91% of Saudi firms seeing AI pay off, SAP/YouGov survey finds
Half of Saudi organisations surveyed now upskilling staff at scale
#SaudiArabia #digitaltransformation — Saudi Arabia organisations are seeing measurable returns on their artificial intelligence investment, with 91 percent of organisations reporting their AI initiatives are meeting or exceeding expectations, according to a new survey commissioned by enterprise software company SAP and carried out by market research firm YouGov. The survey of 260 chief IT decision-makers across multiple sectors in Saudi Arabia also found that 59 percent of organisations now prioritise AI investment strategically and enterprise-wide, while 54 percent are upskilling or reskilling staff at scale.
SO WHAT? — The enterprise computing space in Saudi Arabia has clearly moved from a period of experimentation and AI pilot projects to full-scale implementation, where there is a keen focus on results. Saudi firms seem to be rising to the challenge, becoming more disciplined about how they invest in and implement AI. As other surveys have noted this year, this is happening in tandem with an increase in accountability for AI within management teams. The results of the SAP survey show that Saudi organisations are succeeding on all counts and their results can be expected to compare favourably with global counterparts.
KEY POINTS:
A SAP-YouGov survey of 260 chief IT decision-makers in Saudi Arabia found that 91% of organisations report AI initiatives meeting or exceeding expectations, with 50% saying returns are exceeding expectations and 41% meeting them.
59% of respondents said their organisation prioritises AI investment strategically and enterprise-wide, pointing to more structured, business-led adoption rather than isolated experimentation.
54% of organisations are upskilling or reskilling employees at scale, while 52% are rolling out targeted training for specific roles.
53% of companies surveyed are hiring new AI-related talent, alongside internal training efforts.
Saudi Arabia-based Managing Director and Senior Vice President of SAP Middle East Africa-North Ahmed AlFaifi said enterprises in the Kingdom are combining disciplined investment with workforce preparation to create lasting value from AI.
The survey was conducted by YouGov on behalf of SAP among chief IT decision-makers at companies of various sizes across multiple sectors in Saudi Arabia during the first quarter of 2026.
SAP (NYSE: SAP SE) has worked with enterprise customers globally for more than 50 years across finance, procurement, HR, supply chain and customer experience functions.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: SAP
Read more research on AI adoption in Saudi Arabia:
Saudi, UAE outpace global peers in Agentic AI (Middle East AI News)
Saudi spends $8.5 billion on digital government during 2025 (Middle East AI News)
Saudi business AI adoption hits 33% in 2025, up 20% (Middle East AI News)
KPMG: Saudi enterprises moving fast on AI execution (Middle East AI News)
UAE banks lead MEA AI banking rankings (Middle East AI News)