The Middle East has remained one of the early adopters of tech and AI innovations. In this blog, we’ll look at the top 5 AI trends that will prevail in MENA in the coming months.

The Middle East is one of the early adopters of the latest AI trends and innovations. AI is effectively connecting with multiple industries in MENA. Some of the popular sectors are fintech, robotics, transportation, manufacturing, retail and so on. 

The prime driver for AI adoption is the high demand for virtual assistants among people to get easy access to services. AI streamlines operations, saves time and costs for businesses and most importantly, improves customer experiences across different touchpoints. 

Suggested Reading: Cutting Costs with Conversational AI in MENA region

As per stats, the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence in the Middle East will reach $320 billion by 2030. Additionally, with the current AI trends in the Middle East, we can expect annual growth of 20 to 34% across the area. 

Let’s look at the emerging trends in AI that directly influence the MENA region’s AI dynamics.  

Top AI trends in the Middle East and North Africa region: 

The Middle East has always been receptive to tech innovations, but AI is taking its entire realm to another level. So much so that there are multiple AI events held every year to showcase the latest innovations in the domain.

One such event is GITEX. Held in Dubai, GITEX is the biggest technology conference and exhibition in the Middle East. The undisputed tech event focuses on AI, 5G, Cloud, BigData, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Quantum Computing, among other technologies. 

What makes GITEX special for AI enthusiasts is that this event is where enterprise IT leaders, government officials and market observers discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by AI. 

Suggested Reading: Verloop.io at GITEX 2020

So, let us look at what are the current trends in Artificial Intelligence in the region:

1. Automation in the fintech industry through AI

As per the data from the International Data Corporation, the Fintech industry offers the biggest opportunity for AI adoption. In 2021, around $28.3 million or nearly 25% of all artificial Intelligence investments in MENA will be in use for AI solutions development. 

AI in the Middle East is disrupting the fintech industry, especially by implementing chatbot technology. Undoubtedly, automation and AI technologies are improving communication interfaces between users and financial institutions. AI provides quick response, personalised and efficient customer service. 

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In fact, AI automated services are consistently resolving customer queries effectively during the pandemic.

Further, financial institutions are getting advanced investment assistance at an affordable expense with the integration of AI. It helps them to allocate and manage fundings at a large scale. 

According to Accenture, Financial services will see a boost in annual GAV of $37 billion by 2035 with AI adoption. 

2. AI in transportation

As per a report by Accenture, the transportation sector will experience a $19 billion growth with AI implementation by 2035. The current transportation sector in MENA is benefiting through AI in the following way:

• Autonomous vehicles reduce the overall financial expenditure by cutting the operating cost. 
• Transportation companies are eliminating delays to passengers using computer vision. 
• Drone taxis smooth out traffic congestion and prevent accidents.

By 2030, the continuous contribution of AI to the transportation industry will bring a revenue of $12 billion. 

Suggested Reading: How To Use Conversational AI in Logistics Management

3. Adoption of emotional AI in the retail industry

The adoption of emotional AI is one of the growing trends in the Middle East, especially in the retail Industry. 

Emotional AI can efficiently adapt, sense and communicate with numerous human emotions. It can comprehend consumer behaviour through non-verbal and verbal interactions. It uses advanced technical cameras and conversation AI to understand different types of human emotions. In fact, by 2035, emotional AI will bring an annual GVA of $14 billion in the Middle East. 

4. AI in engineering

MENA will gain 2% of worldwide AI revenue by 2030, which will be equivalent to $320 billion. Such estimates are coming to the surface due to the mass adoption of AI technologies in various MENA businesses. 

Experts say that if the Middle East effectively implements AI across different sectors, then it can become a worldwide AI hub. This can only be possible if engineering strategy offers better scalability, outcomes, and dependency over AI models.

AI engineering is bringing multiple disciplines together to offer high value by combining various AI technologies. For example, AI and smart robots perform complex tasks (i.e. in the auto manufacturing industry). Also, AI and IOT, AI and big data are getting quite popular. 

5. AI in robotics

Robotics is not only growing in the Middle East but also in the worldwide market. The integration of AI in robotics solutions is resulting in intelligent robots. 

As per estimates, the market size of robotics in MENA will reach around 385.74 million dollars between 2021 to 2025. 

Robotics and AI are effectively improving the performance of various sectors. This includes medical surgeries, replacing humans from risky jobs (oil and gas industry), robotics education for real-time learning experience etc. 

Furthermore, the UAE is planning to build autonomous vehicles for land and air. Also, the country is opting for introducing robocops. Within ten years, UAE can potentially become an AI hub where the technology will be functional in government services. 

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Conclusion

Integrating AI technologies in various industries is how Artificial Intelligence can drive diversification in the Middle East. In fact, MENA is all set to process the mass adoption of AI technologies across businesses. Regions like UAE and Dubai are some of the early adopters. 

From the impact it can have, embracing AI NOW is crucial not only to fine-tune your business but also to offer unparalleled customer experiences and stay ahead of your competition. 

Verloop.io’s is the world’s leading conversational AI for customer support. Our AI is trained to ensure faster solutions, accurate responses personalised communication and reduced support costs while eliminating any redundancy or delays. 

If you’d like to refine customer support, just schedule a demo with us below and see the magic for yourself.