Technology continues to dominate leadership conversations as organizations navigate the accelerating digitization of nearly every industry. Artificial intelligence, in particular, remains at the center of these discussions as a fast-evolving field that, despite major breakthroughs, is still largely uncharted and raises as many questions as it does opportunities.

Throughout 2025, our conversations with business leaders, academics, and industry experts explored how digital transformation and emerging technologies are reshaping the region. These discussions examined AI’s growing impact on the job market and job seekers, the regional dynamics created by the intersection of AI and the Arabic language, and how individuals are integrating AI into their everyday personal and professional lives.

As 2025 draws to a close and attention turns toward 2026, here are some of the most compelling conversations with experts, scholars, and leaders, offering insights into the evolving future of technology and artificial intelligence.

Arabic is hard. That’s precisely why AI needs to get it right

Voice assistants can book flights, reorder groceries, and tell you the weather. But ask them a question in Arabic, and the response is often a blank stare. Or worse, a wildly off-target guess. Despite the hype around AI’s global potential, Arabic has long been left behind.

That is starting to change. Across the region, governments are funding Arabic-first AI models, startups are building tools with native speakers in mind, and global tech firms are beginning to pay closer attention. The momentum is building, though not fast enough.

Read the full article by Karrishma Modhy here. 

Is the Middle East’s proptech built on solid digital ground?

As the Middle East accelerates into its digital future, industries once slowed by paperwork and bureaucracy are being re-engineered through innovation. Real estate, a sector defined by capital-heavy, traditionally slow transactions, is undergoing one of its most significant transformations yet. PropTech (property technology) has emerged as a key driver of this shift, enabling fractional ownership, tokenization, AI-powered decision-making, and digital asset platforms.

In 2025, a retail investor in Dubai or Riyadh can buy a share of a luxury or commercial real estate asset online in minutes. Yet as this seamless user experience gains traction, a fundamental question remains: Is the technology behind it mature and reliable enough to support a trillion-dollar real estate economy, and can these new models be trusted at scale?

Read the full article by Jennifer George here.

Are young graduates the first casualties of the AI economy?

If getting into top colleges and maintaining a strong CGPA wasn’t already challenging, the end goal — securing a job — has become just as difficult for young, educated workers in the Middle East. Even newly minted MBAs from elite programs are struggling to find roles, while computer science graduates face mounting pressure as companies cut jobs and adopt AI-powered coding tools.

Economic uncertainty, a cooling tech sector, intense competition, rapid technological change leading to skills mismatches, and the automation of entry-level tasks have created significant headwinds.

Read the full article by Suparna Dutt DCunha here.

People are turning to AI for companionship. Is that a problem?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into every aspect of daily life, from industrial operations and workplace responsibilities to service providers and personal activities like managing your weekly grocery list.

Now, people are taking AI a step further by engaging in deeper conversations to seek connection and understanding. From relationship advice to family issues, many are turning to chatbots as they would to friends or therapists, looking for guidance and emotional support.

Read the full article by Myriam Mikhael here. 

Can AI level the playing field for women? Yes, the UAE is leading the way

While AI is driving dramatic advances in healthcare, education, banking, and everything in between, there’s just one thing to address: more women’s participation in AI.

Amid the global furore around women being written out of the future of AI, whether as developers or AI experts, the UAE is crafting a strategy largely with women in mind. This approach is not only central to business and economic growth, but also essential to developing AI technologies that are more inclusive and less prone to bias.

Read the full article by Suparna Dutt DCunha here.