Sheikh Khaled Celebrates Graduates At MBZUAI's Largest Commencement Ceremony In 2025
H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, attended the 2025 graduation ceremony at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI). This event marked a milestone for MBZUAI with its largest and most diverse graduating class yet, consisting of 104 students. The graduates included 13 PhD and 91 master’s degree recipients across three specialisations: Computer Vision (CV), Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP).
During the ceremony, H.H. Sheikh Khaled congratulated the graduates on their achievements. He honoured several PhD and master’s recipients, encouraging them to use their knowledge to advance the nation's development. He emphasised the importance of an innovation-led, technology-driven economy. His remarks highlighted the UAE leadership's belief that future progress relies on knowledge, science, and technological advancement.
The UAE is committed to becoming a global hub for artificial intelligence research and development. By building an integrated ecosystem, it aims to place AI in service of society while reinforcing national leadership in strategic sectors. This approach is part of a broader strategy to strengthen its position globally in AI research.
The ceremony was attended by several notable figures, including Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of MBZUAI’s Board of Trustees; and Dr Ahmed Mubarak bin Nawi Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the President’s Office for Strategic Affairs. Other attendees included Faisal Abdulaziz Al Bannai, Sara Awadh Musallam, Mansour Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Ahmed Tamim Al Kuttab, Major General Ahmed Saif bin Zaitoon Al Muhairi, Saif Saeed Ghobash, Professor Eric Xing, Timothy Baldwin, university faculty members, and graduates’ families.
This year's cohort includes 20 Emirati graduates—the highest number since MBZUAI's inception—highlighting the university's dedication to nurturing local talent in AI-related fields. Among these are one PhD graduate in Computer Vision and nine local female graduates in various AI specialities.
The 2025 class represents students from 24 countries such as Pakistan, India, Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Italy. Additionally, there are first-time graduates from Armenia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Dominica, Eritrea, Norway, Serbia, and Uruguay. This diversity underscores MBZUAI's growing international reach and commitment to attracting top global talent.
MBZUAI now has an expanding alumni network comprising 316 AI specialists who are driving transformation across industries worldwide. Nearly 80 per cent of these alumni began working in Abu Dhabi within a year after graduation. The university continues its mission by expanding its offerings to include 13 graduate programmes along with its first undergraduate programme—a Bachelor of Science in AI with Business and Engineering tracks.
As MBZUAI grows its academic offerings locally and internationally, it remains focused on shaping the future landscape of artificial intelligence through education and research initiatives.
With inputs from WAM
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