Tareq’s view
The competition over tech is heating up in the region, with opportunities in sectors such as defense, artificial intelligence, and alternative energy — three areas the UAE has prioritized and has gained first-mover advantage in.
The UAE has also emerged as a convening power for tech talent and a global center for business leadership. This is demonstrated in the Top Tech Leaders 2026 list compiled by Forbes Middle East. The UAE dominates the chart, with 46% of the industry executives based there. What is more telling is the sub-ranking covering regional heads of multinational companies. On that list, 83% are based in the UAE.
The UAE’s performance becomes even more impressive when its population size is considered. The 22 states that make up the Arab world are home to more than 500 million people, with only about 2% in the UAE. Some of the region’s most populous states — including Algeria and Iraq, both of which are oil exporters with a population of around 50 million — do not feature on the list at all.
The economy closest to the UAE in terms of the number of tech leaders is Saudi Arabia, which accounts for 27%. In a region increasingly embroiled in economic competition, these numbers matter.
Whether the executive clustering in the UAE ultimately translates into sustained indigenous innovation remains an open question. What is unquestionable, however, is that the UAE is not only attracting tech but also fostering its own. When considering unicorns in the MENA region (excluding Israel), the UAE accounts for an estimated 42% of the total that have emerged to date, followed by Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, both with 25%.
Saudi Arabia is attempting to take the mantle of economic leadership in the region with a more interventionist approach, including requirements designed to force multinationals to open regional headquarters in the kingdom. While this strategy may shift formal headquarters’ addresses, it remains unclear whether it will help Riyadh replicate the UAE’s ecosystem effects.
The challenge with developing and attracting corporate leadership is not addressed by strong-arming the private sector. The environment in the UAE developed over decades of state investment and business-friendly policy innovations, rather than by one-off decrees. The UAE steadily improved its ease of doing business and underwent several rounds of reducing bureaucracy.
Several structural features appear to explain the clustering in the UAE, including regulatory predictability, an attractive lifestyle for expatriate executives, and long-term state support for the tech sector. The UAE also has a track record of stability, having undergone three smooth leadership changes since 1971 while remaining committed to its long-term development vision. For multinationals looking to set up international bases, institutional longevity and a track record of stable internal politics matter.
As it stands, few in the Arab world can offer world-class infrastructure, a business-friendly environment, enthusiastic government support, low corruption, and political predictability and stability. The UAE’s advantage is not a first-mover advantage alone — it stems from decades of investment in internal competitiveness and human capital development. Replicating the model to succeed in the global competition over tech will require structural changes, in addition to a large checkbook.
Tareq Alotaiba is a Fellow at the Belfer Center in Harvard University. He has 12 years of experience in economic policy, foreign affairs, and national security with the Abu Dhabi and UAE Federal governments. An Abu Dhabi native, he is currently pursuing a master’s degree in security studies at Georgetown University.
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