By Ayomide Otitoju
The 45th edition of GITEX GLOBAL opened to capacity crowds at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Monday, marking the largest gathering of government leaders, technology giants, startups, investors, and business executives in the event’s history.
Running from October 13–17, 2025, this monumental edition features over 6,800 exhibitors, 2,000 startups, 1,200 investors, and delegations from more than 180 countries, underscoring Dubai’s growing influence as a global hub for innovation and digital transformation.
Beyond its unprecedented scale, this year’s event reflects the convergence of technology, economic strategy, and geopolitics, positioning Dubai as a convening ground for world leaders and innovators to chart the future of intelligence-driven economies and societies.
Opening the summit, H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism, delivered a keynote address on the theme “The Race Beyond Innovation: AI, Geopolitics, and the Global Economic Reset.” He emphasized that innovation and economic diversification remain central to the UAE’s national development agenda.
“The United Arab Emirates, thanks to the forward-looking vision of its wise leadership, is not merely participating in the global race for innovation; it is shaping its contours,” Al Marri said. “Our economic model is defined by resilience and a future orientation grounded in knowledge and advanced technology.”
Discussions on the global deep-tech ecosystem featured Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation at the European Commission, and Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of the UAE’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII). The duo explored how international partnerships can drive technological sovereignty and economic growth.
“The European Union and the UAE share a vision to drive innovation that benefits our citizens,” Zaharieva said. “We are aligned on the importance of startups and scaleups for our economies. This journey starts at GITEX 2025.”
In a high-level panel titled “The Intelligence Super-Cycle,” Hon. Evan Solomon, Canada’s Minister for AI and Digital Innovation, and Amandeep Gill, UN Envoy for Digital Technologies, examined how artificial intelligence is becoming the defining economic infrastructure of the 21st century.
“GITEX is a core example of entrepreneurs being launched at a speed we’ve never seen,” Solomon noted. “It’s fantastic to see our partnership with the UAE deepen as we build a trustworthy AI ecosystem for all.”
On the technological frontier, Andrew Feldman, CEO of Cerebras Systems, unveiled the company’s breakthrough in high-performance AI computing, achieved in partnership with G42.
“We built the largest chip in the history of computing—about the size of a dinner plate,” Feldman said. “By going big on chips, we used less power and achieved faster results.”
Across the exhibition halls, global enterprises showcased cutting-edge technologies reshaping industries.
e& drew massive crowds with more than 90 exhibits spanning mobility, robotics, digital healthcare, and consumer tech, featuring futuristic eVTOL aircraft, autonomous vehicles, and record-setting electric cars capable of traveling thousands of kilometres on a single charge.
Oracle unveiled enterprise AI tools for financial planning and smart supply-chain management, while BlackBerry launched a new mission-critical communications platform, certified for classified government and banking communications worldwide.
AWS, the world’s largest cloud provider, demonstrated its cybersecurity and operational cloud innovations, while HCL Software introduced AI-powered website customization, enhanced cybersecurity tools, and its signature BigFix endpoint management platform.
The opening day also saw record international participation, with Brazil joining as Country Partner and leading its largest-ever delegation. National pavilions from Canada, Spain, Türkiye, Chile, and Ecuador joined expanded participation from Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Levant—reflecting GITEX GLOBAL’s unmatched influence as the world’s premier technology and innovation showcase.
