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Yet there is an increasingly important distinction between adopting AI and extracting meaningful value from it.

Deloitte says more than 80 % of organisations across the Middle East feel intense pressure to adopt AI. At the same time, nearly half face shortages in the talent and technological capabilities required to scale it successfully. Perhaps more tellingly, a third are yet to see returns from their AI initiatives.

Jeevan Thankappan Managing Editor

These figures highlight the next phase of the region’ s AI journey. The conversation can no longer simply be about investment, experimentation or the number of use cases being launched. It must increasingly focus on whether organisations have the foundations necessary to turn AI into measurable business value.

Those foundations are familiar but difficult to build: high-quality data, modern infrastructure, skilled people, governance, cybersecurity and, critically, a clear understanding of the business problem AI is expected to solve.

The experiences of two UAE organisations featured in this issue illustrate how that transition is beginning to happen.

At Ali & Sons, AI forms part of a broader transformation that has been under way for several years. The Group’ s move to cloud infrastructure and extensive data cleansing have created foundations upon which it can now build an in-country, sovereign AI platform connecting its data sources. AI agents are being explored to improve productivity, while individual businesses are implementing use cases addressing specific operational challenges. Importantly, every investment is expected to demonstrate a return.

MH Enterprises offers another compelling example. Rather than treating AI as a showcase technology, the FMCG distributor is applying it to specific operational problems. Its purpose-built platform uses AI, machine learning and robotic process automation to interpret customer orders arriving in different formats and move them through the business more efficiently. It is now extending AI into purchasing and forecasting, while keeping human judgement central to higher-risk decisions.

There is a lesson here for the wider Middle East.

The region does not need more AI for AI’ s sake. It needs AI connected to business strategy, trusted data and measurable outcomes. The organisations that succeed will not necessarily be those spending the most, but those that combine ambition with the organisational discipline required to move from pilots to production.

The Middle East has already demonstrated its appetite for AI. The challenge now is turning that appetite into sustainable advantage. www. intelligentcio. com

INTELLIGENT CIO MIDDLE EAST

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