Abu Dhabi's artificial intelligence university welcomed 42 business and government leaders into its new executive programme on Sunday, as the UAE aims to be at the forefront of AI development. The 12-week programme at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) aims to offer practical training on AI and build connections between the public and private sectors and the scientific community. Instructors have been brought from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, the University of Oxford and Carnegie Mellon University to teach course content. "AI is proving to be the single most important economic accelerator of our time and it is central to the UAE's national and economic growth agenda," Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc and chairman of the MBZUAI Board of Trustees, said at the opening ceremony. "The MBZUAI Executive Programme was designed to take the latest AI methodologies from the classroom to the workplace, where they can make a practical difference. This is a real-world, tailored programme that focuses on tangible results."