UAE Emerges as a Global Leader in AI Maturity, New ServiceNow Report Reveals

The UAE's governance and investment in AI have established ideal conditions for businesses to maximize the benefits of the technology, according to a new report. ServiceNow, the enterprise software company, released its latest findings on how businesses, organizations, and enterprises are utilizing AI through its Enterprise AI Maturity Index.

“The UAE remains one of the world’s most ambitious AI markets and the government’s long-term strategy and regulatory leadership have given organizations a genuine head start,” stated Saif Mashat, vice president for the Middle East and Africa at ServiceNow.

However, Mr. Mashat cautioned that simply investing in AI is insufficient. “The ones pulling ahead are moving from AI pilots to AI orchestration, connecting legacy systems, data, governance, and AI agents in one control tower,” he explained.

The ServiceNow analysis revealed that the UAE achieved a 13-point improvement on its AI maturity score. “The research shows many organizations are still trying to layer AI on to fragmented technology environments, disconnected data, and siloed workflows,” the report highlighted.

Agentic AI, often defined as AI tools capable of assisting humans with repetitive tasks, remains a hot topic in the technology sector, though it is still a work in progress for many businesses. “Currently, more than half, 57 per cent, of UAE organizations have implemented agentic AI, but only 7 per cent have used it to build autonomous workflows,” the findings showed.

Mr. Mashat noted that because the UAE government “has already created many of the conditions for AI leadership,” companies must now ensure they go beyond basic investments. “The challenge for enterprises now is to bring that same discipline and consistency into their own organizations,” he said.

Regarding financial commitment, the ServiceNow survey indicated that the UAE maintains high optimism for AI. “UAE organizations expect AI to account for almost one fifth of total information technology budgets by 2027,” according to the report.

For over a decade, the UAE has sought to become an AI leader as part of its broader effort to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons. The country’s focus on research has fostered start-ups, partnerships, and investments from major industry leaders such as Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI. Additionally, the UAE has partnered with the US to develop an AI campus in Abu Dhabi, which will feature 5GW of capacity for AI data centres.

ServiceNow stated that its 2026 Enterprise AI Maturity Index was compiled by ThoughtLab and surveyed approximately 4,500 executives and 2,000 employees worldwide.

Across the 19 surveyed countries, recurring themes showed that many organizations are only beginning to understand how AI impacts day-to-day operations. Globally, 59 per cent of those organizations possessed the ability to use agentic AI, but only 9 per cent “have made significant progress using agentic AI to create autonomous, multistep workflows.” Furthermore, the report noted that France displayed higher resistance to AI compared to other nations, while employees in Saudi Arabia tended to be more resistant due to more rigid, risk-averse workplaces combined with siloed data and overlapping tools.