SARA ALZAABI (DUBAI)
Young leaders from around the world gathered in Dubai for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, highlighting the importance of collaboration, emerging technologies and innovation in addressing future challenges.
On the sidelines of the meeting, participants told Aletihad that artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability, leadership skills and international cooperation would play an increasingly important role in shaping the future.
In an interview with Aletihad, Kelsey Goodman, Head of Middle East and North Africa at the World Economic Forum, highlighted the importance of bringing young leaders into global discussions and translating their ideas into action.
“This meeting is really a space for dialogue and collaboration to bring young leaders into our global conversations,” she said.
Goodman explained that the Forum’s youth survey revealed a generation increasingly focused on taking action and preparing for technological and economic changes.
She added that young people were considering how technological developments could help build a more sustainable and resilient world. “This meeting is all about creating that space for dialogue and moving that into a place of action,” she said.
Similarly, Yousef Yousef, CEO and Founder of LG Sonic, a Netherlands-based company and a Young Global Leaders (YGL) alumnus, specialising in water technologies, stressed the importance of preparing future leaders to address global challenges.
He explained that the gathering brought together participants from around the world to discuss the skills required to navigate uncertainty and strengthen resilience in the coming decades.
“We are gathering from the whole world to discuss the future challenges, but also which kind of skills will the next generation leaders need to develop to be able to be resilient for the next decades,” he said.
Yousef also identified artificial intelligence as a major challenge, emphasising the importance of ensuring that developing countries benefit from technological progress.
“One of the challenges that we are facing, of course, is the AI and its impact, but also we should not have the global south missed out of the new generation,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr Madeline Gannon of Atonaton USA, an artist invited by the World Economic Forum, presented an interactive robotics project exploring how humans might interact with increasingly intelligent machines.
“I'm speaking about what our future with robotics and physical AI could be when a lot of our inanimate world is waking up and getting smarter and how we can tune that to be a lot more joyful and kind and curious,” she said.
Dr Gannon explained that her project featured a family of sand-dwelling robots with different behaviours, including machines that burrow underground, approach visitors and retreat when disturbed.
The team also used sand collected from Dubai’s desert to create small robots that leave footprints as they move, demonstrating how machines could respond to human presence.
She said the project aimed to explore more imaginative relationships between people and intelligent machines, describing Dubai as an ideal setting because of its focus on innovation.
In addition, Wafa AI Obaidat, Founder of Playbook Bahrain, and a YGL alumna, from the Class of 2023, highlighted the importance of international networking and collaboration.
“This is such a wonderful gathering and meeting of some of the most brilliant minds in the world,” she said.
AI Obaidat attended the meeting representing Playbook, an AI-powered network focused on expanding women’s access to wealth, capital and ownership.
“Playbook is an AI-powered network with a mission of increasing women's access, wealth, capital and ownership,” she explained.
She added that the gathering offered opportunities to exchange knowledge, connect with colleagues and contribute to discussions on future challenges.