Dubai: The UAE has launched three initiatives with the World Economic Forum (WEF), including a $1 million Global Innovation Challenge focused on agentic artificial intelligence, a centre to turn emerging technologies and economic opportunities into policy, and a programme to spotlight 20 future leaders under the age of 30.
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Mohammad Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs, announced the initiatives at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, bringing together leaders and entrepreneurs from more than 100 countries.
The Global Centre for Future Opportunities will be established through a UAE-WEF partnership to translate technological advances and economic opportunities into policies, he said.
While the Global Innovation Challenge and Agentic AI Award will offer a $1 million prize, with 10,000 Global Shapers across 150 countries expected to develop solutions to modern-day challenges. The winners will be announced at the next meeting in 2027, said the Minister.
The third initiative, Future 20, will spotlight 20 people under the age of 30 who have the potential to influence the future, lead communities and turn ideas into opportunities for millions of people.
“The future is shaped by technology, resources and leaders who make the decisions,” Al Gergawi said, outlining the need to turn opportunities into tangible results.
A changing world
The meeting is taking place amid geopolitical turmoil, including the US-Iran war, now well into its eighth month and spreading to more countries across the region. The conflict adds to uncertainty over security, trade, energy prices and the wider global economy.
Al Gergawi said the UAE's partnership with the WEF began in 2008 and had evolved through initiatives that brought together global leaders to discuss emerging challenges. The meeting marks a new chapter, focused on global future leaders.
“Eighteen years ago, in this place, we asked how to prepare for the future. How do we lead a future whose rules are constantly changing?” he said. “The world has not only changed — the rules of change have changed.”
He pointed to three major transformations shaping the world: shifts in the global balance of power, rapid advances in technology and artificial intelligence, and mounting pressure on resources, energy and the climate.
Al Gergawi cited more than 60 armed conflicts in 2025, the highest number since 1946, and global military spending of $3 trillion, the largest annual total since the end of the Cold War.
He also highlighted growing pressure on public finances, with global public debt at 94 per cent of gross domestic product in 2025 and projected to reach 100 per cent by 2029, limiting governments' ability to invest in the future.
On technology, he raised questions about how artificial intelligence could change human innovation, including whether AI systems would eventually develop new tools and machines and how this would reshape the skills people need.
Climate and resource pressures pose another major challenge, he said, adding that progress would depend on how quickly solutions could be put into practice.
Five qualities of future leaders
Al Gergawi said leaders would need five qualities to navigate the changing global landscape: the ability to prepare for crises before they happen, continuous learning and adaptation, wisdom in using technology, the ability to build partnerships, and the capacity to turn vision into results.
“What makes a successful leader today will hold us back tomorrow,” he said, adding that effective leaders must have the courage to reconsider their assumptions rather than believe they have all the answers.
While technology and AI are expanding human capabilities, wisdom will determine how these tools are used, he said. Leadership should ultimately be measured by the impact of decisions on people's lives.
Young people must shape decisions
Alois Zwinggi, President and CEO of the World Economic Forum and Principal Chairman of the Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, said the gathering marked a new chapter in the organisation's partnership with the UAE, bringing together established leaders and younger generations who will carry responsibility for the future.
He acknowledged the difficult geopolitical environment, saying uncertainty was reshaping security, trade and trust, while technological advances were outpacing the ability of many institutions to adapt.
Economic models were also being tested by fragmentation and uneven growth, while climate and nature-related risks had become immediate realities rather than distant scenarios, he said.
Zwinggi said younger generations were increasingly focused on economic opportunity, the future of work, the potential of AI and the institutions they wanted to trust.
“They are not asking to be protected from change. They are asking to shape change with dignity, agency, and purpose,” he said.
He urged young leaders to combine ambition and imagination with the discipline to build networks and work with diverse stakeholders, while asking senior leaders to remain open to new ideas and be willing to unlearn established approaches.
“Tomorrow is not a serious enough word for the responsibilities they already carry today,” Zwinggi said.
He called for cooperation to remain central to decision-making, with AI expanding human agency, economic growth supporting dignity and resilience being built before crises occur.
“Dialogue and cooperation are not luxuries for easier times. They are essential precisely when the world is under pressure,” he said.