AI Skills Now Count for Young Emiratis Entering the UAE Workforce
Zeta42 · 4 October 2026
At Dubai's Ru'ya career fair, young jobseekers said AI skills give them an edge. Employers already screen for them, so what about the staff already on the payroll?
What happened at the Ru'ya career fair?
Young Emiratis are starting to treat AI skills as a qualification in their own right, alongside traditional ones. The National reported on 1 October from Dubai's Ru'ya career fair, where young jobseekers said they expect knowledge of AI to count in the job market. Their view was simple: a jobseeker who can use the technology will have a better chance of being hired, and anyone applying for a job should know it.
The employers quoted in the article largely agree, though with a caveat that matters for any company planning its training budget.
Is AI knowledge now required to get hired?
Not yet. Azza Al Marzooqi, Director of the Human Resources Department at Dubai Municipality, told The National that when the municipality hires people it looks at their AI skills, but it does not make them mandatory. AI is a plus on the application, not a gate.
Mo Ali Yusuf, CEO of the finance company Fuze, went further on where this is heading. He said the ability to use AI will come to be seen in much the same way as being able to use the internet or type on a keyboard. In other words, a basic expectation, not a specialist skill.
How is AI changing hiring itself?
According to The National, Dubai Municipality has already built AI into its recruitment. That includes AI-based interviews that support immediate hiring decisions. So the candidates now entering the workforce are being assessed with the same technology they are expected to know.
The article also notes that AI is reshaping existing roles, with some administrative positions becoming less prominent. The newspaper links the UAE's investment in AI infrastructure to the country's readiness for AI-driven workplaces.
What does this mean for the people already on your payroll?
The article is about people at the start of their careers, but the pressure runs in both directions. If new hires arrive expecting AI to be part of the job, and the organisation hiring them is already using it in recruitment, then the staff who joined years ago are the group most likely to be left without a clear path to the same skills.
That is a training problem, and it is rarely solved by a single webinar. Three things tend to separate training that sticks from training that fades:
- Start with the people who decide. Leaders who have not used these tools themselves find it hard to judge what their teams should be doing with them. A one day executive AI briefing gives them enough working knowledge to set sensible expectations.
- Train a department on its own work. Generic examples are forgotten quickly. A cohort that runs for four to six weeks and is built around the team's own tools and files gives people something they can use the next morning.
- Finish with a change to a real process. Training is only worth the budget if something at work is different afterwards. The "AI at Work" track at Zeta42 ends with a working change to a real process, not a certificate.
Zeta42 runs these programmes on the client's premises or in Abu Dhabi, so teams can choose whichever setting suits their schedule.
What should HR and learning leaders take from the story?
First, the expectation is moving faster than the policy. Dubai Municipality does not require AI skills today, yet it already looks for them and already uses AI in its own hiring. Organisations that wait for a formal requirement before training their people may find the market has settled the question for them.
Second, the comparison with typing and internet use is a useful test. The sensible time to invest in AI skills is while they are still a differentiator, not after they have become an assumption.
Third, do not treat new hires as a substitute for training. Even candidates who arrive comfortable with AI still need the context of how your organisation works, and experienced colleagues need a route to the same skills.
The short version
AI skills are becoming a baseline expectation among young Emiratis, employers are already looking for them, and the gap is likely to sit with the existing workforce. Companies that give each team practical training on its own work, and measure it by what changes in a real process, will be better placed than those that treat AI learning as optional.
Source: thenationalnews.com