In the past four years, more than 10,000 Emiratis have found a job in the financial sector, with 25,000 total Emiratis employed, said a Dubai government official.
Hadi Badri, CEO of the Dubai Economic Development Corporation (DEDC), the economic development arm of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), said that Dubai has no shortage of local talent, which is receiving experience from overseas talent.
“Where we need to work as a government is to make sure that those Emiratis in financial services are getting exposure to revenue owned roles, to international exposure,” the CEO added.
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Speaking at the Dubai FinTech Summit 2026, Badri explained that artificial intelligence will become the next major growth engine for Dubai’s economic growth. “I think the area of AI is really going to, in the UAE – specifically in Dubai, have a game-changing effect because we have the ingredients to allow for that,” he said.
The summit, organised by DIFC as the flagship event of Dubai Future Finance Week, is one of the region’s largest fintech events, bringing together global financial leaders, regulators, investors, banks, and technology innovators to discuss AI in finance, digital assets, payments, WealthTech, sustainability, and the future of financial services.
Dubai ‘bank of the region’
Within the financial sector, Badri said that Dubai will act as the ‘bank of the region’, saying that the financial sector is important for Dubai’s D33 economic agenda.
“For us to accelerate trade finance, for us to really embed much more growth capital, private equity and venture capital, allow for banks to lend more to SMEs. We think they’re a really important component of the economy going forward,” he added.
AI will also play a role in enhancing productivity, Badri said, which will contribute to around 60 per cent of the D33 agenda.
“We play a very active role as a government to do some matchmaking, to make sure that we create the right ecosystem and enablers for accelerators to happen, for corporates to be able to tap into those startups and scale-ups so that they can actually plug in and benefit from the work that’s being done.”
Source: Khaleej Times