Middle East AI ambitions gain momentum, but data readiness remains a major hurdle
Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company, has revealed that 92% of early adopters are already seeing returns on their AI investments, with two-thirds reporting $1.41 million in returns for every $1 million spent. The findings come from Snowflake’s latest report, The Radical ROI of Generative AI, conducted in partnership with Enterprise Strategy Group.
The study surveyed 1,900 business and IT leaders across nine countries, including the UK, France, and Germany. The majority of these organizations are actively deploying generative AI across use cases ranging from internal productivity tools to customer-facing applications.
“Without a data strategy, there is no AI strategy.”
– Mohamed Zouari, GM – Middle East, Africa & Turkey, Snowflake
“AI is driving real results globally, and we’re seeing the same potential in the Middle East,” said Mohamed Zouari, General Manager for Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, Snowflake. “With the UAE targeting $96 billion in AI gains by 2030 and Saudi Arabia launching a $100 billion AI initiative, the region is poised for exponential growth. But there’s a caveat—without a robust data strategy, AI ambitions will stall.”
Despite the optimism, 58% of organizations admitted that preparing data for AI remains a major challenge. Key barriers include:
- Unstructured data complexity – Only 11% have more than half their unstructured data AI-ready.
- Data silos and integration issues – 64% struggle with data unification.
- Governance and quality concerns – 59% cite difficulties in enforcing governance and measuring data quality.
- Unexpected costs – 96% say some components of their AI initiatives have exceeded budget.
Snowflake’s report underscores that 80% of early adopters are now fine-tuning models with proprietary data to improve performance, signaling a shift toward customized, enterprise-grade AI.
With over 11,000 companies using Snowflake to power AI, including 4,000 AI/ML users weekly, the company continues to support global and regional organizations with scalable, secure, and trusted data infrastructure.
