Skip to content
Synapse Horizon

Your data never leaves your building.

Private AI in the UAE: an on-premise AI solution, deployed in your own building

Private AI means running AI models on servers you own, so prompts and documents never go to a public cloud service. Synapse Horizon, a Dubai-based B2B wholesaler, supplies the right-sized on-premise AI hardware; our partners deploy open-weight LLMs on it and support it.

Inference location
On-premise
Cloud egress required
Zero
Deployed & supported
Partner
Secure on-premise AI server room behind glass with a dusk city skyline

On-premise GPU nodes · Isolated

The problem

Cloud AI sends your data somewhere else

Public AI tools are useful, but every request carries your data to a third party. For sensitive information, that is a risk many companies cannot accept.

Prompts and files leave your network

Every prompt, pasted paragraph and uploaded file sent to a public AI tool is processed on someone else’s servers. That includes contracts, patient notes, source code and client records.

Risk: confidential data outside your control

Shadow AI and third-party retention

When staff have no approved tool, they use personal accounts on public services. You cannot see what was shared, how long it is kept, or whether it is used to improve someone else’s model.

Risk: unmanaged use you cannot audit

Cross-border transfer

Cloud AI services may process data in other countries. Data protection rules in the UAE and abroad set conditions on cross-border transfers, and some sectors restrict them further.

Risk: transfers you must justify and document

Compliance context

Built for UAE and international data rules

Keeping AI processing on your own hardware helps support compliance with data protection rules, because fewer third parties and fewer cross-border transfers are involved.

Federal

UAE

UAE PDPL

Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021

Applies to personal data processing in the UAE outside the financial free zones and sectors governed by their own data laws, including cross-border transfer rules.

Financial free zones

DIFC · ADGM

DIFC & ADGM

DIFC Law No. 5 of 2020 · ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021

Both financial centres have their own data protection regimes, with conditions on transferring personal data to other jurisdictions.

International

EU

GDPR

Regulation (EU) 2016/679

Can apply to organisations outside the EU that offer goods or services to people in the EU, with rules on transfers outside the EEA.

Sector rules also apply, for example health-data localisation and central bank outsourcing rules. See the industry pages for details, and our guide to UAE data privacy rules for AI.

This is general information, not legal advice. Private AI helps support compliance; it does not guarantee it. Ask your legal or compliance adviser which rules apply to your organisation.

How it works

From assessment to a running platform in four steps

  1. Step 01

    Assess

    We and our partners review your users, use cases, documents and server room: power, cooling, rack space, network and security.

  2. Step 02

    Hardware bundle

    We supply a right-sized Team, Department or Enterprise bundle from Dubai, with the GPUs, storage and networking the workload needs.

  3. Step 03

    Partner deployment

    Our partners install the hardware, deploy open-weight LLMs, connect your documents for RAG and set up single sign-on and access control.

  4. Step 04

    Support

    Monitoring, updates, spares and on-site help under an agreed support SLA, so the platform keeps running as usage grows.

What runs on it

Everyday AI workloads, on your own hardware

Open-weight LLMs and vision models cover the use cases most teams ask for first.

  • Chat assistant

    A private assistant for drafting, summarising and answering questions, with no calls to external AI services.

  • RAG over internal docs

    Answers grounded in your policies, contracts and manuals, with citations back to the source file.

  • Coding assistant

    Code completion and review for your developers, without sharing source code outside the company.

  • Document processing

    Classify, extract and summarise forms, letters, invoices and reports in bulk.

  • Vision

    Image and video models for inspection, safety and document scanning, kept on your own network.

Hardware bundles

On-premise hardware bundles

Three right-sized starting points. Every bundle is quoted to your users, models and site.

Typically 5–25 users

Team bundle

A first private AI deployment for one team, practice group or pilot project.

Typical users
5–25
GPU class
1–2 professional GPUs
Typical model size
7B–14B, quantized
Storage
Local NVMe
Form factor
Workstation or 2U–4U server
See the team bundle

Most requested

Typically 25–200 users

Department bundle

Shared AI for a whole department, with several use cases on one platform.

Typical users
25–200
GPU class
4–8 data-centre GPUs
Typical model size
Up to ~70B
Storage
NVMe array
Form factor
Single rack server
See the department bundle

Typically 200+ users

Enterprise bundle

Organisation-wide private AI on a rack-scale cluster you own and control.

Typical users
200+
GPU class
Multi-node GPU cluster
Typical model size
Largest open-weight
Network
400G/800G fabric
Form factor
Rack-scale, liquid-cooled
See the enterprise bundle

Compare

Cloud AI or private on-premise AI?

For the numbers, see our worked comparison of on-premise AI vs cloud cost, with a breakeven calculator.

Comparison of public cloud AI services and private on-premise AI
FactorPublic cloud AIPrivate on-premise AI
Data residencyData is processed in the provider’s chosen regions, which may be outside the UAE.Data stays on hardware in your building, under your own controls.
Cost predictabilityUsage-based fees can rise with users, tokens and new use cases.An upfront hardware purchase plus power, cooling and a support agreement, with no per-token fees.
LatencyRequests typically travel over the internet to the provider’s shared service.Requests stay on your local network, close to your users and data.
CustomizationLimited to the provider’s models, settings and fine-tuning options.Choose open-weight models, connect any internal source and fine-tune on your own data.
Vendor lock-inPrompts, workflows and integrations tie you to one provider’s APIs.Open-weight models and standard interfaces let you switch models when better ones appear.

Guides

Guides to private AI

All insights and guides →

FAQ

Private AI questions

What is private AI?
Private AI means running large language models and other AI models on hardware your organisation owns and controls, instead of sending data to a public cloud AI service. Prompts, documents and outputs stay inside your network, which suits companies that handle sensitive data.
Who is on-premise AI for?
Any company that wants to keep its data inside the company and not share it over the cloud, especially sensitive data. That includes banks, hospitals, law firms, government entities and industrial operators, but also any business with confidential contracts, designs or customer records.
Which models run on the hardware?
Our partners deploy open-weight LLMs, which are models whose weights you can download and run on your own servers. Model size depends on the bundle and workload. As a typical guide: quantized 7B–14B-parameter models on a Team bundle, up to about 70B on a Department bundle, and the largest open-weight models on an Enterprise cluster.
Can it run without an internet connection?
Yes. Once deployed, the models, document index and chat history all run on your local servers, so the platform can work on an isolated network. Model and software updates are brought in through your own change-control process.
Does private AI make us compliant?
On its own, no technology makes an organisation compliant. Keeping data on your own hardware helps support compliance with data protection and sector rules, because it reduces third-party processing and cross-border transfers. Your legal and compliance teams still decide what applies to you.
What does Synapse Horizon supply, and what do partners do?
Synapse Horizon is a Dubai wholesaler: we supply the right-sized hardware bundle. Our partner network carries out the site assessment, installation, open-weight model deployment, RAG and document integration, access control, monitoring and support under an agreed SLA.
How much does a bundle cost?
Every bundle is quoted to your requirements, because the right hardware depends on users, models, documents and your site. Share your use cases and expected users in the form below and we reply within one business day with a proposal.

Request a quote

Tell us about your private AI project

Share your users, use cases, documents and server room details. No obligation, and we reply within one business day.