Qatar demonstrates strong momentum in AI advancement across GCC region: BCG

Doha [Qatar], February 23: Qatar is demonstrating strong momentum in artificial intelligence (AI) advancement across the GCC, recording a significant leap in AI maturity, according to a comprehensive new study by Boston Consulting Group. The report, Unlocking Potential: How GCC Organizations Can Convert AI Momentum into Value at Scale, highlights Qatar's rapid progress in moving from experimentation to scaled AIadoption.
The study reveals that Qatar recorded a notable 10 percentage-point increase in "Emerging" AI organisations between 2024 and 2025, firmly positioning the country among the region's fastest-advancing AI ecosystems.
Qatar's average AI maturity score has risen to 39, reflecting consistent year-on-year progress and sustained organizational commitment to AI transformation. This acceleration points to a growing pipeline of organizations transitioning from pilot projects to enterprise-wide AI integration.
"Qatar's rapid AI maturation and investment in advanced compute capabilities reflect a strategic approach to technological transformation and economic diversification," said Dr. Ahmad Dhaini, Principal at Boston Consulting Group.
"The 10-percentage-point surge in emerging AI organizations demonstrates Qatar's ability to move decisively from experimentation to systematic, large-scale implementation-laying the groundwork for long-term AI leadership across sectors."
Across the wider GCC, the report indicates strong momentum in narrowing the AI adoption gap with global markets. Today, 39 percent of GCC organisations qualify as AI leaders, closely matching the global average of 40 percent. This reflects a structural shift in how regional enterprises are embedding AI into core business strategies.
The Public Sector across the GCC stands out globally, achieving the highest AI maturity levels among all surveyed markets. While the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) sector continues to lead regional AI maturity, rapid gains are also being recorded in Financial Institutions, Healthcare, Industrial Goods, and Travel, Cities, and Infrastructure-demonstrating broad-based AI transformation across the regional economy.
The financial upside of AI leadership is significant. AI Leaders in the GCC are delivering up to 1.7x higher total shareholder returns and 1.5x higher EBIT margins compared to AI Laggards. This performance gap underscores the importance of moving beyond isolated pilots toward scaled, enterprise-level AIdeployment.
According to the study, AI Leaders are allocating an average of 6.2 percent of IT budgets to AI in 2025, compared to 4.2 percent among laggards. As AI investment continues to rise, the value generated by AI Leaders is expected to be three to five times higher by 2028, further widening the competitive gap.
While the GCC has built strong digital foundations in recent years, AI maturity surged by eight points between 2024 and 2025 and now trails overall digital maturity by just two points. The study identifies five defining traits of successful AI Leaders: sustained multi-year AI ambitions with strong leadership engagement, fundamental redesign of business processes rather than plug-and-play solutions, adoption of AI-first operating models with robust governance, accelerated talent acquisition and upskilling, and fit-for-purpose technology architectures that reduce adoption barriers.
Looking ahead, frontier technologies are gaining traction. Around 38 percent of GCC organisations are already experimenting with agentic AI, approaching the global benchmark of 46 percent. The value contribution of agentic AI initiatives-currently estimated at 17 percent-is projected to rise to 29 percent by 2028 as experimentation matures into strategic deployment.
Despite strong momentum, challenges persist. AI Laggards are significantly more likely to face people and process constraints, including limited cross-functional collaboration, unclear value measurement, misalignment with enterprise strategy, and inconsistent leadership commitment. They also face greater hurdles in algorithm deployment due to limited access to high-quality data, as well as technology constraints related to security, responsible AI governance, and constrained availability of local GPU capacity.
"Organizations across the GCC, including in Qatar, have moved beyond experimentation, with many now successfully deploying and scaling AI across core functions," said Hassen Benothman, Managing Director and Middle East Leader at BCG Platinion. "The next opportunity is to reshape processes and create new value streams with AI. Early experimentation with agentic AI is particularly promising and could fundamentally change how work is performed and value is created in the nearfuture."
The report concludes that sustained AI leadership will depend on continued executive engagement, comprehensive talent development, strong responsible AI governance, and close alignment between AI initiatives and enterprise strategy. As Qatari organizations accelerate their AI journeys, the rapid growth of emerging and scaling AI adopters is creating a strong foundation for moving from experimentation to impact at scale-unlocking new, long-term sources of AI-driven value for the national economy.
Source: Qatar Tribune