AI Innovation Program

AI Innovation Program — Industry Challenge Matching

Connects United Arab Emirates manufacturers and developers through challenge matching and support from a shared innovation financing pool.

The AI Innovation Program (version 2) is a challenge-matching initiative operated by the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), announced at the MIITE Forum in June 2024. The programme connects UAE industry partners that have published specific AI problems with technology developers and AI startups capable of solving them. Participation in the challenge-matching network is free for technology developers. Industry challenge partners in the published cohort include AD Ports (automated cargo counting and logistics optimisation), Sign4l (defence AI for analytics and risk), Strata (generative AI for contract lifecycle management), and RAK Ceramics (AI tile shade matching and colour optimisation).

Financial support for solution development and implementation is delivered through a USD 100 million (AED 370 million) facility at the Emirates Development Bank (EDB). This is a financing facility—bank loans, not grants—and carries standard EDB credit qualification requirements separate from the challenge-matching process itself. Technology developers and AI startups, including those not registered in the UAE, may be eligible to respond to challenges, though specific eligibility criteria are not published on the programme page and must be confirmed directly with MoIAT.

The AI Innovation Program operates on a rolling basis; there are no published application cycles or deadline windows in the available materials. Interested technology developers should monitor moiat.gov.ae/en/ai-innovation-program-v2 for updated challenge listings and contact MoIAT directly to initiate participation. Given the EDB financing component requires separate bank qualification, developers requiring capital to build their solution should engage EDB in parallel with the MoIAT challenge process.