The UAE doesn’t need more women in the room. They should lead them

Imagine measuring the UAE’s transformation not by the size of its sovereign wealth funds or the number of technologies it has imported, but by who gets to make the decisions about what comes next?

The UAE can point to extraordinary numbers. Women account for 70% of university graduates and 56% of STEM graduates. They are prominent in the country’s space program, technology sector, healthcare system, government, and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The UAE has also launched programs to equip women with AI and cloud computing skills, as well as initiatives supporting female-led technology ventures.

But those numbers and facts do not necessarily tell us who is steering it.

PRESENCE IS NOT INFLUENCE

For years, progress has been measured by workforce participation, education, political representation, and board seats. Those metrics matter, but they can obscure a more consequential question: What does women’s participation actually produce?

Amal Almaamari, Program Director at Core42, says that the next phase should be judged by more than headcount.

“The progress of women in innovation should ultimately be measured not only by representation, but by influence,” she says. Being present in an ecosystem matters, “but the stronger indicator is whether women are trusted with ownership, shaping priorities, leading complex programs, and contributing to the decisions that determine what gets built and how it is deployed.”

The same distinction applies in healthcare. Dr. Tahani Abdo Ahmed Alqadiri, Associate Vice President at Burjeel Training Academy, puts it simply: “Presence is measured by how many women are in the room; influence is measured by whether they shape what happens afterward.”

Real decision-making power means “setting priorities, allocating resources, challenging established practices, and driving meaningful change.”

In healthcare, she adds, women must move beyond delivering services to shaping workforce strategies, leading research, influencing policy, and designing the future of medical education.

“Representation matters,” Alqadiri says, “but genuine progress begins when women have the authority to turn their insights into lasting institutional change.”

According to Reyam Rashed Al Saedi, Sensory Scientist at Al Ain Farms Group, presence is important, but it’s only the first step. “Influence is when a woman is trusted to shape the question and when her judgment carries weight in the final decision.”

As a sensory scientist, Al Saedi leads trained panels and consumer studies that guide product development and manages R&D projects from beginning to end.

“The value of my work is not only that I’m part of an R&D team,” she says, but having “the responsibility for work that can influence what we reformulate and ultimately what reaches families across the country.”

Her test for genuine influence is straightforward: “Are women being consulted after the direction has already been set, or are they helping set it?”

“Real influence is when a woman’s participation changes the outcome,” adds Al Saedi.

WHEN LOCAL KNOWLEDGE BECOMES AN INNOVATION ADVANTAGE

The UAE’s progress is particularly visible in corporate leadership. In 2026, the UAE retained its position as the GCC leader for women’s representation on listed-company boards, with women holding 15% of board seats, compared with 7% across the GCC.

But the innovation story goes beyond representation.

Technology, healthcare, and consumer products reflect the assumptions and experiences of the people who design and deploy them. For the UAE, which increasingly wants to develop technology not only for domestic use but for global markets, having people who understand the local context can be a strategic advantage.

“In the UAE, considerations such as language, trust, privacy, regulation, and national priorities are not peripheral to technology; they influence how it must work,” Almaamari says. Local talent can help create solutions that are “not simply adapted to the market but built with its realities in mind from the outset.”

“That is what turns technological capability into something people and institutions can genuinely rely on,” adds Almaamari.

Alqadiri sees the same principle in healthcare. “Innovation becomes more relevant and sustainable when it reflects society’s values, needs, and aspirations,” she says. In the UAE, successful healthcare solutions must consider “cultural expectations, family structures, and national priorities.”

Developing Emirati healthcare talent, therefore, requires more than recruitment. It requires meaningful career pathways, strong clinical education, supportive workplaces, and work-life balance.

“When solutions are designed by people who understand the communities they serve,” Alqadiri says, “they address real challenges rather than relying on imported assumptions.” “The most effective innovation connects national ambition with lived experience.”

At Al Ain Farms, the equation is even more immediate. “When the people designing a product understand the society it’s meant to serve, innovation becomes far more relevant,” Al Saedi says. They know “which problems are worth solving and what will genuinely fit into everyday life.”

Many people see gender diversity as something companies should do because it’s fair or socially responsible. But it can also give a real advantage in design. Technology now shapes daily life, from healthcare and finance to transportation, education, and climate systems.

The UAE’s opportunity is therefore larger than getting more women into technology.

That could mean women leading AI research and influencing how AI is deployed in healthcare; women shaping clinical research and healthcare workforce models; women in food science helping determine how local products evolve; and women in government influencing which national challenges receive investment.

THE PERSONAL BECOMES NATIONAL

For women involved in the UAE’s transformation, their professional roles are directly linked to the country’s ambitions.

“For me, one of the most meaningful shifts in my career has been realizing that the work we do is connected to something much larger than an individual program or organization,” Almaamari says.

At Core42, contributing to AI, cloud, and digital capabilities that enable organizations to adopt and scale new technologies means “helping build the foundation for the UAE’s next phase of growth.” Alqadiri describes a similar realization from healthcare. She began her career as a nurse before moving into regulation, medical education, Emiratization, and workforce development.

“I recognized that I could help change the systems shaping their futures,” she says.

“We were building national capabilities and creating opportunities for the next generation to lead the UAE’s healthcare transformation.”

For Al Saedi, the realization came when research traveled beyond the laboratory.

“I don’t think there was one dramatic moment,” she says. “It was more gradual.”

She joined Al Ain Farms Group through ATHAR, its Emiratization program, after studying at the United Arab Emirates University. Seeing her sensory research feed into product decisions and eventually reach families across the UAE changed how she understood her role.

“I was not only running studies but was contributing to decisions about what we produce locally and how these products can better meet people’s needs.”

International exposure, including travel to Denmark and Budapest, broadened her understanding of markets and industry practices.

“The UAE’s transformation is a large national story,” she says, “but when you work in science and food production, you see how that story is built through thousands of small, practical decisions every day.”

“Strengthening local food production is part of national resilience,” she says. “That’s when participation started to feel like a real contribution.”

FROM PARTICIPATION TO PROGRESSION

The next challenge might not be access, but progress and advancement.

A country can educate thousands of engineers, scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs. But if it loses them at the point when they become most experienced, the investment leaks out of the innovation pipeline.

Recent UAE research suggests that retention, career development, and skills remain important priorities as the country accelerates Emiratization. A PwC report found that 74% of Emirati respondents considered upskilling important for career progression, while 75% expressed interest in developing entrepreneurial skills.

Earlier research also found that flexibility is particularly important to Emirati women: 91% of female respondents preferred jobs offering flexible working arrangements, compared with 82% of men.

For Almaamari, the next phase means building technical expertise and creating pathways into decision-making roles, while giving the next generation exposure to “technologies and responsibilities that will define the economy of the future.”

The goal should be for Emirati women “not simply to participate in emerging industries, but to be integral to how those industries are built, governed and led.”

Alqadiri says that healthcare needs the same evolution. “We need clear pathways from education into professional practice, leadership, and innovation.”

Retention must receive the same attention as recruitment and be supported by meaningful careers, work-life balance, and opportunities for advancement. Collaboration between government, universities, healthcare providers, and industry will also be essential.

“Above all, women’s leadership must evolve beyond representation into genuine decision-making power.” Al Saedi sees the starting point in education and industry.

“The next challenge is making sure that success keeps producing new capability,” she says.

Young people need early exposure to engineering, food science, research, and technology, along with opportunities to apply what they learn in real working environments.

“That’s where confidence and expertise can continue to grow.”

Mentorship and university-industry collaboration can make a significant difference. “I came into this sector through this kind of route, and I’d like more young Emiratis to have it.”

The UAE’s National Policy for Empowerment of Emirati Women is important here, she says, but the private sector has a big role to play. “The private sector must meet this ambition by giving women genuine responsibility and decision-making power.”