Dell Technologies Forum Dubai highlights AI as the next great economic accelerator

Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to become the most powerful economic force since electrification and the rise of digital computing, according to executives speaking at the Dell Technologies Forum in Dubai. Addressing customers, partners and regional leaders, Mohammed Amin, senior vice-president, CEEMETA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Turkey and Africa), at Dell Technologies, framed AI not as a threat to human progress, but as its next major accelerator.

Drawing on historical comparisons, Amin explained how previous technological revolutions had reshaped global productivity. “Electricity augmented the global GDP by around 1.5% on an annual basis,” he said. “In the 20th century, computing, data and digitalisation brought an additional 2.5% every year. In the AI era, the expectation is that this 2.5% will jump to 4%.”

For Amin, the conclusion is clear: the cumulative impact of technology revolutions has been overwhelmingly positive. “The net sum of these revolutions is positive for human beings,” he told the audience, while acknowledging that every technological leap brings both challenges and opportunities.

“It’s not about us or the machine, although some of us still think it is,” he said. “We need a mindset shift. We need to learn how to use the intelligence of AI.” In many cases, he added, AI will augment human decision-making rather than replace it, with people continuing to lead while machines provide support and insight.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) featured prominently throughout the session as a global benchmark for AI ambition and execution. According to Amin, the country is already among the top five worldwide for AI adoption. Dell has studied what differentiates AI leaders from the rest of the market, and the findings closely align with the UAE’s national strategy and enterprise priorities.

“The first and most important characteristic of an AI leader is an AI-first business strategy,” Amin explained. Rather than treating AI as a standalone IT project, leading organisations embed it directly into their business objectives. “They understand exactly what outcomes they need from AI, whether that is customer experience, cost optimisation or supply chain resilience. They are not afraid of failure. They don’t see failure as the opposite of success. This is a game of return on innovation, not just return on investment.” While only a fraction of experiments may succeed, those successes can more than compensate for the rest, provided experimentation is supported by strong governance frameworks.

The first and most important characteristic of an AI leader is an AI-first business strategy. They understand what outcomes they need from AI, whether that is customer experience, cost optimisation or supply chain resilience

Data readiness emerged as another cornerstone of AI leadership. Amin illustrated the point with a personal example, describing how wearable technology and AI help guide his own training and health decisions. “That data is the fuel of AI,” he said. “AI without data is like a car without fuel.” For organisations, this means recognising the value of their data assets and making them accessible, secure and usable across AI initiatives.

Scalability is equally critical. Rather than building isolated platforms for individual use cases, AI leaders invest in flexible, automated platforms that allow multiple use cases to be developed, tested and deployed rapidly. This approach reduces time to market and supports continuous innovation at scale.

“There is one thing you cannot outsource: innovation,” said Amin. While partnerships are essential, true innovation must come from within the organisation. This requires broad-based skills development, from board-level to frontline employees, and across every function, not just IT. Innovation is an organisational culture – the business has to collaborate with IT. If the business does not have the skills, the openness and the culture of innovation, things will not move as fast as we want.”

With the Middle East, and the UAE in particular, accelerating investment in AI, cloud and data infrastructure, Dell’s message in Dubai was clear: success in the AI era will depend not just on technology, but on strategy, data, skills and a willingness to rethink how humans and machines work together.