UAE companies lead regionally and in Europe in productivity gains supported by artificial intelligence

A new study from IBM, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, revealed that companies in the UAE are recording some of the strongest productivity gains driven by artificial intelligence in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, with many of them expecting to achieve a return on their investments over the next year.

A statement stated that the study, which was prepared in cooperation with Censuswide under the title “The Return on Investment Race,” was based on the results of a questionnaire that included 3,500 senior executives in 10 countries, including 500 in the UAE.

The results showed that 77% of participants in the UAE reported that their organizations achieved significant improvements in operational productivity using artificial intelligence, which far exceeds the regional average of 66%.

In addition, one in five respondents said their organization has already achieved ROI goals from AI-powered productivity initiatives, while more than 44% on average expect to achieve a return within 12 months in areas including: cost reduction (40%), time savings (49%), increased revenue (41%), employee satisfaction (47%), and higher Net Promoter Score (NPS) (43%).

Further productivity gains are expected with the introduction of AI agents, with 93% of UAE business leaders expecting this type of AI to provide a tangible return on investment within two years.

According to the study, the business areas that achieve the greatest productivity gains driven by artificial intelligence in the UAE are software development and information technology (34%), advertising and marketing (33%), account management (30%), customer service (28%), and purchasing (29%).

Meanwhile, executives reported that the top three benefits of increased productivity were increased operational efficiency (55%), enhanced decision-making (56%), and enhanced workforce capabilities such as automating repetitive tasks (55%).

Data shows that business leaders across the UAE are increasingly using artificial intelligence to enable strategic transformation in their businesses.

Among those who reported significant productivity gains, nearly a quarter (26%) say AI has fundamentally changed their business models.

About a third of respondents are already using AI to change their operations in ways such as accelerating innovation timelines (36%), shifting to continuous AI-based decision making rather than periodic planning cycles (29%), and redesigning value streams around AI rather than automating existing steps (33%), while another 2 in 5 intend to do so in all of these areas.

In addition, more than half of the executive leaders surveyed (55%) reported that artificial intelligence enhances the capabilities of the workforce. For example, executives explained that thanks to the time saved as a result of increased productivity, employees are spending more time developing new ideas (44%), developing skills and promoting professional growth (44%), improving sustainability and improving ESG initiatives (43%), making decisions and strategic planning (41%), and engaging in creative work (37%).

A greater percentage of senior executive leaders in the UAE (47%) said that they prioritize comprehensively transforming the workforce with artificial intelligence, such as making skills improvement programs available to all employees regardless of job, age, or technical prowess, to build an AI-powered workforce, compared to an average of (36.5%) in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Commenting on the study, Shukri Eid, General Manager of IBM in the Gulf, the Levant and Pakistan, said: “Across the Emirates, we notice that customers are moving from the experimentation stage to the implementation stage in using artificial intelligence. What distinguishes this study is how business leaders in the Emirates directly link artificial intelligence to measurable productivity, faster return on investment, and workforce transformation.”

He added: “Companies in the UAE are proving that when artificial intelligence is integrated responsibly, across people, processes and platforms, it becomes an engine for growth. These results confirm that the UAE is setting a strong standard for adopting artificial intelligence and innovation across the EMEA region.”