Qlik launched research of 4,200 C-Suite executives and AI decision makers, revealing what is hindering AI progress globally and how to overcome these barriers.
A lack of AI skills, governance challenges, and insufficient resources are the main factors stalling successful AI deployment. Despite these challenges, Qlik’s research highlights optimism among AI leaders, with 70% of UAE and 77% of Saudi respondents confident in their countries’ ability to lead in AI skills within the next five years.
Despite believing in the power of AI, most businesses have projects that have been paused, cancelled, or stuck in planning
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are both at the forefront of embracing AI. Businesses in these Middle Eastern countries recognise AI’s strategic importance, with 93% of UAE and 95% of Saudi respondents identifying AI as essential or very important for achieving organisational success, compared to 87% globally.
In the Gulf markets, organisations leverage AI mostly for knowledge sharing, training and enablement, creating cost-saving efficiencies, optimising operations, and predictive forecasting.
Despite this recognition, many AI projects struggle to progress. For instance, in the UAE, about 84% of organisations have up to 50 AI projects stuck in the planning and scoping stage. While the figure is marginally higher in Saudi [85%], both countries are slightly below the global average [87%]. Meanwhile, about 16% of UAE and 15% of Saudi respondents revealed that they have over 51 AI projects that haven’t made it out of the planning and scoping stage — figures higher than the global average [11%].
Even if AI projects do get started, not all get completed. In fact, the majority of UAE [72%] and Saudi [64%] businesses reported they have up to 50 projects that have been paused or cancelled. These figures align with the global average [68%]. Meanwhile, 13% of UAE businesses and 14% of Saudi organisations stated they have paused or halted over 51 AI projects — higher than the 8% worldwide average.
Skills gaps, lack of resources and regulatory challenges are among key barriers
There are different factors that slow down or hinder AI projects in UAE- and Saudi Arabia-based businesses.
In the UAE, the main reasons AI projects are paused or cancelled include regulatory challenges [24%], lack of skills/resources to support the implementation and roll-out [24%], and budgetary challenges/constraints [21%]. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the top reasons include too unorganised/untrusted data for AI to work with [27%], lack of skills/resources to support the implementation and roll-out [25%], and not having enough data available for AI to work with [25%].
On a more general level, organisations in these countries face overarching constraints that prevent them from achieving their AI goals.
In the UAE, the most significant barriers include a lack of AI skills [31%], a lack of data skills [27%], and insufficient data and analytics capabilities and tools [25%]. In Saudi Arabia, the main challenges are a lack of ability to identify the problems to solve [31%], lack of data skills [30%], and insufficient resources, such as inadequate relevant staff [27%].
These issues align with challenges faced by various organisations around the world. Globally, a lack of AI skills [31%], insufficient resources [26%], and regulation and governance issues [24%] emerged as the top obstacles when it comes to hitting AI goals.
On building trust, educating users and the need for funding and upskilling
To overcome AI adoption hurdles, turning to ready-made AI solutions could be the key. The report states that these products serve as practical starting points. In Saudi Arabia, 81% of decision-makers agree that supplier-provided solutions enhance AI development. In the UAE, this figure is at 69%.
Building more trust in AI is also an essential component of the narrative. In Saudi Arabia [83%] and the UAE [82%], AI leaders recognise the need to build more trust among users. Additionally, education and training are also seen as vital. In the UAE, 78% of respondents agree on the need for more training for staff and customers to foster trust in AI. This sentiment is shared by 82% in Saudi Arabia.
To further support AI adoption, funding and upskilling initiatives are also imperative. In Saudi Arabia [82%] and the UAE [72%], decision-makers believe their government needs to provide more funding and training in AI. Industries must also take a proactive approach to nurturing AI talent, with the majority of the respondents in Saudi Arabia [87%] and the UAE [70%] echoing this sentiment.
Amid all these concerns, both the Middle Eastern powerhouses remain optimistic about their AI capabilities. In Saudi Arabia [77%] and the UAE [70%], most of the respondents believe their country has the potential to lead in AI skills within the next five years. These figures are slightly ahead of the global average of 66%.
“Business leaders know the value of AI, but they face a multitude of barriers that prevent them from moving from proof of concept to value creating deployment of the technology. The first step to creating an AI strategy is to identify a clear use case, with defined goals and measures of success, and use this to identify the skills, resources and data needed to support it at scale. In doing so you start to build trust and win management buy-in to help you succeed,” said James Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer at Qlik.
