Dubai Future Foundation’s Belhoul goes full speed ahead

As this week’s World Governments Summit was wrapping up in Dubai, Khalfan Belhoul’s head was buzzing with all things AI.

Having hosted TIME Magazine’s TIME100 AI Impact Awards Gala at the Museum of the Future on Monday night, Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, followed it up on Tuesday by signing a partnership pact with IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna to bolster the use of artificial intelligence tools in the wealthy Gulf financial center.

IBM will also co-publish so-called white papers with the Dubai Future Foundation in April to coincide with the inaugural Dubai AI Week. Belhoul promised more “very interesting announcements” in the coming days that will be “an example for the world.”

As head of a foundation that runs a $300 million venture capital fund and built the city’s iconic Museum of the Future – a massive seven-story elliptical loop with a silvery translucent skin covered in Arabic calligraphy – Belhoul has a challenging mission.

Appointed eight years ago by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE, Belhoul was tasked to “imagine, inspire and design Dubai’s future.” To that end, the Boston University graduate with a master’s degree in e-commerce, assembled a team of scientists, researchers and startup investors to plot Dubai’s long-term roadmap.

“If we think that we will get it right every single time, then we will still not be a leading city of the future,” Belhoul told The Circuit. “Our platform has been built for us to pivot and to make mistakes.”

The interview was edited for length and clarity.

Why does Dubai need a special foundation to chart its future?

When the Dubai Future Foundation was set up – I’ll be very frank with you – we had no clue how to set it up. The idea was that we needed to institutionalize future foresight. Fast forward now, around eight to nine years since the formation, we have a foresight team, we have a think tank, and we have an execution team. I think this shows you the balance between staying up to speed when it comes to what’s happening in the future and of course, you know most of the trends – and the hope and the fear at the same time. Whether it’s climate, AI, mobility, you name it. But then, how can you take all that and create a platform that is for the betterment of humanity? This is what we do.

Critics say you’re a dreamer and that many of the DFF’s ideas are unlikely to ever be put into practice. Are they right?

if you look at our projects, you would see that many of them have seen light and become an example for the world. And what I would really say to those people is that if we think this way, we will never be a leading city of the future. If we think that we will get it right every single time, then we will still not be a leading city of the future. Our platform has been built for us to pivot and to make mistakes.

If you look at investors in venture capital and their portfolio of investments in technology, 80 percent of their portfolio goes bust. But it’s that one story that creates history for them that recovers the whole portfolio. So you can see us working in the same way, where we create a safe environment to test and fail – as long as no one gets hurt or injured or nothing serious happens. Then, we double down on the winning bets and set an example for the world.

Look ahead. How will the DFF look 20 years from now?

Very futuristic. Constantly evolving. Our entity should grow in importance – not because I’m part of it, but because having an entity that becomes a think tank for Dubai and for the UAE to share a view on where the future is evolving is always a need because the future will continue to evolve.

And the interesting – I wouldn’t say scary – part is that this evolution is happening at a much faster pace. If you look at the industrial revolutions and the change from one to the other, you realize that the gap between one revolution to the next is shrinking. You see that our phones are advancing dramatically year after year. Let alone the evolution of AI, quantum computing, and robotics. So you can only imagine where we’re heading.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and other parts of the region are both friendly neighbors and well-financed rivals. How do you address the competition?

One word: Synergy. Second word: Complementing each other. I think Dubai and the UAE – our population is not big enough for a company to scale. Neither is any other Arab country in the world. It’s the whole region that should benefit from this growth. Nowadays, when you set up a business on your phone, with one click of a button, the world becomes your market. So, how do you really connect that world together? Connect the Arab world to ensure that those businesses can scale in a seamless way. And that’s the vision – collaboration, inclusivity, unity – working with one another and creating a bigger impact.

The Weekly Circuit:  Trump to address FII Miami summit + Aramco’s U.S. refinery

👋 Hello from the Middle East!

In the Weekly Circuit today, we’re looking at the parade of statesmen and tech executives who trekked to Dubai for the World Governments Summit, Aramco’s Motiva unit becoming the largest oil refinery in the U.S., UAE telecom e&’s Serbian acquisition, and an interview with Presight CEO Thomas Pramotedham. But first, the Saudi kingdom comes to Florida.

Saudi Arabia has lined up U.S. President Donald Trump to headline its annual FII Priority Summit in Miami, Fla. next week. 

The kingdom’s Future Investment Initiative Institute announced on Wednesday that Trump will speak at the conference’s opening session Feb. 19 at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach. 

Among those also scheduled to participate in the three-day event are SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, BlackRock’s Robert S. Kapito, Oracle’s Safra Catz, Point72’s Steven Cohen and Bridgewater’s Nir Bar Dea.

The Miami conference will take place in the wake of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pledge last month to invest at least $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years. Trump responded with thanks while suggesting that the kingdom raise its investment to $1 trillion.

Florida is a center of Trump family activities, with the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach serving as the President’s home between terms in the White House. Trump’ son-in-law Jared Kushner’s $4.6 billion private equity fund Affinity Partners, which is backed by sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, is based in Miami.

In Dubai, meanwhile, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair teamed up at the World Governments Summit on Wednesday to examine the promise and threats of artificial intelligence.

Ellison, appearing virtually and responding to Blair who was onstage, said AI will be transformative for governments and a broad range of industries including medicine, agriculture and robotics, The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie reports from the conference floor.

“Countries need to unify their data so it can be consumed and used by the AI model,” Ellison said, warning about the dangers of lax information security. “The digital tools we have right now are so primitive,” he said. “We can easily be locked out of all our data; passwords and data are so easily stolen and ransomed. We need to modernize our systems.”

As hosts of the annual conference, the UAE showed off its campaign to integrate AI into virtually all government services and corporate processes. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed caused a stir among the summit’s 6,000 participants on Day 2 when he entered the main hall at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah resort to join the proceedings.

Among foreign leaders in Dubai for the conference, Sheikh Mohamed met with Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ahmed Sabah; Prime Minister of Kuwait; Colombian President Gustavo Petro Orego; Polish President Andrzej Doda; and Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Welcome to the Weekly Circuit: Kindly let us know your thoughts and feedback by replying to this newsletter or emailing us at [email protected].

circuit interview

Presight’s data analytics help UAE’s biggest companies conquer AI fear

As the UAE carves out a role in developing artificial intelligence tools with Microsoft, Google and OpenAI, Abu Dhabi-based Presight is harnessing big data analytics to help governments, energy producers and other industrial giants sharpen their performance.

The $3.5 billion company got off the ground less than three years ago as a subsidiary of G42, the UAE’s umbrella AI firm led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed’s Royal Group and backed by the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie reports.

In an interview with The Circuit, Presight CEO Thomas Pramotedham, said the company aims to decipher AI for some of the largest state-owned enterprises in the UAE and elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa while breaking down hurdles to wider adoption.

Click here to read the full interview.

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THRILLS & SPILLS

Six Flags to build world’s biggest roller coaster in Saudi Arabia

Six Flags, the biggest amusement park operator in the U.S., plans to build the world’s tallest, longest and fastest roller coaster in the Saudi capital.

The North Carolina-based company signed an agreement on Monday to manage both a Six Flags amusement resort and the Aquarabia Water Theme Park in Riyadh’s Qiddya district, which is being developed with billions of dollars of investment as the kingdom’s entertainment mecca, The Circuit’s Jonathan Ferziger reports.

Aquarabia will include the world’s tallest water coaster, the tallest double-loop water slide and Surftopia, Saudi Arabia’s first surfing pool. The Falcon’s Flight roller coaster will dominate Six Flags Qiddiya City, alongside 27 other rides and attractions.

Click here to read the full story.

💲 Sovereign Circuit

Public Investment Fund: The PIF plans to support a $5 billion basketball competition in Europe and Asia aimed at rivaling the NBA. The tournament will feature six men’s and six women’s teams across eight cities. It’s expected to resemble the PIF-backed LIV golf series, which has drawn top players to its 14-event series across nine countries.

International Holding Co.: Abu Dhabi’s IHC reported a 22% decline in its 2024 net profit to $6.9 billion as the sovereign fund focused its resources on high-impact initiatives and building up its subsidiaries.

Saudi Aramco: Motiva Enterprises, an Aramco subsidiary, has quietly expanded its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery to become the largest fuelmaking plant in the U.S., Bloomberg reports.

G42: The Abu Dhabi-owned AI company and Microsoft led a $55 million Series A financing round for start-up AppliedAI, with participation from Bassemer Venture Partners, Palantir, McKinsey and Accrete Capital. 

↪↩ Closing Circuit

 🤖 Robo-Adviser: Madkhol Capital, a Saudi startup that uses artificial intelligence to offer “robo-advisory” services on investment, raised $2.2 million in a funding round co-led by Seize and Numu Angels.

👛  Money Manager: Khazna, a Cairo-based startup that helps people who are not wealthy manage their money through an app, raised $16 million in a financing round led by the SANAD Fund for MSME.

💶 African Finance: Beltone Holding, an Egyptian private equity firm, signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Paris-based Baobab Group, which provides financial services in Africa.

📞 Telco Deal: UAE telecommunications company e& has agreed to acquire Serbia’s SBB, a broadband and cable TV operator, for $854 million, enabling integration with its subsidiary Yettel to offer mobile, broadband, and pay-TV services.

🗣 Circuit Chatter

🥤 Soft Drinks: Pepsico plans to open its new regional headquarters in Riyadh this month as part of the company’s expansion in the Middle East and North Africa, Ahmed ElSheikh, President and General Manager of PepsiCo MENA, told Arab News.

🚆 Auto Rail: Dubai plans to introduce a RailBus system powered by solar energy, with a maximum speed of 100 km/h and capacity for 40 passengers.

🌊 Blue Resident: The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and ICP launched the Blue Visa system’s first phase at the World Government Summit 2025 in Dubai, granting 10-year residency to 20 sustainability leaders.

⚡ Auto Pilot: FlyNow is preparing to roll out a modular system of flying taxis in Saudi Arabia, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Yvonne Winter told the LEAP conference in Riyadh.

💂 London Calling: Middle Eastern investors will spend $2.5 billion on prime London commercial real estate this year amid lower market prices, broker Knight Frank reports.

🌍 Power Circuit

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed issued a federal decree granting Dr. Omar Habtoor Al Darei, Chairman of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat, the rank of Minister.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, met with Andrzej Duda, President of Poland on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the first day of the World Governments Summit. Sheikh Mohammed also met Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al Abdullah Al Sabah on the sidelines of WGS.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, met Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Georgios Gerapetritis in Abu Dhabi on Saturday to discuss ways for the countries to work together.

➿ On the Circuit

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, CEO of Mubadala; Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the U.S.; and Shamma Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of Community Development, attended the inauguration for a new MBA program at the Stern School of Business at New York University Abu Dhabi.

Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of Dubai telecoms operator du, told The National that the company is open to expanding its non-core portfolio outside the UAE. The company is looking to build momentum after posting a record profit in 2024.

Abdul Wahab Teffaha, the secretary general of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation, criticized the European Union at the Sustainable Aviation Futures Mena Congress in Abu Dhabi for its policy on cleaner aviation fuels, claiming that it could drive their costs up by more than a quarter over the next eight years.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with Jassem Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADQ’s Modon Holding, and Bill O’Regan, the company’s Group CEO,, to discuss the master plan for Ras El-Hekma City on Egypt’s northwest coast.

Faisal Al Shimmari, Mashreq Bank’s head of ESG, told Arabian Gulf Business Insight in an interview that the UAE government needs to introduce incentives and subsidies to generate a “tsunami of sustainable finance.”

🎶 Culture Circuit

🖼️ Going, Going, Gone: Sotheby’s first commercial auction in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night fetched $17 million in sales, with key pieces landing over $1 million. The painting Society Woman by Fernando Botero sold for $1 million to Saudi Arabian businessman Amr Zedan, who said he will add it to a collection started with his wife. A Banksy piece fetched $1.2 million.

📷 Photo of the Week

🗓️ Ahead on The Circuit

Feb. 11-13, Dubai. World Government Summit 2025. Annual event brings in world leaders and business leaders from the region and outside to discuss the most pressing matters. Madinat Jumeirah.

Feb. 14-16, Munich Security Forum. Known as one of the world’s leading forums for debating international security policy. Hotel Bayerischer Hof.

Feb. 17-21, Abu Dhabi: IDEX 2025. Military contractors from around the world show their wares at one of the most prominent international defense exhibitions. ADNEC Center.

Feb. 17-21, Dubai. Gulf Food. In its 30th edition, the exhibition brings in many more companies to show their work on food and the industry’s use of technology. Dubai World Trade Center. 

Feb. 19-20, Dubai. IDC Middle East. Examining how to design AI-fueled businesses. Grand Hyatt Dubai.

Feb. 21-22, Doha. Visit Qatar E1 Doha GP 2025. Round Two of the UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF. The Pearl Island, Qatar.

Feb. 18-19, Abu Dhabi. The Future of Asset Management Middle East. A two-day conference that gathers leading executives from top asset management companies in the Middle East region. The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Canal.

 Feb. 22-23, Miami, Fla. FII Priority. Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative connects U.S. and Middle Eastern investors. Faena Hotel & Forum, Miami Beach.

Feb. 25, Dubai. Family Office Summit 2025. Global fund leaders managing $1 trillion in assets will meet under the theme, “Taking Money Out of Cash.” Ritz Carlton Jumeirah Beach.

Feb.25-March 1, Dubai. WCA World 2025. The conference brings together some of the world’s biggest independent freight forwarders. Dubai World Trade Centre.

Feb. 26-27, Abu Dhabi. Investopia 2025. The fourth edition of the summit, to be held under the theme “Leveraging the Power of Massive Investments.” St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi.

March 17-19, Dubai. Dubai International Horse Fair. A gathering of the equestrian industry and horse lovers from around the world. Dubai World Trade Centre.

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Baidu’s Li tells Dubai summit AI costs pushing China to innovate

Inside Dubai’s luxurious Madinat Jumeirah resort at the World Governments Summit, some 6,000 participants were scrambling between hotel ballrooms on Tuesday to see a parade of government and corporate leaders talk about the future of the earth.

Another 1.5 million tuned in on the web feed. Topping the agenda in one session after another was how to address the promise and threats presented by artificial intelligence.

Robin Li, CEO of China’s Baidu talked about how the high costs of AI development have forced the world’s second-largest economy to find new computing solutions, including DeepSeek, which has come up with vastly cheaper AI models than those developed by OpenAI, Microsoft and Google.

“You just don’t know when and where innovations come from,” Li said in an onstage conversation with Omar Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications.

Kristalina Georgieva, the Bulgarian economist who serves as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said the world is at an important juncture that will determine whether AI turns into a great story or a nightmare. “There are many, many unknowns,” she sighed.

Adding a touch of glamor on Monday night was a star-studded event at the Museum of the Future, where many of the WGS delegates attended TIME magazine’s Impact Awards Gala, which featured appearances by Grimes, the artist, singer and ex-life partner of Elon Musk, as well as video artist Refik Anadol and musician Arqam Al Abri.

Topping the bill on Wednesday will be Oracle’s Larry Ellison, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will deliver a keynote address in the morning. Google’s Sundar Pichai and Goldman Sachs’ Jared Cohen will speak in separate sessions on the future of tech.