Stories › Workforce › AWS and UAE AI Office report finds 72% of UAE businesses now use AI Image: Gulf Business First reported 30 September 2026 · Updated 1 October 2026 · 4 sources · 1 country
AWS and UAE AI Office report finds 72% of UAE businesses now use AI A report by AWS and the UAE Artificial Intelligence Office, released on 30 September 2026, found that 72% of UAE businesses have adopted AI, up from 53% a year earlier. Only 31% of those adopters use what the report calls advanced AI. Research firm Strand Partners carried out the study for AWS, which sells AI and cloud services.
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Gulf Business reported that the Unlocking the UAE’s AI Potential 2026 report, developed by Strand Partners, put business AI adoption at 72%, up from 53%. That’s a 36% rise in a year. Tbreak noted that just 31% of adopters use what the report describes as advanced AI. Tbreak said 85% of adopters report faster innovation timelines. Gulf Business listed the report’s four priorities: responsible AI use, an enabling regulatory environment, closing skills gaps and more funding for AI businesses. Gulf Business said the next stage depends on whether businesses turn wider adoption into deeper changes in how they operate. Arabian Business covered the report alongside AWS’s $5.5 billion investment in the UAE. Zawya carried the joint release, which quoted UAE AI Office director Abdelrahman Al Mahmoud. What it adds up to
Most businesses in this survey use AI; far fewer use it to change how work gets done. The same gap shows up inside teams, where everyone has a chat tool and few have changed a process. This week, ask three colleagues what they used AI for in the past week. If the answers are all one-off questions and rewrites, pick one shared task, such as weekly reporting, and agree to run it with AI for a month.
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