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AINews|June 18, 2026 at 11:47 PM
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Northslope Picks Abu Dhabi For Its Gulf AI Buildout

BySTechTimes Editor|Source: The National
Article summary

Northslope has opened its first Gulf office in Abu Dhabi after building a six-engineer UAE team. The move puts the former Palantir-linked AI software company closer to regional customers in logistics, asset management, energy, manufacturing and aerospace.

Northslope Picks Abu Dhabi For Its Gulf AI Buildout

Abu Dhabi Becomes Northslope’s Gulf Base

Northslope has moved from a small UAE engineering presence to a permanent Abu Dhabi office, giving the US AI software company its first base in the Gulf.

The company was founded in 2024 by former Palantir employees and says its custom AI software runs on Palantir’s operating system.

The office is a regional expansion story, not just a branding exercise.

Northslope already had six engineers in the UAE before it decided to deepen its presence.

The company said the expansion followed strong early demand from organisations across the region.

Harvey Young, managing partner for Northslope’s UAE division, will be based full-time in Abu Dhabi.

His role covers regional customer engagements, partnerships and business development across the Middle East.

Industrial AI, Not A Consumer App Push

Northslope’s disclosed customer focus is industrial and enterprise-heavy.

The company serves clients in logistics, asset management, energy, manufacturing and aerospace, areas where AI tools are judged by deployment reliability, workflow fit and operational outcomes rather than app-store adoption.

That customer mix explains why Abu Dhabi is useful to Northslope.

The company is placing engineers and commercial leadership near organisations that are trying to turn AI programmes into working systems.

The source does not name specific UAE customers, contracts or revenue tied to the new office, so the expansion should be read as a regional positioning move rather than proof of local sales scale.

Northslope also brings a Palantir connection into a market already paying attention to deployed AI platforms.

The company says it is backed by former Palantir leadership.

Palantir has separately partnered with Dubai Holding and launched Aither for AI-powered transformation across Dubai’s public and private sectors.

Funding Gives The Office A Longer Runway

The Abu Dhabi move follows Northslope’s April Series A funding round.

The company raised approximately $22 million, with Friend & Family Capital leading the round and Fifth Down and Leblon Capital joining.

That capital matters because forward-deployed AI work is labour-intensive.

Northslope says its Abu Dhabi team combines customer-aligned engineering with production-grade delivery experience.

For regional buyers, the test is whether the company can move from engineering access to named deployments, measurable workflow gains and durable partnerships.

Northslope has 136 employees and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Its hub offices now include New York, London and Abu Dhabi.

The next evidence to watch is concrete: disclosed Middle East customers, sector-specific deployments, partner names or implementation results from the Abu Dhabi team.

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