Global stock markets fell sharply last November before a mild rebound in December, amid concerns that a boom in valuations of artificial intelligence (AI) companies could be rapidly cooling.
Markets in the US, Asia, and Europe dropped sharply, pulled down by tech stocks when banks warned a serious stock market correction could lie ahead.
In comparison, GCC markets proved more resilient, attracting pioneers in global tech, global talent, and a deluge of investments by sovereign money and other investors. The GCC has patiently been building the infrastructure to kickstart a tech-enabled ecosystem. This created the perfect storm for a massive shift of interest towards the region.
Plugged in and charging
The GCC has quickly moved from passive capital allocation into active ecosystem building, spurred on by heavy sovereign capital and large infrastructure bets, setting the region apart from Europe and US markets.
BCG’s 2025 “GCC Global’s AI Pulse” finds the UAE and Saudi Arabia investing deliberately across research, data centers, and sovereign programs to catch up quickly with leading markets. The UAE leads with 35 data centers and the region’s highest public cloud spend per employee at $228. Saudi Arabia has seen 72 percent of its companies adopt a strategy to deploy emerging AI technologies, backed by cloud and high-performance computing infrastructure. Oman and Kuwait are also expanding digital infrastructure through partnerships with Microsoft and Google Cloud.
Arguably, the US remains superior in venture depth, R&D ecosystems and talent pool breadth, while China retains massive domestic scale and at times steps sprinting ahead of the world in consumer-led tech innovations. The GCC’s strength relies on capital and regulatory agility, and maturing organic-scale consumer product startups. Recent Reuters and Microsoft/G42 reporting show major cloud and data-center deals are positioning the GCC as an attractive sovereign-backed hub for AI compute, despite slower VC ecosystems (seed-to-series funnels).
In other words, the GCC is converging fast on infrastructure parity, but must still strengthen independent VC/angel markets, R&D ecosystems, and risk-tolerant entrepreneurial culture to fully match global market tech dynamism.
Capacity for gifted tech talent
BCG’s talent trackers in 2025 show the UAE and Saudi Arabia are improving their share of high-skilled STEM hires through targeted relocation programs and public-sector hiring drives, yet local talent pools remain small relative to market ambition. To counter that imbalance, the GCC is showering talent with high salary packages, above-market incentives and benefits, and extended visa flexibility that together attract people who want to work on national-scale deployments.
Laura Taylor, Head of Middle East at TENTEN Partners, a specialized team of experienced recruiters, told TRENDS: “To attract these highly sought-after candidates, companies in the region must push the boundaries for salary as well as consider equity packages. They must also ensure that the role is at the right level within the organization. Titles such as Chief of AI are important, as well as a direct reporting line to either the CEO, CIO, or COO.”
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have emerged as global hubs for artificial intelligence expertise, ranking among the world’s top 20 countries by talent density, a new survey showed.
According to the latest Global AI Competitiveness Index, Saudi Arabia holds 0.7 percent of the global AI talent pool. In comparison, the UAE holds 0.4 percent, placing it ahead of countries like Russia and Italy, as reported by Arab News.
According to a 2025 Executive Brief: Navigating the Gulf’s Most Promising Employment Landscape, the UAE ranks first globally in hiring sentiment, with 56 percent of employers planning workforce expansion, while the GCC region expects to create more than 5 million new private-sector jobs by 2030, with an average salary growth of 3.2 percent across GCC countries, with the UAE leading at 4 percent.
The most lucrative career opportunities in 2025-2026 align with digital transformation priorities: with AI & Machine Learning Specialists earning AED 240,000-720,000, Cybersecurity Experts making AED 180,000-600,000, and Sustainability and Green Tech receiving AED 200,000-500,000 annually.
Lifestyle, tax-free wages, modern city schools and universities, healthcare, and international connectivity are further talent draws.
“The search for this talent is global. We’re seeing inflows from Europe and from the US, where there are many professionals with Arabic roots who bring both cultural understanding and international experience. Asia is also a strong source of talent with a workforce used to rapid change and complex, dynamic environments, as well as home to expats accustomed to relocating for work,” Taylor shared.
GCC growth projections to 2030
Using McKinsey and BCG 2025 trend frames: if current infrastructure investments, talent programs, and SWF deployments continue, GCC tech contribution to GDP could experience double-digit growth rates in digital economy segments like cloud services, AI-driven verticals, fintech and digital trade corridors.
Talent programs are driven by technology hubs that are thriving in the region, be it within specialized incubators designed to grow and launch startups, or embedded within large organizations.
“For Letswork, this shift has been evident on the ground. Our platform was born inside Emaar’s real estate and hospitality ecosystem, and we have seen firsthand how the region’s openness to experimentation allows founders and operators to move quickly,” Hamza Khan, co-founder, Letswork, a global subscription and marketplace for workspaces, meeting rooms, and offices, told TRENDS.
“The international makeup of our user base has grown sharply, driven by people who are relocating to the Gulf precisely because these hubs offer both opportunity and quality of life. In many ways, the Gulf is no longer trying to emulate Silicon Valley or London. It is charting its own model for how to build a knowledge economy in record time,” he said.
AI’s role by 2030
By 2030, AI will likely be the single largest accelerator of GDP contribution in GCC tech strategy, according to a 2025 BCG Global report. AI will enable autonomous logistics, energy optimization, government digital services, and health tech and underpin sovereign cloud and data services exports.
“AI is clearly the gravitational center right now, but it’s also serving as an accelerant for other sectors rather than a replacement. In practice, the most compelling startups are those using AI to amplify domain-specific innovation (ranging from logistics and energy to media and finance) rather than those chasing AI for its own sake,” Chris Lawrence, founder and managing partner of Labyrinth Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on secondaries, told TRENDS.
