Today's Edition
A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
The UAE continues to lead the world in artificial intelligence adoption, with 70.1% of its working-age population now using generative AI products, according to the latest Microsoft AI Diffusion Report.
AI adoption in the UAE has risen steadily, increasing from 59.4% in the first half of 2025 to 64.0% in the second half of 2025 and reaching 70.1% in the first quarter of 2026, making it the first economy globally to cross the 70% threshold.
“UAE's continued progress in AI adoption reflects sustained, long-term investment in digital infrastructure, skills, and governance,” the Microsoft report said.
Microsoft measures AI adoption as the share of people between the ages of 15 and 64 who have used a generative AI product. The measure is derived from aggregated and anonymised Microsoft telemetry and adjusted for factors such as internet penetration, operating-system market share and population size.
The report, published by the Microsoft AI Economy Institute using data across more than 100 markets, said the UAE remained at the top of the global AI adoption index for the third consecutive period, with adoption growth continuing at nearly four times the global average.
“This achievement positions the UAE among the most advanced globally and reflects a rate of uptake that continues to outpace the global average, which stands at 17.8%,” the report said.
General Manager of Microsoft UAE, Amr Kamel, said, “Growth at this scale reflects deliberate, long-term investment in the right foundations, even through more challenging periods. This milestone belongs to the UAE, to its government, its institutions, its businesses, and the people who have made AI part of how they work and learn.”
“The priority now is what comes next: enabling organisations to operate with confidence, sustain continuity, and build forward responsibly. Microsoft’s role is to support that journey as a long-term partner to the UAE,” he added.
Microsoft said it has operated in the UAE for more than three decades and currently supports public- and private-sector organisations through two cloud regions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, backed by multiple redundancy zones designed for operational continuity.
The company said its sovereign cloud collaboration with G42 and Core42 extends support for public-sector and regulated industries with in-country data governance capabilities.
Microsoft also highlighted its broader investment commitments in the UAE, including a planned $15.2 billion investment spanning AI infrastructure, innovation and skills development. The company aims to train one million learners in AI by 2027 through initiatives such as Microsoft Elevate UAE, which is expected to reach more than 250,000 students and educators as well as over 55,000 government employees.
According to Microsoft, the company and its partners are projected to contribute $74.4 billion to the UAE economy and support more than 152,000 jobs in the coming years.
Globally, Singapore ranked second in AI adoption with 63.4%, followed by Norway at 48.6%, Ireland at 48.4%, France at 47.8%, Spain at 44.2%, New Zealand at 43.0%, the United Kingdom at 42.2%, the Netherlands at 42.1%, and Qatar at 41.8%.
The United States ranked 21st globally, with AI adoption reaching 31.3% in the first quarter of 2026, up from 28.3% in the second half of 2025.
The report noted that the gap between the Global North and the Global South continued to widen, with adoption in higher-income economies growing more than twice as fast as in developing regions due to differences in electricity access, connectivity and digital skills.
It also highlighted rapid AI adoption growth across Asia, led by South Korea, Thailand, and Japan, supported by improvements in multilingual AI capabilities and wider everyday use cases.
