AI-enabled Governance In The UAE Must Stay Rule-of-law Based And Human-led, Says Maryam Al Hammadi

Maryam bint Ahmed Al Hammadi states that the UAE Government uses Artificial Intelligence within regulation while keeping the rule of law at the centre. "Agility must strengthen constitutional safeguards, equality and human accountability. AI may inform decision-making, but responsibility and authority must always remain firmly human."

The comments are made during the 56th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos, in a session titled "Regulating at the Speed of Code". The discussion looks at how governments can manage AI and data while keeping regulation trusted, human-centred and globally compatible.

Maryam Al Hammadi explains that the UAE Government has already carried out the largest legislative update in the country’s history. This legislative transformation programme revises about 90% of federal laws, which prepares institutions for more flexible and data-informed governance in the Intelligent Age.

Building on that legislative overhaul, Maryam Al Hammadi confirms that the UAE Government is working on what is described as the world’s first Regulatory Intelligence Ecosystem. This system uses AI tools to help design legislation that is faster to produce, more efficient, high quality, adaptive and ready for future challenges.

Maryam Al Hammadi stresses that the Regulatory Intelligence Ecosystem operates within a strict legal framework. The approach is designed to support equality before the law, reinforce constitutional protections, and maintain clear lines of human oversight and accountability for every regulatory decision supported by AI systems.

According to Maryam Al Hammadi, the ecosystem will follow defined legal procedures and controls. These controls aim to secure legality, transparency and public trust. They also aim to protect privacy, ensure data protection, and support due process standards while still allowing AI to assist with complex regulatory analysis.

AI regulatory ecosystem, human capital and future legal skills

Maryam Al Hammadi notes that human capital remains central to the UAE Government’s regulatory plans. Legislators and legal professionals are expected to remain the primary decision-makers while working alongside AI tools. Training programmes will focus on preparing these professionals for the Intelligent Age.

The UAE Government intends to upskill the legal workforce so it can handle hybrid roles that combine legal knowledge with data science and technology. This preparation is seen as important for designing and supervising AI-supported regulation, as well as for evaluating algorithmic outcomes in sensitive policy areas.

The "Regulating at the Speed of Code" panel brings together government, technology and business figures. Alongside Maryam Al Hammadi, speakers include Federico Sturzenegger, Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation and Young Global Leader from Argentina, and Yutaka Sasaki, Representative Director, President and CEO of NTT DATA Group, Japan.

Joel Kaplan, Chief Global Affairs Officer at Meta in the USA, joins the panel, along with Nicholas Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic in the USA, who moderates the session. Together, the speakers examine how agile regulation can reduce fragmentation across different international legal systems.

The audience for the session includes ministers, senior political figures, Chief Executive Officers and representatives of major international organisations. Members of the UAE delegation attending the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos also participate, reflecting interest in how AI regulation develops at both domestic and global levels.

With inputs from WAM