BATOOL GHAITH (ABU DHABI)
Nearly two-thirds of UAE residents are convinced that AI tools improve their day-to-day productivity at work — and it is the experienced professionals who have emerged as the most confident, a new study showed.
Residents aged 35 to 44 recorded the highest productivity confidence at 70.9%, followed by those in the 25-to-34 age group at 68.2%, according to the research conducted by global insights consultancy SixthFactor.
Overall, 65.7% of residents said AI tools enhance their daily productivity, while 65.8% reported being aware of many uses of AI, the study added.
Confidence in AI was also strongest among highly educated and higher-income groups. Those with postgraduate or professional qualifications recorded a 71.3% positive response on AI productivity, while residents earning Dh30,000 or more per month came in at 71.8%.
Himanshu Vashishtha, Founder and Global CEO of SixthFactor, said the study’s results challenge a common assumption that AI adoption is driven mainly by younger users.
It turned out the professionals with the most at stake — managers, decision-makers, people responsible for outcomes — are the ones most convinced that AI improves their work, he said.
“What stands out in this study is not the high awareness numbers, but where the conviction is sitting. That is a different signal from general adoption. It suggests AI in the UAE has moved past the stage where people are trying it out,” Vashishtha told Aletihad.
The study also found that attitudes towards AI are becoming more positive. Nearly six in 10 (59.3%) respondents overall said they are now more comfortable letting AI handle routine workplace tasks than they were a few years ago.
Now, the next question is whether organisations will build structures to match what their people are already doing, Vashishtha said.
AI in Practice
Technology and AI specialist Arkan Haddad said AI is increasingly moving employees away from manual execution and towards strategic oversight — absorbing the repetitive and data-heavy tasks that once crowded out higher-value work. The result is not fewer jobs, but different ones.
“Instead of spending time on routine processes, workers are able to focus more on decision-making, problem-solving and strategic priorities,” Haddad said.
Lina Khalaf, a Dubai-based project coordinator, sees the change right in her calendar. Preparing meeting summaries, reviewing notes, and drafting project updates used to eat up her mornings, sometimes spilling into a second day. Now, tasks that once took hours can be finished before lunch.
"Rather than spending most of my day on documentation, I now have time to focus on things that actually matter," Khalaf said.
Sana Darwish, who works in social media and digital communications, faces a similar monthly grind: vast amounts of data across multiple platforms, patterns buried in noise. AI, she said, does not do the thinking for her but it clears the way for it.
"It removes a lot of repetitive work so I can focus on understanding what the data is actually telling me," Darwish said. "It is not about doing less work. It is about spending more time on the parts of the job that actually require human judgement."
Making the Most of the Technology
When it comes to AI adoption, however, access alone is not enough. Haddad emphasised that genuine transformation requires investment well beyond a software subscription.
"Success requires robust data infrastructure, clear ethical guardrails, and leadership committed to resolving privacy concerns," he said. "Organisations must redesign workflows around human-AI collaboration, rather than treating it as a simple cost-cutting tool.”
Training, he argued, is what separates surface-level adoption from real commercial value. Continuous upskilling bridges technical gaps, shifting the workforce mindset from basic experimentation to responsible, advanced problem-solving, Haddad added.
“AI will increasingly free professionals to focus on innovation, creativity and strategic planning.”
The stakes extend well beyond individual productivity. AI is forecast to contribute about 14% of the UAE's GDP by 2030, and not by replacing workers, Haddad said, but by augmenting what they are capable of.