Hyperscalers are making substantial, long-term investments in regional data centres. Semiconductor leaders, AI pioneers and research institutions are expanding their presence, not simply to serve local demand, but to co-create solutions with regional partners. This influx of global players serves to strengthen sovereignty, embedding the region into the fabric of the global AI ecosystem while retaining strategic control.

Collaboration also extends beyond technology vendors. Governments, academia and the private sector are increasingly aligned around shared AI objectives, creating an environment where experimentation is encouraged and scaled quickly. In a field moving as fast as AI, this alignment is invaluable.

Talent: The human core of AI leadership

For all the focus on models and machines, AI is ultimately a human story. Its value lies in augmenting human capability, enabling people to make better decisions, work more creatively and solve more complex problems. None of this is possible without a population that is willing and ready to engage.

Demographics are firmly on the Middle East’s side. The region has one of the youngest populations globally, with high levels of digital adoption and an appetite for new technologies. Governments are bolstering this advantage with significant investment in education, from AI-focused university programmes to national upskilling initiatives aimed at the existing workforce. World-class institutions are being established and global partnerships formed, ensuring that talent development keeps pace with technological ambition.

This combination of youth, education and openness to change creates fertile ground for AI to take root not as an abstract concept, but as a practical tool embedded in everyday life.

Looking beyond the horizon

AI leadership is not declared. It is earned over time through consistent, coordinated action. What makes the Middle East’s current moment so compelling is not any single initiative, but the convergence of infrastructure, regulation, capital and talent. Few regions have ever been able to align these forces so deliberately.

The question is no longer whether the Middle East can play a meaningful role in the AI era. The real question is how boldly it chooses to shape that future. If the past is any guide, the regions that seize the moment early are the ones that define the next decade. Today, the sands are shifting in the Middle East’s favour, and the world is beginning to take notice.

Karim Azar

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