HCT's Training Arm Plans to Grow From Four to 10 Academies Within a Year

Khalid Alhammadi, chief executive of the centre, told The National that the expansion follows its rebranding as In^X Education. The unit, previously HCT's Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training, or Cert, marked 30 years at the inaugural In^X Next 2026 event. Its current academies cover National Initiatives, Language and Communication, AI and Emerging Technology, and an Assessment Centre, and design programmes around the skills individual organisations need.

Cert has trained more than 105,000 Emiratis since it was founded, and the centre now wants to sell its training beyond the UAE. "In^X will be the biggest player in education, learning and professional development in this country and the region," Alhammadi said. He said improving Emiratis' employability through programmes tied to the country's priority sectors would be central, adding: "We see skills-based education, lifelong learning and AI readiness playing an increasingly important role in workforce transformation."

The plans coincide with what HCT called the largest university graduation ceremony in UAE history, held this week at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi for more than 6,700 graduates. The cohort was 43 per cent larger than the year before, which HCT said reflected the growth of Emirati talent in the workforce.

Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Sports, HCT chancellor and chairman of its investment arm Capital H, tied the training push to companies' adoption of AI. He said his own AI training at Cert had helped him see the technology's potential. "If I don't understand AI, how am I expected to use it in my organisation?" he said at In^X Next 2026, adding that everyone in an organisation needs to understand a powerful tool and how to use it.

Al Falasi said a degree was now "the start of your journey" rather than the end of a person's education. In^X has not said which fields its six new academies will cover or which countries it will target first.