The majority of CEOs in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are upbeat about where their company and the overall economy are headed, but they are worried about the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation on their business, according to a new report.

Among the UAE and Saudi business leaders polled by global consulting firm AlixPartners, 80% said they are positive about the prospects for their company, while 85% are optimistic about the overall economy.

The respondents were among the 3,000 CEOs and executives from around the world that were polled for the AlixPartners’ Disruption Index, which seeks to uncover the latest concerns of business leaders.

The study found that executives in the region are the second-highest disrupted, after China, with around 7 in ten (68%) saying they were “highly disrupted” in the past year.

Largest disruptive forces

The majority (87%) believe that AI and automation are the largest disruptive forces impacting their business, compared to 46% globally.

A huge number of CEOs feel that technological changes are rendering their workers’ skills obsolete, while a lot of their staff are also not warming up to transformation.

CEOs in the region are worried that their company is not adapting fast enough to the pace of change (67%), although 60% are actively changing their business, either currently or within the next year.

Challenges related to staff remain significant, with 85% of the CEOs saying that the pace of change is making their workers’ skills obsolete, compared to a global average of 58%.

About 8 in 10 (80%) also admitted their employees are not open to change, compared to 55% globally.

Actions taken

To respond to challenges, company bosses in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing more in technology than they did in the prior year.

Around 64% are planning to invest the most in digital transformation to ensure business growth over the next three to five years.

Half of CEOs (50%) are prioritising process automation as the key technique they need to address in the coming year, which is twice as high as the global average.

“The rise of generative AI is both exciting and daunting for many leaders in the world, but from what we’re observing here in the region, companies are embracing this adoption as priority,” said Gabriel Chahine, Middle East Leader at AlixPartners.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
(seban.scaria@lseg.com)