Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ALETIHAD)
Aquaai, a robotics company behind a fish-shaped autonomous vehicle designed ocean conservation work, is looking at Abu Dhabi for future growth plans.
Getting a foothold in the emirate is not as simple as establishing a subsidiary at ADGM, it requires partnership in Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem. One such vehicle for collaboration is the SailGP Grand Final at Mina Zayed this weekend.
The husband-and-wife co-founders – Chief Visionary Officer Simeon Pieterkosky and Chief Executive Officer Liane Thompson – said their biomimetic robot has moved from an early version to a professional-grade system capable of long-duration monitoring, gathering real-time environmental data, and helping authorities and industry manage rising climate and coastal risks.
“We’re now based here, so we are looking for partners to scale our technology in the UAE and the growing MENA region,” Thompson said. “For us, the recognition we’ve received in Abu Dhabi is a deep honour – and we hope it becomes a catalyst for partnerships, customer growth and investors.”
Aquaai’s robotic fish, which swims using fins instead of propellers for energy efficiency, is engineered to collect data at the earliest sign of environmental change. By avoiding the use of thrusters, it prevents sediment disturbance, enabling accurate monitoring in the UAE’s shallow and often cloudy waters.
“We detect nutrient spikes before they become a problem,” Pieterkosky said.
“Heavy rain, coastal construction, aquaculture, sewage overflow – all of these can add nutrients to waterways. We geolocate issues at their earliest stages so agencies and developers can act before there’s damage.”
The team said the UAE’s ongoing coral restoration projects, expanding aquaculture initiatives and intensive coastal development make early-warning systems increasingly essential. “This region is at the very top of the global risk index for heat and water,” Thompson said. “Autonomous machines that can stay close to the source and run for long periods are crucial to understanding coral growth and protecting water quality.”
Aquaai has recently upgraded its platform to what the founders describe as a fully professional system, a decade after the idea was sparked by the couple’s daughter, then nine years old, who asked her father – a veteran robotics engineer – to build a robot for the ocean rather than land. The system has since been recognised internationally, including winning the Silicon Valley Deep Tech Unicorn Battle for AI and receiving an ocean-champion honour from SailGP.
With the global attention and growing inbound demand, the founders say scaling in the UAE hinges on investment and government backing. “We have no shortage of customer interest. What we need are the right partners and the capital to manufacture here and hire talent,” Thompson said.
Pieterkosky added that the main challenge is not robotics but alignment. “The biggest hurdle is the connection between a professional startup and the commitment from government,” he said. “Any robot can swim from A to B. SailGP picks out the best of the best that are working as a professional unit.
“And there’s a call in the UAE to come and bring all these technologies here. It’s more from a point of view where both the company and the government has to come together to sort of allow that company to actually be supported.”
