A five-gigawatt computing complex and AI adoption exceeding 70 %: UAE reshapes its economy with artificial intelligence

The trajectory began in 2017 when the UAE created a ministerial post for artificial intelligence in a step that then seemed unusual, and the experiment has now moved to a deeper institutional stage through the appointment of 32 specialised advisers who work alongside ministers around the clock to review policies and legislation and to measure the economic, financial and environmental impacts of executive decisions. This shift from an individual ministerial framework to field-guidance teams reflects a change in public-resource management, as technology is no longer a test tool but a central pillar based on investments that have exceeded AED 543 billion by the end of 2025, according to PwC data, with the aim of achieving AED 335 billion of additional economic growth by 2031 under the national artificial-intelligence strategy.

The figures reveal a qualitative jump in the pace of actual use, after the country recorded an adoption rate of 70.1 percent among working-age population in the first quarter of 2026.This indicator, from Microsoft’s artificial-intelligence deployment report, places the country first globally as the first nation to surpass the seventy-percent threshold, compared with a global average of 17.8 percent. The data show a rapid acceleration over a short period, with the share rising from 59.4 percent in the first half of 2025 to 64 percent in the second half, reaching its current level in the first quarter of the current year, driven by fast expansion of data centres, advanced computing and international technology partnerships.

The momentum does not stop at system consumption; it also extends to building knowledge assets locally. The Institute for Foundational Models at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence announced in September that it is launching six new models under the K2 Horizon project, ranging from lightweight edge models that can run on devices with limited capabilities to a massive enterprise model comprising 375 billion parameters for complex business tasks. These software capabilities complement the massive infrastructure projects, foremost the UAE AI hub, which aims to reach five gigawatts of computing power for data centres, a development that drives parallel sectors such as power generation, telecommunications networks, engineering construction and cyber-security services.

The private-sector institutional response has kept pace with the governmental direction, as PwC surveys showed that 85 percent of CEOs in the UAE believe their organisations’ culture supports technology adoption, while 75 percent have clear action plans for its implementation.Use cases are distributed in matching proportions, with 45 percent of executives employing AI for demand-generation functions such as sales, marketing and customer service, another 45 percent using it for support and back-office operations, and 38 percent embedding the technology directly into products and services. Boston Consulting Group reports also showed progress in attracting specialised talent, with the share of job ads requiring AI skills rising from about 1 percent in 2021 to 3.2 percent in 2025, more than threefold, and approaching 10 percent in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors.

This structural shift imposes concrete realities on decision-makers and technology leaders in the Gulf, Egypt and the Levant. If you manage a software team or plan infrastructure budgets, the existence of five-gigawatt computing hubs and locally-operated models up to 375 billion parameters gives regional firms hosting and processing options close to home, breaking reliance on distant centres and reducing latency in sensitive applications such as finance and digital commerce. At the same time, the pull for skills and the rise in technical-sector job openings to ten positions creates growing pressure on talent-retention costs in Egypt and the Levant, forcing local companies to accelerate staff training or raise compensation ceilings to avoid losing developers to large regional projects.

I see in these developments a decisive shift that moves artificial intelligence from mere marketing initiatives to a production engine measured by numbers and policies. The presence of 32 advisers assessing financial and environmental impacts around the clock demonstrates that the sustainability of this growth is tied to calibrating the real economic effect and embedding computational processing at the core of daily decision-making, turning computing into a national resource that directs investment in energy, telecommunications and the labour market.