Building Business-Ready Founders: ADGM Academy’s Approach to Entrepreneurship

The UAE is moving beyond encouraging startup formation toward building a more connected entrepreneurship ecosystem, linking founders with talent, funding, markets and global opportunities.

That is the shift Ali Al Mehairi, Senior Executive Director for Business Enablement at ADGM Academy, the knowledge arm of ADGM, has observed in the country’s entrepreneurship landscape, adding that the strongest opportunities for the next generation of founders are emerging in artificial intelligence, advanced industries, sustainability, and the digital economy.

“UAE National entrepreneurs are particularly well placed to create locally relevant solutions with global potential, while generating skilled employment, intellectual property and new sources of economic value,” Al Mehairi told Entrepreneur Middle East. “ADGM Academy’s role is to help translate that national ambition into a stronger pipeline of commercially capable, investment-ready founders.”

Emirati entrepreneurship, specifically, is expanding rapidly, with the number of SMEs owned by UAE nationals increasing 63% over five years, according to the Ministry of Economy and Tourism in January 2026.

With a mission to develop future-ready talent across industries, ADGM Academy offers training and mentorship for aspiring founders and business owners at different stages.

Its initiatives include the Entrepreneurship Program, delivered with Khalifa Fund to support startups and small and medium-sized enterprises; the Future Entrepreneurs Program, a hands-on program aimed at supporting Emiratis, job seekers, and the youth; and the five-day Ruwad Al Ain Bootcamp, which helps participants develop the skills and networks to build a business. The academy said it trained more than 500 entrepreneurs across the UAE in 2025.

Alongside its entrepreneurship programs, ADGM Academy supports Abu Dhabi’s broader national talent agenda. Its 2025 Annual Report shows it trained 2,244 Emiratis during the year, bringing the total since 2019 to 10,779.

These programs reflect Al Mehairi’s view that entrepreneurship education should go beyond just teaching business concepts. “Effective entrepreneurship education is applied, iterative and connected to the market,” he said. “It combines rigorous business fundamentals with live challenges, customer discovery, practitioner insight and repeated opportunities to test decisions.”

As technology reshapes industries, Al Mehairi emphasized the need for founders to understand how emerging tools can solve customer problems while developing the financial discipline, commercial judgment, and adaptability needed to run a business.

“The founders who define the UAE’s next phase will be those who combine innovation with disciplined execution and build companies capable of competing beyond their home market.”

In his work with first-time founders in Al Ain, Al Mehairi has observed that many bring technical knowledge or a strong commitment to solving a problem, but need more experience in assessing customer demand, reaching the right market, forecasting finances, and evaluating funding options.

“The response must therefore be practical and staged, helping founders validate the problem, define the customer, test the economics and establish measurable milestones before scaling,” he continued. “Mentorship, market access, and expert guidance are most valuable when embedded throughout that journey.”

At ADGM Academy, mentorship is structured around specific business priorities and practical next steps, according to Al Mehairi. “An effective mentor-founder relationship combines candor, relevance and accountability. The mentor should challenge assumptions, bring pattern recognition from real experience and help the founder focus on the decisions that materially affect the venture,” he said.

Indeed, PwC Middle East’s August 2025 report, “Why Entrepreneurial Capabilities Are Key to Empowering MENA’s Youth,” identifies mentorship and structured entrepreneurship education as two priorities for helping young people in the region build viable businesses. It notes that entrepreneurship in MENA has grown substantially over the past five years, with 46% of employees ready to start a business. Yet only 35% of small businesses without mentors survive more than five years, half the rate of those with mentors.

With UAE-based entrepreneurs interviewed stressing the need to normalize mentorship, PwC recommends that governments and businesses facilitate programs connecting young founders with experienced mentors. According to the report, these programs can encourage learning and collaboration while helping aspiring entrepreneurs navigate real-world challenges and avoid common pitfalls.

As ADGM Academy now looks to expand its work across Abu Dhabi, including in Al Dhafra, Al Mehairi said it will maintain consistent training standards while tailoring delivery to each community’s needs through relevant industry focus areas, practical case studies, mentor networks, and market access opportunities.

“Our experience in Al Ain reinforced a fundamental lesson: entrepreneurial talent exists across every community, but impact is greatest when support reflects local economic opportunities and aspirations,” he shared.

For Al Mehairi, the next step is stronger coordination to help founders outside established business hubs move from education to incubation, market access, funding and growth.

“Closing this gap requires coordinated contributions from across the ecosystem,” he explained. “Universities can develop early entrepreneurial capability; government entities can align support with regional and national priorities; private-sector companies can provide real problems, customers and supply-chain opportunities; and investors can introduce commercial discipline and growth capital.”

Al Mehairi concluded that ADGM Academy could play a broader role in strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem and supporting Emirati founders as they build and grow their businesses. 

“By connecting UAE National talent with expertise, networks and opportunity, we can help create a more inclusive pipeline from entrepreneurial potential to productive enterprise,” he said.

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