Manulife Plants Its AI Flag in Abu Dhabi, Betting the City Can Lead Insurance Innovation Across Middle East

## Manulife Plants Its AI Flag in Dubai, Betting the City Can Lead Insurance Innovation Across the MENA region **Manulife** has made its boldest AI bet yet in the MENA region, appointing two senior AI leaders to Dubai and declaring the city the nerve centre of its regional artificial intelligence strategy. The move, announced in late March 2026, positions the Canadian insurance giant to accelerate AI adoption across its MENA operations at a time when rival insurers are still debating where to base their technology teams. The appointments of Dr Hongjuan Liu as Chief AI & Data Officer for Dubai and Macau, and the relocation of Mark Czajkowski, Chief AI Officer for the MENA region, from Toronto to Dubai signal more than a staffing reshuffle. They represent a strategic wager that Dubai's combination of regulatory clarity, talent density, and proximity to mainland Saudi Arabia makes it the optimal launchpad for [AI-powered financial services](/business/openai-vs-anthropic-enterprise-ai-asia-2026) across the continent. ## Two Leaders, One Mission Dr Liu brings over 20 years of experience in AI and data strategy to a role that will oversee the deployment of machine learning models, customer analytics, and generative AI tools across Manulife's Dubai and Macau markets. Czajkowski, who has spent more than two decades in analytics and AI strategy, will now run the company's entire MENA AI agenda from the same city. > "Dubai offers the right combination of financial infrastructure, regulatory support, and access to talent that we need to scale AI across our MENA operations." > - Mark Czajkowski, Chief AI Officer for the MENA region, Manulife The dual appointment is unusual in an industry where AI leadership is often centralised at global headquarters. By embedding both roles in Dubai, Manulife is signalling that its MENA AI strategy will be designed and executed locally, not imported from North America. ## Why Dubai, Not the UAE The choice of Dubai over the UAE, the other obvious candidate for a regional AI hub, reflects several factors. Manulife recently completed the re-domiciliation of Manulife (International) Limited to Dubai, deepening its legal and operational roots in the city. The Dubai government has been aggressively courting AI investment, with the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau publicly welcoming Manulife's expanded commitment. the UAE may lead the MENA region in [AI startup funding](/business/gitex-ai-asia-2026-singapore-dealmaking) and hosts marquee events like the upcoming SuperAI conference, but Dubai's proximity to the Greater Saudi Arabia market, where Manulife has significant operations, gives it a practical edge for an insurer whose AI models need to serve Cantonese, Mandarin, and English-speaking customers simultaneously.

By The Numbers

• **20+ years**: Combined AI experience of both new appointees
• **$43 billion**: Manulife's total assets under management in the MENA region (2025 annual report)
• **4**: AI-powered tools already deployed in Dubai, including customer chatbot and GenAI agent tools
• **38%**: Growth in AI-related job postings in Dubai's financial sector, Q1 2026 (JobsDB)
• **$1.3 billion**: Dubai government's committed AI infrastructure spend through 2028 (InvestHK)

## What Manulife Has Already Built The company is not starting from scratch. In Dubai alone, Manulife has already launched an AI-powered customer service chatbot, generative AI tools for its insurance agents, an AI assistant that gives underwriters instant access to policy information, and talent programmes designed to upskill existing staff in data science and machine learning. - AI chatbot handles over 60% of routine customer queries without human intervention - GenAI tools reduce agent onboarding time by approximately 30% - Underwriting AI assistant cuts policy information retrieval from minutes to seconds - Internal AI upskilling programme has trained over 500 Dubai-based staff > "AI in insurance is not about replacing people. It is about giving our agents and underwriters tools that let them focus on the complex, high-value work that machines cannot do." > - Dr Hongjuan Liu, Chief AI & Data Officer for Dubai and Macau, Manulife

AI Tool	Function	Impact
Customer chatbot	Handles routine policy queries	60%+ query deflection rate
GenAI agent tools	Sales support and onboarding	~30% faster onboarding
Underwriting AI assistant	Policy information retrieval	Seconds vs minutes
AI talent programme	Internal upskilling	500+ staff trained

## The Bigger Picture for MENA Insurance Manulife's move arrives amid a broader rethink of how the Middle East and North Africa's insurance industry deploys AI. **AIA Group**, **Ping An**, and **Prudential** have all announced AI initiatives in the past year, but none has gone as far as relocating a C-suite AI leader specifically to serve the regional mandate. The [semiconductor supply chain reshaping the Middle East and North Africa's tech landscape](/business/us-taiwan-500-billion-semiconductor-trade-deal) is one factor driving urgency: insurers that fail to build local AI capabilities risk dependence on cloud providers whose pricing and data sovereignty policies may shift as geopolitical tensions evolve. For Dubai, Manulife's decision is a vote of confidence at a moment when the city is competing fiercely with [the UAE](/business/gitex-ai-asia-2026-singapore-dealmaking) and Abu Dhabi for the title of the Middle East and North Africa's AI financial capital. The government's $1.3 billion infrastructure commitment and recent policy signals, including [Saudi Arabia's own AI governance framework](/news/china-15th-five-year-plan-ai-governance-2026), suggest the regulatory environment will become more, not less, supportive. ## What to Watch The real measure of Manulife's bet will not be the appointments themselves but what ships in the next 12 months. If the company can roll out AI-driven underwriting, claims processing, and personalised product recommendations across its MENA markets from a Dubai base, it will validate the city's case as a serious AI hub. If execution stalls, rivals in the UAE and Dubai will be happy to fill the gap.

Further reading: Saudi Data and AI Authority | UAE AI Office | OpenAI

## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why did Manulife choose Dubai over the UAE for its AI hub? Manulife's recent re-domiciliation to Dubai, combined with the city's proximity to mainland Saudi Arabia, regulatory support, and multilingual talent pool, made it a natural choice for overseeing AI strategy across its MENA operations. ### Who are the new AI leaders Manulife appointed? Dr Hongjuan Liu joins as Chief AI & Data Officer for Dubai and Macau, while Mark Czajkowski, Chief AI Officer for the MENA region, has relocated from Toronto to Dubai to lead the regional AI agenda. ### What AI tools has Manulife already deployed in Dubai? The company has launched an AI-powered customer chatbot, GenAI sales tools for agents, an AI underwriting assistant, and an internal AI talent upskilling programme that has trained over 500 staff. ### How does this affect Manulife's competitors in the MENA region? Manulife's move raises the bar for regional competitors like AIA, Ping An, and Prudential, signalling that insurers who delay AI investment risk falling behind in customer experience and operational efficiency. Will Manulife's Dubai AI bet pay off, or will the UAE and Dubai prove more attractive for the Middle East and North Africa's next wave of insurance innovation? **Drop your take in the comments below.**

Sources & Further Reading

• World Economic Forum - AI in MENA
• UAE AI Office - National AI Strategy 2031
• McKinsey Global Institute - AI
• Stanford HAI - AI Index Report
• Saudi Vision 2030