Like a friend who shares the news over tea — no jargon, no fluff, just what matters across the Gulf.
ISSUE 05, 22 June 2026
Ai MAJLiS
- UAE
- SAUDI ARABIA
- QATAR
- KUWAIT
- BAHRAIN
- OMAN
Sabah al-khair — welcome to Issue #005 of Ai MAJLiS. It has been a big week in the Gulf AI story. The UAE government didn’t just talk about being the world’s most AI-ready country — it put Dh1 million on the line to prove it, launching a competition to crown its three most impactful AI assistants. Saudi Arabia’s AI sustainability platform is quietly unlocking a $20 billion opportunity at the World Economic Forum. Qatar gets a new Doha-Korea AI partnership. And a landmark ESCWA-ILO report delivers the most sobering analysis yet of what AI means for Arab workers — with skills mismatches of up to 70% in some countries. Karak in hand — let’s go.
01
UAE - Agentic AI · Government
UAE Puts Dh1 Million on the Table to Find Its Best AI Assistants
The UAE government has launched a Dh1 million prize to recognise the three most impactful AI assistants deployed across federal government — the latest signal that the country is moving from deploying AI to measuring it.
The announcement came during a high-stakes Agentic AI workshop organised by the Presidential Court and the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, attended by 600 employees. Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the Agentic AI Project Executive Committee, declared at the event that “the UAE is the world’s most prepared and mature country for adopting AI” — a bold claim backed by an equally bold action plan.
Al Gergawi outlined the next phase: redesigning government processes using AI-powered technologies with four clear objectives — faster delivery, higher-quality outputs, improved information reliability, and stronger decision-making support. Every federal employee will receive AI training. Every ministry will be evaluated on the speed and quality of its AI adoption.
Dh1M
Prize for top 3 govt AI assistants
600
Employees at Agentic AI workshop
50%
Govt ops targeted for agentic AI by 2028
"The UAE is entering a new phase of government transformation centred on the use of AI agents in the design of services, policies and procedures."
— Mohammad Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs, June 19, 2026
Separately, the UAE’s Ministry of Higher Education has launched an upgraded AI-powered Edu Hub — an admissions and university registration platform integrating AI tools, UAE PASS, and cross-ministry data to allow 40,000+ students to complete the entire higher education application process online without a single paper submission.
02
SAUDI ARABIA - AI & Sustainability
Saudi Arabia's AI Sustainability Platform Is Quietly Unlocking $20 Billion
A platform that didn’t make many headlines is now tracking to become one of the Kingdom’s most consequential AI deployments. SUSTAIN — Saudi Arabia’s AI-driven sustainability platform presented at the World Economic Forum — uses artificial intelligence to accelerate the formation of partnerships for high-impact sustainability projects, with an estimated value of up to $20 billion by 2030 within Saudi Arabia alone, and up to $100 billion across the wider MENA region.
The platform addresses one of the most persistent friction points in sustainable investment: the time and complexity required to identify, validate, and match project proponents with investors and co-developers. SUSTAIN uses AI to compress this matchmaking process — turning what traditionally takes months of relationship-building and due diligence into a data-driven, accelerated discovery process.
This fits within Saudi Arabia’s broader AI-for-economic-diversification thesis. The Kingdom’s Cabinet declared 2026 the Year of AI not just as a technology initiative but as a framework for economic transformation — with AI being applied across every Vision 2030 priority area, from tourism to healthcare to energy.
- Opportunity Spotlight
SUSTAIN is the clearest example yet of AI being used to unlock private capital for Gulf sustainability projects at scale. For ESG investors, sustainability consultants, and green infrastructure companies, this platform represents a structured, AI-enabled entry point into the Saudi market that didn’t exist 12 months ago.
Why it matters: AI-powered deal matchmaking in the sustainability space is an emerging category globally — and Saudi Arabia is building what may become the largest such platform in the developing world. Companies in green tech, infrastructure finance, and climate advisory should be watching SUSTAIN closely as it scales.
03
QATAR - Partnerships · Robotics
Qatar Deepens AI Partnerships with Korea — and Prepares to Host the Gulf's Biggest Robotics Expo
Qatar’s second Qatar-Korea AI Forum opened in Doha this month under the theme “New Horizons and Business Opportunities” — organised by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in cooperation with the Korean Embassy and KOTRA. The forum deepens a bilateral AI and digital technology partnership that positions Qatar as a gateway for Korean AI and robotics technology into the broader GCC market.
Qatar Tribune this week published a landmark editorial arguing that AI is not a future consideration for the Gulf — it is already reshaping the present. “Consider an ordinary morning in Doha: a resident opens Metrash2 to renew a residence permit, turns to Hukoomi to register a business, books a hospital appointment, and settles household bills — without leaving a chair, without meeting an official, without touching a single sheet of paper.” Qatar’s Hukoomi portal now carries more than 400 digital government services, and the state expects over 90% of government services to be fully digital.
Qatar is also preparing for ROBOTECH 26 — October 27–29, 2026 in Doha — a 15,000 sqm international exhibition on AI and robotics technologies backed by Qatar Chamber, covering healthcare, smart transportation, logistics, education, cybersecurity, fintech, and smart cities. The GCC’s AI market is expected to grow from QR12.4bn in 2024 to QR56.3bn by 2030 — a compound annual growth rate of 28.6%.
Bahrain sits at 83%, and Saudi Arabia matches Qatar at 90%. The top use cases: comparing prices (the leading use case in most markets — 63% in Saudi, 60% in Qatar, 55% in Oman and Kuwait), finding gift ideas, and checking reviews. In the UAE specifically, checking reviews is the top use case at 60%, and 69% of UAE consumers have purchased directly through social media — making social commerce both a primary shopping channel and a primary fraud vector.
Here’s the catch: despite near-universal AI-assisted shopping, trust in AI to complete transactions remains very low. Only 28% in Qatar, 33% in Saudi Arabia, and just 32% in the UAE said they would trust AI agents to handle checkout independently.
400+
Services on Qatar's Hukoomi digital portal
90%
Govt services targeted to go fully digital
28.6%
GCC AI market CAGR to 2030 (QDB)
Why it matters: Qatar is running one of the most quietly effective digital government transformations in the GCC. ROBOTECH 26 gives international AI and robotics companies a direct market access event in Doha — and the Korea partnership opens a two-way channel for technology that’s increasingly sought by Gulf markets.
04
ARAB REGION - Future of Work · Research
The Starkest Warning Yet: AI Could Displace Millions of Arab Workers — or Create a Boom. It Depends on Choices Made Now
A landmark report published jointly by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) has delivered the most comprehensive analysis yet of what AI means for Arab labour markets — and it is not a comfortable read.
The report outlines three scenarios for the Arab region through 2035:
→ Best case: AI contributes an estimated $375 billion to regional GDP, generating productivity gains and new employment — particularly in tourism, logistics, and digital services.
→ Worst case: AI contributes the same $375 billion, but outpaces workforce preparedness — causing sharp inequality, labour market fragmentation, and prolonged displacement of lower- and middle-skilled workers.
→ Middle path: Gradual AI integration with coordinated policy action generates annual AI contributions to Arab economies of 20–34% per year — but only if governments, employers, and workers’ organisations act together.
The skills gap data is alarming: mismatches between education systems and labour market needs are as high as 40–70% in some Arab countries. Even in advanced Gulf economies like the UAE and Bahrain, the report flags gaps in STEM education, shortages of AI specialists, and continued reliance on expatriate talent as structural vulnerabilities.
A separate Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies report, published this week, echoes these findings — warning that demographic pressures and skills gaps in the Arab region could amplify the economic impact of automation.
GCC AI SNAPSHOT
Where Each Country Stands This Week
Five issues in, and the through-line of the Ai MAJLiS story is becoming clearer. The Gulf is not building AI infrastructure to catch up with the world — it is building it to leapfrog. The UAE’s prize for AI assistants, Saudi’s sustainability matchmaking platform, Qatar’s digital government — these are not experiments. They are productions.
But this week also reminded us that technology alone doesn’t determine outcomes. The ESCWA-ILO report makes it plain: the same AI that could add $375 billion to Arab economies could also displace millions of workers if the skills investment doesn’t follow the compute investment. That is the tension at the heart of the GCC’s AI decade — and it will define the next few years more than any data center deal.
That’s our majlis for this week. Share it with someone who needs to understand what’s really happening in Gulf AI — and we’ll see you next Sunday, inshallah. 🫖
