Koki Shigenoi, Visiting Member of ROLES, spoke at the symposium “Blueprints to Breakthroughs: Advancing AI & Space Collaboration Between Japan and the UAE,” hosted by TRENDS Research & Advisory and supported by the Government of Japan, on December 16, 2025.

Shigenoi participated in “Session 3: Harnessing Japan’s Innovation Edge: Applications Across Sectors,” where he discussed the role of Japan’s AI and robotics capabilities and the potential for Japan–UAE cooperation in this field. The session also featured Professor Masahiko Inami and Associate Professor Yasuaki Kadowaki of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), The University of Tokyo, and Professor Hao Li of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI). The session was moderated by Rashid Al Zaabi of TRENDS Research & Advisory.

In his remarks, Shigenoi argued that “if AI is the brain of the digital economy, robotics is the body,” and that Japan has long played a central role in building the physical foundation of global automation. He noted that Japan is one of the world’s leading suppliers of industrial robots and automation equipment, with Japanese robotics, control technologies, and sensors deeply embedded in global supply chains for automobiles, electronics, semiconductors, batteries, and precision manufacturing.

Shigenoi also emphasized that, within Japan, AI and robotics are not merely tools for efficiency or cost reduction. They function as social infrastructure for addressing structural challenges such as population ageing, labour shortages, disaster risks, and the need to maintain high-quality services. In sectors such as logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, elderly care, and hospitality, collaborative robots and AI-enabled automation systems are becoming increasingly important for sustaining productivity under severe labour constraints.

He further argued that Japan’s comparative advantage in AI lies not necessarily in building the largest general-purpose foundation models, but in developing trustworthy, domain-specific AI for physical, regulated, and safety-critical environments. By integrating robotics, embedded AI, industrial expertise, safety practices, and governance know-how, Japan can provide what he described as an “AI + robotics stack” suited to high-reliability environments. For the UAE, this makes Japan a trusted long-term partner in building advanced AI and robotics ecosystems.

On Japan–UAE cooperation, Shigenoi highlighted the strong complementarity between Japan’s robotics, precision control, safety engineering, and human-centric design, and the UAE’s government-led AI strategy, capital, computing infrastructure, and regulatory agility. He identified logistics and e-commerce, healthcare and hospital operations, ageing-related services, advanced manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and public services as promising areas for future collaboration.

Shigenoi also addressed the growing importance of “sovereign AI” amid intensifying global technological competition. Sovereign AI refers to a country’s ability to develop, deploy, and govern AI systems while maintaining control over data, infrastructure, and human capital. He argued that, unlike the U.S. platform-centric model or China’s state-led infrastructure export model, Japan can offer a partnership model grounded in capacity building, technology transfer, and local human-capital development.

Finally, Shigenoi suggested that Japan–UAE cooperation should go beyond individual bilateral projects and aim to build global AI and robotics platforms. By combining Japanese engineering expertise with the UAE’s AI infrastructure, capital, and development-oriented initiatives, the two countries could co-design AI and robotics solutions for the Global South, including Africa, over the medium to long term.

For more details on the symposium, please see the link below.

Blueprints to Breakthroughs: Advancing AI & Space Collaboration Between Japan and the UAE
https://trendsgroup.org/blueprints-to-breakthroughs/?srsltid=AfmBOopGAx7nGJGvZvQ98j3bjz5w8Jq7fMqipjMsauMoanBOVZXrYRZJ

The symposium is also available on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPY8XlUyoxk