BWC tracks AI maturity in Saudi Arabia: more than half of organisations reengineer workflow to avoid the trap of isolated experiments

BWC (PwC) and its strategic consulting arm Strategic& concluded their participation in the fifth edition of the LEAP 2026 conference by launching an extensive research study titled “AI Maturity in Saudi Arabia Is Rising: The Real Test of Value Comes Now,” highlighting the shift of Saudi organisations from a phase of exploring isolated pilot projects to a phase of comprehensive operational integration within daily systems and data, as the exclusive AI and data partner at the conference.

The study’s figures revealed tangible progress among Saudi organisations compared with global averages on infrastructure and readiness indicators, with 78 percent of respondents in the Kingdom reporting alignment of their AI vision with corporate and commercial goals versus roughly 65 percent worldwide. The data also showed that 76 percent of organisations have scalable cloud platforms that deliver real-time data, while more than half of Saudi organisations have redesigned their workflows and operational procedures to embed AI tools at their core, compared with only 32 percent internationally.

The current shift indicates that the challenge no longer lies merely in adopting models, but in the ability to convert them into measurable commercial value and to build a work environment based on operational trust.In this context, Biffik Sharma, head of technology and AI at BWC (PwC), noted that technology is now moving beyond individual use cases to become integrated across the entire organisation, with an emphasis on secure integration into data, systems and routine processes. Likewise, Faisal Siraj, the senior partner responsible for BWC (PwC) in Saudi Arabia, explained that progress in the Kingdom is no longer limited to keeping pace with the global rhythm, but is manifest in leading areas that shape how AI is employed in business management, investment, talent development and economic advancement.

On the commercial track and partnership development, the firm translated these directions into seven memoranda of understanding in the Kingdom with major entities, including the Saudi Information Technology Company SIT, Thiqah, and Juthoor. The agreements focused on accelerating AI adoption, developing technology-transformation programmes, expanding managed-service offerings, and building skills and workforce readiness to handle large-scale smart-model requirements, a point confirmed by Laura Hinton, the senior partner for the Middle East at BWC (PwC), who noted that competitive advantage will increasingly depend on turning technical ambitions into lasting, continuously scalable operational results.

This shift forces a reshuffling of priorities for technology and executive leaders in the region, as internal process reengineering becomes a fundamental prerequisite for harvesting AI investment returns.The gap shown by the data between cloud adoption and workflow redesign indicates that purchasing subscriptions or linking APIs does not, on its own, create a competitive advantage. If you manage a technical team or a business unit in the Gulf, Egypt or the Levant, the real test is not measured by the number of pilot models you launch, but by how well those tools align with organisational goals, integrate with real-time data flows, and the extent to which staff are trained to manage automated processes responsibly and reliably.

The rise of maturity indicators above the global average places regional organisations before the imperative of building governance and human readiness, turning AI projects from showcase initiatives into a genuine lever for growth, productivity and operational sustainability.