News

Workplace Study Reveals Middle Eastern AI Use Is Skyrocketing

The recent findings reveal that 56% of Middle East tech professionals are using AI — a figure higher than anywhere in Europe.

Published

2 years ago

August 21, 2024

Nour Nasir

workplace study reveals middle eastern ai use is skyrocketing

Workforce solutions and recruitment specialists Hays have published a wide-ranging study of 5014 tech professionals and 6178 employers spanning 20 countries.

The company’s Tech Talent Explorer report contains plenty of interesting data, but perhaps the most significant findings concern the growing use of AI. The study reveals that the Middle Eastern tech space is far more progressive than its European counterpart, with greater numbers of tech professionals in the MENA and GCC countries using AI than those in Europe. In addition, more Middle Eastern organizations offer AI support and training than almost anywhere else covered in the research.

Commenting on the study’s findings, Oliver Kowalski, Regional Managing Director of Hays Middle East, said:

“Of course, AI has its risks, but it is here to stay and those that embrace it will reap its rewards. This new data brings to light a competitive advantage for companies in the Middle East looking to hire developers, data and infrastructure professionals, cyber security talent, and other tech specialists. It shows these people’s thirst for AI training, for working on innovative projects with the latest iterations of technologies”.

Key Statistics:

56% of Middle Eastern tech professionals use AI tools. In Italy, the figure is just 28%, while France only manages 29%.
68% of GCC tech professionals associate AI with increased efficiency and productivity, with 50% already using AI tools to aid communication.
66% of all software developers use AI to generate or debug code.
82% of all the tech professionals surveyed desire more AI training, with the Netherlands and Spain topping the poll at 92% and 89%, respectively.
Only 30% of all employers surveyed currently recommend using AI.
Only 24% of GCC tech professionals have received AI training or support, but that figure is still higher than in all European countries (apart from The Netherlands, at 27%).

Also Read: The Most AI-Proof Career Opportunities In The Middle East

The study is freely available as an interactive report — The Tech Talent Explorer — which also compares salaries and “talent attraction factors” for tech professionals across both Europe and the Middle East.

News

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 9 And Ultra 2 Specs Leak Ahead Of Unpacked

An 800mAh Ultra 2 battery and a switch from Exynos to Qualcomm silicon headline the expected changes for Samsung’s next smartwatches.

Published

3 days ago

July 15, 2026

Nour Nasir

samsung's galaxy watch 9 and ultra 2 specs leak ahead of unpacked

Samsung’s next smartwatches have little left to hide. A new leak reported by Android Authority has surfaced most of the remaining details about the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, just over a week before the company’s Galaxy Unpacked event on July 22.

The biggest change is an invisible one: Samsung is expected to drop its own Exynos W1000 chip in favor of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite SW6100, a chipset unveiled only this year, according to the outlet.

Battery capacity looks like the other notable upgrade. Citing a report from Winfuture, Android Authority says the Watch Ultra 2 could reach 800mAh, well beyond the 590mAh cell in the current Watch Ultra. The 44mm Watch 9 reportedly gets a 445mAh cell — the same capacity as last year’s Watch 8 Classic — while the 40mm model stays at 325mAh.

The 40mm Watch 9 will reportedly feature a 438 x 438-pixel panel, with the 44mm Watch 9 and the Watch Ultra 2 sharing a larger 480 x 480-pixel screen. Samsung leaker Ice Universe has separately claimed the Ultra 2’s display could reach a peak brightness of 5,000 nits. RAM and storage vary by model, topping out at 2GB and 64GB.

Also Read: Tamper With The Recording LED & Meta’s Glasses Kill Camera

The Ultra 2 keeps its titanium case and 100-meter water resistance; the standard Watch 9 remains aluminum, rated to 5 ATM. All models are said to include Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, and dual-band WiFi, with the usual LTE variants, and ship with One UI 9 Watch running on Wear OS 7.

A separate leak puts the Galaxy Watch 9 at €409 (about $468) for the 40mm Bluetooth model, rising to €489 (about $560) for the 44mm LTE version, with the Watch Ultra 2 LTE at €749 (about $857) — figures Android Authority said were partially corroborated by Winfuture. Confirmation arrives on stage on July 22.