Dubai AI Week 2025: Elite Hackathons Draw Top Global Talent

Dubai AI Week 2025 will showcase hackathons, AI Retreat, global championships and high-level summits during a five-day technology extravaganza. The event runs from April 21 to 25, 2025. More than 10,000 participants from 100 countries will join the celebration that features 180 global speakers across 150 keynote sessions, panels, and workshops.

The AI Retreat, the life-blood of this event, will bring together over 100 leaders and decision-makers who will tackle critical AI challenges and opportunities. The Dubai AI Festival at Madinat Jumeirah expects to draw 8,000 industry leaders and policymakers. The Global Prompt Engineering Championship comes with an impressive prize pool of $272,000. The detailed agenda has nine major events, from the Machines Can See Summit to specialized AI hackathons. These events solidify Dubai’s position as a global hub for AI breakthroughs.

Dubai launches AI Week 2025 to assert global tech leadership

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Dubai AI Week marks a strategic initiative by UAE leadership to establish the emirate as a global hub for AI breakthroughs and policy development. The Dubai Center for Artificial Intelligence, under the Dubai Future Foundation, hosted this event which plays a vital role in the region’s tech aspirations.

His Excellency Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, described the upcoming gathering as “a major milestone in the UAE’s journey to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence across governments and industries”. He emphasized that this week-long event shows the emirate’s dedication to “turning AI potential into practical, real-life impact”.

Event lines up with UAE’s National AI Strategy 2031

Dubai AI Week stands as the life-blood of UAE’s ambitious National AI Strategy 2031. This complete strategy will place UAE among the world’s leading nations in artificial intelligence by 2031, which lines up with the UAE Centennial 2071 vision. The national initiative could add up to AED 335 billion in economic growth.

UAE government documents show a proactive position, declaring that it “will build an AI economy, not wait for one”. The strategy builds on existing strengths in industry assets, emerging sectors, and smart government. It also develops new chances in data governance and regional talent development.

Dubai AI Week demonstrates this progressive mindset by creating a platform that promotes international collaborative efforts while showcasing Dubai’s AI technology implementation capabilities. Al Gergawi stated that the event will “serve as a global platform to highlight best practices in AI adoption and inspire the next wave of ideas and experimentation”.

Mutually beneficial alliances include global tech giants and government bodies

Dubai AI Week’s success depends heavily on partnerships across public and private sectors. Government partners include Digital Dubai Authority, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, and the UAE AI Office.

The event has secured partnerships with industry leaders such as:

• Technology corporations: Meta, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia
• AI specialists: OpenAI, Palantir, Cohere, ElevenLabs
• Advisory and financial: Gartner, Swift

His Excellency Al Gergawi emphasized that these partnerships create “a unique opportunity to strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors, showcase cutting-edge breakthroughs in AI, and explore how emerging technologies can support both economic growth and social advancement”. The event welcomes national pavilions from countries worldwide, offering a valuable platform to “exchange expertise, spotlight talent, and connect forward-thinking companies with global opportunities”.

AI Retreat Dubai sets the tone for global policy collaboration

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The AI Retreat stands as the life-blood event of Dubai AI Week 2025, which takes place on April 21 at the iconic Museum of the Future. This exclusive, invite-only gathering will unite over 100 global leaders, tech giants, decision-makers, and AI experts from government and private sectors. The Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence (DUB.AI) includes this significant event that wants to strengthen the city’s position as a global AI hub.

Closed-door sessions to shape AI governance frameworks

Leaders will hold focused closed-door discussions on critical AI governance areas during this high-profile gathering. Participants will join strategic conversations about AI legislation, policies, and ethical use frameworks. The retreat will reveal 10 key AI initiatives and four strategic partnership meetings. Dedicated roundtable discussions will address:

• Economy and Investment
• Data and Governance
• Infrastructure
• Talent Development

Direct dialog between leadership, government agencies, and private enterprises will help speed up AI adoption in sectors of all sizes. Participants will examine proposals on AI-related legislation, develop policies for responsible AI advancement, and plan ways to use AI for innovation and competitive advantage.

Participation from ministers, CEOs, and international delegations

Global AI leaders will join this impressive roster of participants. His Highness Sheik Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, will welcome more than 1,000 decision-makers and officials to the event.

UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, His Excellency Omar Sultan AlOlama leads the notable attendees. CEOs from major tech corporations, AI experts, policymakers, and international delegations from over 100 countries will also participate in the gathering.

The Dubai Center for Artificial Intelligence (DCAI) and the National Program for Artificial Intelligence host this event together. The AI Retreat will become an annual fixture on Dubai’s calendar. It serves as a platform to shape global AI governance and encourage collaboration between public and private sectors.

Summits and forums drive cross-sector AI transformation

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Next week’s Dubai AI Week brings together three major summits that target specific sectors for AI integration. These events make Dubai a multi-dimensional AI hub where policies, research, and ground applications naturally meet.

Machines Can See Summit explores responsible AI and machine vision

The Museum of the Future will host the Machines Can See Summit on April 23-24. The summit features 20 keynote speeches under the theme “Good AI: Making the World a Safer Place”. More than 1,000 participants will get into AI applications in robotics, autonomous vehicles, industry, art, and fashion.

The speaker lineup includes Amazon Prime Video’s Gerard Medioni, UC Berkeley’s Dawn Song, and the University of Oxford’s Michael Bronstein. A cutting-edge expo zone will showcase global AI breakthroughs, regional startups, and UAE university research. The summit’s highlights include a panel on AI in art and visual innovation with IBM Research’s Visual AI Lab Director Mauro Martino.

Dubai Assembly for AI focuses on economic and societal integration

AREA 2071 in Emirates Towers becomes home to the Dubai Assembly for AI from April 21-25, welcoming over 2,500 global AI leaders, policymakers, and executives. The five-day program offers 25 specialized sessions alongside live AI activations from leading companies.

This gathering builds on previous assemblies and serves as a platform where ministers, CEOs, technology leads, and academics come together. They will get into AI’s evolving role in economies and societies. The discussions analyze current business applications and regulatory frameworks needed for responsible AI deployment.

HIMSS 2025 emphasizes AI in healthcare and genomics

Emirates Towers Hotel will host the HIMSS Executive Summit on April 23, standing out as one of the few healthcare-focused events during Dubai AI Week. This specialized forum brings together over 200 healthcare leaders to explore generative AI in healthcare, genomics, and precision medicine.

Mayo Clinic’s CIO Cris Ross will deliver the keynote address on global digital health trends. The summit offers three detailed sessions that cover healthcare disruption through generative AI (moderated by Prof. Mahmood Adil), AI in genomics research, and tools that speed up digital maturity. The day concludes with a HIMSS Analytics Awards ceremony recognizing regional hospitals that excel in digital healthcare implementation.

Dubai uses AI Week to attract investment and talent

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Dubai AI Week 2025 showcases technological breakthroughs and acts as a hub to attract global investments and talent to the emirate’s fast-growing AI ecosystem. The event positions Dubai as a top destination for AI companies, entrepreneurs, and investors looking for opportunities in one of the world’s most ambitious digital economies.

AI Festival connects startups with 500+ investors

The Dubai AI Festival, scheduled for April 23-24 at Madinat Jumeirah, stands as a key investment hub within Dubai AI Week. This focused event will bring together 8,000+ industry experts and innovators from over 100 countries under the theme “Enabling Digital Economies”. Dubai AI Campus has partnered with DIFC and the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Office to host this festival that targets business development and investment opportunities.

The festival’s unique investment focus will attract more than 500 investors. Key features include:

• An interactive exhibition showcasing advanced AI innovations
• A startup showcase where new companies pitch to investors directly
• The FutureTech World Cup competition highlighting top AI startups
• Over 30 focused roundtables and workshops that create direct business connections

Dubai AI Campus expansion to host 500+ companies by 2028

Dubai AI Week highlights the ambitious Dubai AI Campus initiative that aims to become the largest AI cluster in the MENA region. The campus currently houses 75 businesses across 10,000 square feet and has started a major expansion plan to grow to over 100,000 square feet by 2028.

This expansion is the life-blood of Dubai’s economic diversification strategy. The campus expects to host more than 500 AI companies and create 3,000+ specialized jobs by 2028. The initiative will attract around $300 million in collective investment funds, supporting Dubai’s goal to increase AI’s contribution to 14% of the UAE’s GDP by decade’s end.

The campus has built mutually beneficial alliances with industry leaders like Amazon Web Services, HP, Microsoft, Oracle, and NVIDIA. Companies get access to specialized AI licensing frameworks, R&D facilities, accelerator programs, and shared workspaces designed to foster AI innovation.

Dubai AI Week 2025 will revolutionize the global AI world with a detailed five-day program next week. This event lines up with UAE’s National AI Strategy 2031 and establishes Dubai as a central hub for state-of-the-art AI development.

The event features a thoughtfully selected series of programs, including the exclusive AI Retreat and specialized industry summits. Dubai shows its steadfast dedication to encouraging meaningful dialog between government leaders, tech giants, and innovators. The Dubai AI Festival’s investment focus and Dubai AI Campus’s ambitious growth create valuable opportunities for businesses and talent worldwide.

More than 10,000 participants from 100 countries will meet next week. This gathering will speed up AI adoption in sectors of all sizes and set new standards for international collaboration. Dubai AI Week 2025 takes a crucial step toward UAE’s goal of increasing AI’s GDP contribution to 14%. This milestone strengthens UAE’s position as a global leader in technological progress.