Back in 2024, when PwC released its Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2023: Middle East, just 46 per cent of respondents in the region expressed optimism about AI, believing it could improve their productivity. Among Middle Eastern countries, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia were among the least optimistic: only 39 per cent of respondents in the UAE viewed AI favourably, compared with 41 per cent in both Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Two years later, we see a dramatic flip in this picture. PwC’s Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025 shows the Middle East now leading the world in AI optimism. Around 80 per cent of regional employees say AI has improved their productivity, while 87 per cent report higher-quality work.
Experts attribute this surge in optimism largely to clear and decisive government direction. PwC noted that national strategies such as the UAE’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, Saudi Arabia’s National Strategy for Data & AI (NSDAI), and Qatar’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy have reduced uncertainty around AI’s role, replacing anxiety with anticipation about its impact on the future of work.
The Middle East has a large concentration of Gen Z and millennial workers—digital natives who are quick to integrate AI tools into creative and professional tasks. And this has contributed to the region’s high level of hands-on adoption.
Crucially, the sharp rise in AI optimism between 2023 and 2025 was no accident. During this period, the region moved from being a passive consumer of Western technology to an active creator of AI innovation. The launch of high-performing, Arabic-centric foundation models such as Falcon and Jais in the UAE, and ALLaM in Saudi Arabia, demonstrated that the region could compete at the AI frontier. These models addressed a persistent gap: Western AI systems often struggled with Arabic language nuances and regional cultural contexts. Seeing AI “speak their language” shifted public sentiment from skepticism to ownership.
The region also leveraged its two biggest advantages—capital and energy—to build the physical backbone of AI. While the European Union grappled with regulatory complexity, Middle Eastern governments moved swiftly to establish pro-AI frameworks. This regulatory clarity encouraged global tech giants to sign multi-billion-dollar deals in the region between 2023 and 2025, further reinforcing confidence.
At the geopolitical level, the US administration began viewing countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia not merely as security partners but as regional compute hubs and sovereign AI collaborators. As part of this realignment, these countries divested from Chinese technology firms and, in return, became key custodians of advanced US AI intellectual property outside the United States—which indirectly accelerated AI adoption across the region.
By late 2025, the impact was unmistakable. The UAE—where the workforce had been largely AI-pessimistic just two years earlier—reported a 97 percent AI adoption rate across government and key sectors, the highest in the world.
PwC’s data also reveals a striking psychological contrast between Middle Eastern workers and their counterparts elsewhere. High adoption has created a positive feedback loop: instead of fearing job losses, 82 per cent of employees say AI has made them more productive. While global debates remain dominated by anxiety over automation, workers in the Middle East largely see AI as a tool to enhance creativity and efficiency. Sixty-one percent report feeling excited about AI’s impact, compared with 47 per cent globally. In labour-scarce Gulf economies, AI is widely viewed as a way to fill talent gaps—not replace people.
Studies show that most companies in the region are reshaping roles rather than cutting headcount. AI is being used mainly to automate repetitive tasks, freeing employees for higher-value work. In fact, projections suggest AI will drive net job growth, with the region’s unique demographics and economic strategies framing AI as a tool for diversification and expansion—rather than a substitute for the human workforce.
