What AI solutions are wanted in MENA?

Which incubators can you trust? What do they specialise in and when should you apply? Don’t forget to note the dates in your diary

AI is currently the hottest technology. Accelerators, investors and industries in MENA are actively looking for companies with relevant solutions. According to a report by Oxford Insights, the UAE became a leader in AI legislation in 2023. The country has achieved the highest AI readiness index in MENA and ranks 18th globally. We have researched which AI solutions are most relevant to different sectors and hope that our selection will increase the relevance of your product and help you get into your dream batch.

#Arabic_Language

Currently, the most potent AI models – OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini – work best with English text, mainly due to this language’s more significant volume of training data. MENA investors are therefore particularly interested in projects that offer solutions for working with Arabic texts.

Startups looking to develop solutions for working with Arabic should consider the Jais 30B model from Emirati company G42, which has been trained on 30bln parameters. Another model, Falcom 40B, developed by the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) in Abu Dhabi, is also available for research and commercial use.

#Management

Most management-related solutions entering accelerators are related to organizing the workflow, so task managers often make it into the selection.

#Healthcare

The most relevant topic in healthcare AI accelerators is disease diagnosis and treatment planning. There’s high interest not only in Cancer tech but also in solutions for other diseases.

#Investment

Investors are also seeking AI technologies to assist in selecting and assessing promising startups for investment. Nur Sweid, founder and managing partner of Global Ventures, discusses AI technologies that could help investors find the next unicorn:

#Industrial

Manufacturing in MENA and other parts of the world also seeks to enhance efficiency with AI. The most in-demand solutions help companies reduce material and cost during construction and automate industrial processes.

What AI Solutions Is the UAE Government Ready to Invest In?

🔹 In 2017, the UAE published the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031. Its goal is to make the state a leader in AI development and use it for economic growth. The UAE creates initiatives to attract talents (e.g., the golden visa) and hubs for technology development (e.g., hub71). The UAE AI and Blockchain Council is responsible for strategy implementation.

🔹 The technology needs of the public sector are either related to automating routine processes or improving public services. For example, from August to October 2023, the Ministry of Finance developed AI solutions through acceleration programs:

  • An automated service for accounting queries for state companies.
  • A registration process accelerator for federal suppliers, creating order status notifications.
  • An automated feedback collection tool using generative AI to ask follow-up questions and better understand user dissatisfaction.

Significant UAE government partnerships with companies include:

🔹 A partnership with Mastercard to create a global center for developing AI technologies for fighting financial crimes and ensuring digital security.

🔹 The Ministry of Education’s partnership with ASI (formerly Digest AI) to develop an AI-powered tutor named AI Tutor.

🔹 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman signed a partnership agreement with Abu Dhabi’s G42 company. G42 plans to use OpenAI technologies for financial, energy, healthcare, and other services.

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