Global report: The UAE is a leading center for artificial intelligence in the world
Abu Dhabi, April 16, 2026 – The 2026 Artificial Intelligence Index report issued by Stanford University confirmed that the UAE is considered a leading and emerging center for artificial intelligence in the world, and is ranked among the best countries in institutional support for artificial intelligence strategy, awareness of it, and its governance.
The report said that the UAE is distinguished in this field by adopting artificial intelligence at a high rate, a rate that exceeds expectations based on its gross domestic product. It and Singapore have recorded high levels, far exceeding per capita GDP expectations, to the point where they are consistently included in global rankings for artificial intelligence in terms of skills, jobs, adoption, and talent.
He added that the country is considered among the countries in which more than 80% of employees use artificial intelligence regularly at work, with high confidence, pointing out its inclusion in the global classifications for the spread of artificial intelligence skills, as one of the fastest growing countries in its engineering skills. The growth in engineering skills outpaces the growth in AI awareness.
Regarding the axis of artificial intelligence talents and the workforce, the report indicated that the concentration of artificial intelligence talents in the UAE increased by more than 100% during the period from 2019 to 2025, pointing out that it ranks highly in the net flow of talent in the field of artificial intelligence, with a rate of about 4.40 for every 10,000 members on the LinkedIn platform.
The report looked at the economy of artificial intelligence and jobs in the UAE, noting that artificial intelligence job advertisements represent about 2.87% of the total job advertisements in 2025, and that the country has today become one of the world’s leading countries in the intensity of demand for artificial intelligence workers.
The report noted the UAE’s keenness to include artificial intelligence in education, and the launch of the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, noting that it is mandatory to teach it to all educational levels starting from the academic year 2025-2026. The curriculum includes the basics of artificial intelligence, data, algorithms, innovation, and ethics, so that the country has gained global recognition (along with China) due to its great progress in applying artificial intelligence education.
The report devoted a focus to the technical/research system in the field of artificial intelligence, praising the role of the Technology Innovation Institute in Abu Dhabi, which is one of the leading global centers in the field of advanced technology research, in applied artificial intelligence research using Falcon models.
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