Second highest AI investment in MEA post-Turkey-As UAE pools a staggering $2.15B for AI

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  • A recent report that was commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by EY has disclosed that over the last decade the UAE has created the second highest investment in AI across the Middle Eastern and African tertiary (MEA) pooling quite $2.15 billion into the technology.
  • This puts the Emirates directly behind Turkey, that invested with quite $3.4 billion, report sourced by the AI Maturity Report.

The UAE has been the investment powerhouse for the region since 2016. Saudi Arabia additionally emerged powerfully in 2018, as did Jordan.

Saudi Arabia invested with around $585 million over the last decade, followed by Egypt with quite $241 million. Whereas Kuwait, Jordan, and Morocco spent with $177 million, $60 million and $7 million accordingly as quoted in the AI report.

The bulk of this pooled investment went towards updating the social media and Internet/Web of Things (IoT) transactions, followed by a notable pay across an additional eight technologies, inclusive of Smart mobile technology, gaming, and machine or AI learning, as well setting exclusive machine learning Institutions and their development across region.

The UAE is predicted to extend this investment dramatically over successive three years, notably as a growing range of executives looks to AI to drive in their digital agendas.

Key findings of the survey and a joint disclosed report were as follows: –

โ€ขย ย The studyโ€”based on surveys, interviews and case studies from 101 firms across the Middle Eastern and African tertiaryโ€”showed that around 18 percentage of UAE businesses take into account AI their most crucial digital priority, and a whopping 94 percent of C-suite leaders take into account AI strategy as an essential topic.

โ€ขย  ย Meanwhile, 35 percent of non-managerial workers are actively involved and scrutinized for having AI discussions.

โ€ขย  ย “When we have a tendency to examine firms with high AI maturity, it’s clear that the technology is driven directly by the CEOs themselves. This high level of involvement usually leads to bigger investment in AI, broader adoption and a bigger range of no-hit implementations,” As quoted by Sayed Hashish, regional chief Manager at Microsoft Gulf.

โ€ขย ย ย ย UAE respondents expect AI, disruptive technologies like IOT to deliver more significant operational efficiencies, drive down prices and, most significantly, alter them to be additional competitive. Specifically, firms inside the Emirates read prediction (76%) and automation (76%) because the most relevant applications of AI for his or her businesses.

Thus, Middle Eastern and African tertiary countries are keen to pool in huge investments as per in the National interest of their digitalization drive 2031 and have keen interest to become the global leaders in disruptive technologies like Machine learning or AI, IOT (Internet/Web of things), Blockchain and advanced Robotics, etc.

Needless to state that the future horizon looks bright for UAE and most Middle Eastern and African tertiary as it would also lead to substantial employability resources, support them to channelize and drift towards non-oil and privatized economic value chain, diversify and scrutinize means to get better economic reforms, GDP growth, etc.

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