Riyadh – Sharikat Mubasher: Qlik, a global leader in data integration, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), launched research of 4,200 C-Suite executives and AI decision-makers, revealing what is hindering AI progress globally and how to overcome these barriers.

A lack of AI skills, governance issues and insufficient resources are all hindering successful AI deployment, causing many projects to get stuck in the planning stages. Ready-made solutions are a preferred way for global businesses to start working with AI solutions, and see return on investment in the technology.

Despite all the challenges, the study sheds light on positive forecasts from AI tech users. 70% and 77% of participants from the UAE and Saudi Arabia successively expressed their confidence in the capabilities of both countries to occupy advanced places in improving AI skills within the coming 5 years.

Meanwhile, 93% of UAE and 95% of Saudi Arabia believe that AI techs are crucial to achieving institutional success compared to 87% of global participants.

The study also points out that institutions in the GCC markets exploit AI techs mainly in fields including training, sharing knowledge, improving operations, cost efficiency, and future trends forecasts.

The study further explains that 72% of companies in the UAE, and 64% in Saudi Arabia tend to freeze or suspend AI projects due to several factors that include regulatory challenges, financial restrictions, and the scarcity of necessary skills that support execution and operation.