GBM Launches UAE’s First Secure AI Lab, Accelerating AI Deployment in GCC

Abdelrahman Amr

Last updated 7-10-2026

4 min

GBM launched the UAE’s first AI Lab on Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA.

It aims to move firms from AI pilots to deployment, cutting timelines “from months to weeks”.

The focus is “sovereign AI infrastructure”, keeping data local, secure and compliant with rules.

Businesses can test on-premises and hybrid AI with real-time monitoring and hardware-level security.

GBM says practical, governable AI could help GCC organisations finally get systems live.

Gulf Business Machines, better known as GBM, has unveiled what is being described as the UAE’s first AI Lab built on Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA, a move aimed at giving organisations across the GCC a faster and more secure route from AI trial runs to actual deployment.

The launch took place in Dubai this month, and the pitch is fairly clear: many companies in the region have spent plenty of time testing AI tools, but turning those pilots into something useful at scale can be a bit of a faff. GBM says its new lab is designed to shorten that journey, helping customers reduce deployment timelines from months to weeks.

At the centre of it is sovereign AI infrastructure, which, in plain terms, means companies can build and run AI systems while keeping tighter control over where data sits, how it is handled, and whether it meets local rules. In the Gulf, that matters a lot. Data residency, regulatory compliance, security and low-latency processing are not just nice extras now — they are spot on for banks, governments, healthcare groups and others that cannot afford loose controls.

The lab will allow businesses to test secure on-premises and hybrid AI use cases using Cisco’s pre-validated modular infrastructure with NVIDIA. The stack is built to combine high-performance computing, networking and security across every layer, from models and agents to workloads and data paths. It also includes NVIDIA AI Enterprise software, alongside continuous real-time monitoring of AI workloads and agent activity, with security policies enforced down at hardware level.

Pieter Bil, CEO at GBM, said regional enterprises are now at a crucial point as they shift from experimentation to full operational use of AI. He said building production-grade AI means balancing speed with strict data governance, adding that GBM has aimed to bridge that gap by turning global technology frameworks into secure, locally managed platforms suited to the GCC.

That said, the announcement is also about timing. The Gulf’s AI race is no longer only about ambitious strategies and flashy proofs of concept. It is more about who can get systems live, safely, and without losing control of sensitive information. Around Arageek’s startup circles, I’ve often seen founders get chuffed to bits by a clever demo, then hit a wall when legal, infra and security questions show up. Well… I mean, that is usually where the real work starts.

Cassie Roach, Vice President of Global Partner Sales, AI Infrastructure and Connectivity at Cisco, said the next phase of AI growth in the Gulf will be shaped by organisations that can turn AI plans into commercial reality quickly, while keeping sovereign control and resilience. She said the partnership with GBM and NVIDIA is not only about rolling out infrastructure, but also about supporting the Gulf’s wider ambition to play a leading role in the global AI economy on its own terms.

From NVIDIA’s side, Dirk Barfuss, Director EMEA Channel, pointed to the market’s shift towards inference-optimised and agentic infrastructure for next-generation applications. He said NVIDIA’s accelerated computing and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software provide the performance and scale needed for these workloads, adding that GBM’s new AI Lab gives enterprises across the GCC a practical showcase for how such systems can be deployed securely and at scale.

On the flip side, infrastructure launches alone do not guarantee adoption. Enterprises still need internal talent, workable use cases and budgets that survive boardroom scrutiny. I reckon that is the part people sometimes skip over. But if the lab does what GBM says it can do — especially around secure testing in local environments — it could remove one of the biggest blockers for regional firms that want AI without sending sensitive data all over the place.

And believe it or not, that may be the more important story here than the launch itself. In a region pushing hard to build serious digital capability, the winners may not be the loudest names, but the ones quietly making AI practical, governable and fast enough to matter. For GCC organisations trying to move past pilots, that is definetely worth watching.

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