Been working in UAE tech for over a decade and the last 18 months feel different. Government is moving fast — National AI Strategy 2031, sandbox regulations, real budgets behind RTA, DEWA, ADNOC, Dubai Police, ADGM. Mid-market and family offices are starting to genuinely ask "how do we deploy this" rather than just talking about it.
But the gap between "we want AI" and "we actually shipped something" is enormous. Most companies I talk to know they need it, can't articulate the problem they want solved, and have never seen a working agent in their domain. The agencies pitching AI here are mostly repackaging old digital transformation playbooks. Real engineering talent is buried in big banks or hidden behind LinkedIn jargon.
I'm an indie AI engineer working out of Abu Dhabi (mostly Anthropic/Claude stack — agents, automation, RAG, full-stack). The next 24 months feel like the best window we'll get to build serious AI work out of this region.
Curious what other founders here are seeing. Which sectors are moving fastest? Which are still sleeping? And if anyone's running into the build-vs-sell gap from either side — happy to swap notes in DM.