Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News email digest!
A very busy week for AI news! Too much for this newsletter, in fact! Today’s edition includes five new AI trends reports, offering insights into regional AI adoption, business usage and skills. I’ll keep this short, so as to leave more space for stories.
Scroll down for more news!
And Ai Everything Abu Dhabi is next week! October 6th and 7th. So, if you haven’t yet registered for the event, here’s the link!
Thanks for reading!
/Carrington
Market Trends
UAE business AI adoption jumps to 72%
#UAE #adoption - AI adoption among UAE businesses reached 72% in 2026, up from 53% last year, according to AWS and the UAE Artificial Intelligence Office. Some 31% use transformative AI, including agentic systems, while companies take an average 5.8 months to recruit qualified digital talent. (Middle East AI News + Download)
UAE retains world lead in generative AI use
#UAE #adoption - Microsoft’s latest Global AI Diffusion Report says generative AI usage among the UAE’s working-age population reached 73.3%, up three points quarter-on-quarter. Global usage stood at 18.8$, while Saudi Arabia rose five places to 25th and Qatar retained tenth position. (Middle East AI News + Download)
UAE ranks sixth globally for AI skills
#UAE #skills - Coursera has ranked the UAE sixth globally out of 98 countries in its AI-Human Skills Synergy Index, the highest position in MENA, while Saudi Arabia placed 25th. The report also found only 18% of organisations say most employees received AI reskilling during the past year. (Middle East AI News + Download)
UAE firms scale AI agents but face control gap
#UAE #agenticAI - Dataiku research finds UAE organisations are deploying AI agents at greater scale than other surveyed markets, with 62% of CIOs running more than 50 agents in production and 15 percent operating over 500. However, only 5% can reliably contain a rogue agent within two hours. (Middle East AI News + Download)
AI tools add to Gulf employee workloads
#UAE #workforce - Korn Ferry’s Workforce 2026 survey finds 59% of UAE employees and 64% of Saudi employees say AI tools have increased the number of tasks expected of them. Workers in both countries also report heavier workloads than the global average despite relatively high levels of AI training. (Middle East AI News)
Investment
Microsoft lifts Gulf investment above $10 billion
#UAE #investment - Microsoft plans to invest more than $10 billion across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, adding about $2 billion to previous commitments. Spending includes cloud infrastructure, more than $400 million in connectivity, a digital resilience initiative and AI skills programmes for over 4.2 million people. (Middle East AI News)
Invest Qatar partners with Brain Co on AI pilots
#Qatar #investment - Invest Qatar has partnered with Brain Co to develop AI pilots across Qatar’s public and private sectors, alongside talent development and upskilling. Invest Qatar will also support the San Francisco-based company in opening a flagship Qatar office. Brain Co previously delivered an AI-powered building permit system for the Ministry of Municipality. (Middle East AI News)
Together AI to open Abu Dhabi office
#UAE #investment - Mubadala and San Francisco-based Together AI are deepening their partnership, with the AI compute platform planning to establish an office in Abu Dhabi. The move follows Mubadala’s recent $100 million investment in Together AI and expands the company’s presence in the UAE’s growing advanced computing ecosystem. (Middle East AI News)
Cybersecurity
UAE to deploy Microsoft MDASH cyber defence platform
#UAE #cybersecurity - The UAE Cyber Security Council, Microsoft and Core42 plan to deploy Microsoft’s MDASH AI cybersecurity capability across government entities. The system identifies vulnerabilities and prioritises risks through automated analysis, with Core42 supporting implementation through its Sovereign Public Cloud and the council overseeing responsible adoption. (Middle East AI News)
Funding
Shorooq and Presight back $100M Maven Robotics round
#UAE #funding - Abu Dhabi-based Shorooq and Presight have joined a $100 million Series A funding round for California-based Maven Robotics. The industrial robotics company targets logistics and manufacturing workflows representing an estimated $80 billion market and plans to produce 250 third-generation robots while developing its fourth-generation platform. (Middle East AI News)
Education
Orange expands Egypt skills and startup funding
#Egypt #training - Orange has committed to training grants for around 200,000 Egyptians in areas including artificial intelligence and cybersecurity following talks with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. The company will also allocate €25 million to technology startups and provide modern technology laboratories to several Egyptian universities. (Ahram Online)
UAE and Lebanon target one million AI trainees
#UAE #training - The UAE and Lebanon have launched an initiative to equip one million Lebanese people with practical artificial intelligence skills. Delivered through the UAE’s Government Experience Exchange Programme with Lebanon’s government, the programme will provide training across the country in areas including generative AI and prompt engineering. (Middle East AI News)
Saudi tests 150+ applicants for AI skill badges
#Saudi #certification - Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has tested more than 150 applicants for its AI Professional Badges, covering AI Engineer and Data Scientist tracks across three proficiency levels. (Middle East AI News)
AI Models
Morocco and Mistral release Darija AI tools
#Morocco #Arabic - Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform (MTNRA) and Mistral have released open-source tools for recognising and transcribing Moroccan Darija. The launch includes a dialect classifier and Voxtral speech recognition model capable of handling conversations that switch between Arabic, French and English. (Middle East AI News)
Outsourcng
HUMAIN and EY build AI-native outsourcing service
#Saudi #BPO- HUMAIN has engaged EY MENA to develop Saudi Arabia’s first AI-native business process outsourcing service. The initiative will integrate intelligent agents, automation, analytics and human expertise across enterprise operations. (EY)
Data Centres
Estithmar wins QAR500m MEEZA data centre deal
#Qatar #datacentres - Estithmar Holding has secured a contract worth more than QAR500 million to build MEEZA’s newest data centre in Doha. The facility is designed to support hyperscale cloud providers and high-density artificial intelligence workloads, expanding Qatar’s domestic digital infrastructure as demand for advanced computing capacity grows. (Middle East AI News)
Mobility
Dubai opens autonomous transport testing hub
#UAE #mobility - Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority and Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority have opened Dubai Mobility Labs at Dubai Silicon Oasis. (WAM)
Justice
Abu Dhabi courts launch Judicial AI Platform
#UAE #justice - Abu Dhabi Judicial Department has launched the first phase of its Judicial AI Platform. Its Judicial Assistant helps prosecutors and criminal court judges analyse cases, recommend decisions and draft judgments citing legislation and precedent, while human judges retain final authority. Wider capabilities are planned over an 18-month roadmap. (Middle East AI News)
COEs
RIA launches Midad centre for 5G and digital skills
#Oman #CoEs - Oman’s Research and Innovation Authority will launch the Midad Digital Centre at Innovation Park Muscat to build advanced skills in 5G, IoT and emerging technologies. Supported by Ericsson, Omantel and the Ministry of Finance, the centre will provide practical training and strengthen collaboration across government, academia and industry. (Muscat Daily)
Policy
Saudi Arabia strengthens responsible AI & risk rules
#Saudi #responsibleAI - Saudi Arabia has strengthened its responsible AI governance framework, led by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA). Measures include ethics principles, adoption guidelines, a national AI index and a new risk management framework designed to help government and private-sector organisations identify, assess and mitigate AI-related risks. (SPA)
[ This newsletter was both AI edited & human edited ]