RIYADH: Artificial intelligence will help Saudi Arabia to achieve its ambitious goals for growth, while reducing its reliance on other targets, according to a top executive.
Jad Haddad, partner and global head of consultancy Oliver Wyman’s AI division Quotient, spoke to Arab News recently about how technological advances are reshaping the workforce.
“Today, there is a shortage of labor, particularly in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “If the Kingdom’s going to reach its very ambitious targets of growth, in a way AI and the embracement of AI will basically help achieving those very aggressive, but also achievable, as we’ve seen, targets, with less dependency on others.”
Saudi workplaces are already well advanced in using generative AI tools, such as text generator Chat GPT, with 68 percent of employees surveyed by Oliver Wyman making use of the technology compared with a global average of 55 percent.
Haddad noted how another survey found that more than 90 percent of CEOs at New York Stock Exchange-listed companies also invest heavily in AI and believe in its promise. “But yet we haven’t seen a lot of disruption to jobs.”
He added: “Will we see disruption in the job market? Probably. I think AI already is augmenting a lot of the things that we do, and as we have applications that are implemented and scaled within organizations, things are going to change.
“But at the same time, we can look at it from the other way around. I think it is already creating a lot of jobs as well.”
The forward-looking Gulf is a leader in the adoption of AI technologies, according Haddad, who highlighted the fact that some of the region’s biggest companies are employing the technology.
National oil companies such as Aramco and ADNOC “are really taking up AI, and that’s also great because they are a big part of the society but also of the economy,” he said.
“I think the region is really embracing AI, much faster than any other region, and is really seeing the benefit and the promise of AI.”
Saudi Arabia’s early focus on the new technology was evidenced when the Kingdom founded its government AI agency SDAIA in 2019.
The entity employs around 3,000 people, and is focused on establishing governance related to AI, and positioning the country as a leader in the field.
A November report from SDAIA highlighted Saudi Arabia’s global leadership in AI, as evidenced by its top ranking in the pillar of government strategy in the 2023 Global AI Index by Tortoise Media.
In 2023, the Kingdom joined the UN AI Advisory Body, aiming to promote the responsible use of AI.
Government spending on technologies, including AI, grew at a compound annual growth rate of 59 percent between 2019 and 2023, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
In September 2024, at the third edition of SDAIA’s Global AI Summit, the authority unveiled the AI Adoption Framework Document, providing a guiding reference for adopting AI in the public and private sectors.
SDAIA also recently announced the activation of AI offices in 23 government entities.
