Business Extra

Staff shortages are one of the most consequential by-products of the latest coronavirus variant, Omicron. Health care, aviation, education and dining are among the industries scrambling for employees to provide essential services.

As the pandemic enters its third year, robots and automation are becoming a necessity rather than a novelty, with a labour market in flux.

This is according to geopolitical futurist Abishur Prakash, who joins co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner this week to talk about the future of work and the role of technology.

Mr Prakash is a co-founder of the Centre for Innovating the Future, an advisory firm based in Toronto, Canada. His latest book is called The World Is Vertical: How Technology Is Remaking Globalisation.

In this episode:

• UK's Omicron surge causes hospital staff shortages

• Workers sleep at power plant to stop Omicron cutting Austria's lights

• UAE residents want automation in their homes, but not in health and education

Sharp uptick in robot orders in the US amid a worker shortage. Historically large cyber and ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure. A chip shortage that threatened to grind the auto industry to a halt.

Looking back on some of the biggest technology threats of 2021, experts from the World Economic Forum, Algirde Pipikaite, cybersecurity lead, and Jayant Narayan, AI and machine learning lead, weigh in on what we learnt – and where we are headed.

This is what to expect in 2022 on the frontiers of AI and cybersecurity.

In this episode:

• Robots and automation can't be at the cost of people's well-being

• Automation and AI are leading themes for global investors, Investcorp survey finds

• EU sets up cyber-security task force to defend bloc from ransomware attacks

• Artificial intelligence is spurring renaissance and redefining creativity in arts

Will 2021 be remembered as the year cryptocurrency went mainstream?

Co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner unpack and explain the trends, and Kelsey interviews Abu Dhabi Global Market's Wai Lum Kwok, senior executive director, about the role regulators play in this new frontier.

In this episode:

• Cryptocurrencies drew about $30bn from VCs in 2021, more than in all previous years

• Next generation ultra-rich to increase wealth through cryptocurrency investments

• Global cryptocurrency regulation should be comprehensive and co-ordinated, IMF says

• What to consider before investing in cryptocurrencies

A four and a half day working week, with Saturday and Sunday as full days off, marks a massive shift to work culture in the UAE. The federal government will adopt these measures beginning January 1, 2022, but it remains unclear if the private sector will follow suit.

Co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner discuss what residents, investors, employers and employees need to know, the significance of the announcement and what it means for productivity, worker well-being and the UAE's competitiveness.

• UAE weekend change: Saturday-Sunday off and shorter working week

• UAE school week to shift in line with weekend change

• UAE weekend change moves Friday prayers permanently to 1.15pm

Abu Dhabi could be "the Switzerland" of financial technology thanks to its regulatory environment and agile government, according to Kevin O'Leary, but he is quick to add he is still doing his due diligence.

The celebrity investor, who made his name on the US reality show Shark Tank, joins co-host Kelsey Warner this week to talk about investing in decentralised finance, Web 3.0 and what he has learned on this visit to the UAE.

Mr O'Leary also talks about why he is putting his name behind Access Abu Dhabi, an initiative which will help US entrepreneurs, particularly women and minorities, expand to the Middle East.

In this episode:

• Adio and Maven Global unveil programme to help US companies to expand in Abu Dhabi

• Three ways to invest $10,000 in the next three months

• More than 40 countries to be represented at FinTech Abu Dhabi Festival this year

Business Extra is live from Adipec 2021, where oil majors, energy ministers and executives are meeting. Co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner discuss the major themes of the critical gathering following Cop26.

• Adipec to explore challenges faced by the energy industry on the cusp of change

• Adipec 2021 told oil and gas industry needs more than $600bn annual investment until 2030

• The UAE’s decision to host Cop28 is a chance for a new narrative

• Oil exporters to see large surpluses in 2021 and 2022 amid higher crude prices

Hosted by Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner

Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

• Boeing to debut long-awaited 777X at Dubai Airshow

• Business travel to reach two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 led by Asia and Mideast

• Higher oil prices to raise ticket fares but will not stall airlines' recovery, Iata says

Addressing the opening session of Cop26, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was “one minute to midnight” on the climate doomsday clock.

But sharp rhetoric is not the business of the day in Glasgow: 196 nations are convening in a test of commitment to avert a climate disaster.

Hosted by Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner

Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

• Cop26 leaders set challenge to fund disaster prevention in poor countries

• Cop26 private cash warning: net zero ‘not possible’ without green finance

• Net zero: These technologies need tenfold increase in investment to hit target