The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) agents is no longer a theoretical discussion for organisations in the UAE. As both public and private sectors accelerate their AI agendas, leaders are confronting a fundamental shift in how work is structured, decisions are made, and talent is developed. These questions were at the centre of a panel discussion on AI talent architecture, AI agents and the future of jobs during AI Fest in Dubai.
Opening the discussion, Ezzeddine Jradi, tech leader and advisor in the UAE, framed the transformation as a shift from human execution to human orchestration. Rather than focusing on tools, he argued that the most critical skill emerging is the ability to translate between business intent and technical output. “This is the skill of a translator,” said Jradi. “Whatever you understand from the business, you need to translate it into technical requirements and, just as importantly, translate technical outcomes back into business relevance.”
As AI agents take on increasing volumes of operational work, leaders must govern the relationship between humans and machines through communication and clear structures. “It’s more about relationship and communication,” he said. “If you play it this way, you get smoother cross-functional collaboration.”
Using the example of a finance function, Jradi described a future in which traditional execution gives way to orchestration. “We’re moving from spreadsheets and SQL queries to using AI agents,” said Jradi. “The key question for leaders is: what are the fundamental human, non-technical skills needed to lead a team that is no longer executing, but orchestrating?”
Rather than positioning AI as a purely technological challenge, the panel repeatedly returned to governance as the foundation for successful adoption. Jradi pointed to established disciplines such as business excellence, process re-engineering and Six Sigma as entry points for leaders seeking to understand where AI can deliver value. “These are business discussions,” he said. “The organisation needs to understand where it struggles, which processes add no value, and which can be optimised without breaking governance or compliance.”
Without this clarity, AI agents risk amplifying existing weaknesses. “If governance structures are undefined or poorly designed, AI will not solve the problem,” warned Jradi.
Shrenik Jain, CIO and senior vice-president of IT Middle East at Siemens, reinforced this view, arguing that productivity gains only materialise when organisations are willing to revisit long-standing decision thresholds. “There is an opportunity cost to not taking decisions faster,” he said. “At certain thresholds, even if some decisions are wrong, statistically most will be right, and the time and effort spent on low-level human decision-making can be eliminated.”
Accountability in an agentic world
A recurring concern was accountability. As AI agents gain autonomy, who is responsible when decisions go wrong? “The accountability always sits with humans,” said Jain. “You can endow responsibility to an AI agent, just as you would to a team member, but the business leader remains accountable for the outcome. That’s how organisations already work, the difference is that AI requires decision-making structures to be far clearer than they often are today.”
Jradi added that future leaders must understand when to intervene. “The skill is knowing where to put the human in the loop and at which touchpoints,” he said, pointing to financial thresholds as a practical example. Low-risk decisions can be automated, while high-impact decisions remain human-led.
As AI agents absorb junior and repetitive tasks, concerns are growing about how organisations will train future talent. Jradi was unconcerned. “AI needs to be fed with experience,” he said. “If we stop feeding it, it stops producing insights. Junior roles will still exist, but they will be supported by AI rather than being purely manual. They will still do a job, but it will be more enjoyable, and they will learn from other people’s mistakes.”
Jain added: “Jobs have always evolved. There will be jobs that are replaced, but there will be many more that are created. What changes is the way we work.”
He warned leaders against complacency. “If you believe AI cannot do your job better than you, that’s when your job is at risk,” said Jain. “We are the last generation of leaders who will only lead people. The next generation will lead people and agents together.”
Closing the session, the panellists emphasised that AI adoption is no longer a technology initiative but a leadership responsibility across every function. “Every leader is now responsible for the AI wave,” said Jradi. “Finance, HR, operations, all of us need to understand how AI affects our domain.”
He urged organisations to normalise continuous learning. “If teams are not spending at least two to three hours a week learning AI, that needs to change,” said Jradi. “Embrace the hybrid human-AI workforce. Some work will be human-led, some AI-augmented, and some fully automated.”
