The UAE has once again reaffirmed its position as a global leader in artificial intelligence with the opening of registration for the seventh cohort of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program. Since its launch, the programme has graduated more than 450 professionals from over 100 government and private-sector organisations. This year’s edition arrives at an exciting moment, with a sharpened focus on Generative AI and Agentic AI, two of the most transformative technology trends shaping economies worldwide. For professionals across the public and private sectors, this is a genuine opportunity to build real, applicable AI capability from some of the world’s leading academic institutions.
What Is the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program?
The UAE Artificial Intelligence Program is a flagship national capability-building initiative led by the National Program for Artificial Intelligence, designed to equip the country’s workforce with the skills needed to design, deploy, and govern AI systems responsibly. Now in its seventh cohort, the programme has become one of the most respected AI upskilling initiatives in the region, consistently drawing participants from government, semi-government, and private-sector organisations who want to move from AI awareness to genuine AI fluency.
What sets this programme apart is its consistency and evolution. Each cohort has adapted to reflect where AI technology actually stands, and this year, that means placing generative and agentic AI systems firmly at the centre of the curriculum.
A Timely Focus: Generative AI and Agentic AI
The seventh cohort’s focus on these two technologies could not be better timed. Generative AI has already reshaped how organisations approach content creation, code development, and decision support, while Agentic AI, systems capable of planning, reasoning, and acting with a degree of autonomy, is quickly becoming the next major frontier for enterprises and governments alike.
By centring the programme around these two areas, the National Program for Artificial Intelligence is preparing participants not just to use today’s AI tools, but to understand and manage the systems that will define the next several years of digital transformation. This is particularly relevant for government entities exploring autonomous service delivery, and for private-sector organisations looking to deploy AI agents across operations, customer service, and internal workflows.
Programme Timeline and Eligibility
The seventh cohort of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program will run from September 2026 to January 2027, giving participants a structured, multi-month journey rather than a rushed crash course. This timeline allows for deeper engagement with course material, practical application of concepts, and meaningful interaction with the academic faculty involved.
Eligibility has been kept intentionally broad. The programme is open to employees from:
- Government entities
- Semi-government entities
- Private-sector organisations
This inclusive approach reflects a broader philosophy behind the UAE’s AI strategy: that national AI readiness depends not just on public-sector capability, but on a workforce-wide understanding of how these technologies function, where they add value, and how they should be governed.
How to Register for the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program
Registration for the seventh cohort is open to employees from UAE government, semi-government, and private-sector organisations. Interested candidates can register by contacting “program@ai.gov.ae”.
Two Tracks: Technical and Professional
A standout feature of this cohort is the availability of separate technical and professional tracks, each covering the development, application, and governance of AI systems from a different angle.
- The technical track is designed for participants who want hands-on exposure to architecture, programming, model development, and hands-on experimentation.
- The professional track is geared toward decision-makers, policy professionals, and managers who need a strong working understanding of AI capabilities, use cases, and governance frameworks, without necessarily building the systems themselves.
This dual-track structure is a smart design choice. It acknowledges that meaningful AI adoption across an organisation requires both engineers who can build responsibly and leaders who can govern wisely, and it lets each participant follow the path most relevant to their role.
World-Class Academic Partnerships
Perhaps the most compelling part of this cohort is who’s teaching it. The programme is delivered in collaboration with the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, and participants will have the opportunity to learn from international academics and experts like Professor Nigel Mehdi from the University of Oxford, Professor Kashif Rajpoot from the University of Birmingham, Dr David Johnson from Uppsala University, and Dr Farah Shamout from NYU Abu Dhabi.
This calibre of academic involvement gives the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program The programme’s academic involvement gives participants exposure to faculty and expertise from universities including Birmingham, Oxford, Uppsala and NYU Abu Dhabi. Participants aren’t simply working through generic online modules; they are engaging with faculty from some of the most respected AI and computer science departments in the world, bringing global research perspective directly into the UAE’s public and private sectors.
Why This Matters for the UAE’s AI Ambitions
The seventh cohort of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program doesn’t exist in isolation. It’s part of a much larger national commitment to building a workforce that can execute on the UAE’s ambitious AI strategy, one that includes major investments in sovereign AI infrastructure, AI-native government services, and a national push to become a global reference point for applied artificial intelligence.
Programmes like this one are the connective tissue between high-level national AI strategy and day-to-day organisational execution. Without a skilled, AI-literate workforce, even the most ambitious national AI vision struggles to translate into real outcomes. By training professionals across sectors in these emerging technologies specifically, the UAE is making sure its workforce is ready for the technologies that will matter most over the next several years, not just the ones that mattered a few years ago.
What Will You Learn?
The seventh cohort introduces an expanded focus on Agentic AI through five specialised modules. Participants will explore:
- Generative AI
- Agentic AI
- Data strategies for machine learning
- Agentic AI capabilities and applications
- Building, developing and governing Agentic AI systems
Connecting to Dubai’s D33 Economic Agenda
This kind of structured, sector-wide capability building also aligns closely with Dubai’s D33 Economic Agenda, which aims to double the size of Dubai’s economy and cement the emirate’s position among the top global cities over the coming decade. A central pillar of that vision is technological leadership, and artificial intelligence, particularly generative and agentic systems, sits right at the heart of the industries D33 is designed to accelerate: digital economy, advanced services, and future-facing enterprise sectors.
Initiatives like the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program directly feed into that ambition. A workforce trained in AI development, application, and governance is exactly the kind of human capital that D33’s targets depend on, turning high-level economic goals into practical, on-the-ground capability across government and industry alike.
Final Thoughts
The seventh cohort of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program represents a meaningful step forward for professionals across government, semi-government, and private-sector organisations who want to build genuine, applicable expertise in tomorrow’s most consequential AI technologies. With a well-structured technical and professional track, a five-month timeline running from September 2026 to January 2027, and access to faculty from leading institutions across the UK, Sweden, and the UAE, this is one of the more substantive AI upskilling opportunities currently available in the region.
For organisations sending teams through AI training, the next challenge is turning that knowledge into practical systems, workflows and measurable business outcomes. H8verse helps organisations bridge that gap through AI strategy, development and digital transformation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to apply for the UAE Artificial Intelligence Program’s seventh cohort?
Employees from government entities, semi-government entities, and private-sector organisations across the UAE are eligible to register for this cohort.
What is the difference between the technical and professional tracks?
The technical track focuses on the hands-on development and deployment of AI systems, while the professional track focuses on application, use cases, and governance for decision-makers and managers.