SPARK Dubai 2025/Image: Supplied
As Gulf governments and private sector employers accelerate workforce development, digital coaching is fast becoming a critical pillar of regional talent strategies. This shift was at the forefront of SPARK Dubai 2025, where WeAce unveiled its latest whitepaper, Powering Talent and Growth in the GCC.
The invite-only event, held at The St. Regis Downtown Dubai, brought together senior HR leaders, policymakers, and leadership experts to explore how leadership development is evolving in the face of technological disruption and changing expectations around inclusion, nationalisation, and continuous learning. Curated by WeAce in collaboration with SDA Bocconi School of Management, the evening also examined how coaching is moving from a niche, executive-only tool to a scalable, AI-enabled solution.
The WeAce whitepaper highlighted how platforms like its own are now delivering multilingual, culturally localised modules and real-time analytics to make leadership development more accessible and measurable. “The future of leadership is neuro-personalised, life-centric, and deeply human – even when guided by AI,” said Anuranjita Kumar, CEO & Co-founder of WeAce. “Coaching must move beyond performance management to support purpose, wellbeing, and long-term growth.”
Among the emerging trends identified in the whitepaper is the rapid expansion of AI-driven coaching in the UAE and beyond. According to the research, 75 per cent of Dubai-based Fortune 500 subsidiaries are expected to adopt AI-powered leadership tools by 2030. The UAE’s digital coaching market, valued at $44.6m in 2023, is projected to reach $189.3m by 2034, growing at an annual rate of 14.1 per cent.
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Importantly, coaching is now being evaluated with more precision. Global benchmarks cited in the whitepaper show that coaching can generate a return on investment of up to 788 per cent, driven by improvements in employee retention and productivity. The research also indicates that by 2030, 60 per cent of UAE-based leadership programmes are likely to include ESG-related content, underscoring the broader role coaching plays in shaping socially responsible leadership.
Digital coaching is also playing a pivotal role in advancing nationalisation initiatives such as Emiratisation, enabling organisations to nurture agile, future-ready leaders in hybrid working environments. “In a region as dynamic as the Middle East, the intersection of talent, technology, and trust will define competitive advantage,” said Alessandro Giuliani, Managing Director at SDA Bocconi Asia Center. “Our role as leaders is to ensure that people – not just systems – remain at the heart of transformation.”
“The Middle East is not just adapting to change – it’s shaping it,” added Nader Haffar, former chairman and CEO of KPMG Lower Gulf. “Our future will be defined by how boldly we invest in talent, how wisely we deploy technology, and how deeply we build trust across business and society.”
WeAce, now active across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, is among the companies leading this transformation. Its platform integrates behavioural coaching, structured mentoring, and AI-powered development tools in both English and Arabic, supported by a global network of experienced practitioners. With over 20 enterprise clients already onboarded in the region, WeAce is scaling up its presence to support the long-term transformation of the GCC’s workforce.
