For years, the Gulf’s AI ambition and its talent base existed in separate realities – data centres went up, sovereign AI funds were announced, strategy decks were published, and the engineers to run it all were flown in from London, Toronto and San Francisco. The region was building infrastructure faster than it could build the people to operate it.
That picture is changing – MBZUAI in Abu Dhabi, KAUST in Saudi Arabia and a wave of AI-focused academic programmes across the region are now producing graduates specifically trained for the AI economy. Saudi Arabia’s SAMAI programme trained 1.2 million participants in under a year, reaching its three-year target ahead of schedule. Qatar has certified 13,000 professionals in AI skills as of 2025, targeting 50,000 by 2030. MBZUAI’s retention data is notable too: nearly 80% of alumni continue working in the UAE’s AI sector within their first year
That said, the fundamental problem is still unresolved. The UAE holds just 0.7% of global AI talent, ranked 16th worldwide. Saudi Arabia holds 0.4%, ranked 19th. Despite salary packages exceeding $1 million, the Gulf still struggles to attract senior AI researchers at scale, because mature Western hubs offer network density, equity upside at high-growth startups and peer research communities that took decades to build. The pipeline is real, and the sustainability question is still open.
Education Alone Has Never Been Enough
The retention challenge is the crux of it. Producing graduates is a solvable problem – every government with money and intent can build a university. Keeping those graduates once they’re good enough to have options is harder.
The data from MBZUAI suggests the Gulf’s approach to this is working better than expected, with long-term residency pathways, competitive compensation and a clear narrative around building AI for regional challenges rather than serving global platforms all contributing to higher-than-expected retention rates.
Education in the region is growing faster than the commercial AI sector around it, which creates pressure on the most talented graduates to seek environments where they can work on consequential problems immediately after graduating. The Gulf’s solution to that challenge is building both simultaneously – universities and the AI startup infrastructure for graduates to work in. Whether that commercial layer can develop quickly enough is the central question.
We asked five experts across AI education, talent development and Gulf business to share their take on the matter.
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Our Experts
- Corina Goetz: Gulf Business Culture Specialist, Star-CaT
- Pranav Bhatnagar: Book Author and AI Commentator
- Mariusz Bajorek: Founder and Strategic Lead, Momentum Bridge Consulting
- Edward Tian: Co-Founder, GPTZero
- Jitesh Keswani: CEO and Founder, e intelligence
Corina Goetz, Gulf Business Culture Specialist, Star-CaT
“I can only answer for the Gulf. MENA is a category that flattens very different countries, and I will not pretend to speak for places I do not work in.
“Inside the Gulf, the question itself is the problem. Brain drain or homegrown talent – pick one. The Gulf is doing both, deliberately, at the same time, and the West keeps missing it.
“MBZUAI in Abu Dhabi is training graduates on regional problems, not Bay Area problems. KAUST is doing the same in Saudi. Real institutions, real research output. But the more interesting move is what is happening around them. UAE Golden Visas for AI specialists. Equity stakes at G42. Housing packages at NEOM that would embarrass a Series B startup in San Francisco. Saudi salaries that London cannot match. The Gulf is not waiting for its graduates to be ready in ten years. It is importing senior talent now while training the next generation, and it is paying enough to keep both.
“Is the pipeline at the scale the ambition requires? Not yet. Will the region depend on imported expertise for another decade? Yes. But I have sat in offices in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh where the AI teams are half Emirati or Saudi, half hired from London, Cambridge, MIT. That is not failure. That is how Silicon Valley was built in the 1970s. The Gulf understands this. The West has not noticed.”
Pranav Bhatnagar, Book Author and AI Commentator
“MENA is at a very interesting turning point. A few years ago, the conversation was mostly about attracting AI talent from outside the region. Today, it is increasingly about whether the region can develop and retain its own talent at scale. The fact that institutions like MBZUAI, KAUST and other AI-focused programmes exist at all is already a sign of progress, because they are creating a generation of graduates specifically trained for the AI economy rather than adapting traditional pathways later.
“That said, education alone does not create a sustainable talent pipeline. People stay where they find opportunity, mentorship, challenging work, funding, and the ability to build meaningful careers. If the most ambitious graduates still feel they must move to Silicon Valley or London to access world-class research, startup ecosystems, or career growth, talent leakage will continue regardless of how many graduates are produced.
“The encouraging sign is that MENA is no longer investing only in education. The region is also investing in AI infrastructure, research, startups, sovereign AI initiatives, and innovation ecosystems. That combination is far more powerful than education alone. The real measure of success over the next decade will not be how many AI graduates MENA produces. It will be how many choose to build companies, conduct research, create intellectual property, and lead AI innovation from within the region itself.”
Mariusz Bajorek, Founder and Strategic Lead, Momentum Bridge Consulting
“The honest answer is: both things are true at the same time, and that’s what makes this question so difficult. MENA is genuinely building something. MBZUAI and KAUST are producing graduates who can compete globally – I’ve seen CVs coming out of Abu Dhabi that would get interviews at any European or US tech company. That was not the case five years ago.
“But “can compete globally” is exactly the problem. The moment a graduate is good enough to work in San Francisco or London, they have a real choice. And right now, compensation, visa pathways, and the density of high-growth companies still tip the scales westward for many of the best ones. What I’m watching from the talent market side is whether MENA can close that gap fast enough – not just with salaries, but with the kind of career trajectory that makes staying feel like the ambitious choice, not the safe one. That shift is starting. But it’s not there yet.”
Edward Tian, Co-Founder, GPTZero
“MENA is creating real opportunities to train people on how to use AI. Universities like MBZUAI and KAUST are creating technically competent graduates. The problem is after they graduate. The best students are looking for environments that have dense research activity, rapid product development, and strong peer relationships. Those ecosystems still exist primarily in Silicon Valley, London, and a few other places.
“I see a timing issue here. Education is growing faster than the industry can grow. This creates an outward pull on people training in the local areas. Retention is better when graduates can work on production systems soon after they graduate. The sooner they can work on projects with real users and get feedback loops, the better. The pipeline is real. The sustainability question hinges on whether the local ecosystems can develop as fast and as deeply as the best of the global AI world.”
Jitesh Keswani, CEO and Founder, e intelligence
“The question is not whether the MENA region can produce people who are good at AI. The region is putting money into universities, research and government programmes. The big question is whether it can give these people jobs so they stay for a long time.
“What is encouraging about MENA now is that people are talking about building a community for AI, not just teaching it. We see investment going into AI startups, companies using digital technology, and countries making plans for AI that create real jobs for skilled people. Keeping these people will depend on whether they can have good careers where they live. If the best projects, the fastest-growing companies and the startup capital are still elsewhere, people will still leave.
“MENA is starting to have its own people who are good at AI. But we should not say it is successful just because many students finish AI programmes. We should say it is successful when these people stay, start companies, come up with new ideas and create more AI opportunities in the region itself. The next five years will be about giving people reasons to stay, not just making people who are good at AI.”
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