UAE Business AI Adoption Reaches 72% as AWS Expands Sovereign Cloud

Artificial intelligence adoption across UAE businesses has reached 72%, up from 53% a year earlier, in research carried out by Amazon Web Services and the UAE Artificial Intelligence Office. The jump amounts to a 36% increase in twelve months. Among the companies that have taken the technology on, 85% say the pace of digital change is speeding up, and they expect it to keep rising.

The figures come from the Unlocking the UAE's AI Potential 2026 report, put together by research firm Strand Partners. A separate Microsoft study ranks the UAE first and Singapore second for generative AI use among working-age adults.

Dr Abdelrahman Al Mahmoud, a director at the UAE Artificial Intelligence Office, attributed the 72% figure to an approach built on turning ambition into action. Chris Erasmus, managing director for AWS in the UAE and MENA growth markets, said businesses are adopting AI quickly and have moved past asking whether they can use it to asking how they can scale it responsibly.

Cloud spending and a sovereign service

AWS intends to commit as much as AED 20.1 billion (US$5.47 billion) to its UAE cloud region through 2037. The company estimates that investment will add AED 41 billion (US$11.16 billion) to UAE GDP.

Working with e& enterprise, AWS has introduced the UAE Sovereign Launchpad. The locally hosted cloud service carries the endorsement of the UAE Cybersecurity Council and targets government bodies and regulated industries, financial services among them.

Four priorities

The report sets out four areas it says need attention:

• Responsible AI adoption running on secure cloud infrastructure
• Rules that leave room for innovation
• Closing the skills gap
• Broader access to funding, particularly for AI-first startups and small and medium-sized businesses

Funding access is framed as a problem for younger companies in particular, where the cost of building and running AI systems can outpace what founders can raise. The skills gap runs alongside it: tools are available, but the people trained to use them are not evenly spread across the market.

On the training side, AWS runs a programme called AI Nation Afaaq. Through it, the company aims to give 30,000 people in the UAE free access to its training.