The UAE’s focus is shifting from AI adoption to strengthening national control over its digital infrastructure.
Dubai: As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into government systems, critical infrastructure, and public services, Gulf nations are shifting their focus from simply adopting AI technologies to developing sovereign AI capabilities that provide long-term control, resilience, and digital independence.
For countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, AI is no longer seen purely as a tool for productivity and innovation. Policymakers are increasingly treating it as strategic national infrastructure — on par with sectors such as energy, telecommunications, and transport.
Cyber threats
The growing push toward sovereign AI comes as cyber threats become more sophisticated, automated, and capable of disrupting essential state functions, according to Shalev Hulio, co-founder of Dream.
“Cyber attacks are no longer isolated technical incidents. They can impact the systems countries depend on every day — including energy infrastructure, ports, aviation, financial systems, telecom networks, government services, and public trust,” Hulio said.
His comments reflect growing concerns among governments worldwide as AI technologies become embedded in sectors that underpin daily life and economic stability. In highly digitised societies such as the United Arab Emirates, the risks are especially significant.
Digital economies
The UAE has rapidly emerged as one of the world’s leading digital economies, with government services, transport networks, financial infrastructure, and public-sector operations increasingly reliant on advanced digital platforms. As this transformation accelerates, strengthening cyber resilience is becoming a central pillar of national strategy.
Shalev Hulio warned that AI is fundamentally transforming the scale and speed of cyber threats. Attackers, he said, are becoming “faster, more automated, and more scalable,” making traditional cybersecurity methods — which often depend on manual monitoring and isolated defence systems — increasingly ineffective.
“Cyber resilience can no longer be treated as a secondary IT issue. It has become part of national planning,” he noted.
Evolving threat
The rapidly changing threat landscape is prompting governments to reconsider what true AI leadership means. While many nations are adopting AI-powered technologies, far fewer are developing the infrastructure, governance frameworks, and operational capabilities required to securely manage and control those systems at a national level.
Shalev Hulio added: “There is a major difference between using AI and truly controlling it. Many countries are adopting AI tools, but very few are building sovereign AI capabilities.”
According to Hulio, sovereign AI extends far beyond simply accessing advanced technologies. It involves maintaining national control over data, infrastructure, and critical operational systems, while ensuring AI can be deployed securely within sensitive government environments.
Essential services
The issue is becoming increasingly urgent as AI systems begin supporting essential services such as transportation networks, emergency response systems, financial infrastructure, utilities, and public administration.
“The real challenge is not creating impressive demonstrations,” Hulio said. “It is integrating AI securely and reliably into the real operating systems of a country.”
Shalev Hulio argued that the United Arab Emirates is among the few nations actively turning its AI ambitions into operational reality rather than limiting them to policy papers and strategic announcements.
“The UAE understands this distinction well. Many countries announce AI strategies. The UAE operationalises them,” he said.
Digital ecosystem
The UAE has spent years developing a broader digital ecosystem to support AI deployment, including major investments in infrastructure, cybersecurity frameworks, regulatory systems, talent development, and education initiatives.
“What is impressive about the UAE is the combination of ambition and pragmatism,” Hulio added. “It is building the foundations of an AI-enabled state: infrastructure, regulation, cyber resilience, education, talent, and deployment.”
The Gulf region’s approach reflects a broader global shift in how governments view artificial intelligence. While many countries continue to focus primarily on commercial productivity and private-sector innovation, Gulf states are increasingly linking AI to economic diversification, long-term competitiveness, and national resilience.
Sensitive data
In government environments, sensitive data is often spread across ministries, agencies, and disconnected systems, making integration and cybersecurity far more complex than in private-sector deployments.
“You cannot simply plug a public AI model into a sensitive government environment. At Dream, we built the architecture specifically for these environments from day one,” explained Shalev Hulio.
He added that the company was founded in response to what he sees as a widening gap between national-scale cyber threats and the fragmented enterprise tools traditionally used to manage them.
“We saw governments trying to address national-scale challenges using disconnected enterprise tools, while the threat landscape was becoming faster, more automated, and increasingly driven by AI,” said Shalev Hulio.
Fragmentation
According to Hulio, fragmentation remains one of the biggest barriers to building digital resilience. Governments often operate with siloed cybersecurity systems, isolated data environments, and disconnected decision-making structures that weaken their ability to respond quickly and effectively to rapidly evolving threats.
“That is why we built Dream — not as just another AI application or cybersecurity product, but as secure AI and cyber infrastructure designed for governments and critical systems,” he said.
The growing emphasis on sovereign AI also reflects broader geopolitical and economic concerns over technological dependence. Countries that rely entirely on external AI systems for critical operations could face mounting operational and strategic risks in the years ahead.
Next phase
For Gulf states making major investments in digital transformation, the next stage of development may depend not only on how quickly AI is adopted, but also on how effectively it is controlled, governed, and integrated into national infrastructure.
Shalev Hulio believes the future competitiveness of digital economies will increasingly hinge on their ability to build capabilities across several advanced technologies at the same time.
“The next generation of leading digital economies will need to develop strength across three strategic pillars — cybersecurity, AI, and quantum computing,” he concluded.
