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

At I/O 2026, Sundar Pichai Concedes AI Must Deliver Real Value

Gemini 3.5, a personal agent called Spark, agentic shopping, and Android XR eyewear are all aimed at making AI feel useful, not just impressive.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

at io 2026 sundar pichai concedes ai must deliver real value

Google

Google’s annual I/O developer conference (I/O 2026) has recently become a status update on the same question: can the company turn its AI spending into products people use every day? This year, chief executive Sundar Pichai described Google as being in a phase of hyper progress, while conceding this is the part of the cycle where people want to see real value in the products they use on a day-to-day basis.

The strategy on display was to push agents — AI systems that act on a user’s behalf — into nearly every Google product at once. Search now has an “intelligent search box” that returns generated explainer videos alongside links. Gmail, Docs, YouTube and Maps are gaining their own agent layers, including a Docs Live feature that turns spoken instructions into drafted text with citations.

Two new models, Gemini 3.5 and a cheaper Gemini 3.5 Flash, arrived the same day. Google says 900 million people now use Gemini, and that more than 50 billion images have been generated with it. The pricing tier names are likely to confuse buyers: a new AI Ultra plan launches at $100 a month, while the older Gemini AI Ultra drops from $250 to $200.

The flashier announcements were Gemini Omni, a video generator pitched as a more realistic answer to OpenAI’s discontinued Sora 2, and Gemini Spark, a personal agent that handles recurring tasks across a user’s Google account. A new universal shopping cart lets agents complete purchases across multiple retailers from inside Google itself, placing the company between the merchant and the buyer, and also owning the checkout.

Also Read: DJI Teases Dual-Camera Osmo Pocket 4P For 2026 Launch

Google also confirmed its Android XR eyewear, built with Samsung and frames from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. Audio-only glasses ship this autumn; a display-equipped version, which would superimpose live translations into the wearer’s field of view, is still in development. Both sets translate, however only the display version shows you the result.

What Pichai did not resolve is the bargain underneath all this. An agent is only useful to the degree it knows your calendar, your inbox, your shopping history and your physical surroundings. Google has now confirmed that, in time, the same context may carry advertising.