Artificial intelligence becoming a coworker: Sam Altman sets office task delegation rules in Abu Dhabi
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, affirmed that the United Arab Emirates is the most forward-looking country in the world when it comes to adopting artificial intelligence, noting during his participation in the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference “Adibek 2026” that the nature of technology integration is undergoing a qualitative shift that goes beyond simple individual uses. He considered tools such as ChatGPT no longer limited to helping employees perform their daily tasks more efficiently, but moving at a rapid pace to be seen as a coworker or an integrated member within institutional work teams.
This assessment coincided with highlighting the partnership that links OpenAI with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the G42 group, alliances that Altman described as a key driver for reshaping the future of the energy sector and expanding the applications of advanced models within it. The impact does not stop at improving operational performance; he stressed that accelerating the pace of scientific discovery is one of the most exciting developments at present, citing the ability of modern systems to solve complex mathematical problems that have remained unsolved by humans, analytical capabilities that can be directly deployed across various scientific disciplines to address challenges in energy production and management.
The efficiency equation and the total demand explosionThis became a main focus of Altman’s discussion in addressing growing concerns about data centers’ electricity consumption. He explained that the amount of energy consumed per single query clearly decreases as model efficiency rises, yet this specific improvement, along with the accompanying drop in usage cost, drives widespread adoption that doubles overall energy demand rather than reducing it. He expressed hope that applications targeted at the energy sector will ultimately yield returns that exceed the electricity required to run the algorithms, thereby contributing overall to increased global supply abundance.
In the labor market context, Altman acknowledged the ability of models to perform tasks related to multiple administrative and office functions, expressing confidence in societies’ capacity to adapt to changing production patterns. He set clear boundaries for this path, stressing thatcreativity and human judgment remain the foundationin directing work, with the necessity for humans to retain full control over decisions that affect their lives and future, so that artificial intelligence remains a tool that serves people rather than a system entrusted with making decisive decisions.
This path redefines the work equation for institutions and development teams in the Gulf, Egypt, and the region in general. Transitioning to operating models as integrated team members requires a rethink of skill structures, demanding a move beyond superficial interface interaction to mastering the management and professional scrutiny of agent outputs. It also imposes that the decline in cost per query, coupled with rising total consumption, necessitates precise budgeting of computing resources, alongside building strict regulatory frameworks that prevent delegating discretionary authority to machines in critical sectors.
Measuring digital readiness for the future does not stop at accelerating software deployment; it rests on the ability to balance energy requirements with deploying models to solve hard scientific and industrial problems, while keeping the final steering in the hands of the human element alone.