Dubai: At the 2025 Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayors’ Forum (APCS) held at Expo City Dubai, VFS Global showcased its approach to citizen experience— one where technology, empathy, and collaboration come together to make cities smarter, more accessible, and more human.

The Summit, which brought together 150+ mayors and city leaders from across six continents under the theme “Our Shared Urban Future”, became a platform for showcasing how public–private partnerships can redefine the relationship between citizens and governments.

Technology with Empathy: Fireside Chat with Zubin Karkaria

In a thought-provoking fireside chat, Mr. Zubin Karkaria, Founder and CEO of VFS Global, shared how responsible innovation and trust are shaping the next generation of public services.

“Technology is the key to driving the next generation of citizen services – making them even more user-friendly, seamless, and efficient while ensuring the highest level of security and integrity of the process.” said Mr. Karkaria. “We also believe that the public-private-partnership model can play a big role in accelerating this transformation”.

These values are brought to life through VFS Global’s long-standing public–private partnerships (PPPs) with governments worldwide. Built on trust, credibility, and compliance with local laws, these partnerships enable technology-driven citizen services that are delivered efficiently, securely, and with empathy – ensuring they truly serve society in the best possible way.

He also highlighted VFS Global’s collaboration with the Responsible AI Institute and Dubai AI Seal certification, reinforcing the company’s leadership in ethical and transparent AI development — with many of its AI-powered systems now deployed by leading governments, including the UK and Schengen nations.

Showcasing the Future of Citizen Services

The VFS Global–CiX Citizen Experience booth at the Expo City Dubai Exhibition Centre demonstrated how AI-powered “phygital” solutions can simplify and humanise everyday interactions between citizens and governments.

Visitors experienced real-world innovations in digital identity enrolment, e-governance, welfare registration, document verification, and public-safety compliance — all designed to make government services more accessible, efficient, and trustworthy.

From Brazil and Oman to Qatar and the UAE, VFS Global’s ongoing projects illustrate how responsible technology can bridge digital divides while creating opportunities for local employment and skills development.

Collaborating for Smarter, Happier Cities

Through AI Centres of Excellence in Dubai, Mumbai, Delhi, and soon Berlin, VFS Global continues to advance innovations like LIDPro (Location-Independent Document Processing) and Visa At Your Doorstep, making citizen services more convenient and accessible.

Through the CiX Citizen Experience network — comprising over 250 centres serving 150 million citizens across Brazil — and a robust portfolio of attestation, verification, and identity-management projects across the Middle East and Africa, VFS Global is helping governments co-create the next generation of citizen services.

These initiatives demonstrate how Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) are evolving beyond transactional delivery into strategic collaborations that drive accessibility, trust, and innovation in global mobility and citizen experience.