By Salman Ali, Senior Manager – Solution Engineering, GCC, at Riverbed Technology
The transformative potential for AI in the Middle East is unprecedented. PwC analysts predict that by the turn of the decade, AI will contribute a staggering US$320bn to the region’s GDP. This is corroborated by other reports which estimate that the UAE will generate an average annual growth rate of 33.5% in its GDP from AI. Saudi Arabia’s AI ambitions are commendable, especially with its proposed US$40bn AI fund, which ranks among the largest globally. Even smaller Gulf Nations stand to benefit significantly as in Qatar, government officials recently stated that AI will accelerate the nation’s GDP growth by 2.3% and generate a US$5bn in revenue by the end of the decade.
These encouraging projections naturally raise questions around where the application of AI is likely to create the most value for organizations. And in light of the push for digital transformation, and the increasing complexity of enterprise IT infrastructures, AI for IT Operations (AIOps) is poised to be a strong driver of value.
In the years of ChatGPT and DeepSeek – in many ways, the AI industry’s iPhone moment – AIOps has steadily gained momentum. Modern IT environments are incredibly dynamic, consisting of cloud-native applications, microservices, containerized systems and more. These generate huge volumes of data that humans simply don’t have the capacity to monitor and comprehend. AIOps has emerged as a way to automatically identify and resolve these issues without the need for human intervention. To understand how we got here, it’s worth exploring how AI adoption and mindsets have evolved in the region in recent years.
Balancing AI Expectations with Reality
Findings from Riverbed’s 2024 Global AI & Digital Experience Survey shed light on how organizations are approaching AI adoption. Looking specifically at dynamics in the region, this report showed that despite widespread recognition of AI’s critical importance to business success, only 31% of organizations in Saudi Arabia currently consider themselves fully prepared to implement AI projects. Despite the fact that companies may not be ready just yet to deploy AI widely, optimism about future readiness is high: 82% of Saudi organizations expect to achieve full preparedness within three years.
The survey also highlights an interesting shift in organizational priorities around AI usage. Currently, 59% of Saudi companies deploying AI are using it to drive operational efficiencies, with 41% using it primarily to drive growth. If you look ahead to 2027, these priorities are expected to reverse with 62% focusing on growth compared to just 38% using AI primarily to drive efficiency.
Companies are clearly enthusiastic about the future of AI, but there is a potential disconnect in how organization view their progress around AI. This perception gap indicates that some organizations are overestimating their progress, which underscores the need for organizations to take a more measured approach to assessing their AI maturity relative to competitors.
Creating a Path Forward with AIOps
Against this backdrop, most Middle East enterprises are fertile ground for AIOps to take root: the combination of need and willingness to deploy creates favorable conditions for success. But organizations need to take a structured, measured approach, starting with the need to prioritize the application of AI in areas such as digital employee experience and IT operations. In these settings, you can more easily measure improvements in user productivity and satisfaction, ensuring that the investment delivers clear value to stakeholders.
The current wave of AI hype can be a powerful tool for teams, facilitating buy-in and approval from the highest levels – but it’s reliant on project leaders to ensure those deployments exceed the hype and make real business impact. IT and business leaders must also strike a tricky balance between exploring new, innovative applications for AI, and not taking on too much, too quickly. This can be accomplished by combining strong governance frameworks that address security requirements within an environment that values creative thinking and innovation from the top down; a balanced approach that enables organizations to push boundaries while effectively managing risk.
Creating this type of culture can be a challenge. Among other things, it requires actively seeking and incorporating insights from workers – particularly Gen Z and Millennial employees – into organizational AI strategy development. By also engaging with more experienced employees as well, it will ultimately help organizations attract and retain talent and ensure that AI initiatives align with different working styles of future leaders.
Taking AIOps from Ambition to Execution
The AI revolution in the Middle East is well underway, but the real differentiator will be how effectively enterprises translate ambition into execution. AIOps offers a practical, high-impact entry point, helping businesses enhance IT operations, improve digital experiences, and drive measurable outcomes. However, success requires more than investment—it demands a structured approach, strong governance, and alignment with business goals. As organizations refine their AI strategies, now is the time to move beyond experimentation and focus on scalable, results-driven implementations. Those that act decisively today will define the AI-powered enterprises of tomorrow. The question is: will you lead or lag behind?
