His Excellency Dr. Abdullatif Al Shamsi received his Ph.D. from Duke University, USA in 1997 and received his Master's and Bachelor degrees from Boston University. He is the President & CEO for the Higher Colleges of Technology as per Federal Decree (29) for 2015. 

Prior to his appointment in HCT he was the Managing Director of the Institute of Applied Technology (IAT), from 2007 to the end of 2014, where he established the Applied Technology High Schools (ATHS), the Fatima College for Health Sciences, and Abu Dhabi Polytechnic. He started his career at UAE University as associate professor. His appointments at UAE University included the post of Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, where he founded a University-wide Internship and Work Integrated Learning (iWIL) program. 

Dr Al Shamsi's work has been published more than thirty-five times in world-class scientific journals and international conferences. His latest publication is a series of books published in Arabic  titled: “The Make of Education.” He is a winner of the Federal Personality Award, in its fifth edition, which is granted by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Chairman of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR).  

H.E. Dr Al Shamsi is the first Emirati to be awarded a Principal Fellowship by Advance HE (Higher Education), of the UK. He is also the recipient of the CEO Today Magazine's Global Award 2021, and was named in their top 100 CEOs of 2020. In April 2021 he was included in the Arab  Power List by Arabian Business magazine and was named as a Fierce Educator in March 2021 by Fierce Education.

Dr Al Shamsi is currently the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of  Applied Technology (IAT). He is the Deputy Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy  (ADMA), as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Schools Establishment. These are in addition to his membership of several higher committees and educational advisory councils, such as the Higher Education Coordination Council, and the Higher Committee for Aqdar World Summit.