UAE Artificial Intelligence Office trains health leaders on ‘assistive AI’: from tools to systems that manage operations
The UAE Government’s Artificial Intelligence Office, in partnership with the Emirates Health Services and Siemens, organized a specialised training programme for senior leaders, hospital managers, consultant physicians and specialists. It focused on employing generative AI to develop health services and enable leaders to adopt innovative work models that enhance operational efficiency, service quality and patient experience. The programme coincided with the UAE “Programmers Day” events on 2 November 2026 and reflected the national drive to move from AI that supports processes to integrated systems that understand objectives, execute tasks and manage operations efficiently.
Shift in approach:The goal is no longer merely to equip staff with AI tools that help them perform their tasks, but to build leadership capability to design systems that coordinate the entire health-care workflow, from patient intake and appointments to clinical, administrative procedures and follow-up. Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Mahmoud, a director at the AI Office, said, “UAE Programmers Day provides an opportunity to reaffirm that building a digital future starts with the human who can lead it, and by empowering health leaders to use generative AI and its practical applications, we are embedding an institutional culture that embraces innovation, invests in talent and turns technological potential into practical solutions.”
Governance and safety before scaling:Dr. Kulthum Al-Balushi, director of the Training and Development Centre and chief executive of innovation at Emirates Health Services, affirmed that the next phase requires continued development of a comprehensive institutional capability to identify, assess and develop high-impact use cases within clear governance, safety and accountability frameworks. She said, “We treat AI as a strategic enabler for evolving health-care business models, not merely a technical tool.”
Partnership with Siemens:Rohit Kumar, head of Siemens Advanta in the Middle East, explained that the workshop aimed to empower the organisation’s teams to identify priority opportunities for adopting AI solutions efficiently and responsibly, using a studied and safe methodology. The programme focused on moving from generative AI to systems that coordinate health-care operations, and included interactive sessions and hands-on labs for using AI tools, designing innovative solutions, as well as discussions on leadership in the AI era, change management, governance of intelligent systems, and clinical risk and safety.
What this means for readers in the Gulf, Egypt and the Levant: the UAE is testing a model that qualifies leaders rather than just employees, and places governance and clinical safety as a prerequisite rather than an afterthought. For any health-sector or technology manager in the region, the lesson is clear: deploying AI tools without a clear governance and safety framework trained into senior leadership yields fragmented experiences that do not scale. The programme concluded with workshops to identify additional high-priority transformation and innovation opportunities, assess their impact, technical readiness, data requirements and safety considerations, and to develop concepts for pilot projects with performance indicators and clear implementation steps, meaning the outputs are not generic recommendations but measurable plans.