Al-Futtaim study: 61% of GCC professionals lack high confidence in using AI

Artificial intelligence adoption is accelerating across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but limited training and low workforce confidence are preventing organisations from fully realising its benefits, according to a new study by Al-Futtaim.

The report, Unlocking AI for the GCC Workforce, released on 22 October 2026, surveyed 1,143 professionals across six GCC markets in sectors including technology, automotive, healthcare, retail, hospitality, consumer goods and electronics.

While 82% of respondents said they use AI daily or at least weekly, only 39% described themselves as highly confident using the technology. Although 73% reported productivity improvements, the findings point to a gap between the pace of adoption and employees’ readiness to use AI effectively.

More than half of the organisations surveyed actively encourage AI adoption, yet only around one in five employees reported receiving extensive AI training. Meanwhile, one in four respondents said their employer had provided no formal AI instruction.

The study found that employees who received extensive training were 2.5 times more likely to report high confidence in using AI than colleagues without training. They were also almost twice as likely to save four or more working hours each week through the technology.

“Across the GCC, organisations are adopting AI with real momentum, and the opportunity now is to match that momentum with readiness,” said Moza Al Futtaim, chief AI officer at Al-Futtaim.

“Organisations that succeed are those investing in their people alongside technology, equipping employees at every level with the skills and confidence to use these tools, and fostering a culture of continuous learning,” she added.

Access to AI training remains uneven across workforce groups. Nearly half (47%) of professionals aged 45 and above reported receiving no formal AI training from their employer, the highest proportion among the age groups surveyed.

Frontline employees and workers at smaller organisations also had less access to structured development programmes.

Leadership involvement was another factor associated with adoption. According to the report, workplaces where senior leaders actively use AI recorded employee adoption rates three times higher than those where leadership engagement was limited. 

Organisations with formal AI strategies also reported greater employee confidence and clearer guidance on how the technology should be used in different roles.

However, training alone may not resolve concerns about responsible AI use. Around one-third of respondents identified data security as their biggest barrier to adopting the technology, regardless of their age, seniority, industry or training level.

The findings suggest employers need to strengthen data governance and responsible AI frameworks alongside skills development, particularly as employees increasingly use AI in everyday workflows.

The report also features perspectives from IBM, Microsoft and Inception42, a G42 company, on the challenges of translating AI use into operational improvements.

“AI adoption alone does not create business value,” said Lula Mohanty, managing partner at IBM Middle East & Africa.

“Success comes when organisations redesign how work gets done, equip their people with the right skills and build trust alongside technology,” she added, highlighting the importance of combining technology investment with process redesign and workforce enablement.

Ibrahim AlJallaf, COO at Inception42, said companies often introduce AI into workflows originally designed for people, limiting the gains they can achieve.

“Real impact comes when workflows are re-imagined with AI and the human at the center of it,” he said, adding that effective deployment depends on employees who understand existing processes and can identify where changes are needed.

The report concludes that the next phase of AI transformation across the GCC will depend less on access to technology and more on organisations’ ability to build workforce capabilities, strengthen data foundations and integrate AI into everyday operations. It also calls for employers to measure the technology’s impact beyond productivity gains.