Abu Dhabi is set to host Ai Everything Abu Dhabi 2026, billed as the world’s largest AI-first Expo and Summit, on 6-7 October at ADNEC Centre. The sold-out event will bring together the largest gathering of global AI unicorns as the UAE capital strengthens its position in applied AI and large-scale computing.
Global AI Spending Surges
The event comes as businesses and governments increase their AI investments. According to Gartner, global AI spending is expected to reach nearly US$2.59 trillion this year, a 47% rise from 2025. Under the theme “The New Intelligence Order from Abu Dhabi, The AI Capital of the World,” the event will show how AI delivers real business returns through research, new models and live use-cases.
Organised by inD, the event will host over 400 AI infrastructure builders, model makers, unicorns and startups, along with 200-plus investors managing US$91 billion in assets. Participants come from 60 countries, and more than 180 speakers will take part. Headliners include Arthur Mensch, Co-Founder and CEO of Mistral AI, and Marc Raibert, Founder of Boston Dynamics, who will appear together in the UAE for the first time.
Abu Dhabi’s Path to an AI-Native Government
More than 50 UAE government entities will participate, led by the Department of Government Enablement, Abu Dhabi (DGE) as Host Partner. DGE is steering the emirate toward becoming the world’s first AI-native government by 2027. It has already integrated over 40 government entities into a single AI-driven ecosystem, with more than 100 AI use-cases live in public services. A US$3.54 billion investment programme supports the effort.
H.E. Wesam Lootah, Director General of GovDigital at DGE, said Abu Dhabi has built the blueprint for intelligent governance and is inviting the world to examine it at the event.
Major Tech Players and Partners
Solutions+, a Mubadala company, is the event’s Global Partner. Managing Director Nasir Al Nabhani said the company will demonstrate how agentic AI, combined with human judgement, can improve services and create measurable value. G42 will present its “Intelligence Grid,” a model for building AI-native societies.
International exhibitors include AWS, Alibaba Cloud, Cerebras, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and Snowflake, together representing over US$10 trillion in market capitalisation. Local participants include ATRC, TII, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Hub71 and Abu Dhabi Ports.
Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of Ai Everything, said the world’s leading enterprises are coming to Abu Dhabi to engage a market that is investing in and deploying AI at scale.
UAE’s Sovereign AI Research on Show
The Technology Innovation Institute (TII) will present 23 demonstrations from nine research centres, focusing on energy, materials, maritime infrastructure, aerospace and autonomous systems. Its Falcon-H1 Arabic model currently leads the Open Arabic LLM Leaderboard, and its approach makes AI more accessible to organisations without heavy infrastructure. One highlight is GeoAI, a model of the northern UAE’s subsurface geology built to support mineral exploration.
AI Unicorns Take the Stage
Mistral AI, attending for the first time, will discuss who controls AI as it grows more autonomous. The company recently closed a record €3 billion Series D round, Europe’s largest ever, valuing it at over €21 billion. ElevenLabs will showcase ElevenAgents, a platform for conversational experiences, and ElevenCreative, which pairs audio models with image and video generation.
The programme also includes certified trainings and workshops on multi-agent workflows, rapid prototyping and model development, tracing AI from policy to practical, scalable progress.
tanvir@dubainewsweek.com
