Demonstrating the power of integrated AI solutions

There is little doubt that AI will become a dominant technology, but the path ahead is far from clear. McKinsey finds the biggest barrier to AI adoption is a lack of clear strategy. G42, a leading technology group of nine businesses pioneering cross-industry cloud and AI solutions, wanted to help companies and governments visualise their world with integrated AI solutions.

The Intelligence Grid is G42’s vision for AI as an omnipresent utility: a future where access to AI is as commonplace as broadband. G42 needed a bold, inventive way to launch The Intelligence Grid at GITEX GLOBAL, one of the world’s biggest technology exhibitions. As each G42 business supports decision-makers across a range of verticals, including government, healthcare, finance, energy, aerospace and hospitality, a key part of the challenge was to stimulate cross-industry conversations.

Our idea was simple but effective: demonstrate The Intelligence Grid as a futuristic but relatable smart city. The smart city would help delegates understand how they could integrate AI into their lives and show them what the world might look like as a result.

We designed a smart city inspired by the local area and populated with recognisable buildings from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, overlaid with different "layers" of The Intelligence Grid that G42 technology enables. From the cable networks beneath the ground to autonomous vehicles on the road, the weather stations and connected hospitals we interact with, the apps that power them, the cloud services that store the data and the big-picture vision provided by satellites. In all, we created five conceptual and technological layers, 30 individual buildings, 135 interactive components and a multitude of apps and solutions, all organised into use cases.

We brought this to life with an interactive 3D experience, beamed from a striking 11-metre wraparound display and explored with a touch-screen controller. The experience attracted business leaders, Emirati royalty and government leaders from around the world. By capturing users’ journeys and contact details, G42 gained more than 100 high-value leads, ensuring that GITEX was the start of an impactful conversation.