'Indian Talent Is The Best In The World': Burj Khalifa Builder Mohamed Alabbar On Why Indians Top His Hiring List

At a time when companies across the world are rethinking talent strategies, Mohamed Alabbar has offered an experience-driven view: If you want to build at a global scale, bet on Indian talent. Speaking at the ‘Make it in the Emirates’ summit in Abu Dhabi, the man behind the Burj Khalifa outlined a philosophy that goes beyond design, capital, or scale.

Alabbar said the real edge in execution doesn’t come from design alone, but from people who show up when it matters most. His benchmark for commitment was strikingly simple: who answers the phone at 1:00 am.

He famously favours professionals from the Indian subcontinent because of a work ethic he ranks as “number one in the world”.

He said he consistently prefers professionals from the Indian subcontinent,

citing what he described as the strongest work ethic globally. While others may be off the clock, he argued, Indian talent is more likely to respond, adapt, and deliver under pressure. “The harder you work, the luckier you will get,” he said.

The Emaar founder linked this work ethic to what he called “positive paranoia”, a mindset of constant vigilance around risk, execution, and quality. Reflecting on how his company navigated both the 2008 global financial crisis and the pandemic, he pointed to three traits he sees as critical: the ability to withstand high-pressure cycles, an obsessive focus on checking and rechecking work, and the intellectual agility to absorb new technologies quickly.

He framed it in personal terms as well: “My IQ is average, but my hard work is the best.”

This philosophy is now being institutionalised within Emaar’s hiring strategy. The company has partnered with Raffles University to build a direct recruitment pipeline. Each year, it selects around 20 top-performing students—along with a handful from the Alabbar School of Management, and places them across its operations in Dubai, Europe, and Asia, effectively creating a campus-to-global career track.

Alabbar’s broader view on India was equally emphatic. Highlighting the country’s scale, stability, and growth trajectory, he told the audience: “Is there anything better, bigger, more stable, and that keeps growing than India? There is nothing.”

In 1997, Alabbar founded Emaar Properties.