AI in the UAE food industry: A Quick Summary
- The UAE aims to be a global AI leader by 2031 through its national AI strategy.
- Local food authority ADAFSA partnered with the national AI office to enhance food security.
- ADAFSA uses AI to improve sustainable farming and local food safety standards.
- It became the first agri-food body globally to earn ISO 42001:2023 for AI management.
- ADAFSA is also transitioning all services to cloud computing for better accessibility and automation.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has invested significant amounts of money and time into AI, not least in the development of its national UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy which aims to position the UAE as a global AI leader by 2031, integrating AI into various sectors.
The UAE has previously been highlighted as a ‘dark horse’ in terms of regional food AI leadership, and the country appears to be taking this very seriously.
2025 has seen the food industry receive extra attention in terms of AI integration, with key government agencies having made concrete changes towards the use of AI.
Most recently, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) signed a strategic partnership with the Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications Office regarding the use of AI for food security enhancement.
The partnership will be focused on skills enhancement and technological innovations.
According to ADAFSA Acting Director-General Dr. Tariq Al Ameri, AI is a crucial technology to help ADAFSA in terms of enhancing sustainable agriculture as well as improve local food safety standards.
“ADAFSA is committed to leveraging advanced technologies such as AI to both support national policies as well as boosting innovation within our food industry,” he said via a formal statement.
ADAFSA also made history in August this year when it was awarded ISO 42001:2023 international certification for its AI Management System, the world’s first such certification within the agri-food space.
The certification covered the use of AI tech such as intelligent analytics and machine learning algorithms within local agricultural operations to enhance efficiencies, as well as the improvement of food safety services for the nation.
“This significant achievement reflects the steadfast support of the UAE leadership and is aligned with Abu Dhabi’s national vision as well as the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031,” Al Ameri added.
“[ADAFSA plays a significant] role in driving agricultural sustainability, food security, and digital transformation through the integration of artificial intelligence solutions.”
Cloud computing integration
Further to this, the Abu Dhabi government is also pushing for all its 40+ entities to become fully AI-empowered as per the national vision of enabling a ‘fully AI-native’ government by 2027.
ADAFSA has taken to this change rapidly this year as well, announcing that it would be starting a ‘comprehensive transition’ of all its services and infrastructure to be cloud-based.
“The migration to cloud-based services will offer improved accessibility and greater flexibility for users, thus strengthening digital portals, mobile apps, and other online services,” the agency said.
“It will also contribute to boosting efficiencies by automating processes, reducing manual workloads, and optimising IT resource management, in addition to bolstering data governance and security [to ensure] the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive information.”
This full digital transformation is also expected to help ADAFSA fully integrate future-ready infrastructure into its operations, ready to utilise further AI, machine learning and other such advanced technologies more rapidly.
