Abu Dhabi: World’s 1st AI-focused research university, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), recently concluded the 2nd Edition of its Executive Program (MEP).
The 2nd Cohort of MBZUAI’s Executive Program was attended by 43 leaders including CEOs, Directors General, and Executive Directors from various public and private organizations across the UAE. The graduation ceremony for this batch will be held at MBZUAI campus, Abu Dhabi in 2023.
The program is seen as a gateway for participants to improve their AI capabilities and knowledge.
THE PROGRAM
During the 12-week program, attendees went through a demanding learning schedule which included coursework, lectures, and collaborative project work.
The program covered essential topics including;
- An Introduction to the Past, Present, and Future of AI and Machine Learning
- AI, Machine Learning and the Economy
- Lingual Cognition and Intelligence
- Visual Cognition and Intelligence
- AI Ethics and Policymaking and
- The Future of Robotics
FACULTY
11 Global Leaders including Professor Eric Xing, MBZUAI’s President, Professor Michael Jordan and Professor Alexei A Efros of the University of California Berkeley, Professor Raj Reddy and Professor Takeo Kanade of Carnegie Mellon University and Professor Daniela Rus of MIT delivered the course.
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has clearly outlined a vision for economic growth and diversification by advancing capacity development in science and technology, to benefit all economic areas and society as a whole. This vision underscores the need to enhance our understanding of AI and its practical application in different industries across both private and public sectors. The second cohort of the MEP has prepared another group of national AI leaders to embrace and apply their new skills and knowledge in their home organizations, fostering innovation and ultimately increasing efficiency and competitiveness.
Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of MBZUAI, observed.
During their sessions, participants were tasked with addressing an existing UAE national challenge with an AI research solution as part of a capstone project. Participants were divided into 8 teams and collaborated to propose solutions to an advisory panel.
ADVISORY PANEL
The Advisory panel comprised of;
- Hanan Mansoor Ahli, the Director General of the Competitiveness Sector at the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA)
- Mohammad Hamad Al-Kuwaiti, Head of Cybersecurity for the UAE Government
- Professor Eric Xing, President of MBZUAI and
- Professor Preslav Nokav, Acting Deputy Department Chair of the Natural Language Processing (NLP) Department at MBZUAI
CAPSTONE SESSIONS
During the sessions, participants of the program went through CAPSTONE projects which included an approach to early cancer detection, an AI-based platform to mitigate fraud, a weather forecasting system, a unified customer-service platform, a Web3-driven, financial-management platform, an energy-management platform, a supply-chain prediction platform, and a smart threat-alert system.
SITE VISITS
Participants of the Executive Program visited the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC).
Site visits were conducted to demonstrate how AI implementation has taken shape in each organization.