1. MENA Healthcare AI Market Set to Hit $15 Billion by 2035, New Report Shows
A market research report published on 15 April by Research and Markets projects that the AI in healthcare sector across the Middle East and North Africa will grow from USD 0.6 billion in 2026 to USD 15 billion by 2035 - a compound annual growth rate of 43 per cent. The report identifies the UAE's National AI Strategy 2031 and Saudi Arabia's Seha Virtual Hospital as lead government catalysts. Healthcare providers account for 45 per cent of current market share, with adoption concentrated in AI diagnostics, robotic surgery and clinical decision-support. Key barriers cited include fragmented patient data, outdated hospital IT systems and a regional shortage of AI-trained clinical staff.
Why it matters: A 25-times increase in a single decade is not speculative - it is structural. Gulf governments have embedded AI healthcare mandates in national strategies, and chronic disease burdens across the region are creating non-discretionary demand. For investors and operators, the 43 per cent CAGR signals a window that is still early but narrowing fast. The skills shortage flagged in the report also points to a workforce training opportunity that regional universities and edtech platforms have yet to fully capture.
Read more: GlobeNewsWire
2. Meta's President Backs UAE AI Economy Despite Regional Tensions
Dina Powell McCormick, president of Meta, met this week with Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak to discuss how the UAE's investments in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies would support the country amid ongoing regional conflict concerns. Powell McCormick praised the Gulf's 15-year transformation from a resource-dependent economy into a technology and biotech hub, saying UAE economic fundamentals remain strong. She confirmed plans to visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the coming days, continuing a pattern of senior US technology executives making in-person commitments to the region.
Why it matters: A Fortune 50 president visiting Abu Dhabi and publicly endorsing the Gulf AI trajectory despite geopolitical noise carries institutional weight. Meta is a strategic partner of Mubadala, not merely a vendor, so McCormick's words signal continued US technology capital commitment to the Gulf. For regional decision-makers, the visit reinforces that the US-UAE technology partnership, formalised through the AI working group that held its first meeting in April, is insulated from the kind of short-term diplomatic friction that has slowed other Gulf foreign investment flows.
Read more: The National
3. Saudi Arabia Tops Global AI Security and Privacy Rankings in Stanford Index
Saudi Arabia has ranked first in the world for security, privacy and cryptography in artificial intelligence according to the 2026 AI Index Report published by Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. The Kingdom also led globally on the empowerment of women in AI - a finding that challenges the prevailing international narrative about the Gulf's workforce diversity record. Earlier data from the same index placed Saudi Arabia third worldwide for AI talent growth, with AI talent share more than doubling between 2019 and 2025 and more than 80 per cent of employees reporting regular use of AI tools, against a global average of 58 per cent.
Why it matters: Security and privacy leadership is the hardest AI category to manufacture - it requires sustained investment in cryptographic research, regulatory architecture and auditable deployment practices. Topping this ranking gives Saudi Arabia a credible differentiator in a global market where data sovereignty concerns are reshaping procurement decisions. It also strengthens SDAIA's pitch when competing with Singapore and the EU for AI governance standard-setting influence. Combined with the women-in-AI result, the data gives Riyadh a more nuanced story to tell ESG-focused institutional investors who have historically treated the Kingdom's tech credentials with caution.
Read more: Arab News
THE AI IN ARABIA VIEW
Three data points land this week that together tell a single story: the Gulf AI build-out is moving from ambition into measurable output. A 43 per cent CAGR in healthcare AI is not a forecast about a distant future - it is a description of a market already in motion. Saudi Arabia topping the Stanford privacy index signals that regulatory architecture is maturing alongside infrastructure. And when Meta's president flies to Abu Dhabi to say the economy is sound, she is not issuing reassurance - she is protecting a strategic position. The region is no longer auditioning for a seat at the global AI table; it is shaping the rules of the game.