UAE leads regional AI activity, but lack of governance and skills gaps stall scalable adoption, says new research with Oxford Economics.
ServiceNow, in collaboration with Oxford Economics, has released its 2025 Enterprise AI Maturity Index, revealing a paradox across Europe and the Middle East: while AI investments are growing steadily, AI maturity in the region has dropped by 10 points year over year, falling from 44 to 34 out of 100.
This decline underscores the growing gap between AI ambition and execution, as enterprises struggle to keep up with the pace of innovation, particularly in areas like agentic AI and structured governance.
Drawing on input from nearly 4,500 global executives — including 1,950 respondents across nine European and Middle Eastern markets, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia — the index evaluates AI readiness across five key pillars: leadership and strategy, workflows, talent, governance, and investment.
“Organisations are moving fast on AI, but many are still figuring out how to lay the foundations — from data readiness to skills and governance. The opportunity is massive, but only if we get the basics right today.”
— Cathy Mauzaize, President, EMEA, ServiceNow
UAE Ahead, But Early Stages Persist
Despite the overall dip in regional scores, the UAE emerged as one of the top performers, with an AI maturity score of 35 — the highest in the region and on par with the UK. Notably, 49% of UAE organisations reported launching over 100 AI use cases in the past year, indicating robust experimentation.
However, the majority of companies remain in the early or experimental stages, with only 6% across the region reaching the augmentation phase — the most advanced stage of AI maturity as defined by the study. In the UAE, this figure was slightly better at 9%.
Agentic AI Rising, But Knowledge Gaps Remain
A standout trend in the report is the growing interest in agentic AI — autonomous AI that can take action on behalf of users. While 15% of organisations are already using agentic AI and 42% plan to adopt it within the next 12 months, just 20% say they are very familiar with the technology, exposing a critical knowledge gap.
The potential upside is significant. Among early adopters in Europe, 58% reported improved gross margins, 59% saw gains in productivity, and 60% observed better user experiences.
Governance Is the Weakest Link
The report flags AI governance as the most pressing challenge for the region. Although the UAE saw a modest increase in organisations prioritising data governance (from 42% in 2024 to 45% in 2025), this still falls short given the rising risks around data privacy, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance.
ServiceNow stresses that governance must be embedded by design — not bolted on later — especially with complex technologies like agentic AI. The report urges organisations to create clear policies, accountability structures, and risk frameworks to enable safe scaling.
As European AI spending is projected to reach $144.6 billion by 2028, the message is clear: investing alone is not enough. Maturity depends on strategy, execution, and responsible scaling.
