Dubai Chamber Launches $150,000-Per-Winner AI Agents Championship

Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy has opened the Create AI Agents Championship, a global contest that turns ideas into working AI agents, with a grant of $150,000 for the winner of each of its four categories. Registration opened on 7 October 2026, and the grand final is set for the first week of May 2027.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, launched the championship on 7 October 2026. It is open to UAE residents and international participants, whether they are students, entrepreneurs, technical builders or simply curious about AI. No technical background is required to enter, and there is no minimum age, though the youth category is reserved for entrants under 21.

Four categories, four grants

Each category winner receives $150,000 to develop and grow their agent and business. The four categories are

• Best Societal AI Agent, for agents that address a real societal challenge and create positive change in Dubai and beyond,
• Best Personal AI Agent, for agents that help people live better every day, from health and wellbeing to productivity and time management,
• Best Business AI Agent, for agents built for public or private sector use that improve services, operations, decision making or customer experience, and
• Best Youth AI Agent, for the best agent developed by a participant under 21 at registration, or by a youth-led team with a lead applicant under 21.

One of the four winners will also be named Dubai AI Agent of the Year. The launch announcement put the overall winner’s prize at AED 1 million (about $272,000), taking the total pool past AED 2.5 million.

From workshops to a live final

Phase one, Explore, runs through October and November 2026 with three open workshops on agentic AI and a Digital Academy of 10 short videos that need no technical background.

Phase two, Build, runs from November 2026 to January 2027 with four advanced courses, four practical workshops and mentorship, ending in a prototype, a pitch deck and a demo video.

Phase three, Accelerate and Compete, runs from January to May 2027. Twenty-four semi-finalists join a Tech Accelerator Programme, 12 finalists are chosen after a semi-final pitch day in March 2027, and the finalists present a fully functional agent, not an MVP, live at the grand final. Finalists will pitch to UAE government leaders, investors and industry decision makers.

Who can enter

Individuals and teams of up to six can enter. Entries must be original and at the idea, prototype or early MVP stage, and must not already be a fully commercialised solution. Existing businesses can enter if they propose a new agent solution or capability. Entries must not be copied from an existing repository, and solutions must protect personal, confidential and organisational data.

Why a chamber is running an agent contest

The championship replaces the Create Apps Championship, run under the Create Apps in Dubai initiative. Across three editions, that contest drew 15,564 applications from 153 countries, produced 1,700 prototypes and helped launch more than 140 apps. The shift from apps to agents is the story here.

Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy is one of three chambers under Dubai Chambers, created in the March 2021 restructuring, and its chairman is Omar Sultan Al Olama, who also holds the UAE’s artificial intelligence ministerial portfolio. Agents are the current centre of gravity in AI, from proactive assistants to business automation, a shift we covered with Anthropic’s Claude Duet.

What stands out to us is the funnel, not just the money. Workshops, an academy, an accelerator and a live final that demands a working agent point to businesses, not demos. Dubai is using a chamber, a business institution rather than a tech company, to pull agent building into the mainstream economy. That is a bet that agents become ordinary business infrastructure, and that the builders will come from everywhere, not just from startups.

Details worth checking before you enter

Registration timing needs care. The championship page lists registration closing in January 2027, while the launch announcement pointed to December 2026. Treat December as the safe deadline. The page does not spell out disbursement or equity terms for the grants, so applicants should read the full terms before entering.

Two passages on the championship page still carry wording about developing a mobile application, a leftover from the apps competition it replaces. The rules everywhere else describe AI agents, and those are the ones that count. Registration is open now on the championship page.