--- title: Omar Al Olama is on the TIME100 Next 2024 List description: Find out how Omar Al Olama is shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023525/omar-al-olama/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-10-02T11:13:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-28T06:29:03.968Z article:section: World og:title: 2024 TIME100 Next: Omar Al Olama og:description: Find out why Omar Al Olama is on this year’s TIME100 Next list og:url: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023525/omar-al-olama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee07447b20b8956c/698a5b9f929fad55adbfd105/time100-next-2024-omar-al-olama.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2024 TIME100 Next: Omar Al Olama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2024 TIME100 Next: Omar Al Olama twitter:description: Find out why Omar Al Olama is on this year’s TIME100 Next list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee07447b20b8956c/698a5b9f929fad55adbfd105/time100-next-2024-omar-al-olama.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 02, 2024 # Omar Al Olama by Jeffrey Katzenberg  Omar Al Olama Omar Al OlamaSean Gallup—Getty Images Back in 2017, AI was still in its infancy. But one ­country—the UAE—had the foresight to establish a Minister for Artificial Intelligence, naming Omar Al Olama to the position. Though only 27, Omar quickly made the UAE a significant player in this critically important field. As Minister, he has served the interests of not just the UAE, but of the world. Shaping his work—­including at the World Governments Summit, which he helps lead—is his core belief that AI, if governed with care, can exponentially amplify global efforts to solve the most significant challenges facing humanity. Somehow, he also finds time to run the Digital School, which provides online schooling for 160,000 students across refugee camps and rural villages in more than 13 countries. On top of all this, he plays a mean game of ping-pong! In everything he does, Omar plays to win, which is why I’m so inspired by his determination to make the world a better place. Omar’s unique mixture of vision, commitment, compassion, charm, and smarts sets him apart as he sets the standards for our AI future. _Katzenberg is an Oscar-winning producer and founding partner of WndrCo_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023525/omar-al-olama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023525/omar-al-olama/"},"headline":"Omar Al Olama","datePublished":"2024-10-02T11:13:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-28T06:29:03.968Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023525/omar-al-olama/","keywords":["list","franchise","Magazine","TIME 100 Next","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee07447b20b8956c/698a5b9f929fad55adbfd105/time100-next-2024-omar-al-olama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Katzenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-katzenberg/"}],"creator":"Jeffrey Katzenberg","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee07447b20b8956c/698a5b9f929fad55adbfd105/time100-next-2024-omar-al-olama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023525/omar-al-olama/","name":"Omar Al Olama"}}]}] ```