Middle East CEOs embrace AI-led growth amid regional confidence and global divergence

Across the Gulf and wider Middle East, business leaders are expressing a level of optimism that stands in stark contrast to the caution now common in many advanced economies. While Western policymakers wrestle with mounting public debt, sluggish productivity and the difficult politics of deep structural reform, chief executives in the region are backing home markets with conviction and capital.

According to PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey, 88 percent of Middle East CEOs are confident about economic growth in their own territories, rising to 93 percent within the Gulf Cooperation Council. The UAE alone records particularly strong sentiment: PwC’s regional findings show 91 percent of UAE chief executives expect domestic expansion over the next 12 months, well above the global average of 55 percent. Hani Ashkar, PwC’s Middle East senior partner, said the survey’s results “reflect the underlying confidence” of the region’s business ecosystem and that leaders are prepared to look past the “short-term volatility” associated with geopolitics.

That optimism is underpinned by large, state-directed economic strategies and rapid implementation. Saudi Arabia and the UAE both feature among the top 10 global destinations for international investment in PwC’s assessment, and government plans place technology, especially artificial intelligence, at the centre of future growth. The UAE’s National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031 and Saudi Arabia’s National Strategy for Data and AI aim to build domestic AI ecosystems through education, startup support and infrastructure development; PwC projects that data-centre and AI infrastructure spending could attract several billion dollars of international investment to the Gulf in 2026.

Industry surveys suggest the region is already integrating AI into business operations at a faster clip than many comparators. PwC’s report finds 82 percent of Middle East CEOs say their organisations cultivate cultures that enable AI adoption, while 70 percent now have clearly defined roadmaps for AI initiatives. A separate PwC survey from December indicated 75 percent of regional employees are using AI tools at work, versus a global average of 69 percent. Earlier PwC research also recorded rapid uptake of generative AI in the GCC, with many executives anticipating profitability gains from the technology.

State-backed advantages, abundant land, low-cost power and regulatory frameworks that favour large-scale investment, are helping the Gulf establish itself as a hub for next-generation data centres and cloud capacity. That infrastructure, in turn, lowers entry costs for smaller firms and startups, creating a virtuous cycle of domestic investment and retained capital. Venture funding reached record levels in 2025, and merger-and-acquisition activity climbed strongly in the first half of last year. PwC notes ambitious acquisition plans among Gulf executives: 72 percent expect to pursue a major deal within three years.

The momentum is visible across capital markets. Saudi listings raised several billion dollars in 2025 and other regional exchanges logged double-digit gains, while venture capital flows increasingly favour the Gulf as a destination rather than a mere transit point to Western hubs. High-profile regional technology firms and fintechs are cited as evidence that the Middle East is producing companies able to compete on scale and regional reach.

Yet the picture is not without caveats. More than half of CEOs surveyed expressed concern about geopolitical risk even as they invest domestically. And external forecasters continue to expect much slower growth in Europe, Allianz Trade has described European expansion in 2026 as likely to be weak, amplifying the divergence in narratives between continents.

For investors and policymakers, the takeaway is twofold: the Middle East’s rising sway rests on deliberate policy choices and concentrated execution, and those choices are reshaping where capital is deployed. According to PwC’s findings, most planned outbound investments by Middle Eastern firms will remain in-region, with only a small share directed toward Western Europe, signalling a shift in the weight of global investment flows towards the Gulf and its neighbours.

As advanced economies debate the means of reinvigorating long-term growth, the Gulf is advancing a different argument: that coordinated public strategy, rapid infrastructure build-out and an early embrace of transformative technologies can create self-sustaining economic momentum. Whether that model proves resilient in the face of global shocks and political uncertainty will be a defining question for markets and policymakers in the years ahead.