NEP 4.0

Faisal Al Hawi is a technology and innovation leader with 17 years of experience driving large-scale digital transformation across the public and private sectors in the UAE. His work spans strategic product development, national initiatives, and innovation policy — including scaling UAEPass to 2 million users, the execution of the UAE’s Blockchain Strategy, and building ecosystems for startups, talent, and emerging technologies.  

Faisal currently heads the AI Factory at the Department of Government Enablement (DGE) in Abu Dhabi, where he is building and scaling sovereign AI products and capabilities as part of the mission to create the world’s first AI-native government.  

Previously, Faisal served as a Product Leader at Amazon, launching multimillion-dollar businesses in the MENA retail sector. He also held the role of Director of Accelerators and Incubators at the Dubai Future Foundation, where he managed flagship innovation and startup programs, while fostering government partnerships to drive future-readiness across Dubai. He was a member of the National Service Youth Council, supporting initiatives to expand and scale the program nationwide.  

With a deep passion for entrepreneurship and design, Faisal has co-founded ventures in digital services, B2B e-commerce, and retail (F&B). He is an alumnus of the Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Leadership Development – Impactful Leaders Program, and the Chief Design Officers Program by the Dubai Design Lab.  

Faisal holds a Master’s in Information Security and a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from Khalifa University, as well as a diploma in Public Sector Innovation from the MBR Center for Government Innovation in partnership with Imperial Business School.  

Faisal’s favourite quote is Steve Job’s “Stay hungry, stay foolish”.