UAE Confronts AI Talent Shortage and Enterprise Dependency Risks

The United Arab Emirates is aiming to become a global leader in artificial intelligence by 2031, but a shortage of skilled AI professionals is hampering progress. Companies across banking, healthcare, logistics, real estate and government are struggling to fill roles such as AI engineers, data scientists and machine‑learning specialists, leading to longer hiring cycles, higher salaries and delays in AI projects. The government has launched initiatives under its National AI Strategy, including expanding university programs, supporting research, upskilling employees and attracting international talent.

A separate IBM study finds that UAE enterprises also face limited control over their AI ecosystems. Eighty‑eight percent of executives say switching AI vendors would be difficult, and 74 % cite challenges meeting data‑residency and sovereignty requirements. Ninety‑six percent lack full visibility of AI vendor, model and infrastructure dependencies, reporting an average of seven AI‑related disruptions in the past two years, with 84 % considering a seven‑day outage critically damaging. These findings underscore the dual need for talent development and stronger AI governance to sustain the country's AI ambitions.