UAE Vibe Coding Drive With Microsoft Draws 200,000 Participants and 90,000 Platforms

The initiative ran under the theme "UAE Vibe Codes". It was designed to let people with no programming background use AI tools to turn ideas into websites and digital applications within minutes. The AI Office said participants built more than 90,000 digital platforms, and more than 65 government bodies, private companies, academic institutions and national organisations took part alongside members of the public.

Who Took Part

According to WAM, the participants included the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, the UAE Space Agency, the Capital Market Authority, Emirates Health Services, Digital Dubai, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Municipality, Etisalat, du, Emirates Airline and Emirates NBD.

The AI Office also ran hands-on workshops with Google, Emirates Global Aluminium, Dell Technologies, IBM and Siemens. It worked with Emaar and cinema operators across the country to promote the programme on digital screens.

Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, said the turnout showed that people across the UAE were ready to use new tools to turn ideas into working digital projects, whatever their technical background, WAM reported. He said the country's aim goes beyond helping people use technology: it wants to build their ability to create technological solutions themselves.

Part of a Wider Push

The programme is one of several UAE Codes activities this autumn. Earlier this week the AI Office and Emirates NBD ran a UAE Codes hackathon for 100 Emirati bankers. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum designated October 29 as UAE Codes Day in October 2021. The date marks the launch of the region's first e-government initiative on October 29, 2001, and UNESCO adopted it as the International Day of Programming in November 2023, according to WAM.

The figures are the AI Office's own and have not been independently verified. The announcement did not say how engagement was counted, and it did not say how many of the 90,000 platforms remain in use.

Why It Matters

Vibe coding means describing what software should do in plain language and letting an AI model write the code. It has become one of the fastest-growing uses of generative AI, and tools from Microsoft, Google, Anthropic, OpenAI and a range of start-ups now compete for the same users. A national campaign of this size gives Microsoft and other partners a large route to first-time users in a market where the government is pushing AI adoption across ministries and companies.

For employers, the programme is part of the UAE's effort to give non-technical staff basic AI skills. This week's hackathons for bankers and young people, and this programme, show the government using public events, not only formal training, to spread those skills across the workforce.