LONDON: The introduction of VAT in the Gulf is stoking salaries for tax specialists across the region, according to recruitment firms.
With just over 11 weeks to go before companies start to add value added tax on their invoices, companies are busy hiring accountants with VAT expertise while big firms such as PwC run courses to meet anticipated demand.
“Candidates who are VAT specialists can expect to be paid well given the demand for their skill set and the shortage of qualified candidates with it,” Andy Georgeson, senior consultant at Michael Page Finance, told Arab News.
Salaries vary considerably but VAT managers in the UAE currently earn between 30,000 to 40,000 dirhams ($8,185-$10,890) per month — but rising considerably for senior roles in large corporations.
PwC last month introduced the first VAT diploma across the Gulf as some companies favor upskilling existing workforces rather than hiring new staff in order to get ready for the introduction of the new tax from January next year.
The need to give people the skills and knowledge to implement and comply with the new tax was, according to Amanda Line, PwC’s academy partner, why PwC introduced the VAT diploma.
“I am confident that this qualification will be fundamental in upskilling specialized tax professionals who can then prepare their organizations for VAT compliance,” Line said.
The introduction of the new tax is benefitting the Big Four accountancy firms as companies outsource tax advice to consultants, Georgeson added.
Yet despite the imminent introduction of VAT, some companies are burying their heads in the sand, said Chris Greaves, managing director of Hays in the Gulf.
“Our ‘VAT in the UAE’ report, released earlier this year, found over half of organizations based in the region did not have a strategy in place for VAT implementation.
“Of those that do, we are noticing that they are either absorbing VAT requirements into their existing workforce — some using their oversees teams for support, or outsourcing activity by engaging with external consultancies.”
He said it was difficult to predict how the introduction of VAT will affect hiring demand until it is up and running.
“There are still laws to be announced but once these are confirmed, there may well be an uplift in hiring as organizations become clearer on what they still need to achieve in order to meet the deadline.”
That view was shared by Georgeson, who added: “We are currently working on multiple VAT roles across the UAE and Saudi Arabia but we certainly expect this to grow as we get closer to the implementation date and thereafter.”
As many as 5,000 finance and accounting jobs could be generated with the introduction of VAT in the region, estimated Paul Drum, head of policy at CPA Australia.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both set VAT at a rate of 5 percent. The pair are the first to have introduced VAT legislation since all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreed in 2016 to introduce the tax.
Tax accountant salaries surge as Gulf VAT-day approaches
Tax accountant salaries surge as Gulf VAT-day approaches
Saudi Arabia sets global benchmark in AI modernization
- Executives hail the Kingdom’s robust infrastructure and strategic workforce programs
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is emerging as a global leader in artificial intelligence, according to executives from OpenText, one of the world’s largest enterprise information management companies.
With 22 years of international AI experience, Harald Adams, OpenText’s senior vice president of sales for international markets, said the Kingdom’s modernization efforts are now setting a global standard.
“From my perspective, Saudi Arabia is not only leading the modernization towards artificial intelligence in the Middle East, I think it is even not leading it only in the MENA region. I think it is leading it globally,” Adams told Arab News.
In an interview, Adams and George Schembri, vice president and general manager for the Middle East at OpenText, discussed the Kingdom’s significant investments in AI during the inauguration of OpenText’s new regional headquarters in Riyadh.
“So for us (OpenText), from our perspective, it was a strategic decision to move our MENA headquarters to Saudi Arabia because we believe that we will see here a lot of innovation coming out of the country, we can replicate not only to the MENA region, maybe even further to the global level,” Adams said.
The new headquarters, located in the King Abdullah Financial District, will serve as a central hub for OpenText customers and partners across the Middle East. Its opening reflects a broader trend of tech giants relocating to Riyadh, signaling the Kingdom’s rise as a hub for global AI innovation.
Adams attributed Saudi Arabia’s lead in AI modernization to a combination of substantial financial backing, a unified national strategy, and a remarkable pace of execution.
“I mean, a couple of things, because the ingredients in Saudi Arabia are of course, quite interesting. On the one hand side, Saudi Arabia has deep pockets and great ambitions. And they are, I mean, and they are executing fast, yeah,” he said.
“So from that perspective, at the moment, what we see is that there are, especially on the government side, I can’t see any other government organizations globally moving faster into that direction than it is happening in Saudi Arabia. Not in the region, not even on a global level, they are leading the game,” he underlined.
Schembri added, “Saudi’s AI vision is one of the most ambitious in the world, and AI on a national scale is not good without trusted, secured, and governed, and this is where OpenText helps to enable the Saudi organizations to be able to deliver on the 2030 Vision.”
“The Kingdom’s focus on AI and digital transformation creates a powerful opportunity for organizations to unlock value from their information,” Schembri stated.
“With OpenText on the ground in Riyadh, our customers gain direct access to trusted global expertise combined with local insight — enabling them to manage information securely, scale AI with confidence, and compete on a global stage,” he added.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Saudi Arabia ranks 5th globally and 1st in the region for AI growth under the 2025 Global AI Index.
• The Kingdom is also 3rd globally in advanced AI model development, trailing only the US and China.
• AI is projected to contribute $235.2 billion — or 12.4 percent — to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2030.
The inauguration of OpenText’s new regional headquarters was attended by Canada’s Minister of International Trade and Economic Development, Maninder Sidhu, and Jean-Philippe Linteau, Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Sidhu emphasized the alignment of Saudi Vision 2030 with Canada’s economic and innovation goals.
“His Highness (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and Vision 2030, there is a lot of alignment with Canada, as you know, with the economic collaboration, with his vision around mining, around education, tourism, healthcare, you look at AI and tech, there’s a lot of alignment here at OpenText Grand opening their regional headquarters,” Sidhu told Arab News.
Saudi Arabia’s AI ambitions are projected to contribute $235.2 billion — or 12.4 percent — to its GDP by 2030, according to PwC. The Saudi Data and AI Authority, established by a royal decree in 2019, drives the Kingdom’s national data and AI strategy.
One flagship initiative, Humain, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was launched in May 2025 under the Public Investment Fund. It aims to build a full AI stack — from data centers and cloud infrastructure to models and applications — positioning Saudi Arabia as a globally competitive AI hub. The project plans to establish a data center capacity of 1.8 GW by 2030 and 100 GW of AI compute capacity by 2026.
Saudi Arabia is also expanding international partnerships. In May 2025, Humain signed a $5 billion agreement with Amazon Web Services to accelerate AI adoption domestically and globally, focusing on infrastructure, services, and talent development.
The Kingdom ranked fifth globally and first in the Arab region for AI sector growth under the 2025 Global AI Index, and third worldwide in advanced AI model development, behind only the US and China, according to the Stanford University AI Index 2025.
Education is another pillar of Saudi AI strategy. Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, AI will be taught as a core subject across all public school grades, reaching roughly 6.7 million students. The curriculum will cover algorithmic thinking, data literacy, and AI ethics.
OpenText executives emphasized their commitment to supporting Vision 2030 and the national AI strategy through workforce development.
“OpenText has put a lot of investment in the Kingdom, right. We brought cloud to the Kingdom, we’ve opened our headquarters in the Kingdom, we’ve basically hiring Saudis in the Kingdom, We basically building, if you like, an ecosystem to support the Kingdom. And on top of that, what we’re doing is we’re putting a plan together, if you like, a program to look at how we can educate, if you like, the students at universities,” Schembri said.
“So this is something that we are looking into, we are basically investigating and to see how we can support the Saudi nationals when they come into the workplace. And I’m really excited. I have Harry who is, our leadership who’s supporting this program.”
“It’s something that we are putting together. It’ll take some effort. So it’s still in play because we want to make sure what we put it basically delivers on what we're trying to achieve based on the vision of Saudi,” he added.
“The younger generation is sooner or later either working for us or maybe for a partner or for maybe for a customer. So that’s why we are to 100 percent committed to enable all of that,” Adams said.
