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Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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
Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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

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Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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

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Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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

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Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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

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Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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

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Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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
Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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
Artificial Intelligence in Middle East and Africa - United Arab Emirates Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft ...
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                                                                                                                                                                               17
Setting 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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    19
Setting 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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            21
Articificial 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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 23
Setting 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                                                                                                                                                     25
Articificial 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                                                                                                                                                                                                                  27
Role 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.

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Role 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

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