Saudi Arabia & UAE surge ahead in global AI talent race
Stanford's AI Index 2025 ranks Saudi and UAE in key talent frameworks
#SaudiArabia #talent - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are emerging as global hotspots for artificial intelligence talent, according to Stanford University's comprehensive 2025 AI Index Report, with Saudi Arabia ranking third worldwide for AI hiring growth after India and Brazil, and being the only country where women lead in AI skill penetration (according to LinkedIn data). Meanwhile, the UAE has seen remarkable growth in its AI talent pool increasing by 168% over the past eight years. The Emirates also appears among the top 10 countries contributing to the most-cited AI publications from 2021–2023, highlighting both its growing global research influence, and its success in attracting world-class research talent.
SO WHAT? - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have both made artificial intelligence a national priority, investing heavily in national AI strategies and setting their sights on becoming global leaders in AI. Both attracting global AI talent and developing AI talent at home have been integral to these strategies. The two countries increasing ability to develop world class AI talent at home and attract the brightest minds from across the world has helped them accelerate AI adoption, R&D, startup ecosystems and inbound FDI (foreign direct investment). Stanford’s new AI Index shows that these efforts are paying off.
The 2025 edition of The AI Index Report was published this week, produced by The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), an interdisciplinary institute formed to advance AI research, education, policy, and practice.
The new Index shows that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are both investing heavily in AI talent and attracting top global AI talent, but still have room to broaden AI skill adoption across their labor markets.
Saudi Arabia recorded the third highest AI hiring vibrancy globally at 28.7%, trailing only India (33.4%) and Brazil (30.8%), showing the Kingdom's AI recruitment significantly outpaced overall hiring in 2024. (See report p 233)
The UAE also ranked in the top ten 'most vibrant AI hiring locations with a growth rate of 24.88%, reflecting the success of its own AI talent strategies.(See report p 233)
Saudi Arabia stands unique globally as the only country where women demonstrate higher AI skill penetration rates than men, according to LinkedIn data analysed in the AI Index Report. (See report p 236)
The UAE achieved a 168% increase in its AI talent concentration since 2016, demonstrating the country's long-term commitment to building AI capabilities. (See report p 237)
Both Gulf nations scored impressively in net AI talent migration, with the UAE ranking third globally (4.1 per 10,000 LinkedIn members) and Saudi Arabia placing in the top ten (1.61). (See report p 241)
The UAE has established itself among the top 10 countries of origin for highly cited AI research publications, reflecting its increasing influence in groundbreaking artificial intelligence research and ability to attract world-class AI research talent. (See report p 40)
Despite these gains, neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE appeared in the top rankings for overall AI skill penetration, indicating room for further growth in spreading AI expertise across their economies.
The Stanford AI Index, recognized as one of the most comprehensive views of global AI development. The analysis of talent ecosystems leverages data from LinkedIn's Economic Graph representing over 1 billion members worldwide.
ZOOM OUT - It’s noteworthy to mention that the Saudi and UAE AI talent successes are measured in context of a highly competitive global environment, often called the AI Race. The 2025 AI Index Report reveals AI's dramatic technical progress, with performance on challenging benchmarks like SWE-bench improving by up to 67.3 percentage points in just one year. Though the US leads in model development with 40 notable models versus China's 15, performance gaps are narrowing rapidly. Meanwhile, investment in AI is soaring and here too we see Saudi Arabia and the UAE making waves globally, with projects such as Saudi's $100 billion Project Transcendence and Abu Dhabi’s $100 billion MGX AI fund.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
LINKS
The AI Index Report 2025 (Stanford HAI website)
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