Hosts “Designing the New Media Era with AI” workshop in partnership with General Secretariat of Gulf Cooperation Council, and in cooperation with the New Media Academy
Dubai, UAE: 19 November, 2025 – Equipping professionals in the Gulf’s media industry with AI competencies is fundamental to ensuring the sector’s future competitiveness, His Excellency Mohammed Saeed Al Shehhi, Secretary General of the UAE Media Council, stressed in Dubai. HE also highlighted the importance of ongoing initiatives, policies, and strategies to boost the preparedness of these professionals and reinforce the industry’s resilience in the region.
HE’s comments came during the joint workshop titled “Designing the New Media Era with AI” hosted by the UAE Media Council, in partnership with the General Secretariat of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and in cooperation with the New Media Academy, at Creators HQ in Emirates Towers.
The workshop drew the participation of experts and specialists from the media, news and marketing departments of the GCC countries. The participants were trained extensively on a wide range of artificial intelligence tools dedicated to the media sector.
The workshop was part of a wider program to develop reliable content, accelerate publishing processes, improve the quality of the region’s media talent, and foster creativity. The program comprised field visits to give the participants an interactive and comprehensive, experience and equip them with critical leadership skills and professional readiness.
HE Al Shehhi noted that advancing media skills through cutting-edge technologies fosters greater innovation, which in turn, attracts both local and international investments – helping to expand trailblazing media and creative ventures in the region.
His Excellency added: “The prevailing global market presents our region with a unique opportunity, and investing in talent is investing in the future of media. Grand View Research expects that the AI in media market will reach US$99.48 billion by 2030. This underscores the need for comprehensive strategies to develop the skills and leadership required for media organisations in the Gulf to actively adopt AI tools at the earliest.”
The Secretary General commended the advanced skills of the participants, pointing out that media professionals in the Gulf had the core competencies needed to lead the new media era. He added that their enthusiasm to learn and share new knowledge and tools with their organisations will significantly contribute to further developing the media environments they work in and lead.
Exploring the evolution of AI in the media sector, the workshop also covered the hands-on use of AI tools for content creation. Participants learned how to transform standard content into organised, publication-ready formats – including videos, images, and text, and how to use the output for research, archiving, and effective media project management.
Participants also learnt to elevate editorial work into intelligent, high-quality content that upheld professional ethics and credibility. Content verification and strategies to counter deepfakes were also part of the conversation, to ensure integrity across media, news, and creative industries.
As a key takeaway, the workshop offered participants insights on designing their own smart assistant, or AI Agent, to support them in their professional tasks, including everyday research, and creative projects.