UAE - Mubasher: Decision makers in the Middle East are looking to embrace artificial Intelligence (AI) in their business, according to a recent report by PwC.
Almost 91% of the Middle Eastern CEOs interviewed by PwC would adopt AI in conducting business, with 78% of these CEOs believing that AI has a greater impact than the internet, the report highlighted.
Moreover, PwC research forecast that AI would contribute around $320 billion, or 11% of gross domestic product (GDP), to the Middle East’s economy by 2030.
Riyadh Al Najjar, KSA country leader and transformation management business unit leader in the Middle East, said: “AI will certainly change the future of project management and how projects are delivered. In the middle of this evolution, however, it is important to remember that as much as AI takes over traditional project management functions, AI cannot have the human skills like ideation, people-management, empathy, problem-solving and emotional intelligence.”
The world's second largest professional services firm said in its research that AI would help to cut project management cost, improve efficiency, and provide decision making support through active assistance that would provide managers with projects status follow-ups and updates.
AI will also conduct actions on behalf of project managers based on past experiences and behaviours, as well as predict imminent risks and suggest solutions, the report noted.
Faisal Al Sarraj, a KSA transformation management partner, said: “AI can transform project management by amplifying benefits from other technological breakthroughs such as analytics, Robotics Process Automation (RPA), IoT, blockchain and, eventually, quantum computing.”
AI is likely to affect the displacement of jobs in several sectors in the Middle East, however, not every job is at equivalent risk.
PwC estimated a relatively low displacement of jobs at 3% until the early 2020s that would increase to 30% by the mid-2030s.
