Women in AI is a strategic advantage for UAE, says TII’s Dr Najwa Aaraj

Progress is not measured by ambition alone, but by who is empowered to shape it. As we mark Emirati Women’s Day, it’s worth asking what authentic leadership in science and technology looks like.

Not symbolically, but structurally. Who is at the table when decisions are made? Who is building the systems that will shape our society for decades to come?

The UAE has never accepted the premise that women in technology are an exception. Our leadership has long placed women at the center of national progress, whether in space exploration, renewable energy, or frontier sciences.

That vision is clear in the UAE’s knowledge-based economy, where women are expected to contribute as innovators, scientists and decision-makers.

For me, this is personal. I was raised around women who succeeded in medicine and finance, careers traditionally seen as rigorous but socially acceptable for women.

My path veered elsewhere. I was drawn to mathematics, to abstraction, to the logic of systems. That led me to cryptography, then to artificial intelligence, and ultimately to cybersecurity. I didn’t pursue technology to prove anything. I pursued it because it was the best way I knew to solve complex, real-world problems.

Along the way, like many women in technical fields, I encountered doubt. Not about the work but about my place in it. Those moments didn’t deter me. They clarified my purpose not just to participate, but to lead.

At the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), that vision comes to life every day. We are home to more than 355 women scientists and engineers, including 157 Emirati women, working across AI, robotics, quantum technologies, cryptography and space science. Many of them are leading AI research projects, from advancing our Falcon large language models to developing ethical AI systems, showing that women are at the forefront of shaping the UAE’s AI landscape. They are building infrastructure, shaping standards, and setting the pace for a new era of Emirati-led innovation.

Their contributions are proof of the UAE’s strategic capability.

Because globally, the picture is very different. According to Randstad, women represent less than one-third of AI professionals and just 18  per cent of AI researchers. The imbalance isn’t about interest or aptitude. It is about access, representation, and systems that determine who gets to lead. In a field as consequential as AI that is rapidly reshaping industries, geopolitics, and governance, that imbalance isn’t just unjust. It’s a liability.

UAE is making inclusion a ‘national advantage’

Here in the UAE, we are taking a different path, inclusion is not treated as a moral imperative, but as a national advantage.

One example is the NexTech Program, the flagship talent development initiative of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC). Designed exclusively for Emirati nationals, it has already placed 100 students, many of them women, at leading universities including Cambridge University, Yale, and CalTech.

By contributing to advanced projects abroad and bringing their expertise home, these women are emerging as future leaders in transformative technology, including AI. Their success stories demonstrate the UAE’s commitment to ensuring that women are central to its scientific future.

Emirati women in AI

And make no mistake: the stakes are high. The next generation of Emirati women in AI will be the ones who ensure that the UAE’s technological progress is inclusive, ethical, and globally competitive. They will write algorithms that drive our industries, design intelligent systems that serve society, and create solutions that we cannot yet imagine.

As one of the few women globally leading a deep tech research institute, I take seriously the responsibility to advance science, to lead and to mentor. I often meet young Emirati women who ask me how I found my place in this field. My answer is always the same: I didn’t wait for permission. As women, we belong here.

Every young woman considering a path in science and technology should have the courage to be bold. Your intelligence, creativity, and resilience are valuable. They are essential. This field needs your insight at the core.

But for this to happen, inclusion cannot remain aspirational. It must be operational. We must continue to invest in mentorship, education, and opportunity.

We must empower women in AI to unlock innovation, strengthen national competitiveness, and secure the UAE’s leadership in the technologies of tomorrow. If innovation is to serve all of society, then all of society must be involved in shaping it.

This Emirati Women’s Day is not just a celebration of what has been achieved but a reminder of what’s still at stake.  AI is already embedded in our economies, public services, and security infrastructure. If we want systems that are effective, ethical, and resilient, they must reflect the full spectrum of human intelligence, and that includes women.

When women rise in AI, they lift more than themselves. They lift the standards, the systems, and the nation rises with them.

Read: Inclusivity in the workplace: A strategic imperative for the UAE