ABU DHABI, 8th December, 2025 (WAM) -- The UAE has demonstrated an alternative approach by adopting emerging technologies while respecting local context, respecting communities and their dignity, and ensuring that data remains sovereign, the CEO and Founder of Amini, Kate Kallot, said.
“The UAE has done it very well, where they understood how to bring emerging technologies into the country, while respecting local context, respecting local people, agencies and dignity, and ensuring that data remains sovereign,” she said. “I think this is the path that many countries in the global majority have to follow, and the UAE can lead that way,” she told the Emirates News Agency (WAM) at the inaugural edition of the BRIDGE Summit 2025 at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi.
Kallot, named among TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI and recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer, added that the UAE has demonstrated an alternative approach by adopting emerging technologies while respecting local context, respecting communities and their dignity, and ensuring that data remains sovereign. She said this is a path many countries in the global majority can follow, with the UAE positioned to lead it.
Kallot said her message to the UAE and the wider region is that it is already on the right course. She urged that investments in infrastructure in Africa or elsewhere in the global majority should be aligned with local innovators who understand their own environments. She said these innovators can help transform a project from a one-off initiative into something sustainable and long-lasting, making their involvement essential as the UAE expands into African markets and supports local ecosystems.
Kallot, who participated in the BRIDGE Summit as a speaker, discussed the convergence of AI in emerging economies and the role of diplomacy. She said the summit is becoming an important platform because it brings together media, diplomacy and emerging technologies at a time when these fields can no longer be separated. She noted that the world “no longer operates in silos”, adding that developments in new technologies influence geopolitics and shape media, making the summit a vital space for dialogue among different actors in the ecosystem.
She said she hopes the discussions at the summit will lead to concrete progress. “Unlike many conferences where discussions end without follow-up,” she said, the voices gathered from media, technology and diplomacy should work toward a framework for implementation, with actions that stakeholders across the ecosystem can carry forward in the years ahead.
The BRIDGE Summit 2025 opened today in Abu Dhabi, bringing together more than 60,000 creators, media and content professionals, artists, producers, publishers, entrepreneurs, investors, universities and research centres.
The event features over 400 international speakers and 300 exhibitors taking part in the region’s largest media and content gathering.