Martin Yates, Government Technology Advisor at Presight: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Martin Yates (LinkedIn), government technology advisor at Presight. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

I work at Presight, which is a fast-growing Abu Dhabi-listed tech AI and big data company. It was created right here in the UAE a few years ago, and is a G42 company. I'm a member of the C-suite and I act as the steering and sounding board on technology strategies. At the same time, I'm a client advisor and I provide some practical support on how to build innovation in different products and services.

Presight is more of the end user-application side of the G42 group, so we will often be seen internationally. Presight has been working in many different areas of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and delivering outcomes, whether that’s for building smarter cities or public services, or financial services. AI has been a part of this acceleration of technology for at least a decade — it’s just that it didn't really surface itself to the general users. We talk a lot about AI, but AI doesn't do anything unless you have big data analytics, and Presight’s been at the forefront of providing big data and delivering that into the different use cases.

All industries have tremendous potential for adopting the latest technologies. AI accelerates AI, which is why we’ve quickly gone from machine learning to generative AI, and now agentic. Ultimately, everyone knows it is only a matter of time before we reach some sort of level of superintelligence. It’s a question of when, and what it will look like when superintelligence is in the market.

I think that’s going to be the next huge leap, which is why all around the world today, governments are racing to be able to not fall behind, because those who do have that ability and knowledge suddenly have a huge economic power. It’s like a replay of the 1950s and 1960s, when there was the space race. Right now, we have the new space race called the AI race.

Another area that’s very exciting is one that’s not been spoken of as often as others — and that’s quantum computing. Quantum computing will offer a whole new level of ability to unleash a new kind of algorithms and mathematics that can be done in seconds, as opposed to hundreds or thousands of years with supercomputers we have today. Imagine the impact of that on precision medicine, drug development, modeling and simulation. It's going to be quite incredible where AI meets quantum computing and they work together.

I'm not scared about AI, but I'm tuned in to its impact. It's not like in the past where I could look at a technology and plan out its potential development for three years with some degree of accuracy. Technology is rapidly developing, so you need to always be prepared for change — and not just change in the scope of a year, but months or even weeks now. So to me, the scary part is the speed of change itself and knowing that you always need to be on edge, ready and agile to make that change.

Being a technology advisor will bring you change every day, so I don't think I can truly establish what I call a routine. This is not a routine type of job — instead there’s a new technology announcement or a new breakthrough on a random day, or a new opportunity to look at a startup and see if we should invest in it or partner with it.

My routine often starts with having breakfast while starting up some of the latest subscriptions I have on YouTube to tune into what's happening not only in technology and AI — because that can change on a daily basis — but also what's happening in the world in general. The only routine I can find is to learn something every morning while I’m still receptive before I get into the stress of the day.

I also try to go to my balcony and pick up some dumbbells or bars and do a bit of exercise. When the weather is good, I like to run a few kilometers around our buildings just to feel that I'm staying healthy and connected and to get that mental clarity. It's easy to become a couch potato absorbing information and forgetting that the only reason you exist is your body's keeping you there.

My switch-off is what’s the latest on Netflix. I think a series that has been inspirational for me — if also a little dark — is Black Mirror. We're on season seven now, and it continues its theme of the dark side of technology. The writers have this ability to look into the future and make amazing predictions on how technology can be implemented, and we see so much good now — for example, we’ve seen implants in Black Mirror — again, the darker side of it — but we’ve seen implants in real life that have allowed human beings to interact with the outside world again, if they’d been paralyzed. That’s the interesting side of it — the yin and the yang of technology. And if you put a positive spin on the technologies in Black Mirror, it’s really interesting to see what kind of value they could bring to human society.

I also love to catch up on LinkedIn a little bit, find out what everyone's been doing, and comment on posts of people I know.

This weekend I’ve also dusted off my Pioneer music mixer because I love mixing music. I love the creativity that you can get from that. I’d like to think if I wasn’t in technology, I’d be a top DJ — we can all dream — but with AI doing the DJ job so well now, I’m not sure it would’ve been a great career for me [laughs].

I've learned so much over the decades in both technology and leading teams of people. Looking back at my career, I’ve been really lucky. I've been a chief, I've been a team leader across many different industries, whether that was Mercedes-Benz, or at Shell Oil and Gas. I was also the Dell Technologies’ global CTO for smart cities. These have all given me incredible experiences and learnings that I would love to give back and share to others who can benefit through more mentorship.

The advice that comes to mind often is what I get from listening to my inner self and from the experiences that I've gone through. For me, what has resonated recently is thinking of my legacy and the impact I’ll have left on the world and on people when I’m gone. The older you get, the faster life runs out, and I think it’s really important to embrace your dream and start planning and doing it. Also, it’s important to find the right partner that grows with you in your shared life journey, because life's going to get hectic. My final word: Don’t forget to keep up with AI.

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