While UAE organizations have more than doubled their AI spending over the past year, a significant "execution gap" is preventing these investments from translating into widespread business transformation. According to new research from ServiceNow, the country’s AI maturity score currently sits at 48 out of 100. Despite a strong commitment—with AI expected to consume nearly 20% of IT budgets by 2027—most businesses are struggling to scale their efforts. These initiatives are frequently stalled by fragmented workflows, outdated legacy systems, and disconnected data environments, which prevent the technology from moving beyond simple productivity tasks to meaningful, autonomous enterprise operations.

To bridge this divide, experts suggest that companies must shift their focus from mere experimentation to deliberate AI orchestration. The data shows that the most successful organizations are those that prioritize integrated platforms, robust data management, and comprehensive governance frameworks. Currently, only a small fraction of firms have implemented formal AI auditing or risk-management protocols, leaving a clear path for improvement. Companies that successfully align their technology with strategic upskilling and unified workflows are already seeing returns on investment as high as 160%, proving that in the current market, the leaders are defined not by the size of their budget, but by how effectively they operationalize their AI infrastructure.