#Saudi #UAE #skills - US online learning platform Coursera has ranked the UAE 6th globally out of 98 countries in its new AI-Human Skills Synergy Index, the highest ranking of any Middle East or North Africa country. Part of the Coursera + Udemy Global Skills Report 2026, report, the index drawing on data from more than 300 million Coursera and Udemy learners, combines learning behaviour with the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index. Saudi Arabia ranked 25th globally, also placing it in the index’s top tier, followed by Egypt (43), Qatar (46) and Bahrain (48). The report found nearly three in four organisations have deployed or piloted AI, yet only 18 percent say most of their workforce received AI reskilling in the past year.
SO WHAT? - Governments can build AI infrastructure faster than people can build AI skills, and this report captures that mismatch directly. The UAE and Saudi Arabia rank well because both because of their out-sized commitment to upskilling their workforce and because national AI readiness, policy, infrastructure and government investment carries 40% of the index score. However, globally AI use has outpaced structured training almost everywhere, with formal reskilling reaching well under a fifth of the workforce even at organisations already running AI in production.
KEY POINTS:
Coursera has released its Global Skills Report 2026, ranking 98 countries on a new AI-Human Skills Synergy Index. The analysis combines Coursera learning behaviour (weighted 60%) with the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index 2025 (weighted as 40%).
The UAE ranked 6th globally in the new index, and first in the Middle East and North Africa, followed by Israel at 18th and Saudi Arabia at 25th. All three countries sit in the index’s “Leading” tier.
Germany topped the global index, followed by France, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, with 25 of 31 European countries examined placing in the top half.
The Coursera study finds that nearly three in four organisations have deployed or are piloting AI. However, only 18% report that most of their workforce participated in AI reskilling or upskilling over the past year.
According to the report, more than 95% of surveyed students and educators use AI globally, although only 26% of educators say their institution has a formal policy governing its use.
Critical thinking led human skills enrolment growth, up 107% year over year, followed by skills in ethics, governance and complex problem-solving.
Generative AI remains the leading AI skill by learner interest, with enrolments running at a combined rate of more than 45 per minute across Coursera and Udemy, up from 25 per minute in 2025.
AI micro-credential enrolments grew 122% year over year, more than triple the 33% growth rate for micro-credentials overall, as employers increasingly treat them as hiring signals.
Egypt ranked 4th in MENA in the index (43 globally), followed by Qatar (46th), Bahrain (48th), Tunisia (58th), Oman (66th), Kuwait (67th) and Jordan (70th).
ZOOM OUT - The Coursera report found that learner skill-building and national AI readiness align most strongly in Europe (25 out of the top 31 countries), led by Germany and France. Learners are increasingly building AI and human skills together, pairing technical proficiency with judgment and stakeholder alignment. Critical thinking leads human skills development, with enrolments up 107 percent year over year, ahead of ethics, governance and complex problem-solving. AI learning is also becoming more applied and specialised, with generative AI enrolments running at more than 45 per minute, up from 25 in 2025, alongside rising interest in AI agents, security and infrastructure. And trusted credentials are gaining value as workforce signals, with AI micro-credential enrolments up 122 percent year over year as employers increasingly treat them as hiring markers.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: Coursera
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