Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond How 112 Major Companies Benefit from AI R E P O R T CO M M I S S I O N E D BY M I C R O S O F T A N D CO N D U C T E D BY E Y
Contents
Preface
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
Executive Summary - ‘At a Glance’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08
Setting the Scene
About this Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Rich Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Executive Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Participating Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Bits & Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Follow the Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Role of AI in Middle East and African Business
A Strategic Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Among Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Push or Pull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Ready, Set... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
AI Maturity Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
State Your Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Business Benefits and Risks
Another World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
AI Here, There, Everywhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Use it or Lose it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Making AI simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Sector Benefits Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Risky Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Learn from the Leaders
Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
AI Competency Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Advanced Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
AI Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Open Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Emerging Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Disclaimer This report does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by EY Agile Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
This report has been prepared by EY Consulting LLC (UAE) in accordance Consulting LLC (UAE) or Microsoft to invest in, sell, or otherwise use any of External Alliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
with an engagement agreement for professional services with Microsoft. the markets or companies referred to in it. To the fullest extent permitted by Emotional Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
EY Consulting LLC (UAE)’s obligations to Microsoft are governed by that law, Microsoft and EY Consulting LLC (UAE) and its members, employees and
engagement agreement. This disclaimer applies to all other parties. agents, do not accept or assume any responsibility or liability in respect of Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
this report, or decisions based on it, to any reader of the report. Should such
This report has been prepared for general informational purposes only and readers choose to rely on this report, then they do so at their own risk. What’s next for you?
is not intended to be relied upon as accounting, tax, or other professional
advice. Refer to your advisors for specific advice. EY Consulting LLC (UAE) ©2018 EY LLP Limited All Rights Reserved. How to Get Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
and Microsoft accept no responsibility to update this report in light of Who to Contact from Microsoft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
subsequent events or for any other reason. Contributors from EY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
2 3
Artificial intelligence is already changing
society and empowering people in new ways
by enabling breakthrough advances in areas
like healthcare, agriculture, education and
transportation. As this technology continues
to grow, we will work to deploy AI around
the world ethically, inclusively, and with
transparency to ensure that it works for
everyone.
— Brad Smith, President at Microsoft
4 5
Preface Preface
Foreword
We see AI as a tool to accelerate our customers’ digital
AI can improve lives, transform communities, societies and
transformation and growth journeys.
nations with people at the center - in ways unimaginable to us.
The UAE is already seen taking strides to succeed in this journey
by achieving remarkable milestones.
AI is fueling digital transformation across the Middle East & Africa today.
It has the power to amplify human ingenuity and extend our capabilities,
empowering us to achieve more. Artificial Intelligence is already improving
our lives today and promises to change the world in ways unimaginable to
us now. We firmly believe that AI can transform communities, societies and
nations with people at the center, in ways unimaginable to us. The UAE is
The AI maturity assessment study, conducted in five countries across MEA, already taking strides to succeed in this journey by achieving remarkable
highlights the strategies adopted at different layers of an organization milestones – all the way from appointing the world’s first AI minister, to
today and helps us understand their readiness in AI adoption, rate of embracing AI across every sector. Microsoft shares this vision as we have an
impact and benefits from its implementations, as well as how AI is being ambitious goal to make AI accessible and valuable to every individual and
approached on a practical level. This study is also a stepping stone in our organization. We are amplifying human ingenuity by infusing intelligence
efforts to better understand the needs of our customers in the region and across all our products and services to extend their capabilities and make
accelerate their growth journeys. them more productive to achieve more today – and tomorrow
Samer Abu-Ltaif Sayed Hashish
President - Microsoft Middle East and Africa Regional General Manager, Microsoft Gulf
6 7
Preface Preface
Talk the talk, or walk the walk?
The hype and excitement around AI is ubiquitous and UAE executives
At a Glance
clearly see the transformational potential that AI will have on their
organisations in the next 3 to 5 years. With a significant number of
companies still in the planning phase and yet to go beyond that, it
is the companies that have been able to educate and expose their
companies are self-rated as least mature, leadership and top management not just to AI technology, but also
indicating that they are not yet thinking to development methodologies and associated dependencies, that
about AI at this stage. have moved quickly to the front. AI is finding early traction around the
customer agenda, although CFO’s are not being silent and are pushing
Noticeable potential for AI in many AI solutions into the core operations to reduce costs and drive up
corporate functions productivity. Most AI projects (predominantly machine learning, smart
The most widely reported adoption of robotics and chatbots) are being executed out of specialist Digital and
AI (at 47%) was in the IT/Technology IT teams as top-end skills are not freely available. The bigger constraint
function, followed by R&D and by quite a margin lies in finding competent business analysts able to
Product Development with 30%, and identify the use cases for AI and then architect solutions that will be
Operations and Logistics with 20%. transformational for their companies. Executives are also focusing
While the hype around AI and in 38% of organizations driving their AI still vague. The overwhelming majority, on developing strong digital foundations in data management,
Interestingly, several functions are
its potential role as a driver of agenda from the top down although however, expect AI to impact the core infrastructure, resource skills and experimental cultures which will be
hardly using AI at all; most notably
transformational change to businesses 95% of companies that were more of the current business with 71% of imperative if the excitement is to be converted to action and the true
the Procurement function, where only
and industries is pervasive, there are advanced in their AI agenda had a companies striving to improve their value of an AI-enabled organization is to be realized. At a national level
3% of the companies currently use AI,
limited insights into what companies combined top down and Bottom up primary value chains and unlock short- the whole country is driving the AI agenda with direct support from the
and Strategy with 3%. This is perhaps
are actually doing to reap its benefits. model in operation. to-medium term benefits. With AI government with national strategies and programs focused on skills
surprising, given the many use cases and
This report aims at getting a deeper opportunities close to home as well as development and capability creation to create the required impetus.
applicable solutions in these functional
understanding of how companies Most benefits expected from pushing companies into totally new
areas.
currently manage their AI activities, ‘optimizing operations’, with domains in the future, it is perhaps
and how they address the current ‘transforming products and not surprising that AI is receiving
8 key capabilities that are most
challenges and opportunities ahead. services’ next in line attention as a key topic for executive
important ‘to get AI right’
89% of the respondents expect AI management.
To get to the heart of this agenda, to generate business benefits by
When asking the respondents to rank
the importance of 8 capabilities to
What sets the most ‘AI mature’
we received input from AI leaders in
112 companies, across 7 sectors and 5
optimizing their companies’ operations
in the future. This is followed by
Very few of the 112 companies
consider themselves ‘advanced’ with
enable AI in their businesses, Advanced companies apart?
Analytics and Data Management
countries in the Middle East and Africa, 71% that expect AI to be key in the AI
emerged as the most important, with They see AI predominantly being driven from a combination
via surveys and interviews. Below is the creation of new products and services Despite the sizable impact that
AI Leadership closely grouped with the of technology push and business pull (57% of ‘more mature’
brief summary of what they had to say. through AI driven insights that enable companies expect from AI, only a
top two. companies vs 38% of ‘less mature’ companies)*.
tailored and personalized products, or very small proportion of companies,
AI is a “hot topic” - but more so on processesing more complex data sets constituting 7% of the total sample, self-
When self-assessing the capabilities They report using a combination of structured and unstructured
C-level than in daily operations that drive new products to address the report that AI is actively contributing
where the companies are least data for AI (53% of ‘more mature’ companies vs 42% of ‘less mature’
80% of the companies respond that AI needs of a changing consumer market. to ‘many processes in the company and
competent, they point to Emotional companies), and data from both internal and external sources (53%
is considered an important topic on Surprisingly, the poorest showing at enabling quite advanced tasks today’
Intelligence and AI Leadership - defined of ‘more mature’ companies vs 37% of ‘less mature’ companies).
the executive management level. This 63% was direct customer engagement. (referred to as ‘most advanced’ in this
as the (lack of) ability to lead an AI
is significantly higher than on the non- report).
transformation by articulating a vision, They are looking to AI for insights to ‘transform products and
managerial / employee level where AI AI is expected to impact entirely
setting goals and securing broad buy-in services’ (82% of ‘more mature’ companies vs 64% of ‘less mature’
is only considered an important topic new business areas in the future Another 20% are in the ‘released’ stage
across the organization. companies).
in 26% of the companies. Interestingly, 28% of the companies expect AI to where they have selectively put AI to
Board of Directors also came out lower have a high impact or a very high active use in one or a few processes
To summarize, the challenge ahead They expect AI will help them ‘engage customers’ (75% of ‘more
with only 37% of respondees reporting impact on business areas that are in the company. The majority, 55% of
appears to be as much about culture mature’ companies vs 50% of ‘less mature’ companies).
that AI is important to their board. This ‘entirely unknown to the company companies, are still only planning for
and leadership as it is about data,
strong executive sponsorship resulted today’, although the exact nature is AI or are in early stage pilots. 13% of
analytics, and technology.
* ‘More mature’ defined as companies that self-ranked as 4 or 5 on the maturity
5-scale, and ‘less mature’ defined as companies that self-ranked as 1 or 2.
Only 7%
Percentage of companies
seeing ‘optimizing
operations’ as top AI benefit:
80%
of the companies
60%
of the companies
Companies expecting AI
to have a high impact on 70%
of companies
‘business areas that are
entirely unknown today’
89%
of the companies are actively respond that AI is considered are using partners or alliances to are using AI in a ‘to
using AI in ‘many processes
and to enable advanced tasks’
‘an important topic’ on the
executive management level
obtain the required capabilities
28% predict’ function
8 9
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene
About this Report
What’s new?
Artificial Intelligence is not new - it has in, and how they are managing the how mature companies are in terms of Straight from the executives
existed for decades: processing voice complicated process of adopting this adoption, and examining self-reported This report and extensive dataset Contributions from open-minded
to text or language translation; real- new technology and deriving value competence levels regarding the adds new insights primarily into how and collaborative companies
time traffic navigation; dynamically across business opportunities. capabilities required to succeed when leading companies are approaching We are extremely thankful for the time
serving targeted advertisements implementing AI. AI on a very practical level. We hear and effort the many executives have
based on personal data and browsing Perspectives, experiences, self- straight from executives how their put into participating in interviews
history; predicting trends and guiding assessment, and benchmarks From the aggregate dataset we companies are addressing current and providing data for this study.
investment decisions in financial From new surveys, interviews and case have been able to determine some challenges, and how they apply AI to We’re particularly appreciative of their
institutions. The current developments studies gathered from approximately benchmarks across the covered unlock new value pockets. willingness to openly share experiences
have been fueled by an exponential 112 companies, we provide a snapshot markets, which we compare to the and provide their perspectives on
rise in computing power, increasing of the current state of AI in Middle UAE throughout the report. The report Based on the many interviews where the future of AI is heading.
accessibility and sophistication of Eastern and African markets. This also covers a full spectrum of industry conducted, this report reveals some
powerful algorithms, and an explosion includes analyzing AI’s relative groups which reveals interesting clear excitement and immense While this indicates a general interest
in the volume and detail of data importance on the strategic agenda, insights. potential for using AI to bring new, in the AI topic, it also speaks to the
available to feed AI’s capabilities. it’s expected impact and benefit areas, improved products and services to increasingly collaborative approach
market, create exceptional experiences many leading companies are taking
for customers and employees, and when entering new technology
Reality vs. hype
create ways to operate that enhance domains and embarking on journeys
Only recently have we started to see
performance across the board. into uncharted waters.
more widespread, scaled adoption
of AI across sectors, value chains
and ecosystems. Yet AI technology is We learned that, regardless of which
quickly approaching a point where it is use cases the companies pursue
becoming a critical element in enabling and the role that AI currently has,
companies across sectors to drive taking a strategic outlook to assess
revenue, increase profits and remain the implications for the business
Right now AI is the technology and responding accordingly are
competitive. Even during an economic downturn investing in data makes
driving a lot of buzz and interest, but increasingly seen as crucial for any
executive agenda. sense as AI can provide significant cost advantages and
We hear people in many companies understanding how to use it to drive real
talk about AI. While the hype is efficiencies.
business value is key.
pervasive, not a lot of people fully
understand its technological potential, —Emaar
where it can create value or how to get — Etihad Airways
started. This report provides a practical
understanding of why companies
in the Middle East and Africa are
investing in AI, what they are investing
10 11
Artificial intelligence in Middle East and Africa Setting the Scene
Rich Data
Which sources of information is the study based on?
AI can be a real game changer, if we introduce
it with proper education and well explained This report combines multiple sources
of data to determine why, where and
We also present case studies of
specific companies, both local
Recognizing and mitigating
potential survey and interview bias
benefits for the business and ultimate how AI is currently being used in
business. It provides an inside view across
and international, to provide an
understanding of what they are doing
In terms of methodology, this report
follows robust research design and
protocol. Doing so minimizes potential
beneficiaries.
markets and sectors, combining local with AI and why, drawing on lessons
and regional views. The quantitative learned and obstacles to be overcome bias, but does not eliminate it, as it
perspective measures how advanced when putting AI to use for specific use is inevitable in market research. One
companies are in terms of AI, and the cases and to derive value on a strategic potential type is social desirability
qualitative perspective indicates how to level. and conformity bias, as the topic of
AI receives lots of media and political
— Etihad Credit Export Insurance
develop the skills required to succeed
with AI initiatives. We have received input Proprietary AI investment data attention. Response bias, including
from over 100 participating companies in We have supplemented the primary extreme responding, cultural bias, and
the form of interviews responses to our source input from the companies acquiescence bias (“yea-saying”), are
online survey. with acquisition data from numerous potential factors as we ask respondents
sources, to take the pulse of the AI to self-report on their respective
Extensive online survey data from investment market in the Middle East companies’ experience. Therefore,
business leaders in 112 companies and Africa. These insights help provide while this report follows best practice,
We have surveyed people with a leading a picture of the wider AI ecosystem and some bias is possible. Nonetheless,
role in managing the AI agenda in all its development in the region. with the combination of extensive
the companies that have contributed survey data, interview data, investment
to the study. This gives us an aggregate data, and expert perspectives, we
With the rapid change in business the dataset that enables a perspective for
each market and each sector, as well as
AI expert perspectives
With this wider understanding of AI
believe the report provides a solid
foundation for an indispensable view of
executive experience with – and future
dependency on data for decision making has
comparative insights for the respective start-up acquisitions, partnerships, and
company types, sectors, and countries in investment funding, we outline how plans for – AI in business.
the Middle East and Africa. investments in AI are skyrocketing,
never been higher, a reliable secure source of Qualitative in-depth interviews with
where AI investment is taking place
geographically, and which sectors are
senior business executives
data should always be available to meet the
making bets. As we are on the cusp
In addition, we conducted deep-dive of widespread change driven by AI,
interviews to gain deeper, qualitative we also reached out to AI experts
high demand. insights into how AI is affecting the
executive agenda. Through conversations
from academia for an outlook on AI
technologies going mainstream, and
with business leaders, we report on to gain an understanding of the macro
where they expect AI will have an impact, scale of business effects that they
how important AI is to their current and expect will materialize when looking
— Arab Potash Company future business strategies, what benefits
they hope to realize from implementing
into a distant future.
AI, and which capabilities they believe
are key to advance AI maturity in their
companies.
The focus for companies shouldn’t be so much on developing
an AI strategy, but rather ensuring business strategy is enabled
by AI and machine learning.
— Majid Al Futtaim
12 13
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene
Executive Perspective
Large group of respondents with Surveyed companies are well represented across each of
Who are the respondents that have contributed to the study? a specific AI/digital role the five Middle Eastern and African markets
Organizational function of respondents in Number of online surveyed companies per country
the online survey
The data approach used allows us Functional diversity
to identify trends across industries The respondents cover very different UAE participants from senior
and countries based on input from functions, of which the most common levels in the organisation
various functional business areas. are designated IT/Tech/Digital The respondents interviewed 54
Consequently, we have captured departments, followed by General during the course of the survey
a range of insights, learnings, and Management roles, then R&D/Product are all from senior positions a
r ic
perspectives from both strategic and Development and Strategy functions. within their organizations - 35% Af
Jo
th
rd
technical points of view. This functional diversity increases the u
are directly from the C-suite So
an
breadth of the report, with insights and with a wide spread including
Respondents almost exclusively in perspectives covering widely different CEO’s, CFO’s and CIO’s and the 24
26
senior level positions aspects of AI. remaining 65% are from top
To ensure that these insights and 22
management including Executive
perspectives are relevant at the Surveyed companies span multiple
executive level, we surveyed and sectors
Heads of AI who are at the
heart of their organsations AI
112
online survey
interviewed high-ranking officers The participating companies are spread agenda. With such diverse and 12 companies
11
with a responsibility for driving the AI fairly evenly across seven sectors, with senior resource respresentation 19 in total
7 20
agenda in their respective companies. the majority of companies belonging it provides key insights on how
6 of
m Turke
With 91% of respondents being to Professional Services (includes g do b ia y
UAE companies perceive AI at K in ra
di A
either part of top management or Government Departments and Public S au
present.
the executive management team, Services), followed by Financial Services,
IT/Tech/Digital
General Management
R&D/Product development
Strategy
Admin/Finance
Sales & Marketing
23
their input is likely well attuned to Retail and Infrastructure & Transport. ICT
the general perspective and overall & Media, Manufacturing & Resources,
strategic direction of the companies and Health are represented to a lesser
b
te s
d Ara
they represent. extent.
Emira
Unite
More than 100+ participants Majority hold a top management or executive position
Number of participants interviewed Organisational level of person participating in the study for UAE
and/or online surveyed in the study
Seven major sectors covered in the study
Representation of participating companies per sector category
21 of 100+
are UAE participants
C-suite/Executive 39% 35%
+ 10% 7% 14% 32%
Top Management Health Manufacturing & Resources Financial Services Professional Services
(non-executive) 52% Pharmaceutical, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Banking, Insurance, Professional Services,
Biotech Materials, Equipment Investments Hospitality, Public Services,
Membership Organization,
65% Government Departments
12% 12% 13%
Middle East and African UAE Management
markets Level 9%
Retail ICT & Media Infrastructure & Transport
Consumer Products Technology, Transportation, Energy,
& Retail Media/Entertainment & Telecom Construction, Real Estate
Middle East UAE
and African
markets
14 15
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene
100+ Companies
AB InBev, Adenium Energy Capital, Alinma Bank, University of Science and Technology, KSA Ministry
Allianz Turkey, Amman Municipality, Arab of Finance, KSA Ministry of Health, KSA National
Potash Company, Arçelik, Assan Bilişim, Health Information center, Life Healthcare,
Aveng, Bankalararası Kart Merkezi (BKM), Majid Al Futtaim Holding, Medscheme, Migros,
BCX, Bigen Group, Bridgestone, Cairo MTN Group, MultiChoice Group, Nader
Amman Bank, Careem, CarrefourSA, Group, Nampak, Netmarble Turkey, Opet
De Beers Group, Discovery Group, Petrolcülük A.Ş., Pharmactive, Publicis,
dnata, Emaar, Erdemir, Etihad Quantum Global Solutions, Sasol, Savola
Airways, Etihad Credit Export Foods Co., Setur, Smart Dubai, SMEC
Insurance, Exxaro, First Abu Dhabi South Africa, Specialized Technical
Bank, General Mobile, Harmony Gold Services (STS), Standard Bank, Super
Mining Company Limited, Hashemite Group, Teknosa İç ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş., The
University, Hello Group, Heriot-Watt ENTERTAINER, Total Marketing Middle
University, Hikma Pharmaceuticals East, Transunion, Tüpraş, Türk Ekonomi
PLC, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal Bankası, Türk Hava Yolları Kurumsal
University, Johnson & Johnson, Jolly Gelişim ve Bilgi Teknolojileri (THY),
Tur, Jordan Ministry of Energy and TymeBank, UAE Prime Minister’s Office,
Mineral Resources, Jordan Ministry of University of Jordan, Vacation Exchanges
Labor, Jordan Ministry of Transport, Jordan International Trading as RCI South Africa,
Payments and Clearing Company, Jordan Vakıf Emeklilik, WSP, Yapı Kredi Bankası, Zain
Note: Certain participating companies requested to remain anonymous and are not included in the list above. Also, certain companies
supplied perspectives for more than one surveyed country.
16 17Setting the Scene Setting the Scene
Bits and Bytes
possibility of combining internal Companies are using a mix of Data Sources and Storage
and external datasets in order to Solution: How are you primarily dealing with the computing demands
produce even deeper insights. needed for AI?
What technologies and data solutions are within the scope of the study? Machine learning was found to be Data Source: 1.Are you currently using unstructured or structured data
the most useful. It is not clear from types in your AI process? 2.Are you currently using internal or external
the study if this is because it is simply data sources in your AI process?
the most common starting point
before deploying more advanced
AI can be defined as the ability of are currently not in common use by a combination of on-premise and
technologies, or if it also in the
a machine to perform cognitive companies in the Middle East and cloud architectures, with executives
longer term holds the most wide and
functions which are normally Africa (MEA). Companies surveyed are acknowledging that cloud will
significant application potentia
associated with humans. This includes currently focused on narrower and inevitably grow more dominant over
reasoning, learning, problem solving, more specific use-cases that support time.
and in some cases even exercising existing business. These efforts will
Solution
human behavior such as creativity. undoubtedly help companies build Machine learning
capabilities that are necessary to The most commonly used AI Machine Learning and smart
Advanced AI applications are not deploy more advanced AI solutions in technology among the surveyed robotics the most useful for UAE
yet widespread the future. companies is machine learning. This companies 21% 35% 43%
AI holds the potential to transform is inarguably due to its wide-ranging Companies ranked Machine In Cloud On premise Both
business in a radical way given its wide Companies are using a combination applicability, making it relevant for Learning the highest (53%), with
variety of use. Quite simply, business of on-premise and cloud solutions a variety of use-cases across the a strong emphasis on decision
leaders need to understand AI in order Cloud based solutions are starting value chain. Of the different types of support solutions, and Smart
to grasp the opportunities and threats to gain prevalence in the region to machine learning, the most common Robotics next in line (41%) as a
the technologies pose. support AI solutions with both storage is supervised machine learning, natural entrant for more complex
and on-demand computing given its where software is fed structured AI technology. With customer
While companies acknowledge the flexibility to swiftly scale up and down data and finds patterns that can be interactions a key focus, Text
significant potential of broader, to accomdate changing demand, used to understand and interpret Analysis came in an anticpated
more advanced AI technologies variable costs structures and access to new observations. While companies 3rd position on 35% with many
Data Source
such as computer vision, speech larger datasets. Despite the advantages historically have primarily used internal of these being integrated in 29% 5% 43%
recognition and virtual agents, they almost 43% of respondents utilise data for supervised machine learning, chatbot solutions across different Structured Unstructured Both
most have now begun exploring the sectors, supported as well
by Virtual Agents (29%) and
Natural Language Processing
A broad definition of technologies are included in this AI definition (29%). Despite lower rankings,
Technologies included in the definition of AI used in this study all of the major AI technologies
were represented, indicating
experimentation across a wide
Text Analysis spectrum and mirroring the
Computational analysis of texts,
trends across the Middle East and
Natural Language Processing
making it readable by other AI or
Biometrics 34% 7% 39%
computer systems. African region.
Computer interpretation, Analysis of human physical and emotional Internal External Both
understanding, and generation of characteristics – used also for identification
written natural human language. and access control. Machine Learning leads the pack
Which of the following technologies have you found to be most useful in your company’s deployment of AI?
Virtual Agents
Computer-generated virtual personas Machine Learning
that can be used to interact with people A computer’s ability to ‘learn’ 61% 37% 36% 35% 32% 30% 23% 22% 16%
in both B2C, C2B, and B2B contexts. from data, either supervised or
non-supervised.
Speech Recognition Neural Networks and Deep Learning 53% 41% 29% 35% 29% 29% 10% 12% 12%
Enables computers to interpret spoken Machines emulating the human brain,
language and to transform it into enabling AI models to learn like humans.
written text or to treat it as commands
for a computer.
Computer Vision
Gives computers the ability to Machine Smart robotics Neural Text analysis Virtual agents Natural Speech Biometrics Computer
Smart Robotics “see” images similar to how learning networks and language recognition vision
The combination of AI and robots to humans see. deep learning processing
perform advanced tasks compared to
traditional non-intelligent robots.
Affirmative responses, Middle East and African Affirmative responses, UAE
markets Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses
18 19Setting the Scene Setting the Scene
and it is also the leader in terms of other AI formats with cyber security
the amount invested, being $3.4bn. and smart mobile beginning to gain
Follow the Money
The UAE invested strongly in 2016 and some real momentum.
2017, and whilst South Africa surged
in 2011 and then showed a marked
slow down in recent years, it remains a $2151 million invested in AI in UAE
in the past decade
How much is invested in AI in the Middle East and Africa? major player. Saudi Arabia is emerging
UAE was not one of the first countries
strongly again in 2018, and Jordan,
although behind others in the region, in the Middle East and Africa to get
is positioning itself to capitalise on started, but has strengthened notably
Relative spend on AI opportunities in the immediate future. in more recent years and now lies in
transactions across the region second place in terms of AI investment
Based on value of transactions from Social media followed by IoT the across the surveyed countries. The
2008-2018 most popular AI investment investment spend in the past decade Social Media and IoT most
$3459m Social media transactions account for totals $2151 million and is made popular
252 deals up of 160 deals. Social Media and Based on number of transactions
Turkey $2151m 44% of the number of transactions,
160 deals with IoT in second place having 28% of Internet of Things transactions were from 2008-2018
UAE transactions. However, the position is by far the most significant, 84 and
reversed when looking at the amount 42 transactions respectively, as the
of investment, with IoT investment drive towards Smart Cities continues
Denmark
amounting to almost 60% of the total unabated. With a good spread across
investment across the region, and a further 8 AI technologies including
social media investment amounting Smart Mobile, Gamification and
$1658m
134 deals to only 36%. The balance of the Machine Learning, there is every
South Africa investment amount is shared across the reason to believe this investment Internet of things :
$603m trend will continue to grow over the 263 transactions
87 deals next few years.
Nigeria
$585m
$241m 37 deals 450
100 deals Social Media :
Egypt
Saudi Arabia Steady increase in Middle East and African AI investment 411 transactions
$130m AI 400
companies invested into, transaction volume, selection of countries from the Middle East
$177m 77 deals
5 deals Kenya and Africa (from 2008-2018)**
$60m 350
Source: EY Embryonic Kuwait 62 deals Smart mobile :
Data includes all transaction types including Mergers,
Jordan Total 97 transactions
Acquisitions, VC Funding Rounds, Angel/Seed Investments, $7m 300 investment
JV/Alliances, Private Equity and Accelarator Funding. 7 deals $9.07bn
$2m Morocco Number of
Planning/scheduling/
8 deals 250
transactions optimisation :
Qatar 56 transactions
200 173 171
Middle East and African markets UAE
145
Machine learning :
150
123 32 transactions
100 91
78
60
51
50
Acquisition data for a selection of remained relatively quiet since with angel investors and seed funding are 24
AR/VR : 14 transactions
countries in the region gives an the exception of one large deal for involved in a significant number of 11
2
0
indication of where money is being Saudi Arabia in 2018. Not only has the transactions, the total value remains
invested in AI technologies. A very quantum of transactions increased over small by comparison, reflecting a 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
broad interpretation of AI was the past decade, but the relative size of cautious attitude to betting large Middle East and Africa Cyber security :
considered, since most countries in the the deals has also been increasing over amounts in the high-risk/high-return 13 transactions
region are in the very early stages of AI. time. arena of AI start ups. ** for a selection of 11 countries from the Middle East and Africa
Gamification : 10 transactions
Growth trend in the past decade Mergers and acquisitions account Investment activity greatest in
There has been a steady growth trend for most of the investment Turkey, UAE and South Africa Blockchain : 7 transactions
in AI investment over the past 10 years, The amount of funding coming from The greatest amount of investment Robotics / Automation : 6
transactions
from a mere 2 transactions in 2008 to mergers and acquisitions ($3.9bn) and activity over the past 10 years is seen
171 transactions in 2018. Interestingly, corporate investment ($1.1bn) makes in Turkey, UAE and South Africa. The There is still concern that the models
the two early starters in 2008 were up more than half of the total amount number of transactions in Turkey was aren’t mature enough to invest in.
Chatbots : NLP : Image Recognition : Predictive analysis :
12 transactions 1 transaction 3 transactions 4 transactions
Saudi Arabia and Egypt, but they invested in AI in the region. Although 252 out of the total of 929 transactions,
Note: Several transactions in the dataset did not have publically disclosed deal values, suggesting that actual total values are higher than what’s shown above — dnata **Including governmental investment
20 21Articificial Intelligence in the Middle East and Africa ( Case Study ) Setting the Scene
Smart Dubai Expert Perspective
What does the future look like according to AI analysts?
Smart Dubai’s 2021 vision is for a city either typed or spoken in both Arabic
initiative Smart Dubai implemented
where all resources are optimised for and English, enabling users to interact
a successful roadmap development
maximum efficiency, where services easily from smart phones.approach across 20 government
are integrated seamlessly into daily life departments, which started with
and where people and information are In 2017 Smart Dubai opened its AI Lab, educating them on what AI is and how
protected. Key to this is a Government to drive education and understanding it can be applied, before identifying 106
powered by world-class city- use cases where the processes
wide shared services and and/ or the experience could We also spoke to a range of leading AI Agile culture enables AI This also ties in with the importance of
infrastructure that will drive be improved. These were then experts from business and academia Culture was a recurring theme as well. partnering to get started and access
significant efficiencies. assessed for whether AI could to gain insights into the kind of change It can either stifle forward momentum the expertise needed to use AI. While
While there is internal change and value actually be used to optimise which we are on the cusp of, and the in organizations, or be the silver bullet partnering and collaborating solves
As part of its strategy, Smart already being seen today, public visibility the process and whether good, role AI is expected to play as part of a that enables the potential of AI to be the perennial AI challenge concerning
Dubai started looking will come soon. clean data was available to broader transformational wave. realized from top to bottom. the scarcity of talent, the significant
into Artificial Intelligence power the solutions. Pilots for Some of the experts even argue that cost and substantial benefit that
opportunities in 2015. It’s the 43 use cases are now being AI is entering the mainstream and it’s not only technical skills that hold can be gained from AI means that
first initiative, launched in developed and will eventually here to stay up AI projects, it’s also the need for a organizations also need to be
September 2016, was its AI- be rolled out by the relevant One thing was clear from the experts culture of experimentation. cognizant of building capabilities in-
powered smart city advisor ‘Rashid’ of AI across government plus use case departments, with support from the lab. we spoke to: as far as the peaks and Companies that are more natively house for the long-term.
which answers user requests online, based technology enablement for troughs of hype and technological digital or have gone down that road
government services. As part of this leaps surrounding AI go, there is no understand the value of experimenting Finally, as AI develops, we are also
doubt that we are living through a and iterating. They don’t think in going to see innovation and expertise
particularly prominent peak, with traditional terms of committing spreading outside of the dominant
no indication that the buzz nor the to year-long projects that need to clusters of the likes of Silicon Valley,
potential will fade away any time soon. produce specific outputs, but rather to as governments, businesses and
In a world increasingly dominated, explore and test ideas before scaling. universities increasingly invest in
What next? disrupted and driven by innovative building knowledge, resources and
tech powerhouses, large and small, it When it comes to AI, knowledge is capabilities.
The Smart Dubai Office was formed in 2015 to oversee Dubai’s Smart Dubai’s vision is to make Dubai government completely is no understatement to suggest that power
digital transformation and accomplish the vision of His Highness paperless and 100% digital by the end of 2021. Using emerging AI will be a chief protagonist in the Expert opinion also seemed unanimous
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President & technologies such as AI, Blockchain, Digital ID and others, Smart change transcending all elements of in that most people not directly
Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai Dubai is digitizing all city services and re-engineering business business in what has been labelled the involved with AI must still have quite
the happiest city on earth. Collaborating with government and processes to ensure all of the city’s services are provided to Fourth Industrial Revolution. a basic understanding of what AI is
private sector partners, Smart Dubai is consistently adopting latest residents and vistors through one digital platform. and what it can actually do. Therefore,
technological innovations to provide more efficient, seamless, safe Business-minded people will drive the task is to educate and improve
and personalised city experiences for residents and visitors. the transformation understanding, from C-suite leadership
The AI experts confirmed some of teams to employees at the coal face.
the key ingredients necessary for AI
in organizations: a combination of
domain and technical expertise, the
appropriate technology, the right
talent, and lots and lots of data.
While letting tech-savvy individuals
There’s a lack of knowledge, everyone’s aware of it -
drive innovation is great for building
Successful AI strategies and roadmaps always AI programmes aren’t just about deploying but what does it DO?
understanding, true transformation will
start with use cases and business value. new services, you need to keep the live ones not come until business people start
up to date by continued input of new data, re- suggesting problems for AI to solve - — Adenium Energy Capital
not the other way round.
training and on-going maintenance.
22 23Setting the Scene Setting the Scene
Think about the sheer computing power that is getting
Key insights on the potential distributed, and how it is creating rich experiences through our
lives. In our homes and cars, in our cities and at work, across
of AI* every industry, from manufacturing to health care—all will
be transformed by data, cloud and AI. That’s the incredible
*Global Leader’s views from the field opportunity in front of us.
— Harry Shum, Executive Vice President , AI & Research,
The full extent of the AI story remains in its early stages. What Microsoft
we do know is that big data, computing power and connectivity
are changing the industrial landscape. The opportunity rests
in accelerating the digitization of businesses, making them
If you have a ton of data, and your problem is one of classifying
more data driven by building applications that deliver machine-
patterns (like speech recognition or object identification), AI may
assisted insights.
well be able to help. But let’s be realistic, too: AI is still nowhere near
as flexible and versatile as human beings; if you need a machine to
— Mona Vernon, CTO, Thomson Reuters Labs
read, or react dynamically, on the fly, to some kind of ever changing
problem, the technology you seek may not yet exist. Intelligence is a
really hard problem.
AI will eventually transform many enterprises and industries. But — Gary Marcus, Founder & CEO, Geometric Intelligence [acquired by
its pace of development has been affected by a lack of trust. Today, Uber] professor, NYU, contributor to The New Yorker and The New
without mature risk awareness and the right frameworks and York Times
controls, applications of AI have not evolved much beyond proofs
of concept and isolated solutions. Though proper implementation
of AI into business models still faces a number of questions around
AI is a general purpose technology, so will eventually affect
trust, understanding and appreciating the risks will ultimately
all industries. However, this impact can be slowed by the lack
allow businesses to position themselves to capitalize on it the most.
of data in particular industries. There’s also more innovative
cultures inside different organizations, that can either drive
— Nigel Duffy, Global AI Innovation Leader, EY
adoption or prevent it.
— Marc Warner, CEO, ASI Data Science
24 25Articificial Intelligence in the Middle East and Africa Role of AI in Middle East and African Business
A Strategic Agenda
Where is the AI conversation currently taking place?
Role of AI in
Everyone in the UAE is talking about investment, broader adoption and
AI particularly relevant at higher
AI, and this is from top to bottom in more successful implementations.
organizational levels
all organizations. 94% of companies Many UAE executives see AI as an
80% of regionally surveyed companies
reported involvement at executive enabling function to their digital
had AI as an important topic on
management level, which is the agenda and integrate the capabilities
the C-Suite agenda regardless of
highest seen out of the companies that and initiatives - this approach has
their degree of AI maturity - from
Middle East and
participated in the survey in the Middle assisted in getting some companies out
cost-conscious CFO’s, to efficiency-
East and African region. of the planning phases and up the AI
focused Operations Heads, and CDO’s
maturity curve.
with customer-centric ambitions as
AI is generating a buzz everywhere
part of wider digitalization efforts.
Although AI is a topic of discussion Non-managerial staff keen to ride
On the other end of the spectrum,
everywhere, a challenge remains the AI wave
the AI agenda has not cascaded
to convert these into deployed AI 35% of non-managerial staff in the UAE
down through organizations to
African Business
solutions. Despite the strong desire companies surveyed are talking about
the point where non-managerial
to extend the AI agenda, many AI, which is higher than most of the
levels (employees) are discussing it
executives state the understanding other countries surveyed. However, at
systemically, due mainly to a lack of
of AI technologies and the potential grassroots level the experimentation
knowledge, limited involvement in
uses across their organizations is still and creation of pilot AI projects is
pilot programs and fear of the impact
lagging. When observing the more being hampered by inadequate
on job security.
mature companies in terms of AI, environments, limited funding as well
one common factor is that AI is being as by insufficient ‘AI enabled’ business
directly driven by the CEO’s, acting analysts who can identify the best use
as a catalyst and resulting in greater cases for the cool tech.
AI is an important topic on the C-suite level in particular
There is a lot of hype surrounding AI at the moment, and few On what hierarchical levels in your company is AI an important topic? AI is in particular an
doubt its potential. We examine how important AI is compared to
important topic at the
Executive Management
level
other digital priorities and where AI fits on the strategic agenda.
S T R AT E G I C L E V E L
41%
Board
of Directors 37%
We look at the impact of AI on the company’s core business, as
level
94%
well as on adjacent and new areas of business.
Executive
Management 80%
level
41%
We also examine the current AI maturity levels across sectors and Managerial
level
50%
markets, the potential drivers for deploying AI, and where AI is Employee 35%
applied within organizations, across customer-facing functions,
(non managerial 26%
level)
operations, product development, and internal business support. 0%
1%
Other
0%
DNK 3%
O P E R AT I O N A L L E V E L
Affirmative responses, Middle East and African markets Affirmative responses, UAE
26 27Role of AI in Middle East and African Business Role of AI in Middle East and African Business
Among Friends Push or Pull
What is the importance of AI against other digital priorities? How is AI predominantly deployed into the organizations?
With 18% of companies regarding engagement and fulfilment. Most It is always insightful to understand Regional Business and IT driving from the top down
Future impact driving AI’s digital
AI as the most important priority executives see this broadening out how AI is being orchestrated in As expected, given how prevalent AI is on the Executive management
ranking
compared to other digital priorities, very quickly off the learnings and organisations, either being driven agenda, most companies (38%) are managing their AI programs from
Despite AI being in the early journey
and a further 35% as highly experience gained from the early down from executive levels or the top down, directing the strategic direction as well as centralizing
stages in this region, it has managed to
important, there is no doubt that UAE projects, and integrating more fully bubbling up from the workforce innovation and pilot programs. The ideal is to accelerate and concentrate
anchor itself to other digital initiatives
executives see AI right up amongst across the value chain. and operations, and also to what the activities whilst avoiding duplication of effort across the organization
as a peer or higher, with a significant
their top digital agendas. Despite extent it is driven by IT vs Business. and unnecessary cost. Where strong digital cultures and technical
78% of respondents. This reflects the
the high ranking, most experimental Foundations first In UAE the AI solutions are most capabilities exist, a hybrid of both top down and bottom up has enabled
understanding that the future will
AI programs are under-funded, Investing in AI technologies is definitely being driven Top down, functional use cases to be identified and to attract executive sponsorship
be heavily influenced by AI and that
compared to their digital peers, and exciting, but will not bear fruit unless and companies are very aware that and direct funding. The concentration of executive buy-in for AI has also
it will become a major domain for
this results in them taking longer based on solid foundations in the AI must be owned by the business driven a more integrated collaboration between business and IT, as both
differentiation between competitors in
to move out of pilot phase and into form of suitable infrastructure, rather than by IT. play their role in driving the AI agenda, with 43% of respondents adopting
all sectors. This strength in ranking is
production. good data, and well-understood this approach.
caveated with the knowledge that AI is a
business processes - UAE companies Top down vs bottom up
relative newcomer to the digital stable,
AI track is narrower than the are still actively developing these AI is being heavily driven Top Down
other initiatives are significantly more
digital highway foundations. It requires strong with the drive coming directly from
advanced in their programs, and AI has
Although there are sectors that are executive management to develop key positions such as CEO, CFO
some catching up to do in terms of actual AI deployed and managed in a balanced way
the early leaders including Retail, a strategic vision for AI that is able or CIO, and in some cases specific
value creation. Cross dependencies How would you characterize the way AI is being managed in your company? How
Telecommunications and the major to attract the required investment positions have been created, such
between AI and broader digital initiatives would you characterize the way AI is being deployed in your company?
Airlines, they are still only deploying in building the foundations, which as Executive Head of AI, to further
is also contributing to AI being seen as
AI solutions in rather narrow will take time and not always show the agenda. Given the number of
an actual digital priority, more than just a
organizational silos and not nearly as immediate benefits. It is only when companies still in Planning phase, Top Down Bottom up Both
important topic.
broadly as many of their other digital placed on top of these foundations the manner and speed with which
initiatives. This is largely because that the real potential for AI can be these protagonists can acquire AI
AI is still the new kid on the block realized in the form of improved knowledge and harness skills and
and companies have targeted the customer engagement, business resources to start creating workable
growth areas around their customer growth and cost savings. pilots to productionize, will
Deployment Approach
differentiate the winners and losers
The majority consider
AI is seen as one of many digital priorities - but not the most important AI to be important in the next few years.
How important is AI relative to your company’s other digital priorities?? 38% 53% 16% 12% 29% 29%
Technology push vs business pull
The hybrid model of both business
Avg. Score pull and technical push scored the
41% highest (35%) in the responses from Business Pull IT Push Both
26% 35% 23% 18% surveyed UAE executives. There is
13% 11% 14% 3.5 3.2
6%
10% a strong pull from the business for
this new and exciting technology,
but what is holding companies back
1 2 3 4 5 is the shortage of the right mix of
skills. The technical expertise is
Not important Important Most important there, but the ability to connect the
AI is not formalised AI is one of many AI is the most important business ideas with the technical 23% 24% 22% 29% 43% 35%
as a digital priority digital priorities digital priority
skills is lacking as Solution Architects
and Business Analysts are generally
still building the understanding of Middle East and African markets UAE
15 Middle East and African markets UAE Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses
what AI is all about and how it is
Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses
best deployed.
28 29Role of AI in Middle East and African Business Role of AI in Middle East and African Business
Ready, Set...
What is the maturity of AI in different sectors?
Most companies in Middle East and Africa still in Planning or Piloting stage
The shift to becoming AI enabled scale. Across all sectors the number Financial Services have progressed the
How would you describe your company’s general AI maturity?
is a continuous journey with some of machine learning models directly most as a collective sector with 38%
organisations further along the corresponds to those companies with of respondents in the Released stage,
path than others. The vast majority high volumes of well managed data, and productionized AI use cases in ICT & Media 7% 40%46% 8% 45% 31% 8%
of organisations surveyed have not strong foundational infrastructure and their daily operations. This sector’s run
progressed beyond the early pilot where AI takes its place alongside their to the front has been fueled by fierce
stages as they grapple with early other top digital priorities. market competition, accelerated starts Professional Services 25% 28% 11% 22%
14% 45%
adoption issues. However, a few to AI programs and generally stronger
organisations are definite leaders in Trends across the other sectors foundations in data management and
their respective sectors, being beyond In the Retail and Consumer Products technology adoption.
Financial Services 6% 25% 25% 38%
45% 6%
the early formative stages and already sector, the majority of companies
accelerating in the released stage of stated they don’t have the same ability Historically more conservative sectors
maturity. And then there are those to leverage data as the information such as Retail, Manufacturing &
organizations who consider themselves technology orientated sectors, and Resourcing as well as Infrastructure Infrastructure & 27% 27% 33%45% 13%
to be advanced, in that they are are still trying to break out of the & Transport are yet to move to the Transport
already applying AI technologies in the planning and piloting stage, due to next level, with the numerous pilots
running of their business. complex legacy IT and a shortage still underway reflecting their slower Manufacturing & 12% 25% 50% 45% 12%
Resources
of relevant skills. There is a general technology adoption lead times.
Experimenting with technology, but intention, with a few exceptions, across
need use cases the Infrastructure & Transport and Surprisingly, given their data-rich and Health 27% 18% 27% 45% 27%
The more technically-oriented Manufacturing & Resources sectors to customer-centric environment, the
companies have no shortage of be behind the bleeding edge of AI and ICT & Media sector still has 46% of the
interested staff members who are therefore look towards leveraging AI respondents in the Planned stage and Retail 8% 31% 38% 45% 23%
experimenting with the AI technologies solutions from other sectors as ‘tested working hard to close the gap on the
and running pilots. Despite this, solutions’, or buying them off-the-shelf sector leaders.
almost all the companies in the study as they mature. These sectors also have
indicated that they have difficulty in large workforces with the majority 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
identifying use cases to support the in the low to unskilled category,
business and provide a meaningful and cite the need to handle change None Planned Piloting Released Advanced
return on investment to attract more management and worker reluctance
funding. Those companies who are towards AI before they invest more
more structured in their approach are heavily. The Health and Professional
taking a strategic view of how AI can Services sectors are generally being We’re not the fastest region to
give them a competitive advantage, held back by inadequate data on which Thought to Action in the UAE
fully adopt new technology, due Although the hype is ubiquitous, AI maturity does not match up to the level of interest unless there
and are directing AI initiatives in these to base their AI efforts, and are thus
areas with more success. mostly in the planning phase. to fear and lack of trust in data is focused leadership at a senior executive level. There are some dominant sectors and we noted
systems. some definite leaders and laggards within most sectors. The Airline industry has the broadest AI
Some machine learning models in Everyone is in the race, but the pace application, especially in the customer space, even though they started very recently. Banks and
production differs Telecommunications companies were the early starters, and continue to move forward at a steady pace
— Total Marketing Middle East as data foundations improve and learnings are extracted from early projects. Only 6% of companies
ICT&Media and Financial Services Regardless of sector, there are a few
are the standout sectors where companies that are leading, a handful consider themselves to be Advanced, and 29% are in the Released phase with a few processes using AI in
some companies have gone beyond that are bringing up the rear, and the a production environment. The majority of organizations (35%) consider themselves to be in the Planned
experimentation, with machine vast majority that are in the Planning phase, which ties in with what the executives in the study report, where the direction of travel is clear but
learning models running in a or Piloting stages somewhere in the converting this to actionable output remains a challenge.
production environment, but these middle.
are in narrow channels within the
companies and not systemically at
30
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