Power Letters 2023: Naim Yazbeck, general manager, Microsoft UAE

Power Letters 2023: Naim Yazbeck, general manager, Microsoft UAE

In 2022, Microsoft UAE celebrated the third anniversary of the launch of our local cloud data centres. This was also the year we launched HoloLens 2 in the country. We see our mixed-reality headset as one of the defining technologies of the Industry 4.0 era and the emerging metaverse. We also launched four new services in 2022. Our launches are not random; they arm organisations for the immediate future – a future in which the pressure to remain agile keeps increasing. According to International Data Corporation, Microsoft, our partners, and our cloud customers are due to add almost 100,000 jobs to the UAE economy, including over 29,000 skilled IT jobs. But we must ensure we have a talent pool ready to assume these roles. Microsoft continues to commit heavily to education and skilling initiatives. Last year, at GESS 2022, we demonstrated a range of solutions designed to modernise teaching methods. In June 2022, we worked with Dubai-based French international school Lycée Français International de l’AFLEC to give diverse groups of students an introduction to coding. In alignment with our ongoing pledges to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, we made the sessions open to a wide array of students, including those with