According to Microsoft’s AI Pulse report, UAE in order to become a digital global hub and adopting a wider stance on Digitalization policy 2030, has shown a lot maturity and proactiveness in embracing potentiality of the disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics etc.
UAE’s 47 percent High growth companies and 15 percent single-digit growth firms have already embraced AI adoption, either on two stages viz formalizing or integrating stages have outpaced global average of 38% for high-growth companies worldwide and 17 percent lower growth firms at global level.
It also revealed that 100 percent of high graded leaders across high-growth level firms in UAE, are willing to upskill to better prepare for near future and AI deployment.
The UAE AI adoption for decision making in double-digit growth companies and lower-growth firms in UAE vs worldwide market is widening. In UAE, 70% double-digit growth companies intend to utilise AI for improvising decision-making skills comparatively to just 46% worldwide.
Similarly, with 45% of lower-growth firms in UAE, ready to embrace AI potential in Decision making, only 31% global lower-growth companies embrace AI potential in decision making.
This is not just where UAE exceeds its global counterparts in adoption of AI for improved decision making, it also remains global leaders in process optimisation and the development of new products and services.
According to words quoted by Sayed Hashish, Microsoft Gulf Regional General Manager “The UAE’s 2031 AI Strategy is already gearing up pace as it revs up the new level of innovation, as well getting a lot of support from government in significantly investing in the latest AI technologies and tools to enhance performance, efficiency and fuel growth.”
He also added a point that “Microsoft have a strong belief that investing in the AI technologies significantly impacts leadership prowess for future generation next and fuels up a healthy conversation on role of smart solutions in public-private organizations to take ample care on stocking up various technological implications to achieve maximum benefits.”
In case of Double-digit growth 78 percent companies worldwide and 70 percent of other companies support the reskilling measures ensuring better preparedness for AI future and whilst in UAE, these measures almost touch 97 percentage.
However, the sad point to be noted is that, during the report making process, a general quiz was conducted over the Ethical AI and its significance, only just over half of UAE organizations had commonly agreed its significance was one for corporate leadership to be addressed.
The report also readily pointed out the key challenges posed in front of global leaders related with AI, as fifty-six percentage of respondents believed that choosing and upskilling right talented workforce remains a hinderance to AI adoption pathway. Just about 42 percent of leaders are willing to take the risks revolved around AI, wherein 38 percentage are yet in order to devise the required strategy to add value to their customer engagements.
Thus, although there is no doubt that UAE, would be a pioneer in AI adoption and be a significant market for it, the key challenge is of how soon the UAE and global leaders would work on the ethical AI part and how corporate leadership turns it into an asset for themselves. If not, then they are themselves to be blamed, as they would find themselves in desperate technological disaster situation.
