1) The UAE has launched an ambitious AI strategy to boost GDP by 30% and government performance by adopting AI technologies. 2) The strategy aims to save 50% on annual government costs and ensure 90% resistance to financial crises by 2031 through widespread AI use. 3) The UAE sees great potential in AI to automate services, enhance data analytics, and transform government work - but also faces challenges in developing expertise and managing new technical requirements.

1. The UAE AI Strategy: Building
Intelligent Enterprises
Dr. Saeed K Aldhaheri
Chairman of the Board, Smartworld
@DDSaeed
CIOMajlis Presentation, 21 February 2018, Dubai

3. My Interest in AI and disruptive technologies
Audit in the age of AI

4. machines can hear
machines can see
machines can talk
machines can learn
What does that means! And what impact will it have on our world?
Are machines becoming humans, or humans becoming machines

5. AI is a key driver for the 4IR
AI automation is projected to increase global
productivity rates by 0.8-1.4% annually over
the next 50 years. McKinsey Global Institute

6. Consumerization of AI
Huawei mate iPhone X
Google Assistant Amazon echo look Amazon echo dot fitbits
Samsung Bixby Google Lens

7. AI & Robots in Automation
More than 80,000 robots
Worldwide handling millions
of orders each day

8. Some of AI Applications

9. Computers still terrible at understanding the world

10. “The UAE Centennial 2071 begins now, with the launch of
massive projects such as the AI strategy to set up the basis
for the coming phase”,,,,
“We are striving to adopt all tools and AI technologies that
will boost government performance on all levels”,,,,
UAE AI Strategy
H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE,
Ruler of Dubai

11. UAE AI Strategy
Vision: To boost government performance, the
rate of accomplishing achievements.
KPIs for 2031
• 30% boost of UAE GDP
• 50% saving on annual cost to government
• 90% resistance of financial crises
• 100% use of AI in services and gov data analytics
What does this implies to UAE CIOs: Opportunities and challenges!

12. Innovating Gov Services using AI: UAE Examples

13. What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Source: David Kelner, The fourth industrial revolution: a primer on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI: developing computer systems that exhibit intelligent
Behavior, similar to human being
Machine Learning: teaching computers to learn without explicit
Programming
• algorithms: decision tree learning, Bayesian networks, clustering,
reinforcement learning
• Relative success for some tasks
Deep Learning: a technique for implementing ML
• Learning data representation
• Approximate the function of neurons in the brain
• uses several layers of artificial neural networks
• Fast computing (e.g, GPUs) made the “big bang”
• Applied to speech recognition, computer vision, natural lang
processing, machine translation,,,etc
AI echo system

14. Why AI & Why Now?
• Solving complex problems difficult for traditional computing methods
• Pattern recognition and image classifications
• complex predictions
• Translation between languages
• general intelligence
• Why now?
• Increase in computing power (more’s law) and the effect of the cloud
• BiG Data
• enhanced algorithms (ML, DL,,etc)

15. Types of AI
• Strong AI (superintelligence):
• Self-aware machines with thoughts, feelings, consciousness,,,etc
• Does not exist today and far away
• Narrow AI:
• Focused on solving specific challenges
• Optimizers for specific tasks
• E.g, facial recognition, recommendation engines, predictive analytics
• General AI:
• can handle tasks from different areas and origin
• Need semantic connections between areas
• E.g, growing vegetables (tomato, carrot, cucumber, eggplant, pepper,,etc) in a greenhouse

16. Enterprise adoption of AI at an early stage, but is
growing rapidly
• 70% of enterprises expect to implement AI over the next 12
months. Forrester Research
• By 2020, 40% of new enterprise applications implemented by
service providers will include AI technologies. Gartner
• By 2021, more than 50% of enterprises will be spending more per
annum on bots and chatbot creations than traditional mobile app
development. Gartner
• By 2021, AI augmentation will create $2.9 trillion of business
value. Gartner
“CDOs will immediately recognize that in order for AI to reach its full potential,
they must develop greater organizational competency in data sciences and
assure that data and analytics can be relied upon for various insights.” Gartner

17. Examples: Where AI can be used in the enterprise
• Consumer facing processes
• Help desk and call centers
• e.g: chatbots/virtual assistants
• Back office processes
• Payroll and HR automation
• Smarter forecasting: financial planning, inventory management
• Report generations (NLG), speech recognition (call routing, voice
dialing, mobile,,etc)
• Decision management (automate decision making)
• Automated compliance
• Cybersecurity
• Intelligent attacks vs. intelligent cybersecurity
• Intelligent threat detection and prevention
Organizations at different states
• Awareness to collect data
• Data is available but not making productive use of it
• Rudimentary analysis of data

18. Chatbots are empowering enterprises
• Chatbots are virtual assistants able to hold natural language conversation with
human
• Enterprise adoption is growing (used in sales, marketing, customer support)
• Provide strong ROI by automating repetitive interactions
• Availability 24/7
• Faster interaction
• Consistent service
• Support multiple languages
• Can achieve increased productivity and cost saving
• Differentiator: how humane and kind is your chatbot (e.g, understanding
complex interactions)
• Example: Koko algorithm to address people’s questions with sympathy and
depth
• Examples:
• Dubai Smart city: Rashid service using IBM Watson
• DEWA: Rammas
Criteria for choosing a chatbot platform
• Learning
• Understanding
• Deploying
• Training
• pricing

19. Building a successful AI application
• Talent
• Data
• Infrastructure
Source: CBINSIGHTS: This is way all companies need an AI Strategy today

20. Future of Jobs and The skills needed in the Future
• Polarized views: opportunities for new
job categories vs. massive labor
substitution and displacement of jobs
• Momentous change is underway, and
our actions today will determine:
massive displacement of workers or
emergence of new opportunities
• New jobs: data scientists, IoT architect,
• Domain experts becoming data scientist
In 2020, AI will become a
positive net job motivator,
creating 2.3 million jobs
While eliminating only 1.8
million jobs. Gartner prediction
2018

21. New AI-Driven jobs
• Trainers: teach AI system how to perform
• Yahoo: algorithm to detect sarcasm with 80%
accuracy
• Explainers: help provide clarity
• Sustainers: help ensure that AI systems are operating as
designed.
MIT Sloan special collection report

22. CIOs Need to Establish an AI Strategy
• Develop clear line of sight to business value
• Priorities for AI automation with a focus on customer experience
• What AI technologies and infrastructure needed
• Single vs multi-cloud
• AI-defined infrastructure:
• Simplifies setup and operations of the infrastructure by the customer
• Training and talent
• Data –driven culture and data science skills
• New metrics to measure ROI
• e,g. how AI is freeing human from mundane tasks
• How AI is improving human decision making and forecast
• Cloud ML platforms
• AWS machine learning
• Google Cloud ML
• AI Cloud services
• Microsoft cognitive services
• IBM Watson
• Google cloud vision,
• Google NL API
AI as a service offerings

23. How to establish an AI-enabled Enterprise
• Establish an AI strategy
• Invest and create a data platform
• Start by automating IT operations
• E.g, help desk
• Re-train your entire organization top-down
• Expand automation to other business processes
• Embrace predictive analytics

24. Challenges facing enterprises to adopt AI
• Diffused and unclear leadership
• No clear picture of how AI can add value
• Shortage of Expertise
• Fears from AI to replace humans
• Technical challenges (e.g, data management
infrastructure)

25. “The next phase requires Emiratis
specialised in AI to serve our supreme
national interests as the implementation of
AI technologies will help develop new
sectors and create various opportunities
for our national economy”.
H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE,
Ruler of Dubai
Let us be part of becoming the world’s most prepared country for Artificial Intelligence.

26. End