2026-08-13
The UAE's artificial intelligence sector has moved from importing technology to exporting it. On 2026-08-13, Abu Dhabi-based AIREV and Qualcomm Technologies announced a collaboration that will integrate AIREV's OnDemand platform, an operating system for autonomous AI agents serving more than 4 million users with over 300 specialised agents in 50+ languages, into the Qualcomm Dragonwing product line, including the Dragonwing AI On-Prem Appliance. The goal is to let enterprises and governments worldwide run capable AI agents on their own infrastructure, from sovereign data centres to corporate servers and edge devices, without mandatory cloud dependency. The UAE Minister for Foreign Trade, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, who chairs AIREV, called the deal fresh evidence that the Emirates now creates and exports advanced technology rather than only adopting it.
What exactly was announced
The two companies will bring OnDemand, AIREV's no-code and low-code platform for building, deploying and managing autonomous AI agents, onto Qualcomm Dragonwing hardware. Dragonwing is the product family Qualcomm aims at enterprise, public sector, critical infrastructure, consumer and industrial environments, and the collaboration specifically covers the Qualcomm Dragonwing AI On-Prem Appliance, a device designed to run AI workloads inside an organisation's own walls.
The combination is aimed at a specific and fast-growing market: organisations that want the productivity of agentic AI but cannot, for regulatory or security reasons, send their data to a public cloud. OnDemand was architected for exactly this constraint. The platform runs on sovereign data centres, corporate servers or directly on devices, which makes it deployable in government ministries, banks, utilities and industrial operators that require full control over where data lives and who can touch it.
Muhammad Khalid, founder and chief executive of AIREV, said the partnership lets the company put advanced AI agents virtually everywhere its customers work, from on-premises infrastructure to intelligent edge deployments. Wassim Chourbaji, Senior Vice President and President for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Qualcomm Technologies, said bringing OnDemand to Dragonwing products expands the ways enterprises and governments can deploy capable and efficient AI agents.
OnDemand in numbers
AIREV is a young company, founded in 2024, but the platform's usage figures explain why a chipmaker of Qualcomm's scale is interested:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Users worldwide | More than 4 million |
| Specialised AI agents | Over 300 |
| Languages supported | More than 50 |
| Tokens processed in Q2 2026 | 6.8 trillion, a sixfold increase year over year |
| Company founded | 2024, headquartered in Abu Dhabi |
The 6.8 trillion tokens processed in the second quarter of 2026 is the number to watch: it measures actual workload flowing through the platform, and a sixfold jump in a year signals that OnDemand is being used in production, not just piloted.
Why sovereign AI is the battleground
Most well-known AI assistants live in the public cloud, which is a non-starter for large parts of the global economy. Governments handling citizen data, banks under confidentiality rules, defence and critical infrastructure operators, healthcare systems: all of them face restrictions on moving data outside their own jurisdiction or premises. The industry's answer is sovereign AI, systems that run where the data owner dictates, on national data centres, private servers or local devices.
This is precisely the niche the AIREV and Qualcomm pairing targets. Qualcomm supplies the certified on-premises hardware; AIREV supplies the agent platform that turns that hardware into a working digital workforce, agents that can read documents, answer questions, execute workflows and automate processes in more than 50 languages. For a ministry in Southeast Asia or a utility in Europe, the pitch is a boxed solution: capable AI agents, deployed inside your perimeter, with no data leaving the building.
For the UAE, the deal means an Abu Dhabi-built software layer will ride global hardware distribution into exactly those environments, government and enterprise, across the world.
From importer to exporter of technology
The symbolism was not lost on the UAE government. Dr. Al Zeyoudi's comment, that as well as attracting the world's best technology services the UAE is now creating and exporting them, frames the deal as a milestone in the country's AI strategy. For years the Emirates built its position by buying and hosting: attracting data centres, licensing foreign models, partnering with global vendors. The AIREV deal reverses the flow: a homegrown Abu Dhabi platform will now be distributed on the hardware of a leading US chipmaker into markets far beyond the Gulf.
It is the second such signal in a matter of days. As we covered in our report on Altair-1, the first UAE-built commercial AI satellite, the Emirates has begun manufacturing and exporting advanced technology products, not just consuming them. Satellites from a KEZAD factory, AI platforms from Abu Dhabi on Qualcomm silicon: the pattern is a deliberate industrial strategy, and it is starting to produce export-grade results.
What it means for business in the UAE
For founders and investors looking at the Emirates, the AIREV and Qualcomm announcement carries several practical signals:
- Abu Dhabi tech companies can reach global markets: a firm founded in 2024 is now distributing through one of the world's largest chipmakers, showing how fast the UAE ecosystem can scale a credible product.
- The AI talent market keeps widening: platforms like OnDemand need engineers, solution architects, sales and localisation teams, which means hiring and relocation into Abu Dhabi and Dubai on employment visas.
- Sovereign AI creates a services layer: every on-premises deployment needs integrators, consultants, data specialists and support firms, a natural niche for smaller UAE-registered companies.
- Government backing is explicit: when a sitting minister chairs an AI startup and announces its global deal, it signals where state priorities and procurement budgets are heading.
- The UAE is becoming a launchpad, not just a market: building a product in Abu Dhabi now comes with a realistic path to worldwide distribution through partnerships forged locally.
How Atlant Capital can help
Stories like AIREV's start with ordinary corporate steps: a licence, visas, a bank account. Atlant Capital helps founders and investors from Russia, the CIS and beyond establish their UAE presence properly. We register companies in free zones and on the mainland through our company setup service, arrange residence permits for founders and relocating specialists through our work visa and residency service, and support corporate bank account opening. If you are building a technology business and want the UAE as your base for global expansion, we can put the legal and banking foundation in place while you build the product.
The bottom line
An Abu Dhabi company founded in 2024 will now ship its AI agent platform on Qualcomm Dragonwing hardware to enterprises and governments worldwide. OnDemand brings the numbers, 4 million users, 300+ agents, 6.8 trillion tokens processed in a single quarter, and Qualcomm brings the distribution and the on-premises hardware that sovereign customers demand. For the UAE it is a strategic first: the country that spent a decade importing AI capability is now exporting it. For anyone deciding where to build a technology company with global ambitions, Abu Dhabi just made its case stronger.
FAQ
What did AIREV and Qualcomm announce?
On 2026-08-13 they announced a collaboration to integrate AIREV's OnDemand platform, an operating system for autonomous AI agents, into Qualcomm Dragonwing products, including the Dragonwing AI On-Prem Appliance. The combination targets enterprises and governments worldwide that need AI agents running on their own infrastructure rather than in a public cloud.
What is the OnDemand platform?
OnDemand is a no-code and low-code platform from Abu Dhabi-based AIREV for building, deploying and managing autonomous AI agents. It serves more than 4 million users, offers over 300 specialised agents in more than 50 languages, and processed 6.8 trillion tokens in Q2 2026, a sixfold increase year over year. It runs on sovereign data centres, corporate servers or devices, without mandatory cloud dependency.
What is sovereign AI and why does it matter?
Sovereign AI means AI systems deployed on infrastructure the data owner fully controls, national data centres, private servers or on-premises appliances, so sensitive data never leaves the owner's jurisdiction. It matters for governments, banks, healthcare and critical infrastructure, which are often barred from using public cloud AI. The AIREV and Qualcomm collaboration is built specifically for these customers.
Why is this deal significant for the UAE?
It marks the UAE's shift from importing AI technology to exporting it. A platform created in Abu Dhabi by a company founded in 2024 will be distributed globally on hardware from a leading US chipmaker. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister for Foreign Trade and Chairman of AIREV, called it the latest evidence of the UAE's progress in creating and exporting technology services.
