UAE puts tolerance at the heart of its AI and cyber resilience strategy: Dr Al Kuwaiti

Abu Dhabi: The UAE has set out a unifying message for the region’s AI future, urging countries, industries and communities to work together to build digital resilience. Speaking at the TRENDS 2nd Annual Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence, Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Government Cybersecurity Council, said the country’s approach is rooted in tolerance, cooperation and shared responsibility.

“Our message here, message of tolerance, and using AI to bring everybody together,” he said, framing the UAE’s outlook as one that relies on collective effort rather than isolated national strategies.

Dr Al Kuwaiti said the UAE’s move toward becoming an AI nation is underway across multiple sectors, from healthcare and energy to aviation and education. He stressed that this national transformation requires broad participation and trust.

“UAE vision is moving towards an AI nation, and we cannot do this ourselves. We need everybody to help and really support in that perspective.”

The emphasis on unity, he said, is not only about building technologies but about shaping a society that can withstand misinformation, digital manipulation and emerging cyber threats. This sets the stage for the country’s wider cybersecurity strategy.

As adoption accelerates, so do risks. Dr Al Kuwaiti explained that the UAE categorises its cyber threat landscape into three areas: cyber crime, cyber terrorism and cyber warfare.

“We develop them into three categories, cyber crimes, cyber terrorism and cyber welfare,” he said.

He warned that deepfakes, phishing attacks and fraud schemes have become easier to deploy, making cybercrime increasingly accessible to bad actors.

Cyber terrorism, he added, aims to damage social cohesion.“Sending the wrong message, sending the misinformation and disinformation across the society, radicalisation messages really trying to penetrate many of the unity that we have.”

He also pointed to cyber activity linked to geopolitical tensions, noting how recent international conflicts have shown the disruptive impact of digital escalation and manipulated content.

“The escalations of the social media and how using and abusing the deep fake in order to send the wrong message,” he said, referring to global examples from the region and beyond.

Dr Al Kuwaiti said the UAE’s National Cybersecurity Strategy centres on five pillars, all designed to reinforce digital trust and ensure resilience as the country advances its smart nation ambitions.

Governance forms the foundation, supported by stronger legislation, clearer policies and coordinated frameworks across government and private sectors.

Technology sovereignty follows, driven by hybrid environments, advanced capabilities and partnerships with trusted global players.

The third pillar focuses on protection of critical infrastructure. “We need to protect those critical infrastructures. We need to protect those data. We need to protect everybody who uses those critical infrastructures.”

Sectors such as energy, healthcare and aviation, he said, depend on uninterrupted and secure digital systems.

Innovation and partnerships complete the framework. Dr Al Kuwaiti emphasised that the UAE’s progress depends on collaboration. “We cannot do any of those four pillars and more, except with this great partnership.”

He added that knowledge itself is created through connection. “Knowledge is power. How we create that knowledge is by really connecting, coordinating many of these data.”

Despite rapid advances in AI, he said human awareness remains the centre of national cyber resilience. “The most important thing is a human being. The centric of our own mission is the human being.”

The UAE’s recent focus on community and family aligns with this priority. “We need to empower those people with this great dialogue,” he said, urging wider awareness so society becomes the first line of defence against misinformation and cyber manipulation.

To achieve this, he said the UAE continues to push what he describes as the “fourth P”: public, private and people partnership. “We cannot do this ourselves. We need everybody to help us in shaping the future of the UAE and the region as well.”