Back in 2024, when PwC released its 2023 Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey: Middle East, just 46% of respondents in the region were optimistic about AI and believed it would improve productivity. Among Middle Eastern countries, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were the least optimistic. Only 39% of respondents in the UAE view AI favorably, compared to 41% in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Two years later, this photo shows a dramatic change. PwC’s 2025 Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey shows that the Middle East currently leads the world in AI optimism. Approximately 80% of employees in the region say AI has increased their productivity, and 87% report that the quality of their work has improved.
Experts attribute this increased optimism primarily to the government's clear and decisive direction. PwC noted that national strategies such as the UAE's Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, Saudi Arabia's National Strategy for Data & AI (NSDAI) and Qatar's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy have reduced uncertainty around the role of AI and replaced anxiety with anticipation about how AI will impact the future of work.
The Middle East has a high concentration of Gen Z and Millennial workers, digital natives who readily incorporate AI tools into their creative and professional tasks. And this contributed to a high level of practical implementation in the region.
Importantly, the sharp rise in AI optimism from 2023 to 2025 is no coincidence. During this period, the region transitioned from a passive consumer of Western technology to an active creator of AI innovation. The launch of high-performance, Arabic-centric foundational models such as Falcon and Jais in the UAE and ALLaM in Saudi Arabia have demonstrated that the region can compete on the AI frontier. These models addressed persistent gaps. This means that Western AI systems often struggle with the nuances of Arabic language and local cultural backgrounds. After seeing AI “speak their language,” public sentiment shifted from skepticism to ownership.
The region has also leveraged its two biggest advantages: capital and energy, to build the physical backbone for AI. While the European Union grapples with regulatory complexity, governments in the Middle East have moved quickly to establish frameworks to promote AI. This regulatory clarity has encouraged global tech giants to sign multi-billion dollar deals in the region between 2023 and 2025, further reinforcing confidence.
At the geopolitical level, the US government has begun to view countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia not just as security partners but as regional computing hubs and sovereign AI collaborators. As part of this realignment, these countries exited Chinese technology companies and instead became the primary custodians of advanced U.S. AI intellectual property outside the United States, indirectly accelerating AI adoption across the region.
By late 2025, the impact was unmistakable. Just two years ago, the UAE, where the majority of workers were pessimistic about AI, reported the highest AI adoption rate in the world at 97% across government and key sectors.
PwC's data also reveals a striking psychological contrast between workers in the Middle East and those in other regions. High adoption rates create a positive feedback loop. 82% of employees say AI has increased their productivity instead of fearing losing their job. While the global debate remains dominated by fears about automation, workers in the Middle East primarily see AI as a tool to increase creativity and efficiency. 61% say they are excited about the impact of AI, compared to 47% globally. In labor-starved Gulf countries, AI is widely seen as a way to fill talent gaps rather than replace them.
Our research shows that most companies in the region are restructuring roles rather than cutting jobs. AI is primarily used to automate repetitive tasks and free up employees for higher-value work. Indeed, the region's unique demographics and economic strategies frame AI as a tool for diversification and expansion rather than a replacement for human labor, with predictions that AI will drive net employment growth.
