Two-thirds of workers in the United Arab Emirates believe that artificial intelligence and data science will impact their role in the next five years, according to a YouGov study commissioned by Dataiku.
Meanwhile, 65 percent expect AI and data science to impact their company and 67 percent expect AI and data science to have an impact on their industry in the next five years.
The UAE is a regional leader in leveraging data, data science and AI for decision making and business growth, the report found.
“While data scientists (and other data teams) are undoubtedly a critical piece of organisational data and AI transformation, we know — and have observed throughout 2021 — that they are not enough to make the difference exclusively by themselves. Business Leaders see clear value creation with AI and want multiple people across the organisation to contribute to use cases that add value at every step of this journey,” said Sid Bhatia, Regional Vice President & General Manager for Middle East & Turkey, Dataiku.
YouGov’s report reveals that some 71 percent of UAE respondents have been using more data over the past five years, a figure that is again significantly higher than the EMEA average of just over half (55 percent). Some 71 percent of UAE respondents believe they will use even more data in the next five years compared to an EMEA average of 52 percent.
“Business users will start delivering more value with AI than data scientists — 2021 was a particularly defining moment in time for the data science and AI space because many organisations realized that they are not going to scale AI impact without enlisting non-experts to the cause. We’ve observed an influx of roles that are now involved in AI projects — project management and leads, risk managers, subject matter experts, annotators, hardcore data science internal think tanks who do most things in code, and more,” he said.
Bhatia said there is a gap in perception between managers and non-managers in the UAE when it comes to data utility and the role of AI. While 71 percent of UAE managers say their use of data in daily work has increased over past five years and 73 percent believe their use of data will increase over next five years, only 44 percent of non-managers say they have used more data over the past five years and a mere third expect to use more over the next five years. Sixty-seven percent of those in management positions believe AI and data science will impact their roles but less than half (44 percent) of non-managers believe the same.
“There is clearly a need to democratise the use of AI if it is to gain widespread acceptance as a tool of prosperity,” continued Bhatia. “It is only when all people within an organisation see AI as a partner in change that they will come together and collaborate. Then stakeholders can deliver the culture needed to build a digital business.
