In recent years, Dubai has accelerated its push to simplify business setup, strengthen data-led governance, and remove friction across the investor journey. At the centre of this shift is the Dubai Unified Licence (DUL), a single source of verified business identity that is already reshaping how companies interact with banks, regulators, and government services across the emirate.

In this interview, Salwa Aladidi, director of the Business Data Management Department at the Dubai Business Registration and Licensing Corporation (DBLC), discusses how unified data systems are transforming everything from banking access and licensing efficiency to regulatory oversight.

Aladidi also explains how Dubai is moving toward a more connected, intelligence-led ecosystem that supports faster business growth while strengthening trust and transparency across the economy.

Against the backdrop of ongoing global economic and geopolitical uncertainty, what factors continue to make Dubai a stable and attractive platform for businesses and investors?

Dubai’s strength lies not only in its business-friendly environment, but in its proven ability to navigate periods of disruption and emerge stronger. The emirate has successfully managed global financial crises, the Covid-19 pandemic, and periods of regional uncertainty, and its response to each has been defined by the same qualities: decisive leadership, agility, adaptability and coordinated actions across government and the private sector. The current environment is no exception. The situation in Dubai remains stable, with public services operational and key sectors, including aviation, logistics, trade, and tourism, continuing to function.

Dubai has one of the world’s most advanced integrated systems for managing periods of disruption, built through years of institutional preparation and public-private coordination. This institutional readiness has been reinforced through decisive economic action. The Dhs1bn economic incentive package effective from April 1, demonstrates the speed and resolve with which Dubai’s leadership responds to support businesses and maintain economic momentum. Measures include the deferral of a range of government and licensing fees for three months, relief for the hospitality sector including the postponement of sales fees and the Tourism Dirham, and the extension of customs data grace periods from 30 to 90 days.

This resilience and action, combined with Dubai’s track record of recovery and growth, continues to reinforce its position as a stable and globally competitive hub for business and investment.

The Dubai Unified License is often described as a step-change for business identity and verification, how exactly is it reshaping banking access and reducing friction for companies operating in Dubai?

The Dubai Unified Licence (DUL), launched by Dubai Business Registration and Licensing Corporation (DBLC), part of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), has fundamentally changed how business identity is established, verified, and used across Dubai’s wider enterprise ecosystem. Since its rollout, more than 900,000 DULs have been issued to businesses across the emirate, reflecting the scale at which the system is now embedded into the business landscape.

What makes this significant is that business identity is no longer fragmented across multiple licences, jurisdictions, and datasets.

Today, every business in Dubai is anchored to a single, government-verified identity that consolidates legal structure, ownership, licensed activities, branches, and authorised signatories into one consistent and trusted source of data.

The practical impact has been considerable. Our partnership with Emirates NBD, one of the first banks integrated into the DUL framework it has cut the average time to open a business bank account which shows how significantly the system is changing the day-to-day experience for businesses.

Beyond banking, the DUL enables more seamless interactions across government and semi-government services, including the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Dubai Trade, and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). Businesses now engage with essential services through a single verified identity, reducing duplication, improving data quality, and significantly enhancing ease of doing business.

Rather than repeatedly re-establishing credentials with each new entity, businesses engage through a trusted, standardised identity layer, shifting the process from repeated verification to faster validation, in turn improving confidence, transparency, and speed across the ecosystem.

Dubai consistently ranks high on ease of doing business. What specific structural or regulatory shifts in recent years have had the most tangible impact on improving the investor journey?

The most consequential shift has been structural rather than incremental: Dubai has moved from improving individual services in isolation to redesigning the entire investor journey around the needs of the business. This distinction matters as it explains why the impact has been felt across the lifecycle rather than at a single point of interaction.

The first dimension of this has been the transition to a fully digital, end-to-end journey through the Invest in Dubai platform. Rather than navigating multiple disconnected services, investors can now complete key steps through a single integrated interface, significantly reducing handoffs, duplication, and processing time.

The second catalyst has been targeted regulatory reform, including the expansion of 100 per cent foreign ownership, the streamlining of licensing requirements, and the elimination of redundant approvals, all of which have materially improved the speed and simplicity of market entry. This has created a more flexible operating environment without unnecessary administrative complexity.

The third shift has been the introduction of unified identity and data systems, principally the DUL and the Dubai Investor Number, which allow verified business information to be reused across multiple business touchpoints instead of being resubmitted at every stage.

Together, these changes have enabled Dubai to move from a transaction-based model to a lifecycle-based one, where the focus is not simply on completing administrative steps, but on enabling investors to move seamlessly from setup to operation and long-term growth.

From your vantage point, where are businesses still facing bottlenecks when setting up or scaling in Dubai, and how is DBLC working to eliminate these gaps?

At DBLC, our approach is firmly anchored in the voice of the customer, which serves as the primary guide for how we identify, prioritise, and address bottlenecks across the investor journey. We continuously capture investor feedback across every touchpoint from platform interactions to direct engagement and combine this with journey analytics to ensure that our improvements are driven by real customer needs.

Through this, we see that bottlenecks today are less about core processes, and more about the overall experience across multiple touchpoints. From a customer perspective, this includes how easily businesses can navigate next steps after licensing, how clearly requirements are understood, and how smoothly they transition into full operations.

For example, voice of customer insights consistently highlighted banking onboarding as a key friction point. In response, and guided by this feedback, we worked closely with partners to enable greater reliance on government-verified data reducing duplication, improving consistency, and supporting a faster, more predictable experience.

This same voice of customer approach continues to shape how we refine the broader journey. We are making the experience more intuitive, transparent, and connected simplifying guidance, improving clarity of requirements, and ensuring that services across entities are better aligned from the investor’s perspective.

The direction is clear: the voice of the customer is directly shaping how the journey evolves ensuring businesses can move from setup to growth with greater ease and confidence.

Digital transformation and AI are central to Dubai’s agenda, how are these technologies being deployed within licensing and data management to move from reactive governance to predictive, intelligence-led regulation?

The most tangible demonstration of how we address friction is the banking onboarding journey. Before DUL integration, opening a business bank account took an average of 65 days, whereas today it takes just five. That improvement came directly from listening to what businesses told us was slowing them down, then working with banking partners to build a solution grounded in government-verified data.

At DBLC, our approach is anchored in continuous business feedback, which serves as the primary guide for how we identify, prioritise, and address bottlenecks across the investor journey. We capture investor input across every touchpoint, from platform interactions to direct engagement, and combine this with journey analytics to ensure improvements are driven by real customer needs.

What this reveals is that bottlenecks today are less about core processes, and more about the coherence of the experience across multiple touchpoints: how easily businesses can navigate next steps after licensing, how clearly requirements are communicated, and how smoothly they transition into full operations.

For example, voice of customer insights consistently highlighted banking onboarding as a key friction point. In response, and guided by this feedback, we collaborated closely with partners to enable greater reliance on government-verified data, which reduced duplication, improved consistency, and supported a faster, more predictable experience.

This approach continues to shape how we refine the broader journey. We are making the experience more intuitive, transparent, and connected, simplifying guidance, improving clarity of requirements, and ensuring that services across entities are better aligned from the investor’s perspective.

Several leading banks are now integrated into the DUL system, including Emirates Islamic, Mashreq, Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD, Emirates Development Bank, and Ruya Bank. Integration has also expanded to government and semi-government entities, including MoHRE, DEWA, Dubai Trade, RTA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Arab Financial Services. Each new integration reduces the point of friction that businesses previously had to navigate manually.

The direction is clear: the customer is directly shaping how the journey evolves, ensuring businesses can move from setup to growth with greater ease and confidence.

Digital transformation and AI are central to Dubai’s agenda. How are these technologies being deployed within licencing and data management to move from reactive governance to predictive, intelligence-led regulation?

The direction is set at the highest level. HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, has directed all Dubai government entities to integrate services for individuals and businesses into a unified digital ecosystem within one year. This mandate fundamentally reframes how licensing, data management, and investor services must operate. Rather than improving services in silos, the goal is a fully connected infrastructure where systems share data, anticipate needs, and deliver results seamlessly

Within licensing and compliance, this is already taking shape. Structured data from DUL enables regulators to identify inconsistencies and risk patterns at an earlier stage, shifting from reactive inspections to targeted, risk-based oversight. The ambition, consistent with Dubai’s digital transformation strategy, is for government performance to become 100 per cent data-based, supported by an algorithm bank of production-ready machine learning models and secure AI sandbox environments for testing and development.

At the same time, AI is embedded directly into the investor journey. It supports users in selecting the right activities, understanding requirements, and completing processes correctly the first-time reducing errors and delays at the point of interaction.

Policymaking is also becoming increasingly data driven. Real-time insights into business activity and sector performance allow regulations to evolve continuously, rather than through periodic updates. In this way, regulation anticipates challenges instead of merely reacting to them, creating a more agile environment for businesses and a more responsive system of governance.

Looking ahead to the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), what role will smart regulation and unified data play in driving private sector growth and ensuring Dubai remains globally competitive?

The Dubai Economic Agenda, D33 features ambitious goals: to double the size of the emirate’s economy and further consolidate Dubai’s position as one of the world’s top three economic cities by 2033. Achieving this at scale requires an operating environment that minimizes friction as the economy grows, and that is precisely where smart regulation and unified data become essential.

At the heart of the next phase is the move towards a fully connected system, with unified data as its foundation. Through the DUL and the Dubai Investor Number, we now have a consolidated, real-time view of businesses and investors across the emirate. This enables faster decision-making, more effective policy design, and clearer visibility into where growth is taking place.

Smart regulation builds on this foundation by focusing on outcomes, applying risk-based approaches, and continuously adapting based on real-time market data. This creates a more agile business environment defined by faster processing and decision-making, greater trust through transparency and embedded compliance, and the scalability required to support emerging sectors and new business models.

Shailesh Dash, founder and mentor at Dash Venture Labs, shares his perspective in this Q&A with Gulf Business on economic anchoring, the rise of the global professional, and why the UAE continues to stand out as a strategic base in times of uncertainty.

The Gulf has faced visible geopolitical pressure in 2026. How should observers interpret what’s happening?

Let’s start with the obvious. The Gulf has not been insulated from conflict in 2026. Missiles have been intercepted over Fujairah. Flight disruptions have rippled through Dubai International. The images circulating on social media have, for many watching from the outside, shaken a long-held assumption: that this part of the world operates in a different atmosphere from the rest.

But here is what those images do not show. They do not show businesses continuing to operate. They do not show a government that moved within hours to cover the hotel and travel costs of anyone stranded inside the country. They do not show a financial system that did not freeze, a free zone infrastructure that did not pause, or a leadership that did not, visibly and deliberately, project calm.

What the UAE is currently demonstrating is not the absence of pressure. It is the presence of architecture — institutional, economic, and strategic — that was built precisely for moments like this one. And for the founders, professionals, and global builders watching closely, that distinction is everything.

Many professionals still wait for stability before making big decisions. Is that approach still valid?

There is a calculation that governs most ambitious professionals today: when things stabilise, I will decide where to go, what to build, and how to start. It sounds reasonable. But it is built on a premise that has not held true for at least a decade — and in 2026, it is actively dangerous.

Stability is no longer a precondition for growth. It is an outcome of the choices you make inside uncertainty. The founders and independent professionals who understand this are not waiting for clarity. They are building the infrastructure that will outlast the disruption.

“Waiting is not safety. In today’s economy, waiting is risk.”

Remote work has severed the link between geography and productivity. Artificial intelligence has collapsed the barriers to generating income. Capital moves faster than any bureaucracy can manage. In this environment, the compounding cost of delay — delaying your first income stream, your first venture, your entry into the formal global economy — is greater than the risk of any external disruption.

How has the structure of work fundamentally changed?

We tend to speak about the future of work as something approaching. It has already arrived. What is changing is not just how people work — it is the fundamental categories through which we organise economic life.

The old structure looked like this: A job, provided by an employer, within a country, inside an office. A career defined by proximity to a city, a sector, a hierarchy.

The emerging structure looks like this: Multiple income streams, owned by an individual, operating across jurisdictions. A career defined by access to markets, capital, and digital infrastructure.

The most important implication: you no longer need to live somewhere to build there. But you do need a legal and financial home that allows the world to take you seriously.

What is missing from the ‘work from anywhere’ model?

The digital nomad movement promised liberation. Work from anywhere. Live without borders. And for a generation of remote professionals, it delivered — at least partially.

What it never solved was the question of legitimacy. Where is your income legally anchored? Where do you scale beyond yourself? Where do investors, banks, and serious clients recognise you as a structured entity rather than a floating contractor?

Freedom without structure eventually becomes friction. And friction, compounded over time, kills growth more quietly and more certainly than any external shock. This is the gap the most strategic professionals are now racing to close — not by surrendering their mobility, but by pairing it with an anchor.

What has the UAE’s response to recent tensions revealed?

When the history of 2026 is written, one of its more instructive chapters will be about what happens to a city, country, and economic system when it is genuinely tested.

The UAE absorbed more drone and missile fire in the early days of the Iran conflict than any other Gulf state. Its layered air defence intercepted the overwhelming majority of incoming fire. Its government acted immediately and visibly: covering stranded visitors’ costs, maintaining diplomatic composure, and issuing clear, measured communication throughout. Its businesses continued to operate. Its free zones did not close. Its financial infrastructure did not pause.

This is not spin. It is structural. The UAE is more economically diversified than any other state in the region — less reliant on oil, more anchored in services, logistics, finance, and technology. That diversification, built deliberately over decades, means that when one sector takes pressure, the entire system does not collapse. It absorbs, adapts, and continues.

“A stress test does not destroy a strong foundation. It reveals one.”

Why does the UAE continue to stand out as a strategic anchor?

The criteria for choosing an economic anchor have never been more demanding. Regulatory clarity. Tax efficiency. Speed of execution. Access to capital markets. Institutional continuity under pressure. Evaluated across all five, the UAE remains in a category of its own.

Continuity is the first principle. While other systems have frozen, reversed, or collapsed under pressure, the UAE’s business infrastructure has maintained consistent, predictable operation for decades.

Speed is the second. What takes months in most bureaucratic systems — business formation, banking, licensing — can happen in days in the UAE.

Zero personal income tax is the third. For young builders, this is not a marginal benefit — it is a compounding multiplier.

And positioning is the fourth. The UAE sits at the intersection of East and West, South Asia and the Gulf, emerging markets and global capital. It is not a destination — it is a connector.

What advice would you give younger professionals today?

If you are under thirty today, the most dangerous risk you face is not geopolitical. It is temporal. The risk of delay.

A graduate who formalises their first income stream at twenty-three, builds their first client base at twenty-five, and establishes a scalable business structure at twenty-seven is operating on a fundamentally different trajectory than one who waits until conditions feel right.

New models now make early formalisation accessible in a way it never was for previous generations. In the UAE, they are designed to onboard global talent at scale — and they are operating today, regardless of the noise beyond the borders.

You speak about the ‘economic citizen’. What does that mean?

We are entering an era defined by a new kind of professional identity. Not the national citizen — defined by birthplace, passport, and inherited obligation. But the economic citizen — defined by participation, contribution, and strategic positioning in the global economy.

The economic citizen asks different questions. Not “where was I born?” but “where can I build most effectively?” Not “where do I owe loyalty?” but “where does the system work for people like me?”

The UAE has understood this earlier and more deliberately than almost any other government. Its policy architecture is a considered strategy to become the economic home of the world’s most capable, mobile, and entrepreneurial professionals.

What is the key takeaway for founders in 2026?

The founders and professionals who will define the next decade are already making this calculation. They are not waiting for certainty. They are building systems resilient to uncertainty. They are choosing anchors that amplify rather than constrain.

The question in 2026 is not whether to participate in the global economy. That question has already been answered. The question is on what terms, and from which platform.

In an uncertain world, systems that have been tested and held are not cautionary tales. They are the most credible invitations to build.

That system increasingly has an address. And it is in the UAE.

Parsons Corporation has been awarded a nine-month contract by The Boring Company to provide services for the Dubai Loop underground transport project in the UAE.

The Boring Company has been tasked by the RTA with delivering the multi-phase project, which forms part of broader efforts to expand transport capacity in Dubai.

The project is being developed in partnership with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and is aimed at expanding the emirate’s transport network through a multi-phase passenger tunnel system comprising multiple tunnels and stations.

Parsons will manage pilot phase of Dubai Loop project

Under the contract, Parsons will act as The Boring Company’s delegated programme manager during the pilot phase of the project, supporting design-build activities.

Its responsibilities include independent design verification, stakeholder management, permitting and no-objection certificate support, as well as reviews of civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, safety and utility designs.

The companies did not disclose the financial value of the contract.

The Dubai Loop is intended to provide an additional transport option for residents and visitors as Dubai expands infrastructure under long-term urban development plans, including the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan.

Parsons said it has worked on transport infrastructure projects in Dubai since the 1980s and has supported the RTA since its establishment in 2005.

Its previous projects in the emirate include work on the Dubai Metro Red Line, Dubai Metro Green Line, the Dubai Metro Route 2020 and Infinity Bridge.

The narrative around hiring slowdowns in the UAE is gaining traction, but the reality inside organisations is far more nuanced. According to Iktimal Daneshvar, vice president and senior client partner for Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) across the Middle East and Africa at Korn Ferry, the market is not contracting — it is recalibrating.

“I would not describe the UAE market as being in a hiring freeze,” she says. “What we are seeing is a shift from volume hiring to precision hiring.”

This shift reflects a broader evolution in how organisations across the UAE are approaching workforce strategy, moving away from aggressive headcount expansion toward more disciplined, value-driven hiring decisions.

At the core of this transition is a sharper focus on business impact. Roles are no longer approved based on expansion plans alone but are increasingly tied to measurable outcomes such as revenue growth, digital transformation, compliance, and operational resilience.

“Companies are still hiring, but the bar is higher. Every role now needs a clearer business case,” Daneshvar explains.

This has led to a noticeable divergence in hiring activity. Business-critical roles continue to move forward, while non-essential or speculative positions face longer approval cycles or are deferred altogether. The result is a market that feels slower on the surface, despite underlying demand remaining strong.

“The key change is discipline,” she adds. “Organisations are asking more questions before they go to market: do we need to hire externally, can we promote internally, can we automate part of the role and is the compensation aligned to the value this hire will create?”

This more structured approach is also reflected in broader labour market indicators. The UAE continues to rank among the strongest hiring markets globally, but investment in headcount is becoming more targeted.

“The story is not ‘hiring has stopped’. It is that hiring has become more intentional.”

Expat dynamics reshape talent strategies

The UAE’s workforce model has long been built on international talent, but shifting expectations among expatriates are now reshaping hiring strategies.

“The expat workforce remains central to the UAE economy but expectations have changed,” Daneshvar says.

Candidates are no longer evaluating roles based solely on salary. Instead, they are assessing the total value proposition — including cost of living, housing, education, healthcare, flexibility, career progression, and long-term stability.

This shift is particularly significant in a higher-cost environment, where compensation is directly linked to retention risk.

“Korn Ferry’s regional workforce data shows that 80 per cent of employees in the UAE and Saudi Arabia would consider changing jobs for better pay,” she notes.

For employers, this means rethinking not just salaries but the entire employee value proposition. Benefits, flexibility, family support, and clear career pathways are becoming central to attracting and retaining talent.

At the same time, companies are placing greater emphasis on local and regional hires, who can onboard faster and carry lower relocation risk.

“The UAE is still highly attractive to global talent but employers cannot rely on the market’s appeal alone,” Daneshvar says. “Candidates are comparing Dubai and Abu Dhabi with Riyadh, New York, Singapore, London and other global hubs.”

“The companies winning talent are the ones that can clearly answer: why join us, why now and why stay.”

Rather than a broad-based slowdown, the UAE hiring landscape is becoming increasingly segmented.

Daneshvar cautions against generalising entire sectors as weak, pointing instead to a more granular shift within industries.

“In most industries, we are seeing slower hiring in non-critical support roles, speculative headcount and roles that are not clearly linked to revenue, transformation or regulatory need,” she explains.

Some caution is evident in consumer-facing businesses, early-stage companies, and lower-margin operations, where organisations are reassessing cost structures and prioritising efficiency. However, this does not signal a wider decline in demand.

Instead, hiring momentum remains strong in sectors aligned with long-term economic priorities and transformation agendas.

“Demand is still accelerating in technology — especially AI, data, cybersecurity, cloud, and digital transformation,” Daneshvar says.

Financial services also continues to hire actively, particularly in risk, compliance, wealth management, fintech, and digital banking. Beyond this, infrastructure, aviation, logistics, energy, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing are all seeing sustained demand.

The defining trend across these sectors is a growing scarcity of specialised skills.

“The clearest theme is skills scarcity including technical and digital skills, leadership roles and operational capability.”

From headcount to capability

This evolving landscape points to a fundamental shift in how organisations define workforce growth. The focus is no longer on increasing headcount, but on building capability.

Generalist hiring is becoming more measured, while competition for specialised, high-impact talent is intensifying. This has created what Daneshvar describes as a bifurcated market — one where demand exists, but is concentrated in specific skill sets and functions.

“So the market is bifurcated. Generalist hiring is more measured but demand for specialist, revenue-linked, transformation-led and compliance-critical talent is still very competitive,” she says.

For employers, this means investing more in workforce planning, internal mobility, and skills development. For candidates, it underscores the importance of aligning capabilities with areas of strategic demand.

Ultimately, the UAE hiring market is not slowing — it is maturing. Organisations are becoming more deliberate in how they deploy talent, balancing growth ambitions with cost discipline and long-term resilience.

This transition reflects broader economic and structural shifts across the region, as businesses align hiring strategies with national priorities around digital transformation, diversification, and productivity.

For Korn Ferry, which advises government, semi-government, and private sector entities across the UAE, the message is clear: hiring remains active, but it is no longer about scale alone.

Instead, success will depend on how effectively organisations can identify, attract, and retain the talent that drives measurable impact.

In a market defined by precision, the ability to connect hiring decisions directly to business outcomes is emerging as the new benchmark for workforce strategy.

Alpha Dhabi Holding said its Q1 2026 net profit rose 81 per cent year-on-year, driven by growth across its diversified investment portfolio.

The Abu Dhabi-listed investment company reported net profit of Dhs3.8bn in the quarter, compared with Dhs2.1bn a year earlier. Revenue rose 8 per cent to Dhs18.8bn.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 2 per cent to Dhs4.3bn. Total assets stood at Dhs225.8bn, with total equity at Dhs104.9bn.

Revenue included Dhs7.4bn from real estate, Dhs6.6bn from industrial operations, Dhs2.7bn from construction, and Dhs2.1bn from services and other businesses.

Alpha Dhabi entered 2026 on a strong footing

Chairman Mohamed Thani Murshed Ghannam Al Rumaithi said the company entered 2026 with continued strength.

“Alpha Dhabi has entered 2026 with continued strength and resilience, building on our proven strategy and disciplined execution. Our performance is a direct reflection of the UAE’s thriving and stable market, showcasing the robustness of our diversified portfolio and our ability to capture value across high-growth sectors and geographies,” he said.

Managing director and group CEO Hamad Al Ameri said the results reflected the group’s investment strategy.

“Our Q1 2026 results reinforce the strength of Alpha Dhabi’s investment strategy. The solid economic fundamentals on which the UAE is built upon serves us with a confident environment in which we can execute our vision. Through continued diversification, strategic partnerships, and a focus on future-facing industries, Alpha Dhabi has sustained strong performance and created long-term value for our stakeholders,” he said.

The company said its performance was supported by continued momentum across its businesses in real estate, construction, industrials and services.

Alpha Dhabi said it remains focused on diversification, expansion into growth markets and disciplined capital allocation.

Read: Alpha Dhabi acquires majority stake in NCTH