A self-made billionaire is placing his next major wager on the UAE’s artificial intelligence sector. He’s one of 15 Indian-origin technology leaders featured in the second edition of Khaleej Times and Standard Chartered’s Global Indians of the UAE, unveiled on June 18, 2026.
The focus has sharpened considerably since the franchise’s first instalment.
Titled The Next Tech Generation, this edition zeroes in on founders, investors and operators building businesses across AI, fintech, digital assets, mobility, logistics, insurtech and technology education. The list captures entrepreneurs reimagining car access, freight routes, insurance models and personal finance—along with innovators deploying technology to connect talent, capital and communities across borders.
Their combined influence illustrates how the Emirates has evolved into a launchpad for Indian-origin executives building not just for the region, but globally.
The editorial series—a year-long partnership between Khaleej Times and Standard Chartered—was structured as four sector-focused instalments from the start. Each edition curates leaders demonstrating professional excellence, community contribution and what the publishers describe as a global outlook. The franchise operates as what Khaleej Times calls an “always-on editorial platform,” extending across print, digital, multimedia storytelling and a dedicated vodcast series.
Women on the Rise, the debut instalment, profiled 24 Indian women across business, finance, real estate, healthcare, arts and philanthropy.
This second edition narrows the lens considerably. Technology has become central to the UAE’s economic diversification strategy, particularly as the country accelerates AI adoption and digital economy initiatives. Ambitious national strategies, infrastructure investment and rapid technology uptake across public and private sectors have created conditions that continue attracting entrepreneurs and investors from around the world.
The timing matters. By mid-2026, the UAE’s competition with regional rivals for tech hub dominance had intensified—wait, scratch that. By mid-2026, the UAE was actively competing with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to position itself as the Middle East’s premier technology centre. The 15 leaders featured in this instalment represent a cross-section of that ambition.
Featured leaders were identified through an editorial process led by Khaleej Times, drawing on sector research, newsroom intelligence and consultations with industry observers. The goal was reflecting the breadth of Indian-origin contribution to the UAE’s technology ecosystem—a community whose influence, according to the publication, extends well beyond its numbers.
“The Indian diaspora punches far above its weight in tech entrepreneurship and innovation,” said Ted Kemp, chief content officer at Khaleej Times. “And this vibrant community serves within every facet of the tech ecosystem – from engineers and AI pioneers to chief executives. More than ever, global Indians are choosing the UAE as the incubation centre, proving ground and then global launch pad for their diverse ventures. We want to tell their stories. As the Voice of the UAE, Khaleej Times is the precise fit to honour these innovators and recognise the contribution they bring to the region and the world.”
Kemp’s publication, launched in 1978 as the UAE’s first English-language daily, reaches over 15 million users monthly across its digital platform and social channels. Published by Galadari Printing and Publishing, the brand has expanded into a diverse media portfolio including City Times, WKND, and specialist verticals serving luxury, business and youth audiences.
The franchise will culminate in an invitation-only networking forum bringing together business leaders, investors and decision-makers featured across all four lists. That’s the immediate horizon.
Beyond that, the intellectual property is expected to travel. Khaleej Times plans to take the franchise to markets including India and Singapore in subsequent phases, expanding what began as a UAE-focused editorial project into a multi-market platform.
Standard Chartered, the London and Hong Kong-listed banking group partnering on the initiative, maintains a presence in 54 markets globally. The bank’s involvement reflects its strategic focus on diaspora wealth corridors and entrepreneurial communities across Asia and the Middle East—networks that increasingly operate across borders rather than within them.
Whether the franchise model translates beyond the Emirates remains an open question. But the second instalment’s sharper focus on technology—and its capture of a billionaire’s AI bet alongside 14 other founders remaking sectors from mobility to insurtech—suggests the editorial team has found its rhythm.
The 15 leaders profiled span the spectrum from early-stage founders to established operators. Some are building consumer-facing platforms. Others are targeting enterprise transformation or developing infrastructure that will underpin the next wave of digital services.
What links them is geography and ambition. The UAE has become the place where Indian-origin technologists come to build at scale, to access capital that remains harder to secure in other markets, and to prove concepts before expanding globally.
That pattern has accelerated over the past three years, as the Emirates doubled down on AI strategy and digital economy positioning. The 15 leaders featured in The Next Tech Generation represent both the cause and effect of that acceleration—entrepreneurs drawn by opportunity, whose presence in turn deepens the ecosystem that attracted them.
The third and fourth instalments of Global Indians of the UAE are expected to spotlight different sectors, though Khaleej Times has not yet disclosed which. If the trajectory from the first edition’s broad sweep to the second edition’s technology focus holds, subsequent lists will likely drill deeper still into specific industries where Indian-origin leaders have concentrated influence.
For now, the billionaire’s AI bet stands as the marquee detail—a signal that the UAE’s tech ambitions have attracted not just founders chasing seed funding, but established wealth willing to commit capital at scale. The other 14 leaders on the list provide the supporting evidence: a generation of Indian-origin technologists who have chosen the Emirates as the place to build their next act.
