GITEX Global's 2025 Edition Sets the Stage For A New Era As It Moves To Expo City Dubai In 2026

More than 6,800 exhibitors, 1,200 investors, and 2,000 startups from 180 countries came together for this year’s edition of GITEX GLOBAL, which saw its constituent events running from October 12-17, 2025 at Dubai World Trade Centre and Dubai Harbour.  

Future-critical sectors dominated the agenda for the event’s 45th edition, with new launches and high-impact dialogues unfolding across GITEX Quantum Expo, Physical Ai, Semicon, Super Data Centres, and GITEX Digi Health & Biotech.  

Meanwhile, at Expand North Star, founders from over 100 nations connected with investors commanding over US$1.1 trillion in assets. The show's flagship Supernova Challenge 2.0, which had a total prize pool of $300,000, declared Korea’s AIM Intelligence the winner. 

On the show floor and on stage, founders unveiled next-gen innovations, including smart contact lenses that estimate glucose from biomarkers, brain-computer implants that decode neural signals, and AI gene-editing tech that reprograms DNA for disease resistance.  

Across packed sessions, hundreds of ministers and senior government officials from the UAE, the European Union, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America tackled the questions of trust, regulation, and sovereignty in the age of AI. 

Meanwhile, global tech enterprises, chipmakers, and cloud innovators, including ai71, Alibaba Cloud, AMD, AWS, e&, G42, Google, HPE, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, and Snowflake, showcased infrastructure breakthroughs built to power sovereign AI workloads and nation-scale intelligence. 

The event also saw the announcement of a number of noteworthy partnerships. These included Presight and Dubai Taxi Company collaborating to develop AI solutions to accelerate smart, sustainable urban transportation, as well as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and e& launching a pioneering nationwide program to train 30,000 people in AI and cloud across the UAE under the ‘AI Nation – Afaaq’ initiative.  

Meanwhile, on day two alone, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport announced 19 strategic partnerships spanning AI-powered public services, real estate, smart city, and mobility ecosystems, marking the largest single-day commitment in the government of Abu Dhabi’s historic participation at the event. 

In a statement, Amr Kamel, General Manager at Microsoft UAE, said, “The UAE is at the forefront of digital transformation, and GITEX continues to be a powerful platform driving this journey forward. The country’s visionary leadership has created an environment where innovation thrives, from embracing AI responsibly to fostering a world-class digital ecosystem that attracts global collaboration and investment.” 

Similarly, Zaid Ghattas, General Manager, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, AMD, said, “It has been a GITEX to remember for AMD, and we thank the Dubai World Trade Centre team for hosting another exceptional event. GITEX GLOBAL remains a vital opportunity to connect with our ecosystem and showcase our AI and computing portfolio. We look forward to GITEX 2026, reflecting the exciting digital growth in the UAE and broader Middle East region.” 

Miguel Vega, Senior Vice President - Database Platform and Cloud Infrastructure, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa at Oracle, added, “At GITEX GLOBAL 2025, our focus on 'Enterprise-Ready AI' underscored Oracle’s commitment to empowering the UAE’s AI-driven future... We showcased how our distributed cloud and sovereign cloud capabilities are accelerating adoption for key national entities and celebrated the success of our customers and partners, whose groundbreaking AI initiatives powered by Oracle Cloud are shaping the region’s digital economy." 

Tareq Masoud, Country Manager UAE, Snowflake, said, “GITEX GLOBAL 2025 has been an extraordinary opportunity for Snowflake to showcase how the AI Data Cloud is helping organizations turn data into real, measurable business value. This year, we’re helping organizations move beyond AI adoption and experimentation into driving real, measurable and impactful business outcomes from their AI, helping them unlock new growth, drive innovation, and build the AI-driven data economies of the future.” 

Chiara Marcati, Chief Advisory and Business Officer, ai71, added, “GITEX GLOBAL 2025 showcased ai71 at a turning point. We demonstrated real AI transformation with the UAE Public Prosecution, announced our DGE partnership for global scale, and proved that Abu Dhabi is building AI that matters, moving from demonstration to deployment." 

This year’s edition of GITEX Global was the last to be run at the Dubai World Trade Centre and Dubai Harbour locations, with its 2026 iteration set to take place at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in Expo City Dubai. The event, which shall run from December 7-11, 2026, is set to be staged as the world’s first GITEX TechCation, with it aiming to encourage visitors to extend their networking itineraries and stay longer in Dubai. 

While the event will begin on December 7 with the new GITEX Scale Summit centered on the decisive trends, opportunities, and policy frameworks influencing global AI economies, its Expo component will run from December 8-11, showcasing innovations across AI x 5.0 industries, from quantum to biosciences and semiconductors. 

All images are courtesy of GITEX.