UAE, Saudi Arabia leadership highlighted in Stanford AI Index
Region punches above its weight on AI adoption and talent
#UAE #SaudiArabia #AIIndex — The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have emerged as standout performers in Stanford University’s AI Index 2026, produced by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). The report provides a comprehensive annual assessments of global AI progress, drawing on leading research. Across multiple metrics covering adoption, talent, workplace use, skills development and private investment, both countries consistently rank above far larger and wealthier economies. Egypt also features in the report’s findings on workplace AI trust. The results reflect years of deliberate national investment in AI infrastructure, education and workforce development across the Gulf region.
SO WHAT? — The Stanford AI Index is not a ranking commissioned by governments or industry groups. It is an independent, data-driven assessment drawing on sources including LinkedIn, Ipsos, Pew Research and the University of Melbourne. The report places the UAE and Saudi Arabia repeatedly in the global top tier, confirming that the two Gulf states continued to fulfil their outsized AI ambitions. For decision-makers assessing where serious AI capability is accumulating outside the traditional technology superpowers, this report makes the case clearly that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are not to be ignored.
KEY POINTS
Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) has published the Stanford University’s AI Index 2026, providing a comprehensive annual assessments of global AI progress.
The UAE recorded the highest increase in AI talent concentration globally, growing by 121% between 2019 and 2025 (according to LinkedIn data), the largest such increase of any country in the sample.
The UAE ranked second globally for net AI talent migration in 2025, behind only Luxembourg, meaning it attracted significantly more AI professionals than it lost, remaining ahead of Australia (3rd), Saudi Arabia (4th) and Switzerland (5th).
Generative AI adoption in the UAE reached 54% of the population, well above the global average and significantly higher than what the country’s GDP per capita would predict. The UAE ranks first globally in AI diffusion relative to GDP, broadly on par with the UK, France and Finland.
Over 80% of employees in the UAE and Saudi Arabia report using AI at work regularly, placing both countries among the highest workplace AI adoption rates globally, alongside India, China and Nigeria, which is well above the 50% average recorded across North America and Europe.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE ranked among the top six countries globally for trust in AI at work, according to University of Melbourne and KPMG data cited in the report, reflecting a regional pattern of high confidence in AI tools among employees.
Saudi Arabia ranked tenth globally for private AI investment in 2025, with $2.03 billion invested during the year. This is a significant position for a non-G7 economy in a ranking dominated by the United States at $285.9 billion.
Saudi Arabia recorded the second-highest rate of university student GenAI adoption globally, behind only Indonesia, and leads the world in AI talent specialisation in security, privacy and cryptography, with 15% of its AI talent pool focused in this area.
The UAE was the first Middle East country to mandate AI education across all school grade levels starting in the 2025–26 academic year, following closely in China’s footsteps (the first country globally to make this move). The curriculum covers foundational AI concepts, data and algorithms, software use, innovation and ethical awareness.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia both ranked in the top 12 globally for relative AI skill penetration, with the UAE showing particularly rapid growth in AI engineering skills, the more technically demanding category, versus AI literacy tools.
Female representation in AI talent in Saudi Arabia stands at 32.3%, the highest of any country cited in the report’s gender analysis, though the report notes that no country globally has made meaningful progress toward gender parity in AI talent since 2010.
LINK
Stanford AI Index Report 2026 (website)
Read more about global indexes and reports:
Saudi Arabia leads world in public sector AI adoption (Middle East AI News)
Egypt ranks first in Africa for government AI readiness (Middle East AI News)
Middle East workers embrace AI revolution (Middle East AI News)
Saudi Arabia & UAE surge ahead in global AI talent race (Middle East AI News)
UAE ranks 5th in new HAI global AI Index (Middle East AI News)