9YardsX acquires Labib to advance UAE’s AI innovation ecosystem

9YardsX, the artificial intelligence, technology and innovation arm of 9Yards Holding, has acquired Labib AI in a move aimed at accelerating the deployment of research-led AI technologies across the UAE and the region. The deal brings Labib’s full roster of talent, intellectual property and proprietary technologies into 9YardsX, and positions the combined organisation to deliver AI solutions at scale across government and private sector clients. Labib AI, founded in 2022, is noted as the first startup to emerge from the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI).

"The acquisition of Labib AI by 9YardsX represents a strategic investment in the future of technology developed right here in the UAE," said Hussam Al Melhem, Group CEO of 9Yards Holding and Managing Director of 9YardsX. "We are immensely proud to welcome this exceptional local talent on board, along with the intellectual property and research-driven innovations they bring to the table."

Labib AI was established by a team of academic and scientific experts and has developed a suite of proprietary technologies spanning healthcare, smart cities, computer vision, large language models and enterprise automation. Dr. Mohammad Yaqub, Founder of Labib AI and Associate Professor of Computer Vision at MBZUAI, was named Co-Founder and Chief AI Officer at 9YardsX as part of the integration. Dr. Yaqub emphasised the commercial and societal potential unlocked by the acquisition:

"Labib AI was built on the firm conviction that advanced research must be translated into tangible impact," Dr. Yaqub said. "Joining 9YardsX gives us the capabilities, resources, and commercial reach needed to accelerate the deployment of our technologies and extend the benefits of UAE-developed innovations to a far broader range of beneficiaries — across the region and beyond."

Integration and strategic focus

Under the terms of the acquisition, Labib AI’s technologies and personnel will be folded into 9YardsX’s scalable technology platform, which already combines advanced data infrastructure, large language models, computer vision and intelligent automation for government and enterprise-grade applications. The combined organisation will prioritise a set of strategic verticals intended to translate research into operational systems:

• Smart cities — leveraging computer vision and IoT-integrated intelligence for urban management
• Government — deploying automation and analytics platforms to enhance public service delivery
• Healthcare — building diagnostic and predictive models powered by deep learning
• Finance — enabling intelligent automation, fraud detection and risk modelling
• Media and communications — applying generative AI and natural language processing to content and audience engagement

The acquisition is presented as a bridge between MBZUAI’s academic research and large-scale commercial deployment, allowing the intellectual property created in university settings to be operationalised through a unified platform. 9YardsX says the integration will broaden its generative AI portfolio and accelerate innovation cycles across priority sectors by combining Labib’s academically rooted capabilities with 9YardsX’s commercial reach and delivery infrastructure.

Outlook

With Dr. Yaqub in a senior technical and leadership role and Labib AI’s assets integrated into 9YardsX, the company aims to move faster from prototype to production across regulated and complex environments such as healthcare and government. The transaction is positioned to expand the reach of UAE-developed AI solutions across the region, while offering public- and private-sector organisations access to research-driven tools for automation, diagnostics, urban management and content intelligence.