In the Middle East, AI is not merely enabling national visions — it is becoming one. From reengineering traditional industries to crafting new economic blueprints, AI is now shaping how nations think, compete, and evolve, according to Sahil Dhawan, Head – India, Middle East, and Africa (IMEA) Business, Tech Mahindra.

From Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030’ to the UAE’s ‘We the UAE 2031’, these newly-launched national agendas aim to diversify economies and reduce reliance on oil. Framed around innovation and sustainability, both the strategies place AI at their core. The technology is now being seen in the region as a strategic multiplier, a force that will enable these nations to leapfrog traditional development pathways and transition into resilient, knowledge-based economies.

The recent Tech Adoption Index – a marquee report co-owned by Tech Mahindra covering insights of more than 1000 global C-Suite leaders – revealed that enterprises in the region are no longer adopting technologies in silos. Instead, the interplay of AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and advanced connectivity is creating new economic archetypes—where data, speed, and intelligence are not add-ons, but foundations of business design. This convergence is allowing sectors to modernise operations and reimagine the very models through which they deliver value.

As the Middle East diversifies its economic base, AI is emerging not just as a tool for automation, but as a catalyst for sectoral reinvention, unlocking new forms of productivity, sustainability, and competitiveness across key verticals.

A Strategic Engine, Not Just a Smart Add-On

According to an industry report, AI is expected to contribute $320 billion to the Middle East economy by 2030, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE accounting for nearly 70% of that impact. Governments across the region are not only investing in AI infrastructure but also embedding it into national roadmaps.

However, the transformative promise of AI lies not just in its capability to optimise — but in its power to reimagine how sectors create value. This is especially relevant in four domains driving the region’s long-term growth narrative: energy, manufacturing and logistics, tourism and entertainment, and healthcare.

Rewiring Energy Systems: From Extraction to Intelligence

The energy sector — still a cornerstone of many Gulf economies — is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. AI is playing a pivotal role in helping oil-producing nations pivot toward cleaner, more efficient, and digitally intelligent operations.

Machine learning algorithms now process seismic data to reduce exploration time and costs, increasing the accuracy of site identification.

 What’s more, emerging carbon intelligence platforms are being deployed to monitor emissions across upstream and downstream operations, aligning oil majors with net-zero targets. In Saudi Aramco’s case, investments in AI are part of a broader ambition to lead not just in energy exports, but in energy sustainability. In this context, AI is no longer just a digital add-on — it's a strategic enabler for energy transition.

Manufacturing & Logistics: Building the Intelligent Industrial Base

The region’s push for industrial sovereignty and local manufacturing is being accelerated by AI-powered innovation. Flagship projects like NEOM’s Oxagon are at the forefront of this shift, envisioned as hyper-automated industrial cities with integrated AI, IoT, and robotics capabilities.

In tomorrow’s factories, AI isn’t just optimising the workflow—it’s decoding the DNA of industrial efficiency. Real-time diagnostics, adaptive robotics, and digital twins are creating a new industrial grammar: agile, aware, and anticipatory.

In manufacturing, UAE is experimenting with generative AI to simulate thousands of production scenarios before any physical action is taken.

 Digital twins — virtual replicas of physical assets — are also gaining traction. These AI-enabled models simulate factory workflows and supply chain routes, enabling manufacturers to preempt bottlenecks and reconfigure systems in real time.

 As countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia work to localise supply chains and improve resilience, AI will be integral to building a self-reliant and agile industrial backbone.

Entertainment & Tourism: From Spectacle to Smart Experience

Tourism and entertainment are core to the Gulf’s post-oil diversification play. In 2023 alone, Saudi Arabia attracted over 100 million visitors, exceeding Vision 2030 targets. Events like Riyadh Season, Dubai Expo, and Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi have showcased the region’s ambition to become a global cultural and events hub. In entertainment, cities are developing AI-generated virtual guides — blending multilingual NLP with cultural insights to offer immersive storytelling for tourists. Behind the spectacle, AI is making visitor experiences more personalized, safe, and immersive.

Tourism in the region is no longer about footfall — it’s about frictionless, personalised storytelling. AI interprets human flow like a conductor reads music — adjusting pace, predicting disruptions, and choreographing experiences in real time.

This not only enhances safety but also ensures optimal visitor flow and accessibility. Meanwhile, AI-powered recommendation engines are driving hyper-personalised itineraries, tailoring cultural, culinary, and shopping experiences based on individual preferences.

The rise of AI-curated museums and interactive exhibits is also redefining how history and culture are experienced — especially as Gulf nations seek to amplify their soft power through heritage storytelling. In this space, AI is powering not just smart tourism — but emotionally resonant engagement at scale.

The Shift in Healthcare: From Diagnostics to Continuum of Care

Healthcare in the Middle East is undergoing a fundamental transition— from reactive care delivery to proactive, predictive, and personalised medicine. AI is at the centre of this transformation.

Smart hospitals under SEHA (Abu Dhabi) and DHA (Dubai) are deploying AI for diagnostic imaging, patient flow optimisation, robotic surgeries, and clinical decision support. AI tools are helping radiologists detect anomalies faster and with higher accuracy, reducing diagnostic error rates by up to 30%, according to Stanford Medicine studies.

Moreover, wearable health tech and AI-enabled mobile apps are empowering patients with real-time health insights, enabling remote triage and early intervention—particularly vital in managing chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular conditions prevalent in the region.

With the growing emphasis on value-based care, AI is not just digitising healthcare—it is redesigning the patient's journey around outcomes.

Beyond 2030: What Lies Ahead

Looking ahead, the Middle East’s AI journey is poised to become more autonomous, ethical, and economically strategic. The future won’t just be about deploying AI tools — it will be about developing indigenous AI ecosystems aligned with local languages, cultures, and values.

The region’s ambitions are bold: the UAE’s National AI Strategy aims to make the country a global AI leader by 2031, while Saudi Arabia’s SDAIA (Saudi Data and AI Authority) has committed to making AI contribute 12.4% to national GDP by 2030.

To realise this, regional governments and businesses must focus on three imperatives: 

• AI upskilling at scale, especially among youth and mid-career professionals.
• Robust data governance and regulation to enable secure, responsible AI.
• Public-private partnerships to incubate local AI startups and research hubs.

AI as a Driver of Vision, Not Just Efficiency

The narrative around AI in the Middle East is evolving — from automation to augmentation, from efficiency to economic reinvention. Whether in oilfields or operating theatres, production lines or performance stages, AI is not just helping sectors do things faster—it’s enabling them to do things fundamentally differently.

As the Middle East evolves from oilfields to idea-fields, AI will not be the engine — it will be the architect.-TradeArabia News Service