AI in the GCC - The Business Year
Current and prospective trade partnerships have, at their core, the free flow of data, which will doubtless be a key consideration of the prospective UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that could be a landmark of 2026.
Image credit: Shutterstock /AhmedRamzan(Gitex, the world’s largest tech and startup event, which commenced at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), United Arab Emirates)AI is a powerful accelerant for solving complex challenges. Today, the ambitious Greenfield infrastructure the GCC’s sovereign wealth funds are investing in provides the ideal testing ground for AI applications. All Systems “Go”In the era of Industry 4. 0 and hyper-connectivity, the race is on to future-proof economies. Accordingly, the GCC is pouring resources into the new intelligence paradigm, reshaping education curricula to hone the skills base required. These graduates will increasingly populate AI-native start-ups, firms whose entire core product, workflows, and value propositions orbit around AI. Scale is the WordThe GCC’s regulatory environment was drafted to ease deployment and AI momentum is increasingly shifting from state to company-level. Data-center projects, for example, open their doors for business within 18–24 months, compared to around 36–72 months in the US. Sector research indicates that AI adoption promises a potential gain of USD150 billion for constituent GCC economies, contingent upon building scale. To achieve this, firms must integrate AI into their business models based on clear strategies. Comprehensive AI adoption can also close the GCC’s productivity gap, raising industrial output volumes from existing infrastructure. Here, Agentic AI promises a particularly transformative impact on workplace performance and innovation. To explore this topic further, TBY spoke toAhmed Jaber Al-Faifi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of SAP Middle East and North Africa, a firm that has collaborated on Saudi gigaprojects. From his own forecasting process, he recounts a prime example of AI’s capabilities. When creating, “… a forecast based on historical performance and pipeline, […] the AI module within our dashboard generated a more optimistic forecast; some 25% higher than mine. ”While initially skeptical, “…the AI provided rationale based on granular deal-level data, flagging risk factors I hadn’t considered. Over time, it proved to be accurate. ”Highlighting how predictive models augment executive strategy rather than automate it away, Al-Faifi emphasized:“This is the level of insight our clients are demanding: proactive systems that enhance—not replace—human decision-making. The UK and GCC“We are moving from transactional trade toward long-term strategic cooperation between advanced digital economies, and the Gulf is a key partner in that vision,” saysJulian David, CEO of the UK’s technology trade association techUK. Current and prospective trade partnerships have, at their core, the free flow of data, which will doubtless be a key consideration of the prospective UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that could be a landmark of 2026. TechUK represents over a thousand tech members ranging from start-ups to global corporations, and in light of the FTA, his role, “…is to ensure that digital cooperation sits at the heart of trade policy. ”On the appeal of British collaboration with the GCC he notes how, “London and the wider UK ecosystem are now recognized as one of the world’s three epicenters of AI innovation, alongside the Bay Area and China, thanks to our academic institutions, vibrant start-up scene, and adoption across sectors like financial and professional services. ”Active AdoptionThe UAE ranks among the world’s fastest‑rising AI adopters—usage more than doubled from 10% in 2023 to 27% in 2024 and scaled 56% in 2025. In 2017, the UAE rolled out the world’s first national AI strategy, and its current AI Intelligence Strategy 2031 shoots for global dominance. It has invested north of USD147 billion into AI since 2024. The UAE’s indigenous AI vehicle, G42, is operational and, in partnership with OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco, the country has inked a deal with Washington to build Stargate UAE, a USD500 billion data center project destined to be the largest outside the US. Saudi Arabia is leveraging its cost-effective energy infrastructure to become the world’s third force in AI after the US and China. Late last year, Humain, its AI-powered operating systems firm, revealed a USD3 billion deal with private equity firm Blackstone to construct up to 6 gigawatts in data center capability nationwide by 2034, in partnership with Nvidia, AMD, Amazon Web Services, Qualcomm and Cisco. For the GCC, which has invested heavily in related education and training, AI adoption must reach scale now at the company level to optimize its contribution to sustainable economic growth.