Dubai’s AI Playbook and a Lesson in Guardrails: What Business Leaders Should Take From Both

AI news over the last day has given us two stories that couldn’t be more different, but together, they paint a clear picture of where AI is heading and why design matters more than ever.

On one side, you’ve got Dubai. A city that has no problem thinking in decades, not quarters, and is actively reshaping how AI can run inside a government. They’ve launched the second round of their “Future of AI in Government Services Accelerator” — a mouthful, sure, but here’s what it means: they’re inviting AI experts and companies from anywhere in the world to build solutions that could slot straight into public services.

On the other side, you’ve got a case that’s a stark reminder of what happens when AI advice runs unchecked. A man took ChatGPT’s word on a health swap, replacing salt with sodium bromide. The result wasn’t a minor mistake — it was hospitalisation, hallucinations, paranoia. What’s being called “ChatGPT psychosis” could have ended far worse. The underlying issue? No human context check.

So, what can a business owner or operator take from this mix of ambition and error? Quite a lot.

Dubai isn’t building toys, it’s building infrastructure

The AI work in Dubai isn’t about gimmicks or proving they can launch an AI chatbot. This is system-level thinking.
The accelerator program is designed to integrate AI into government touchpoints — things like licensing services, social benefits, traffic systems, environmental monitoring. And it’s not a closed shop. They’re offering collaboration opportunities through programs like the Dubai AI Seal and AI Academy, ensuring that private and public sectors are developing together.

This kind of thinking matters because it’s proactive. They’re building AI into systems from the ground up, so it isn’t something bolted on as an afterthought. It’s the difference between creating an AI-enabled workflow that feels seamless and functional, versus trying to patch one together later with duct tape and Zapier.

For businesses, this should sound familiar. If you design for AI from the start, the results are cohesive. If you retrofit without thought, the result is brittle.

The health scare is a perfect example of why guardrails matter

The sodium bromide incident is extreme, but the logic applies everywhere. AI can produce outputs that seem plausible, even authoritative, but still be dangerously wrong. And in this case, “dangerously” wasn’t metaphorical.

In business, the stakes might not be hospitalisation, but they can still be damaging — think a sales agent sending incorrect compliance advice to a client, or an automated process issuing an unauthorised refund. Without checks, AI agents can move quickly… straight into a mess.

The problem isn’t that AI made an error. The problem is that the system allowed it to be acted upon without verification. This is why every AI-powered business process we design at Intellisite includes human checkpoints or logic-based safeguards. It’s not about slowing down; it’s about making sure speed doesn’t kill accuracy.

Ambition without recklessness

Put these stories together and you get the core AI leadership challenge in 2025:
Be bold enough to integrate AI into the heart of your operations, but disciplined enough to put the right rails in place.

Dubai shows us that ambition doesn’t have to mean chaos. The bromide incident shows us that blind trust is still dangerous.

The balance is found in intentional system design.

What this means for you and your team

If you’re running a business right now, the lesson is simple. AI isn’t just “useful” when it’s clever; it’s useful when it’s embedded, coordinated, and constrained in the right ways.

That might mean an AI agent that auto-replies to missed calls, but only after cross-referencing the CRM to ensure it has the right contact data.
It might mean a report generator that builds client updates in seconds, but flags them for approval before they’re sent.
It might mean a task tracker that creates follow-up reminders, but checks whether the client has already booked before nudging them again.

These aren’t theoretical. We build them every week for clients at Intellisite. The trick is that they’re designed with both automation and oversight in mind.

Where to start

The safest way to build with AI is to start small, but start with a process that matters.
Pick something that would have a measurable impact if it were faster, cleaner, or more consistent. Then work backwards. Ask:

• What data does the AI need to do this well?

• How will we know if it’s right?

• Who or what gives the final approval?

If you can answer those, you’re halfway to having a reliable AI process.

At Intellisite, we take that logic and turn it into working systems. The ones that feel like they’ve been in your business forever — but without the cracks.

If you’re curious about how to make AI a safe, smart part of your core operations, visit www.intellisite.co. Let’s design something that works for the long run, not just the press release.