News DeskDubai: After years of heavy investment and bold digital ambitions, organisations across the UAE and Saudi Arabia are entering a new phase of artificial intelligence adoption—one defined less by experimentation and more by measurable performance and governance.
According to Samir Akel, Regional Vice President for Emerging Markets at Nintex, boards and leadership teams in both countries are now demanding tangible outcomes from AI initiatives, alongside stronger controls and enterprise-wide resilience.
“AI will be judged less on promise and more on performance,” Akel said, noting that organisations are under pressure to demonstrate real value, clear governance, and the ability to scale AI without disrupting operations.
The shift follows more than a decade of digital transformation in the two markets. PwC estimates that AI could contribute up to USD 135 billion to Saudi Arabia’s economy and USD 96 billion to the UAE’s economy by 2030—around 12 to 14 per cent of GDP. As these investments mature, attention is turning toward near-term returns and operational impact.
Industry observers say the focus is moving away from isolated pilots toward enterprise-wide automation programmes that cut cycle times, improve compliance, and boost workforce productivity. This is already evident in government-led digital initiatives, including the UAE’s paperless and shared services strategies and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programmes spanning healthcare, energy, logistics, and public services.
Governance has emerged as a central pillar of AI strategy. Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law is now fully enforceable, while the UAE’s data protection regulations and national AI Charter place strong emphasis on transparency, accountability, and human oversight. As a result, organisations operating across both markets are being forced to integrate compliance and auditability into AI systems from the outset.
This regulatory landscape is driving growing demand for orchestration platforms that connect systems, data, people, and policy across the full lifecycle of work, enabling traceability and compliance at scale.
At the same time, AI agents are moving from proof-of-concept into live production, particularly in high-volume and regulated environments such as public services. Nintex describes this evolution as “Agentic Business Orchestration,” where AI agents are embedded within governed workflows rather than deployed as standalone tools.
Operational resilience is also rising on executive agendas, especially with Microsoft set to retire SharePoint 2013 workflows in Microsoft 365 by April 2026—a change that could disrupt critical HR, approvals, and service processes still widely used across the region.
Akel said many organisations have already begun modernising mission-critical workflows to ensure continuity and support AI-enabled optimisation.
As expectations grow, the role of technology partners is also changing. Managed service providers and system integrators are increasingly expected to deliver long-term, measurable outcomes, expanding their remit to include workflow governance, automation operating models, and controlled AI deployment.
Looking ahead, experts say the UAE and Saudi Arabia will continue to lead the region in AI ambition, but execution quality will determine success.
“The winners will be organisations that connect AI to real work, govern it with intent, and measure results rigorously,” Akel said. “That’s how AI becomes a sustainable advantage at national and enterprise scale.”
