GITEX GLOBAL is the world’s largest tech, AI and startup event convening over 6,000 participants including big tech enterprises, governments, SMEs, startups and industry partners, alongside global investors and business executives.
2026 is an edition of strategic firsts: a new home at Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC), Expo City Dubai, and a new format that opens with a high-level GITEX Summit on 7 December at Dubai World Trade Centre, followed by four days of Expo and conferences at DEC. GITEX reunites with Expand North Star, its co-located startup and investor showcase, at the same venue, running from 8-11 December.
As governments and businesses reset their priorities for 2027, the event examines how AI is reshaping economic competitiveness, sovereign capabilities and scientific discovery. New showcases in data centres, energy, robotics, mobility, quantum and longevity connect that debate to the technologies and companies putting intelligence to work.
Global Reset 2027, Through a new lens: Why now?
Governments and businesses are heading into 2027 reassessing their priorities. Geopolitical shifts, energy volatility, and the race for infrastructure are redrawing markets faster than strategies can adapt. Data sovereignty, investments and national AI strategies are increasingly contested, and AI has moved from the remit of the CIO to the centre of national economic policy.
Amid these shifts, the organisations that come out stronger tend to be those that stay connected, build new relationships and position themselves early for the next cycle of growth.
The theme, “The Global Reset 2027, Through a New Lens”, centre-stages the decisive factors determining where to invest, which technologies to deploy and which partnerships can deliver growth. GITEX’s move to December makes it the year-end meeting point where those decisions get made, with a strong focus on new business opportunities, major project launches, investment partnerships and cross-border collaborations that will shape the year ahead.
Key talking points
US$20 trillion of global technology influence in one arena
Participating enterprises collectively represent approximately US$20 trillion in market capitalisation, bringing some of the world’s most influential cloud, compute, data, software and AI companies together with government institutions, research organisations and business first-movers.
AI sovereignty becomes a question of economic power at GITEX
GITEX places government and industry in the same conversation, connecting the policies discussed on stage with what’s on the show floor: compute power, data, frontier models, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure. More than 400 participating government entities give that dialogue strategic weight.
Data and energy lead as the twin imperatives of the intelligence economy
Two new shows, GITEX Super Data Centre and GITEX New Energy, focus on the links between growing AI capability and the physical systems behind it: hyperscale data centres, energy supply, construction, industrial capacity and national competitiveness.
Robots move from spectacle to the economics of work
GITEX World Robotix and GITEX MobX puts embedded AI and future mobility’s commercial readiness in focus. Humanoids, quadrupeds, service robots and EvTOLs alongside how organisations manage machines alongside people. Unitree, Ant Group, Booster Robotics, Joby Aviation and Pudu Robotics join UAE businesses and transportation networks addressing deployment and fleet management.
Longevity brings AI into the science of living longer
The inaugural LIVX by GITEX connects AI drug discovery, genomics, precision diagnostics and regenerative medicine with clinical practice and investment. Participation from the Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi (IHLAD), the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, and Insilico Medicine gives access to the scientific research and real-world use-cases powering healthier aging.
Autonomous systems demand a new security playbook
As AI agents gain greater responsibility, accountability and control become operational priorities. GITEX Cyber Valley covers AI security, dual-use cyber and post-quantum readiness, with tailored business meetings and a private briefings for global cybersecurity leaders. The central question is how to scale intelligence while protecting the systems and data it depends on.
Headline exhibitors
Global tech brands:
Acer, Alibaba Cloud, AMD, Amazon Web Services (AWS), ASUS, Broadcom, Cisco, Cloudera, Cloudflare, CrowdStrike, Datadog, Dell, Ericsson, F5, Fortinet, Google, Honeywell, HPE, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Monday.com, NetApp, Nokia, Nutanix, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Red Hat, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Siemens, Snowflake, Supermicro, Tencent Cloud, Thales, Trend Micro, UiPath, Workday, Zoho, Zscaler, among many more.
Data centres, cloud & intelligent connectivity:
China Mobile International, China Telecom, Cohesity, Commvault, CommScope, Core42, D-Link, du, e& / Etisalat, Everpure (Pure Storage), G42, Nebius, Netris, Pegatron, SolarWinds, SUSE, Veeam, Vertiv, ZTE, among more.
UAE government and public institutions:
UAE Ministry of Economy, Department of Government Enablement – Abu Dhabi, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security, Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, Dubai Digital Authority, Dubai Customs, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), UAE University, Nedaa, Dubai Civil Defence, Dubai Police GHQ, Dubai Integrated Economic Zone, Fujairah Digital Government, Roads and Transport Authority – RTA, Department of Digital Ajman, Sharjah Digital Department, Khalifa University Enterprises Company, UAE Cybersecurity Council, Zayed University, Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Khalifa University Enterprises Company.
International government and trade institutions:
Ministry of Digital Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Ministry of Innovation, Science & Technology – Lagos State, AMDIE, Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council of India, Development Agency of Serbia, Enterprise Greece Invest & Trade, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Pakistan Software Export Board, KOTRA – Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Cyprus Trade Center, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, SPIRIT Slovenia Business Development Agency, Hungarian Export Promotion Agency, Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency, to name a few.
Robotics, Mobility & Physical AI:
AiMOGA, Ant Group Robotics, Booster Robotics, iFLYTEK, LimX Dynamics, Pudu Robotics, Unitree, YS Lootah Robotics
Cybersecurity:
Acronis, AMIVIZ, Cohesity, Commvault, Forcepoint, Forescout, Kaspersky, ManageEngine, NETSCOUT, Netskope, NinjaOne, Proofpoint, SentinelOne / Sentinel Labs, Trellix, UAE Cybersecurity Council
Top new enterprises:
- Neurovia AI: Abu Dhabi based subsidiary of Robo.ai Inc. (NASDAQ: AIIO), Neurovia AI is transforming how visual data is stored, optimised and transmitted. Recent testing of its flagship platform NeuroStream compressed a 12.15GB 4K video file into 421MB while maintaining visual quality, achieving a storage reduction of more than 96 per cent.
- Workday: A finance and HR software company on the Fortune 500 list, with a market cap of around US$ 46+ billion in 2026. It has an AI-led approach that delivers faster product cycles and a leaner operating model with autonomous agents embedded in HR, finance and IT workflows.
- Netris: A leading provider of network automation and multi-tenancy for AI infrastructure, serving global telcos, large neoclouds and sovereign cloud operators, with over 58 live deployments and 800% ARR growth in the last 12 months. In October 2026, it announced a partnership with Nutanix, Nvidia and Supermicro to deliver multi-tenant infrastructure for deploying faster and cheaper production AI.
- com: One of the world’s most popular AI workflow management platforms used by 250,000 customers, including 60% of the Fortune 500 across 200+ countries. It brings people, workflows and AI agents together on one connected, context-aware platform to empower work management, CRM, dev, service and campaigns.
- Joby Aviation: US-based mobility company building quiet, all-electric aircraft with the ability to take off and land vertically, Joby Aviation is bringing electric air taxis to Dubai through a planned four-vertiport network.
- Riello: One of Europe’s leading manufacturers with over 100 years of expertise in heating, cooling, industrial burners and energy-efficient technologies, with systems offering uninterrupted power supply for AI infrastructure, telecommunication systems and more.
Unicorns with combined valuation of US$ 76B participating (exhibition & conferences):
- Terra Quantum: $3.5B valued Swiss quantum software company backed by Investcorp and Lakestar, running hybrid quantum-classical algorithms
- Pasqal: Valued at $2B, the French neutral-atom quantum computing leader is backed by Temasek and Bpifrance, and co-founded by a Nobel laureate.
- AGIBOT: Valued at US$7 billion, the Chinese humanoid robotics company is backed by Tencent, LG and HongShan and develops humanoid and embodied AI systems.
- Scale AI: AI training-data global powerhouse valued at US$ 29B following Meta’s $14.3B investment, Scale AI leverages RLHF (Reinforced Learning with Human Feedback) to help organisations build the strongest AI models, with customers across industries including Meta, Microsoft, U.S. Army, Open AI, General Motors, and more.
- Genspark: Founded by former employees of Microsoft, Google, Meta, YouTube & Pinterest, $2.6B valued Genspark operates an AI-powered workspace that uses multiple AI models to help create presentations, financial models, software applications and other business deliverables. The company crossed $100M in annual recurring revenue in 2026.
- Axelera AI: European Investment Council Fund and BlackRock backed $2.5B Axelera AI is among the leading European chip startups gaining popularity in the AI inference market. Headquartered in the AI Innovation Center of the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Axelera AI has R&D offices in Belgium, Switzerland, UK and Italy and operations in 15 European countries.
AI sectors in focus:
- Data Centres and New Energy
- Intelligent Connectivity
- Sovereign AI, Frontier Models & Agentic AI
- Sovereign Security & Quantum
- Robotics & Autonomous Mobility
Image Credit: GITEX Global
Source: Tahawul Tech