Good morning.
This week’s Leadership Next podcast features an interview with the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Al Olama, whom I spoke with while in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago. He’s the world’s first to hold that title and took the job when he was only 27 years old. I met him on an earlier trip and found his enthusiasm for the technology and its possibilities infectious. My first question: why does the UAE need a Minister of AI?
“Historically, many technological advancements have created government positions. When energy production became very important for economic activity and prosperity, ministers of energy were put in place to ensure electricity was being produced in the right manner…the same thing happened with aviation and with telecommunications. Every time you have technology that touches every facet of life and has a huge impact on government, there’s a ministerial position created for it.”
I pointed out that AI has become the subject of an intense competition between the world’s two superpowers, the U.S. and China. How does tiny UAE, with a population of only 10 million and a land mass the size of Maine, stand a chance of playing in that race? His answer:
“First, in terms of computing power, compute per capita, what the UAE has access to is unprecedented or incomparable to anywhere else on earth. Second, in terms of talent, a lot of talent is moving to the UAE right now from both the East and the West. The reason why talent is moving is because visa restrictions around the world are making people reconsider, especially people with good tech capabilities…This is becoming a hub for AI talent.”
You can listen to the entire interview on Apple or Spotify. More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
