DUBAI: Young leaders are calling for a greater role in shaping the region’s future as artificial intelligence investment accelerates across the Middle East, discussions at the World Economic Forum in Dubai highlighted. According to the latest WEF report, AI could unlock more than one trillion dollars for the Middle East and North Africa by 2030. Head of Global Shapers community at WEF, Natalie Pierce, told Arab News empowering the youth today requires a focus on the skills for the future and the availability of entry level roles that allow young people to get their first job. “I think young people are fundamentally asking for a seat at the table. When I talk to the 65 young leaders who are here in Dubai, they are a cautiously optimistic and incredibly motivated generation. They see the world as it is, they see challenge and they see opportunity, but they have a strong desire to make a difference,” she said. “So how do we bring young people into rooms? How do we consider young people on boards? How do we bring them into governments? That's the role that we can play in truly mobilising, inspiring and empowering the next generation,” said Pierce. She went on to say that with one in five young people around the world not in education, employment or training, more needs to be done to provide them with that first opportunity that lets them enter into a long term career, opportunities, mobility. A growing number of voices in the region argue that Arab language, culture and experience should help define what progress looks like, not just adopt it. Fay Khales, founder of Athar and a member of WEF’s Global Shapers Community, is exploring that question through an Arab foresight methodology rooted in the region’s historical and intellectual traditions. The project aims to challenge the dominance of Western frameworks in imagining the future and encourage communities to develop approaches grounded in their own identities and experiences. “Arab ways of thinking utilise things like ‘niya’ and ‘sabr’ that are not there in traditional foresight methodologies that can help people really persevere when looking at the future and be more optimistic when looking towards it,” said Khales. She warned that young people around the world are basing their assumptions on the future purely on Western methodologies, adding: "What that fails to do is it fails to take people from the Global South, people from indigenous communities." With AI expected to unlock significant economic value across the Middle East and North Africa, the region’s ability to turn that potential into lasting progress will depend in part on how effectively it equips young people to participate.