Dubai: The AI-FinTech hub propelling the next wave of growth
Dubai has solidified its position as a global powerhouse for FinTech and AI innovation, and DIFC remains committed to driving the technological transformation that is shaping the future of finance both regionally and globally.
Mohammad AlBlooshi
Published: 21/03/2025
5 min read
The AI-FinTech connection is expected to set the stage for the next wave of growth in financial services. The market value for AI in FinTech stands at USD 44bn in 2024, estimated to exceed USD 50bn by 2029. AI is revolutionising the delivery and usage of FinTech in daily life. From a banking perspective, AI lends itself in refining economic policy and better assessment of risks to deliver faster and effective mitigation strategies. Supervision becomes far more efficient and effective with data-rich insights.
Dubai has rapidly emerged as a global nexus for FinTech and AI innovation, attracting a diverse array of unicorns, scale-ups, and start-ups. The city’s strategic location, coupled with its world-class infrastructure and supportive regulatory environment, makes it an ideal launchpad for cutting-edge technologies.
FinTech drives innovation in processing, security, operations, personalisation, and analysis to promote financial stability and increase competitiveness of the sector. For example, AI in identity verification is transforming fraud prevention with accuracy by using biometric authentication to deter fraud, for digital onboarding, and more.
Beyond the complex functionalities, AI improves efficiency through sheer automation of repetitive tasks. Easily extracting information from reports and other interfaces, banks and financial institutions can create comprehensive reports that provide favourable insights to vastly improve quality-driven workflows. Thanks to AI, compliance is now faster and simpler.
Dubai remains committed to delivering a trifecta of experienced human capital, a secure and regulated environment, and access to funding, to drive this transformation.
The UAE’s leadership recognises the value of attracting high-quality human capital, a goal it continues to realise through its burgeoning population, driven in large part by the country’s unmatched lifestyle benefits, zero income tax policy, and long-term residency options. BCG’s Decoding Global Talent 2024 report reinforces Dubai’s appeal for global talent, with the emirate emerging as the third most attractive destination for work, as ranked by respondents who were willing to move to the city. The report suggests an overwhelming 92 per cent of leaders of global employers say attracting and retaining talent is among their top three priorities.
The UAE Strategy for AI is expected to achieve the targets of the UAE Centennial 2071, making the country the first in the field of AI investments by the year 2031 in various sectors. This will make the UAE a new, vital market for AI worldwide, in addition to being a leading country in applying technology and AI in the financial sector and its stock markets. This progressive momentum attracts skilled individuals, FinTechs, and innovation companies to facilitating environments such as the Dubai AI Campus to pool their expertise in finding the solutions to the financial issues of tomorrow.
Initiatives like the Dubai AI Campus and the Innovation Hub provide a secure infrastructure and environment to develop next-generation technology. Supported by favourable regulations that are accepted worldwide, innovators can achieve better outcomes, optimise operations with their solutions, and provide insights that are transformative and pragmatic. In the UAE, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, Dubai International Financial Centre, and the Central Bank, have outlined regulations and frameworks related to organisations in FinTech.
The rapid adoption of technology within financial services and the many regulatory frameworks have reinforced the UAE’s pivotal role within the FinTech space. The UAE’s fintech market is set to expand from USD 3.16bn in 2024 to USD 5.71bn by 2029, whereas AI is expected to contribute USD 96bn to the economy by 2030. In April this year His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Future Technology and Digital Economy, launched the Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence, a plan that aims to adopt AI within all sectors and improve business productivity by 50 per cent and grow the economy by USD 27bn. Heavyweights in the industry including Microsoft, Google, Open AI and G42 have made significant investments in this space.
With the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) targeting to place the emirate among the top four global financial hubs by 2033, the role of Dubai, not only as a regional, but a global hub for FinTech, AI and Web3, will play a significant role in reaching that goal, while continuing to attract like-minded visionaries to share, finance and launch their groundbreaking ideas.