Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, during his UAE visit in November 2023, took note of the latest advancements made in the Gulf nation’s cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) scenes, innovations which are leaving their imprints upon the Emirate’s economic transformation.
During Microsoft’s ‘AI, a New Era’ event, Satya Nadella met with Emirati business leaders, government officials and developers, apart from emphasizing the AI’s role in unlocking new opportunities to accelerate the UAE’s digital economy and transforming people’s lives.
“This new age of AI will drive innovation and has the potential to expand opportunity and growth around the world – including in the UAE. It’s inspiring to see so many developers and businesses in the Emirates already applying AI to address business and societal challenges,” Satya Nadella remarked.
Microsoft, which has had a presence in the UAE for over 30 years, has now chosen the country as the location for its first data centres in the Middle East.
Microsoft’s cloud regions, while playing pivotal roles in the Gulf nation’s digital transformation, are now serving as foundations for the deployment of modern technologies like AI.
A PwC report also predicted a USD 320 billion AI industry in the Middle East by 2030, with UAE likely having the largest share in this market segment.
Satya Nadella also announced the upcoming availability of Azure OpenAI Service from Microsoft’s UAE cloud data centres. The service will give its clients access to powerful AI models like GPT-4, Codex, and DALL-E 2, which can be further used to develop tools like virtual assistants.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s 365 Copilot AI assistant has now been made available for certain enterprise customers.
While the tech venture’s 365 Copilot system will come with a monthly premium user fee of USD 30, enterprise customers will be required to commit to at least 300 users, before getting on the Microsoft list to access the new AI-powered assistant which, as per the Satya Nadella-led company, will change the way Office documents are created and edited.