Artificial intelligence (AI) has undeniably impacted most industries and organizations over the past few years. In years to come, it will dramatically transform how governments conduct their business. 

The UAE, known for embracing innovation and leveraging technology to advance business and society, signaled its intent to be an AI leader by 2031, as it works on various initiatives and projects to reach that target. 

It started with the appointment of AI minister Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, in 2017.  In Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence opened in 2020 as the world’s first dedicated AI university. 

Organizations have been developing large language models (LLMs) in the last few years, notably the homegrown Falcon AI models, which are powerful and versatile LLMs developed by the Technology Innovation Institute. The second iteration of its LLM, Falcon 2, competes with models Meta, Google, and OpenAI developed.

In June this year, the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence was launched to train 1,000 employees of more than 30 government bodies to use generative AI to create images, videos, audio, text, and 3D models.

Also, recently, to boost the adoption of advanced technologies across the emirate of Dubai, 22 chief AI officers (CAIO) are enlisted in government bodies such as the Dubai Police, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, and the Department of Economy and Tourism.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, said the decision to have CAIOs is to adopt these technologies and develop innovative solutions and added that their appointment is a step toward achieving the vision for the future of government work.

“In the context of government, for AI initiatives to be truly effective, they cannot exist in silos. This strategic move is key to ensuring a unified and coordinated approach to AI integration across government entities, enhancing operational efficiency, driving innovation, and improving public services,” says Steve Fernandes, Senior Manager, Solutions Engineering, Emerging EMEA at Confluent.

Appointing CAIOs increases the speed of implementation and, at the same time, allows them to change their processes in their respective areas of government and align with the bigger vision, says Jessica Constantinidis, Field Innovation Officer EMEA at ServiceNow. “The sheer amount of data, ways to update/change/automate, and the size of the government makes this a smart approach.”

“By embedding AI leadership directly within each key department, this move ensures that AI initiatives are prioritized and seamlessly integrated into the daily operations of critical government bodies,” says Sid Bhatia, Regional VP & General Manager for Middle East, Turkey & Africa at Dataiku. 

WHY DO WE NEED AN AI CHIEF?

According to experts, just as organizations now have a CEO, CFO, CMO, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), the appointment of CAIO can help ensure alignment of each government entity towards the broader objectives. 

“There will be immense value from having a dedicated leader with their finger on the pulse of this rapidly evolving space. Transitioning to an AI-centric approach will require implementing many new tools and processes. This requires a decision maker who can learn, grow, and get up to speed,” says Fernandes. 

Every government entity has different pain points, stakeholders, and needs, so each CAIO can gather the biggest pain points in their area of expertise and begin making changes accordingly. 

Bhatia refers to this as targeted innovation, whereby each CAIO can tailor AI initiatives to address their department’s specific challenges and opportunities, leading to more relevant and impactful solutions. 

Data is the foundational building block for AI, so a CAIO will be responsible for introducing newer ways of looking at data and implementing new data strategies. The CAIO would need to oversee the data, validate the data with the data strategy team, and evaluate the process behind the use of the data and automation attached to the results of AI, says Constantinidis.

The biggest focus will be ensuring data protection, governance, compliance, security, and trustworthiness. Constantinidis states this is a shift from how governments and companies run. 

“In the past, we would train a select set of users to own confidential documents, but now with AI, if you allow the AI to use that same document, you would need to build guardrails on how it is used automatically with an AI tool. It is a big challenge and little room for error, so collaboration with governance, risk, security, and data teams is needed.”

Having a CAIO in every government entity is crucial for a unified vision, ensuring that each department aligns with Dubai’s overarching AI strategy. Bhatia says AI chiefs will revolutionize government operations by enhancing efficiency, improving services with AI-driven insights, and innovating solutions.

“If this were done by one CAIO, there would be a longer time to understand the issues, a big queue of demand, and consequently, a pipeline of projects held back. Enhancing this pipeline of demand by 22 people, running 22 streams, who each can individually move the needle in their entity, enables processes with potentially faster speed, and allows for simultaneous changes to occur,” says Constantinidis.

THE POSSIBILITIES 

This initiative showcases the importance the UAE is placing on AI- establishing a leadership model that other nations will seek to replicate or draw inspiration from. 

“The Dubai government has already succeeded in its push towards digitizing services, and now, with the infusion of AI, we can expect to see groundbreaking use cases that will propel the development of a smart, sustainable city,” says Fernandes. 

Considering the large number of tasks and transformations needed, having a big AI team has the potential to move the needle faster.

“If they all align closely to the overall strategy, we might see a big shift soon because the biggest issue in implementing AI is finding the right use case, the right skills, the time and people to execute, and the collaboration with the business to understand why they are doing certain processes,” says Constantinidis.