Productivity and customer experience have become the top priorities for CEOs in the Middle East over the next three years and they expect to benefit from advanced artificial intelligence (AL), according to an IBM Institute for Business Value study.
The report, which surveyed 120 CEOs from the Middle East, discovered that half of all CEO respondents in the region believe that regulatory factors will continue to significantly impact businesses, with 48 per cent describing technology factors as vital for shaping the future of their companies.
As digital technologies are developing apace, Middle East CEOs expect to extract significant benefits from advanced AI. Noteworthy, 61 per cent of respondents believe AI (including generative AI, deep learning and machine learning) can boost results in the coming years. At the same time, 55 per cent of the survey participants are considering cloud computing as an essential tool to attain positive outcomes, and 51 per cent believe automation will propel the success of their business.
General manager of IBM Middle East and Africa, Saad Toma, said: “Generative AI can be a game-changer in driving a new wave of productivity, efficiency, and service quality across industries, reducing barriers to AI adoption.
“To deploy emerging generative AI use cases at scale, CEOs need to assess company requirements in areas such as CRM, HR, modernisation, data privacy, security and sustainability.
“The emergence of generative AI as a business and decision-making tool is a defining moment – one where CEOs need to define a clear plan, have the right capabilities in place, and handle disruptions of all shapes and sizes. And they need to do this without slowing down or losing focus of their strategic vision in order to accomplish their objectives and safeguard their futures.”
According to June’s report by International Data Corporation, the Middle East and Africa regions will see the world’s fastest spending growth in artificial intelligence, surging at a compound annual rate of 29.7 per cent till 2026 to reach $6.4 billion. The boom will be driven by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the region’s economic powerhouses.
When it comes to pinpointing the key issues facing their companies, 47 per cent of regional CEOs claim that environmental sustainability will remain one the most pressing topic in the next few years, with 28 per cent of respondents citing diversity and inclusion as their major concern. In addition, 28 per cent of respondents stated that the issue of market share growth will loom large in the course of the next three years.
