Engineering the Capital Network: AI, Energy and the Global South at Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2025

Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2025: AI, Energy, and Engineering the Capital Network

Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2025 opened on Al Maryah Island with a clear through-line: AI demand, energy capacity, and a new capital network are setting the pace for global finance. Organised by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) with ADQ, the fourth edition runs through 11 December under the theme "Engineering the Capital Network." The scale is hard to ignore-60+ events, 300+ sessions, 750 speakers, and firms representing $62 trillion in assets.

For finance leaders, the signal is simple: compute and power are now core infrastructure. Capital will favor those who can fund, secure, and operate the stack-from energy to data centers to AI models-across developed markets and the Global South.

Why This Week Matters

Abu Dhabi is moving from capital destination to capital coordinator. The agenda is heavy on AI infrastructure, energy security, and sovereign-investor partnerships, with a pragmatic focus on risk, returns, and speed of execution.

• AI's energy appetite is rewriting cost curves, capex plans, and deal structures.
• Sovereign wealth funds and infrastructure managers are positioning for control stakes in the energy-and-compute stack.
• The Global South is front and center for growth, resources, and market depth.

Day 1 Highlights: Macro, AI Infrastructure, and the Falcon Economy

The opening ceremony, attended by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, reinforced ADFW's role in the emirate's financial strategy. Early sessions set the agenda: capital formation, AI infrastructure, and city-scale execution.

Abu Dhabi's Falcon Economy

H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak positioned ADFW as a forum for global dialogue and investment clarity. H.E. Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei and Monica Malik mapped how diversification, policy reforms, and macro strength are pushing Abu Dhabi into a leadership position across finance and innovation.

Metropolis of the Future

CEOs from Lulu Group International, Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, and Etihad Airways discussed how infrastructure, culture, and AI-centric strategy are turning Abu Dhabi into a next-gen metropolis. The message: quality-of-life plus capital access is a durable magnet for talent and firms.

Case Study: Why Brevan Howard Chose Abu Dhabi

Alan Howard outlined the hedge fund's decision to build in Abu Dhabi, citing ADGM's regulatory clarity and the emirate's long-term partnership model with global investors.

Macro Signals for CIOs and Boards

Jihad Azour (IMF) shared a forward view on growth, inflation, and policy trade-offs as we head toward 2026. A CEO panel with e&, 2PointZero Group, and Amundi unpacked geopolitics, capital flows, and tech's impact on global business models.

At The ADFW Boardroom 2025, leaders from Temasek, UBS, Morgan Stanley International, and Allianz addressed systemic risks and where opportunity is forming. Ray Dalio broke down debt cycles, currency dynamics, and the markers of national strength-useful indicators for any ESG-focused mandate. Daleep Singh (PGIM) translated geopolitics into near-term market risks.

AI, New Energy Systems, and Who Funds the Buildout

On the New Energy Finance stage with CNBC, the focus was AI's load on power and grids. Dr. Sama Bilbao y León (World Nuclear Association) discussed dependable power for data centers and AI growth, and how energy majors, developers, and tech firms are collaborating to deliver always-on capacity.

Investors like ALTERRA explored capital strategies for the new energy-and-compute order. H.E. Suhail Al Mazrouei detailed how the UAE is using solar, nuclear, and gas to back AI-scale projects such as Stargate UAE-an energy sovereignty play with clear competitive benefits.

Capital With Purpose: Health, Food, and the Global South

"Investing for Humanity" sessions-featuring Dr Shamma Al Mazrouei, Bill Gates, H.E. Dr. Mekdes Daba Feyssa, and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus-focused on outcomes in food security, health, and livelihoods. The takeaway: data and innovation funds are moving to the main stage.

Experts from the Council on Foreign Relations, Ninety One, and UN Tourism argued the Global South is the next growth engine, with implications for trade routes, capital access, and risk pricing. Jason Barsema (Halo Investing) quantified the capital need across tech, infrastructure, and next-gen ethical finance-and pointed to ADGM's role in enabling it.

Abu Dhabi's Momentum by the Numbers

• Assets under management in ADGM up 48% (Q3 2024 to Q3 2025)
• 161 asset and fund managers overseeing 220 funds
• 11,920 active licences; 2,801 new licences this year
• 3,227 operating companies, up 43% year-on-year
• 39,870 workforce across ADGM's expanded jurisdiction on Al Maryah and Al Reem Islands

For global firms, the message is clear: Abu Dhabi is fast becoming a long-term anchor for capital, regulation, and talent.

What's Next This Week

• Day 2: Asset Abu Dhabi, Global Financial Regulators Summit; AIMA Private Credit, Infrastructure Summit, International Family Office Congress; closed-door sessions with the IMF on volatility, regulation, and geopolitical risk.
• Day 3: RESOLVE and Fintech Abu Dhabi; AI Abu Dhabi on AI x financial services; Blockchain Abu Dhabi with a Web3 Leaders Roundtable on DeFi and digital assets.
• Final Day: Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum (ADSFF); EU-GCC Finance & Investment for Green Transition; Women in Finance; NYU Stern School of Business Abu Dhabi graduation.

Expect climate finance, transition strategies, and regulation to take the spotlight as announcements move from theory to deals and implementation.

Practical Takeaways for Finance Leaders

• Update your energy thesis: Allocate to baseload and firm renewables linked to data center growth and long-term offtakes.
• Secure exposure to the compute stack: Data centers, grid upgrades, HV transmission, cooling, and AI infrastructure JVs with operators.
• Partner with sovereigns and strategic funds: Co-control structures, inflation-linked cash flows, and long-dated capital matter.
• Reassess country risk through the debt and currency cycle lens discussed by Ray Dalio; watch fiscal space and external balances.
• Lean into private credit and infrastructure debt for yield with collateral; stress-test for rate path and policy shocks.
• Build a Global South strategy: Supply chains, resources, consumer growth, and policy incentives are converging.
• ESG as core: Move from policy to measurement and outcomes-health, food, energy access, and climate resilience.

Where to Go From Here

Follow ADGM updates for regulatory and capital formation signals that can influence cross-border structuring and market entry. If you're building AI capability inside your finance team, this curated list of AI tools for finance can speed up research and workflow decisions.

ADFW will continue to deliver news on AI infrastructure, energy markets, and transition finance. ESG News is on the ground, tracking how this week's decisions could steer markets and climate finance through 2026 and beyond.