Ashish Koshy, chief executive of Inception42, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based G42, has rejected concerns that the AI sector is heading for a crash, arguing that growing commercial demand will justify the UAE’s expanding investment in the technology. In an interview with AGBI, he pointed to a series of new partnerships announced in a single day: a five-year deal with OpenAI to move AI from adoption into deployment in complex workflows, a tripartite agreement with Adnoc and OpenAI on an AI-driven decision intelligence layer, and an investment partnership with Mubadala, also involving OpenAI. Koshy described Adnoc’s move as the first time an energy company is becoming “AI native”, emphasising live deployment rather than experimentation. He declined to disclose financial terms but called the investment significant.
On returns, Koshy acknowledged that no one can promise a specific figure, but said ROI must be judged across individual use cases, such as better decision-making for Adnoc using its data platforms. Waiting for a perfect business case, he argued, risks missing the moment entirely, so capital should be selective but large enough to drive transformation.
Asked whether the Gulf needs 8 to 10 gigawatts of data centre capacity, including the Stargate project’s planned scale-up from 1 to 5 gigawatts, he said the UAE has always served the wider world, not just itself. Inception42 is developing use cases in parallel with data centre construction so workloads match capacity, avoiding a situation where facilities are built and then left searching for users. Oil and gas, energy and sovereign wealth funds are the biggest commercial opportunities.
On the regional conflict, Koshy said the company is “doubling down” and has delayed nothing, sticking to its business plan.
Pressed on bubble risks, particularly circular investment among major players like Microsoft, he said he could not comment on individual valuations but saw these entities delivering results. He conceded a recalibration of value metrics may be needed, though not at the expense of slowing deployment.
On sovereignty, he defined it as control rather than isolation: models, data, people and influence all based in the country, and auditable.
At DMX Associates, we are monitoring developments in AI investment and infrastructure across the Gulf and their implications for global markets.
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