The UAE: A Leader for Responsible AI
The UAE’s Department of Artificial Intelligence, under the Prime Minister’s Office, has been instrumental in defining a national vision where technology serves humanity. Since 2017, the country has prioritised developing its capabilities and governance frameworks, turning AI from an emerging concept into a practical enabler of transformation. Through education, collaboration, and clear policy direction, the UAE has built one of the world’s most advanced AI ecosystems, ranking among the top three destinations for AI talent and fifth globally in AI development.
This commitment is anchored in the country’s distinctive model of partnership between government, academia, and the private sector. Rather than regulating innovation into caution, the UAE fosters an environment that rewards experimentation and responsible application, one where AI becomes a tool for collective advancement. As Dr. Abdelrahman A. Al Mahmoud, Director at the UAE’s AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Office at the UAE Prime Minister’s Office, recently shared at our Leadership Conference 2025: “Progress comes through experimentation; we must jump into it and have a go at it.” Dr. Al Mahmoud remarks capture the UAE’s pragmatic yet visionary approach: encouraging organisations and entities to test, learn, and refine responsibly, knowing that innovation flourishes where purpose meets courage.
Our Path to Purposeful Innovation: From Vision to Action
Our approach to AI reflects this national spirit of progress and purpose. Guided by our Group-wide AI Strategy, one of the key enablers of our Vision 2033, we began by laying strong foundations in governance, data capability, and AI literacy through Chalhoub University. This groundwork ensures that as we scale AI, we do so with clarity of intent: to solve strategic challenges, unlock new opportunities, empower our talent, strengthen competitiveness, and deliver personalised customer experiences at scale.
As we move through 2026, our focus is on embedding AI across the Group’s ecosystem, enhancing the way we operate, engage, and create value.
Our recent work with Layla AI, the first Generative AI-powered beauty assistant, globally and regionally, launched by Faces Beauty Middle East and developed entirely in-house through close collaboration amongst our teams, offers an early proof point. Designed with Chalhoub Group’s 70 years of retail expertise and deep customer understanding, Layla builds from the ground up for a local market, integrating beauty expertise, linguistic nuance, and AI to create an emotionally intelligent shopping experience, both online and in-store. Beyond its impressive results, it demonstrates how AI can strengthen the emotional and human side of luxury while advancing data-driven decision-making across the business. Ultimately, the consumer remains our guide; Layla AI embodies our continued investment in anticipating consumer needs. Our role is to innovate with relevance, to listen with intent, and to evolve in ways that make every interaction more personal and meaningful.
Shaping the Future of Luxury, Together.
Luxury has always been defined by its ability to inspire emotion and imagination. Today, that same spirit guides our approach to innovation. We are experimenting, learning, and evolving, not to chase trends, but to shape the future of retail in a way that is human, thoughtful, and sustainable.
Our journey with AI is still unfolding, but our purpose remains constant: to have a “human-in-the-loop" approach and advance responsibly, in harmony with the UAE’s national vision for innovation that uplifts people and communities.
We are not simply adapting to change; we are building a future where luxury dreams become reality, one insight, one innovation, and one responsible decision at a time.
