Dubai summit puts AI and money laundering in focus

Dubai: Artificial intelligence (AI), intelligence-led policing and the fight against money laundering took centre stage at a preparatory dialogue for the World Police Summit (WPS) in Dubai on Friday, bringing together ambassadors, consuls, senior law enforcement officials, UAE representatives and technology leaders a month before the international event. 

Held at the Dubai Police Officers’ Club, the session examined how emerging technologies can help law enforcement agencies respond to increasingly sophisticated digital crime, detect illicit financial networks and strengthen cross-border cooperation. 

The fifth edition of the World Police Summit will take place from November 16 to 18 at Dubai World Trade Centre under the theme “Connected for Impact: Uniting Global Policing to Safeguard Future Generations”.

The summit is being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It is organised by Dubai Police in partnership with DXB LIVE and will bring together police chiefs, policymakers, international organisations, security experts and technology providers from around the world.

Representatives from 13 countries attend dialogue

Diplomatic representatives, including ambassadors, consuls-general, consuls and other consular officials from Albania, Belarus, China, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Tajikistan attended the dialogue. 

Senior law enforcement representatives from the United States and the United Kingdom also joined senior UAE officials and technology leaders for discussions on the growing role of artificial intelligence and data-driven intelligence in modern policing. 

Titled “Technology and Intelligence in Modern Policing: AI, Innovation and Anti-Money Laundering”, the dialogue explored how AI and emerging technologies are transforming criminal investigations and enabling real-time decision-making. 

Discussions also focused on using technology and intelligence to identify financial crime, disrupt illicit financial networks and build partnerships that translate innovation into more effective policing.

More than 90 countries expected at November summit

Colonel Dr Rashid Hamdan Al Ghafri, Secretary-General of the World Police Summit and Deputy Director of Dubai Police’s General Department of Forensics and Criminology for Administrative Affairs, said the international representation at the preparatory session reflected the scale of participation expected in November. 

“Seeing so many nations represented here today is an early sign of what November will bring,” he said. 

More than 90 countries are expected to participate in the summit, with over 220 leaders from law enforcement, the private sector and academia sharing a platform. Around 150 exhibitors will showcase the latest technologies, highlighting the role of public-private partnerships in addressing policing challenges, he said. 

AI to help identify financial crime patterns

Dr Adel Alsharji, Chief Operating Officer of Presight, said financial crime crosses borders, systems and institutions, making connected and intelligence-led responses essential.

 “At Presight, we apply AI and agentic capabilities to turn complex data into trusted, actionable intelligence, helping law enforcement identify patterns earlier, coordinate decisions and disrupt illicit networks at scale,” he said.

Presight looks forward to showcasing its applied intelligence systems at the World Police Summit, he added. 

Digital and physical security increasingly linked

Russel Hammad, Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Technologies, said effective security resilience built around AI depends on interoperability between command centres and officers on patrol. 

He stressed that investigations involving digital crime and money laundering also require effective coordination with personnel working on the ground.

“Digital crime always has a physical footprint, and the lone field operative, at the last mile of a distant road, is often the one who resolves a global anti-money laundering (AML) or related investigation,” Hammad said. 

“Digital and physical security are no longer separate disciplines. They are the same attack surface,” he added.

New pavilion to connect international organisations 

The November summit will introduce an International Organisations Pavilion on the exhibition floor, led by GCCPOL, bringing together around 14 organisations, according to Afroz Abbo, Project Director of the World Police Summit. 

Among the organisations cited were ASEANAPOL, CARICOM, the GCC Criminal Information Center to Combat Drugs and CARICC.

Abbo said exhibitors from the private sector, start-ups and academia had expressed interest in connecting with government entities. The pavilion is intended to facilitate those links by bringing participating organisations together in one location.

The World Police Summit app, which is due to launch soon, will allow visitors to schedule meetings in advance and plan their participation across the three-day event, he said.

Previous summit attracted participants from more than 110 countries.

The preparatory dialogue marked the countdown to the fifth edition of the World Police Summit, which aims to provide a platform for international policing cooperation, technology exchange and partnerships across law enforcement, government, industry and academia. 

In 2025, the summit welcomed more than 922 global leaders, officials and experts from over 110 countries.