#UAE #manufacturing - Global energy management company Schneider Electric’s 2026 Industrial AI in CPG Study has found that UAE food and beverage manufacturers are scaling industrial AI faster than any other market surveyed. The study, launched during the company’s two-day Innovation Summit Middle East and Africa in Abu Dhabi, found 23 percent of UAE F&B manufacturers already treat AI as core to operations, against 16.3 percent globally, and 59 percent expect transformational AI adoption by 2030, against 42.2 percent globally. UAE firms also post 96 percent confidence that AI will deliver ROI by 2027, the highest of any market in the survey.
SO WHAT? - The usual brakes on industrial AI, skills gaps and legacy infrastructure, seem to matter less in the UAE than almost anywhere else surveyed. Instead, the leading barrier is cost, cited by 46 percent of UAE manufacturers against just 19 percent globally. This points to a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) market with the technical foundation and appetite to move fast, where budget rather than AI readiness is now the limiting factor. Combined with the highest cybersecurity focus of any market surveyed, it paints a picture of confident, disciplined scaling.
KEY POINTS:
Schneider Electric’s has released a UAE country report from its 2026 Industrial AI in CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) Study. The study was launched during the company’s two-day Innovation Summit Middle East and Africa in Abu Dhabi,
According to the study, UAE F&B manufacturers lead the world on industrial AI maturity, with 29% reporting AI deployed across multiple sites or processes (versus 25.3% globally) and 23% saying AI is already core to operations and decision-making (versus 16.3% globally).
57% of UAE manufacturers expect AI significantly scaled across operations by 2027, against 40.5% globally, the fastest near-term pace of any market in the study.
Confidence in AI delivering ROI holds firm over time in the UAE: 96% by 2027 and 92% by 2030, compared with 88.2% and 79.3% globally, a gap that widens the further out the timeframe.
Expected ROI from AI investment pulls ahead of the global average over time, reaching a mean of 42.4% by 2027 and 59% by 2030 in the UAE, against 38.1% and 56.9% globally.
High implementation cost is the leading barrier to scaling AI in the UAE, cited by 46% of manufacturers versus 19.1% globally, while lack of clear business ownership is also more prominent (23% versus 3.1% globally).
Skills gaps and legacy infrastructure, the top two global barriers, rank lower as concerns in the UAE (40% and 32% respectively, versus 43.6% and 37.1% globally), reflecting a newer, more efficient industrial base.
Cybersecurity is a top focus area for 38% of UAE manufacturers as they scale AI, the highest share of any market surveyed and well above the 21.6% global average.
UAE manufacturers report the lowest energy cost share of any market surveyed at 11.5% of manufactured goods cost, against 13.57% globally, but the highest raw materials cost share at 21.75%, against 15.31% globally.
UAE F&B manufacturers lose 15.7% of potential revenue to operational inefficiency, lower than the 17.1% global average, pointing to a comparatively lean operating base.
The study surveyed 100 UAE F&B decision-makers and 676 globally across 15 countries including the UK, US, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, conducted by Censuswide, and was launched at the Innovation Summit Middle East and Africa, which drew more than 2,500 attendees to ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: Schneider Electric
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