The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) unveils a bold plan to embed artificial intelligence into its legal framework, operations, infrastructure, urban environment, and talent development, aiming to become the world’s first AI-based financial center.

The Native AI program is expected to generate about $3.5 billion (AED12.9 billion) in economic benefits and create roughly 25,000 jobs.

Key components include ethics and governance for human and AI agents, AI-embedded enterprise workflows, and a full-stack AI Campus offering regulation, training, compute, and physical AI tools.

Promotional materials accompany the announcement, including a video link, a photograph of DIFC, and access to the original PR Newswire release.

Executives emphasize responsible innovation and a tangible, positive economic impact as core outcomes of the initiative.

The article situates the plan within broader Dubai strategies and the Dubai Economic Agenda, signaling government-aligned, long-term development goals.

DIFC currently hosts thousands of firms in banking, asset management, fintech, and professional services serving the MENA, Africa, and South Asia regions.

DIFC Authority employees already use specialized AI agents to assist governance, decision-making, and client services, with plans to expand these tools to boost productivity and the client experience.

Expansion of AI tools among DIFC Authority staff is planned to further improve governance, decision-making, productivity, and client services.

Arif Amiri, CEO of DIFC Authority, says the initiative will set a global benchmark for AI governance and responsible innovation while delivering significant economic value and job creation.

Amiri stresses the strategy is not experimental but embedded across regulation, operations, talent development, and infrastructure to set international standards and deliver measurable economic impact.

DIFC argues its independent legal framework enables faster deployment of AI initiatives, giving it an advantage in governance and operations.