Your future CV may be defined by what held your attention, says Dubai Future Foundation CEO

Dubai: The next decade may be shaped less by technical skills and more by what captures and holds a person’s focus. Your career, your value and perhaps even your national competitiveness could soon be measured not by credentials, but by the depth of your attention and the meaning you can extract from the world around you, according to Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation. He opened the Dubai Future Forum by laying out three shifts he believes will redefine the coming decade.

Belhoul pointed to a sharp global decline in deep focus. Uninterrupted concentration, once measured in minutes, is now counted in seconds. He argued that this change goes far beyond productivity or workplace performance. Focus, in his view, is becoming a form of capital that determines creativity, insight and resilience. “Focus is not only about productivity, it’s about thinking deeply and creating what matters,” he told the audience.

He suggested that the future CV may look very different, defined not by certificates or job titles, but by the ability to sustain meaningful attention in a world full of noise. The idea resonated widely at a forum built around forecasting, where participants were asked to consider how personal cognitive strength could become a measurable advantage.

The second shift he outlined centred on the future of expertise. In an era where AI can scan, summarise and synthesise information instantly, the volume of available knowledge has never been greater. Yet he argued that individuals may feel more informed, yet in reality, understand less. “We are satisfied by need for information, but becoming less informed,” he said, recalling the early days of the internet when similar fears of overload eventually gave way to new behaviours.

Belhoul suggested that the next generation of experts will be defined by their ability to extract meaning, not data. The race, he said, will not be about who accesses the most information, but who can make sense of it in ways that guide better decisions.

He identified a third shift that reflects cultural and emotional change. AI companions, once experimental tools, are now forming bonds with millions of users, offering comfort without judgment and consistency without interruption. Belhoul noted that this market is expected to double by 2032, raising questions about how future societies will define friendship, empathy and trust. “Our question is, how will we redefine human connection, especially the feeling of being understood, becomes something we can access on demand,” he said.

Taken together, these signals point to a world where technology amplifies long-standing human vulnerabilities rather than replacing them. Belhoul urged participants to consider the deeper implications of these shifts, asking whether a nation’s most valuable asset may soon be the cognitive strength of its people. He described this as “national cognitive protection,” a concept that measures progress through a shared focus, strong networks, and the collective ability to generate breakthroughs.