RIYADH: Information technology spending in the Middle East and North Africa region is forecast to reach $169 billion in 2026, marking an 8.9 percent increase from 2025, according to the latest projections from Gartner.
The surge is driven by accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence, intelligent automation, and AI-optimized infrastructure upgrades, as organizations across the region prioritize digital transformation amid global economic and geopolitical uncertainties.
Gartner’s forecast is already taking shape in Saudi Arabia, where AI adoption is surging, as seen with the launch of Humain, a state-backed AI company unveiled in May by the Public Investment Fund.
Positioned at the forefront of the Kingdom’s ambition to become a global AI hub, Humain focuses on deploying advanced AI infrastructure, developing Arabic multimodal large language models, and forging strategic partnerships with global technology leaders such as Nvidia, AMD, and Amazon Web Services.
“The MENA region is rapidly emerging as a global tech powerhouse, with the Gulf Cooperation Council leveraging its stability, infrastructure and forward-looking policies to attract global partners and build digital skills that empower innovation and support resilient AI-driven economies,” said Mim Burt, practice vice president at Gartner.
“Even amid global economic and geopolitical uncertainty, chief information officers in MENA are making strategic investments in AI, intelligent automation and multi-cloud strategies, while strengthening cyber defenses and advancing talent upskilling,” Burt added.
Data center systems will remain the highest-growth segment in 2026, with spending projected to increase by 37.3 percent to $13 billion.
However, Gartner noted that the pace will moderate compared to 2025’s 69.3 percent growth, as the market transitions from rapid buildouts to more incremental and sustained investments.
“Data center system spending is expected to accelerate as MENA CIOs and technology leaders invest in AI-enabled software and AI-optimized infrastructure,” said Eyad Tachwali, vice president, advisory at Gartner.
“This surge is largely fueled by pent-up demand for generative AI and advanced machine learning, which depend on robust computing power for large-scale data processing,” Tachwali added.
“Most of this demand is being driven by governments, hyperscalers, technology providers and organizations focused on developing and deploying AI models, rather than traditional enterprises or consumers,” he noted.
Software spending is also expected to see significant growth, rising 13.9 percent to $20.4 billion in 2026, as organizations across MENA integrate GenAI capabilities into their operations.
Gartner projects that by 2028, 75 percent of global software spending will be directed toward solutions embedded with GenAI functionality.
“CIOs will increasingly be offered embedded GenAI capabilities in enterprise applications, productivity and developer tools, more advanced large language models as well as AI-optimized servers to support AI-as-a-service,” said Burt. “Providers are also exploring new pricing models across software and hardware to drive revenue.”
IT services spending in the region is projected to grow 8.3 percent in 2026, reflecting the shifting priorities as AI becomes a central component of enterprise strategies.
“With the rapid acceleration of AI infrastructure and adoption in MENA, CIOs must move beyond GenAI as a productivity tool and embed it into the heart of their business strategy,” said Tachwali.
“The real competitive edge will come from building strong data foundations, composable technology platforms and cultivating AI-fluent talent — core enablers for unlocking differentiated value from AI,” he added.
Initiatives in this field across the region include those contained in Saudi Arabia’s broader Vision 2030 strategy, under which the Saudi Data and AI Authority is spearheading nationwide efforts to embed AI across economic sectors and elevate the country’s competitiveness.
Similarly, the UAE continues to reinforce its leadership in the sector with its UAE AI Strategy 2031, which aims to position the nation among the top AI-driven economies worldwide.
The UAE’s partnership with OpenAI under the Stargate UAE initiative will establish a 5-gigawatt AI campus in Abu Dhabi, providing nationwide ChatGPT access and positioning the country as a regional AI hub with global-scale compute infrastructure.
