Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE’s minister of artificial intelligence recently spoke about generations and technology in Dubai recently. In conversation with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath at the India Global Forum in Dubai, he said the most capable people today are those between 40 and 60 years old.
Why are those in 40s and 60s the ‘most capable’ generation?
Al Olama said that people in the 40–60 age bracket “the best generation,” and explained that they grew up in a world without the internet and later adapted to rapid technological change. That transition, he believes, gave them a rare balance.
“We lost something called the breadth of intelligence that people had to get by and to live their daily lives in the past,” he said. Because technology arrived later in their lives, this generation had to rely first on observation, experience, and practical knowledge before turning to digital tools.
According to him, earlier generations understood nature, environment, and everyday technologies in a deeper way. “People who were uneducated could build billion-dollar companies,” explaining how broad, experiential intelligence once played a central role in success.
No generation is ‘better’
Al Olama was careful to clarify that he does not see any generation as inherently superior. Still, he argued that those between 40 and 60 today are especially well-equipped for the present moment.
“I don’t believe any generation is inherently better,” he said. “In fact, the most capable generations are those between 40 and 60 today.” For him, the reason lies in breadth. Modern life is shaped heavily by technology and has narrowed how people think and work. Earlier generations, by contrast, had to know a little about many things to survive.
Impact of AI
As artificial intelligence advances, Al Olama warned that narrow expertise may no longer be enough. In a world that rewards extreme specialisation, AI systems are often faster, cheaper, and more accurate.
“With this hyper-focused and specialised world that we are living in today, because of technology, unfortunately, AI is going to beat us to the target,” he said. “If we have to be hyper-specialised, AI can do better than us.”
The answer, in his view, is not to compete with machines at what they do best, but to develop broad intelligence, knowing many things reasonably well rather than mastering only one.
Future of jobs
During the conversation, Kamath posed a question many people worry about: if someone is a “jack of all trades,” what job will they do in five years? Al Olama said, is easier to answer than asking what job a “master of one” will have. No one can confidently predict that. He said manual jobs such as plumbing may outlast many white-collar roles, because they are harder to automate.
Even if traditional jobs disappear, he believes new ones will emerge. Human connection itself is becoming valuable. As technology grows, real social interaction becomes rarer and therefore more meaningful. Services built around companionship and connection are already signs of this shift.
“AI will outperform humans in hyper-specialised tasks,” he said. Staying relevant means cultivating a wide range of skills and understanding.