Khaled Al Zaabi oversees nine companies within the cluster: ADASI, ANAVIA, ADSB, NIMR, AL JASOOR, AL TAIF, EPI, POWERTECH and MILREM ROBOTICS.
AMR: What’s your vision for the cluster over the next five years?
EDGE: I’m extremely excited about the next five years because I believe we’re really getting into a rhythm now. It took a lot of effort to get people to visualise what the future could look like with autonomous capabilities, but we were fortunate to have leadership with the vision to push forward in this field. What I see ahead is us doubling down and accelerating our developments.
AMR: EDGE has rapidly developed a diverse portfolio. How do you balance innovation with operational readiness?
EDGE: I don’t think it’s a balance – I think it’s a cycle. One feeds the other. The more we test and field products, the more we learn and the better we innovate. From an investment perspective, you’ve got short-term innovations, and then long-term ones that need years of development and capital. It’s really about deciding how much effort to put into incremental improvements versus how much to invest in breakthrough innovations that can deliver leapfrog growth.
AMR: As EDGE pursues autonomous capabilities, how are you prioritising development across air, land and sea to ensure maximum operational impact?
EDGE: Autonomy is at the core of what we do. When EDGE launched, one of our three main focus areas was autonomous systems – and it still is. Just last month, everything came together during a scenario-based exercise we ran completely autonomously and remotely. Air and land assets executed a full mission without a single human being on the frontline or in harm’s way. That’s where we’re headed.
AMR: How do you approach adapting or customising your products for export?
EDGE: Exports are hugely important to us. We’re always asking: does this product appeal to multiple users around the world? We make a real effort to lead with our best solutions. We already have a strong presence in Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. What makes EDGE unique is our ability to offer full turnkey solutions. Few companies globally can match our range – from bullets to drones, ships, missiles, vehicles and electronic warfare systems. And through collaboration with the government, we can also offer financing options, which makes us even more competitive. On top of that, we’re ITAR-free, we own our IP, and we can localise production when needed.
AMR: What impacts have strategic collaborations had on Edge’s ability to localise manufacturing internationally?
EDGE: The UAE is built on partnerships. There’s an Arabic saying, “One hand doesn’t clap.” That reflects our approach – we’re always seeking strong partners around the world. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel – if someone has already done it well, we want to build on it and move faster. When we find a company that’s doing something right, we prefer to invest in them – for their people, their know-how – and help them scale. But we always try to preserve the spirit of that original organisation.
AMR: What capabilities are Southeast Asian customers showing interest in?
EDGE: In Southeast Asia, countries like Indonesia and Malaysia are showing strong interest in naval vessels. There’s also significant demand for drones, loitering munitions and ISR capabilities. That’s a common theme across the region. Our offering into Asia is quite diverse. What’s also important is our willingness to provide genuine technology transfer. There’s a real hunger in Asia for advanced technologies and autonomy, and EDGE is well positioned because we got an early start and moved quickly in this space.
