Abu Dhabi is positioning itself at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation with the announcement of Machines Can Think 2026, a landmark summit scheduled for January 26-27, 2026, at Park Hyatt Saadiyat. The event represents a significant milestone in the United Arab Emirates’ ambitious national strategy to establish itself as a global AI powerhouse.
The summit, organized by Polynome, will convene an exceptional gathering of more than 20 leading AI researchers from over 12 countries alongside top executives from technology giants including NVIDIA, Meta, and Google. The program features an extensive agenda comprising over 50 keynote presentations, more than 10 hands-on workshops, and immersive demonstration zones where attendees will experience cutting-edge AI technologies firsthand.
Aligning with the UAE’s comprehensive 2031 AI strategy and its substantial $100 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, the event will explore three dedicated thematic tracks: Co-Evolution (addressing human-AI interfaces), Technical Breakthroughs, and Executive Strategies for responsible AI adoption. Notable session highlights include ‘UAE Stargate: Building a National AI Fabric,’ ‘Foundation Models and Infrastructure,’ and ‘AI for Life Sciences,’ alongside pioneering demonstrations in computer vision under the theme ‘Machines Can See and Act.’
Prominent speakers include Michal Valko (Chief Models Officer at a Stealth AI Startup), Manohar Paluri (VP of AI at Meta), Andrey Doronichev (CEO of Optic), Marc Hamilton (VP of Solutions Architecture at NVIDIA), and Serge Belongie (Director of the Pioneer Centre for AI). The summit has secured partnerships with prestigious institutions including Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI).
Alexander Khanin, Founder and CEO of Polynome.ai, emphasized the summit’s role as a catalyst for transformative dialogue: ‘As AI is projected to contribute $320 billion to the regional economy, our mission is to convert this potential into tangible progress, enabling nations and industries to build sustainable, intelligent systems.’
Professor Ivan Laptev of MBZUAI and co-founder of Machines Can See added: ‘Abu Dhabi is rapidly emerging as a center for advanced AI. This summit exemplifies that momentum by fostering global collaboration and knowledge exchange across computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing.’
The event builds upon the success of previous Machines Can Summits, which attracted 3,500 attendees from 82 countries in its last iteration. The 2026 edition will be complemented by a sister event, Machines Can See, in Dubai, with both initiatives designed to accelerate responsible AI development and adoption. The summit will also feature a dedicated panel on inclusion in AI, organized in partnership with Women in AI.