Six exceptional achievers honoured with Dubai-it Award

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, has announced the Dubai-it Award for six winners across diverse sectors.

It's in recognition of their exceptional achievements that embody Dubai’s philosophy of work, which is based on turning ideas and ambitions into tangible results in record time, with high quality, and with an impact that goes beyond the boundaries of projects, institutions and sectors.

The award was presented to Emirates NBD in the Institutions category in the Economic Field; to Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre in the Project Managers segment; and to Mahdi Amjad, founder of OMNIYAT, in the Real Estate Projects category.

In the field of Services, the award went to Ounass, developed by Khalid Al Tayer; and in the field of Entrepreneurs to Charlie Wright, founder of Humantra; while the award in the field of Hospitality went to Chef Izu Ani, founder of a chain of restaurants in Dubai.

"We launched the Dubai-it Award to showcase Dubai’s philosophy of work in action across every field: extraordinary achievement, in record time, with excellence," said Sheikh Hamdan.

We launched the Dubai-it Award to showcase Dubai’s philosophy of work in action across every field: extraordinary achievement, in record time, with excellence.

The Dubai-it Award for Institutions in the Field of Economy goes to Emirates NBD for exceptional regional growth,… pic.twitter.com/sU4v5JR04m

— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) November 4, 2026

The announcement of the six winners completes the list of winners of the first edition of the Dubai-it Award.

Sheikh Hamdan had previously honoured His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, in recognition of his leadership of an exceptional development journey for one of the largest and most integrated aviation ecosystems in the world.

His Highness also announced the granting of the award to the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai for Institutions in the field of government, for delivering infrastructure projects at twice the speed of global averages and with high quality; to the Red Carpet project of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs in Dubai, for Projects in the field of government, for developing the fastest travel procedure completion experience in the world; and to Emaar Properties, for Institutions in the field of real estate, for consolidating Dubai’s global reputation for quality in its largest projects and in their finest details.

The list of winners included Ziina, for Companies in the field of business, for facilitating financial transactions for thousands of individuals and companies; the SWS Board Technology project, for Projects in the field of economy, for manufacturing about half of the world’s water skis and wakeboards and a quarter of the world’s snowboards from Dubai; and the Fix Dessert Chocolatier, for Projects in the field of business, for launching ‘Dubai Chocolate’ and turning it into a global phenomenon that had an exceptional impact on the chocolate sector.

The Dubai-it initiative aims to consolidate a culture of achievement in institutions and companies, and to turn Dubai’s philosophy of work into a sustainable institutional approach based on speed, mastery, and impact-making.

The annual recognition highlights the models that embody the true meaning of 'Dubai-it', which is to achieve something exceptional with mastery, excellence and in record time, and to present inspiring experiences that contribute to strengthening a culture of achievement, work and impact-making across diverse sectors.