks down a daunting dream into a sequence of steps simple enough to act on. And it does this with presence, available at the precise moment a person needs support, rather than during a weekly appointment.

What emerges is a new kind of ecosystem. The integration of AI into mobile technology has made tools for self-improvement astonishingly accessible. Personalised guidance, once available only to those who could afford coaching or therapy, now exists in people’s pockets. It is immediate, responsive, and deeply personal. This accessibility represents the democratisation of personal transformation, a shift as meaningful as AI’s impact on coding, business building, or creative work.

Yet AI alone is not the solution. Its impact is most profound when it works alongside the wisdom of coaching, the emotional insight of reflection, and a clear vision of one’s future self. When these elements converge, something remarkable happens: people stop dreaming abstractly and begin acting concretely. They replace “someday” with “today.” The future stops feeling distant. Action becomes less of a battle and more of a natural extension of identity.

This convergence of psychology, coaching and intelligent technology represents one of the most significant shifts in human development in decades. It finally offers a way to bridge the space between intention and behaviour, a gap that has defeated generations of dreamers.

If most people never achieve their dreams, it is not because those dreams are unreachable. It is because the scaffolding required to turn dreams into daily behaviour has been missing.

But that is beginning to change.

With the right structure, the right clarity, and the right support, both human and technological, more people can finally walk into the future they have imagined for far too long. The promise of AI is not that it will change who we are, but that it may help us become who we were always capable of being.

Attributed by Yazen Rahmeh, cybersecurity expert at SearchInform

Human Weakness at the Core

Fraud in the UAE is no longer just about hacking computers; it’s about hacking people. Recent research shows that the average victim loses more than $2,000, and over half of UAE residents face at least one scam attempt every month. That’s not a rare event anymore. In contrast, it’s everyday reality.

Why does this happen? Because fraudsters know how to play on human psychology. Nearly eight out of ten people admit they’ll click on a link if it promises something positive: “You’re a winner,” “Claim your free gift.” That moment of excitement or curiosity is exactly what criminals are counting on.

Scams aren’t just about tricking your brain. They target your feelings, such as joy, fear, and urgency, pushing you into quick decisions you’d never normally make.

When AI Becomes an Accomplice

Artificial intelligence was meant to help us work faster and smarter. But today, it’s also helping criminals become more convincing.

Three out of four people in the UAE believe they can tell the difference between real and AI-made content. The truth? In tests, only 37% could actually spot the fakes—especially when distracted or stressed.

Fraudsters use AI to:

• Clone familiar voices—colleagues, clients, even relatives.
• Generate deepfake videos and photos that look shockingly real.
• Write emails that sound personal and professional.
• Automate scams, sending thousands of targeted messages in seconds.

Gone are the days of clumsy, badly written scam emails. Today’s fraud is polished, realistic—and dangerously persuasive.

Real-World Cases That Hit Close to Home

This isn’t theory. It’s already happening here.

In 2020, a manager at an Emirati bank received what seemed like a routine call from a trusted client, the director of a company he knew personally. They had met several times before, so the voice on the line carried weight. The director explained that urgent transactions were needed to complete an acquisition and reassured the manager that all details were in a follow-up email. The paperwork matched, the voice was convincing, and everything felt legitimate. But it was a trap. The director’s voice had been cloned, the emails fabricated, and the funds vanished once the transfers went through.

A similar story emerged in 2024, this time involving Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, when criminals almost defrauded his company in Dubai. One of his senior finance executives received a call that sounded exactly like his boss. “Sunil” requested a significant money transfer, complete with urgency. The scam could have succeeded—but it didn’t. The executive paused, remembering that his chairman never discussed such matters over the phone. That quick judgment stopped the fraud in its tracks.

Do you want to know more about security incidents threatening your company and how to safeguard against them? We have prepared an illustrated paper with practical advice on how to secure a company’s sensitive data. You can download it for free here.

Think about that for a second. Today, it comes disguised as real voices, convincing video calls, and professional-looking messages. And while deepfakes and voice cloning make the headlines, the most common weapon criminals still rely on, especially here in the UAE, is phishing.

Phishing in the Emirates: A Growing Menace

Phishing is still the most common scam in the UAE. In just the first three months of 2025, phishing attempts surpassed all of 2024. Fraud, phishing, and spoofing now account for more than half of all cyber incidents here.

Criminals adapt quickly to local life. They impersonate:

• Dubai Police, sending fake fines or investigation notices.
• Banks, claiming accounts are blocked or under review.
• Government agencies, offering grants or prizes.
• Charities during Ramadan, exploiting generosity at its peak.

With AI in the mix, these attacks have become sharper. More than 80% of phishing emails worldwide now show signs of AI involvement. They don’t just look real—they get more clicks. Twice as many, in fact, compared to traditional phishing emails.

How the UAE is Fighting Back

The good news? Authorities are not standing still.

• The UAE Cyber Security Council, working with Etisalat and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, launched staysafe.csc.gov.ae, a tool for checking suspicious websites.

• Dubai Police regularly issue warnings and run public awareness campaigns.
• Emirates NBD, alongside Dubai Police, leads safe banking initiatives to protect customers.

The system is working to fight back, but it’s only as strong as the people it protects.

Five Steps Every UAE Resident Should Follow

Protecting yourself doesn’t need to be complicated. Experts suggest:

1. Don’t click on suspicious links or attachments—no matter how urgent they seem.
2. Ignore offers that sound too good to be true. If someone promises easy money, free prizes, or gifts, it’s almost certainly a trick.
3. Never share your passwords or personal details online. Fraudsters can use even small pieces of information to steal identities or access accounts.
4. Verify phone calls by hanging up and contacting the organization directly through official numbers.
5. Use multi-factor authentication on all important accounts.

And here’s the most important part: report scams. Whether to Dubai Police or your bank, reporting protects not only you but also the wider community.

So, the next time your phone rings, an email offers unexpected rewards, or a video call feels a little “off”—stop. Take a breath. Verify first.