Photo: U.Lucas Dubé-Cantin / Pexels Dubai Chambers launched a massive e-learning initiative to make the emirate the global leader in commercial agentic AI adoption by 2028
Dubai just put 14,000 companies through AI school, and the curriculum isn’t about chatbots writing marketing copy. The emirate is betting big on agentic AI, the kind of artificial intelligence that doesn’t wait for a human prompt but instead acts autonomously to complete tasks, make decisions, and optimize operations on its own.
Dubai Chambers launched the specialized training program on September 1 through its newly established Dubai Chambers Academy e-learning platform. The target audience: more than 14,000 private sector companies across various Business Groups and Councils in the region.
From chatbots to autonomous agents #
The training program focuses on practical applications: operations management, productivity enhancement, decision-making frameworks, and business growth strategies.
The initiative is the opening phase of a broader two-year private-sector transition program directed by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, who announced the effort in May 2026. The stated goal is ambitious but specific: make Dubai the leading global city for commercial agentic AI adoption by 2028.
An Executive Committee was formed in June 2026 to accelerate the push, chaired by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori alongside former Minister for AI Omar Sultan Al Olama. That committee oversees not just training but also funding mechanisms and incubators for agentic AI-focused companies.
A national playbook, not just a city project #
Dubai’s corporate training initiative doesn’t exist in isolation. It fits into a UAE-wide strategy that includes training 80,000 federal workers in agentic AI and a target to deliver 50% of government services through AI technology.
Dubai has been building toward this moment for years. The emirate established a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence back in 2017, one of the first countries to do so. But the shift from generative and assessment AI tools to fully autonomous systems marks a new chapter, one where the technology moves from augmenting human workers to replacing certain decision-making functions entirely.
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