AI71
Abu Dhabi company launched in 2023 that builds enterprise AI products, including the Ask workspace and agents, and is a subsidiary of the Advanced Technology Research Council. It co-led CNTXT AI's USD 60 million Series A in 2026.
Industry: Enterprise artificial intelligence | Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Founded: 2023
About AI71
AI71 is an Abu Dhabi company that builds artificial intelligence products for organisations. Its main product, Ask, is an AI workspace that combines assistants, agents and workflow automation, and it can run on a customer's own servers, in a sovereign cloud or in a private cloud. The company describes itself as built in Abu Dhabi, with a team drawn from many countries.
AI71 was launched in 2023 and is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council, according to Enterprise AM. H.E. Faisal Al Bannai is chairman; his company biography says he leads the council's work on AI, including the Falcon language models developed by its Technology Innovation Institute. Dr. Mahir Nayfeh is chief executive, Mehdi Ghissassi is chief product and technology officer and Ahmed Al Khaja is executive director for enablement services. Reda Nidhakou, chief executive of the council's VentureOne unit, sits on the board, as Wamda reported in June 2026.
The company's website lists Ask for assistants, agents and automation, a meeting companion, a mobile app with English and Arabic voice, and an Ask API, with solutions for banking, government, defence and security, legal, insurance and healthcare. It launched the AskGOV initiative for government services in February 2025 and unveiled AgriLLM, an agriculture model, at COP29. At GITEX Global 2025 it presented a virtual assistant for prosecutors developed with the UAE Public Prosecution.
AI71 announced a collaboration with the Technology Innovation Institute and Amazon Web Services on 21 May 2025 to widen access to UAE-developed models, with its products available in the AWS Marketplace. On 18 November 2025 it announced a partnership with ZeroEntropy to add document retrieval to its platform. It signed an agreement with a Moroccan ministry at GITEX Global in October 2024 and joined the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention and Emirates Health Services in a healthcare initiative in February 2024.
AI71 acquired LocAI, the earlier venture of Mohammad Abu Sheikh, though no date or terms were published. In June 2026 it co-led, with BlueFive Capital, a 60 million dollar Series A for Abu Sheikh's new company, CNTXT AI.
Leadership
- Mahir Nayfeh, Chief Executive Officer
- Mehdi Ghissassi, Chief Product and Technology Officer
- Chiara Marcati, Chief Advisory and Business Officer
- Reda Nidhakou, Board member