From Strategy to Scale: How technology transforms the UAE growth trajectory
AI and automation accelerate across key sectors as the UAE boosts digital infrastructure
The UAE’s major investment in technology is moving beyond strategy and into operations, with companies across key sectors reporting significant gains in productivity and efficiency from deploying AI and automation.
The shift is being driven by the UAE’s investment in digital infrastructure, supportive regulations, and its push to build an AI-ready economy. Industry experts say this mix is now delivering real gains in productivity and competitiveness, with organisations shifting from pilots to full-scale deployment faster than many global peers.
Dr Raymond Khoury, Partner and Head of the Technology & Innovation Management Practice at Arthur D. Little Middle East, says the UAE is advancing digital transformation at a pace comparable to leading markets such as the US and China.
This acceleration, he says, is supported by national programmes such as We the UAE 2031, the UAE Digital Government Strategy 2025, the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, the Digital Economy Strategy, and the Emirates Blockchain Strategy.
“Heavy investment in cloud infrastructure and large-scale data centres has positioned Abu Dhabi and Dubai among the world’s top emerging markets for digital capacity,” Dr Khoury points out.
According to Amr Kamel, General Manager at Microsoft UAE, the country is already seeing results from early AI investments.
He notes that Emirates NBD’s development teams posted “about 20 per cent uplift in developer productivity and code quality with GitHub Copilot,” while Azure OpenAI tools are helping entities like DEWA, Majid Al Futtaim and du shift from lengthy processing to faster, data-driven workflows.
Kamel sees widespread opportunity as organisations across finance, energy, logistics, manufacturing and healthcare move beyond experimentation.
“Generative AI is the engine of the UAE’s next-phase growth,” he says, adding that the UAE leads globally with “59.4 per cent of its working-age population actively using AI tools.”
“We are enabling banks to apply AI assistants for risk and compliance, utilities to run predictive maintenance across grids, logistics firms to automate last-mile routing, manufacturers to optimise production throughput, and healthcare providers to accelerate diagnosis and patient engagement,” says Kamel.
He says the country is well placed to scale further, supported by Microsoft’s $15.2 billion (Dh55.82 billion) investment through 2029 and the company’s 200-megawatt regional data-centre expansion. The result, Kamel says, is a “trusted runway to go from pilot to scale-at-speed.”
Logistics operators
The logistics sector is one of the fastest adopters of automation and AI as companies push to improve reliability, speed and sustainability across supply chains.
Aramex’s chief digital and technology officer Françoise Russo says the company has implemented AI-powered route optimisation in the UAE and Australia, enabling precise two-hour delivery windows and real-time courier tracking.
“We have also introduced same-day delivery services powered by our address prediction technology, enhancing delivery accuracy and speed. Our operations teams leverage big data analytics to forecast shipment volumes based on seasonality, enabling better planning for ground operations and linehaul capacity,” she says, adding that Aramex’s digital roadmap is closely tied to sustainability goals.
Meanwhile, logistics giant DP World says it is also scaling up its use of AI across port operations. Group CTO Pradeep Desai says the company sees AI as a collaborator rather than just a tool.
The company uses agentic AI to support its workforce through systems like Jarvis — an in-house platform that thinks, plans, and acts — along with reinforcement-learning models that boost port throughput.
“We’re not just using dashboards; we’re building digital agents that model strategies, recommend actions, and even execute workflows – all in real time,” says Desai.
He notes that AI systems such as Zodiac have improved productivity by more than 20 per cent while reducing energy use at Jebel Ali Port.
“DP World is aligned with the UAE’s digital economy agenda, specifically around the need to drive the adoption of AI and build digital infrastructure and connectivity,” he says.
Connectivity and cybersecurity
As companies scale AI systems, the demand for reliable digital infrastructure and stronger cybersecurity frameworks continues to rise sharply.
Cisco’s regional CTO Mohannad Abuissa says the UAE’s next phase of growth will depend heavily on its digital infrastructure. The company is working with G42 to build secure, end-to-end AI systems, including large compute clusters under the US–UAE AI Acceleration Partnership.
“We also joined the Stargate UAE consortium as a preferred technology partner to deliver advanced networking, security, and observability solutions that accelerate the development of next-generation AI data centres,” says Abuissa.
He adds that demand is strongest for GPU compute, predictive network analytics, automation tools and hybrid-cloud optimisation. Citing Cisco’s AI Readiness Index 2025, he notes that 64 per cent of UAE organisations already have defined AI strategies, underscoring how quickly businesses are preparing for AI-driven operations.
Cybersecurity is now central to the shift, Abuissa says, adding that solutions like Cisco AI Defense protect every stage of AI development and deployment.
“There is also strong demand for AI-powered collaboration, sustainability management, and digital experience platforms that enable faster decision-making and operational efficiency,” he adds.
Finance emerges as a digital leader
According to KPMG research, the UAE’s finance leaders are ahead of their global peers, with 49 per cent planning to deploy AI, compared with 35 per cent worldwide.
“The rise of agentic AI is transforming compliance, risk oversight, and customer engagement under robust governance frameworks. Collectively, these shifts show how the UAE is embedding technology into the architecture of its economy, creating systems that are faster, more transparent, and more predictive,” says Robert Ptaszynski, Partner and Head of Technology at KPMG Middle East.
While Ptaszynski notes the UAE’s rapid progress in digital adoption, he also points out that the main challenge now lies in execution, aligning talent, data infrastructure, and accountability to translate digital ambition into enterprise-wide impact.
Competitiveness through automation
Across sectors, businesses are using automation and AI to sharpen competitiveness, cut costs and accelerate the pace of decision-making.
Hadi Kobeissi, Partner at PwC Middle East, says technology has become a key driver of the UAE’s diversification agenda.
“UAE companies are embracing the full spectrum of AI and automation, from process optimisation and robotic workflows to more sophisticated, customer-facing AI,” he says.
With the rise of generative and agentic AI, Kobeissi says they are seeing a new wave of experimentation. “Organisations are piloting AI assistants and agents, embedding AI into knowledge workflows, and reimagining how teams collaborate alongside machines.” Citing PwC’s 28th Annual CEO Survey, he says 93 per cent of CEOs in the UAE say their companies adopted generative AI in the past 12 months ¬ a clear signal of the market’s readiness to scale innovation responsibly and at pace.
Kobeissi adds, “The pace reflects strong leadership vision, agile execution, a pro-innovation culture, world-class infrastructure and the ability to attract global talent and investment.”
Scaling challenges persist
Even as the UAE’s progress is strong, Dr Khoury from Arthur D. Little says scaling remains a common stumbling block.
Companies face hurdles integrating new platforms with legacy systems, managing cybersecurity and securing sponsorship across different business units. “Many successful pilots fail to progress because leadership hasn’t set clear KPIs, strategic direction, or the sponsorship required to scale,” he says.
Dr Khoury says several UAE entities are already moving in this direction by setting up digital transformation offices, investing in shared data layers, and aligning innovation roadmaps more closely with national priorities.
PwC’s Kobeissi notes that the human element is often overlooked, with cultural resistance, weak change management, and difficulty adopting new work practices posing key challenges.
Ptaszynski of KPMG echoes these concerns, saying that execution, talent development and accountability will determine how quickly organisations move from ambition to enterprise-wide impact.
Across sectors, digital tools are now central to the UAE’s operations, influencing everything from trade and finance to public-sector delivery.
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