The region’s most powerful companies are giga-scaling AI. An ‘Agentic’ transition is aligning with the rise of consumers enamored with AI and Large Language Models (LLMs).
AI use by sector and consumer types
A McKinsey 2025 report said that 32 of the GCC organizations that report using AI operate in the industry, energy, and infrastructure sectors.
Financial services and consumer and professional services each account for 22 organizations, followed by 16 organizations in the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors and another 16 in the social, healthcare, and education sectors.
Companies’ usage of Large Language Models (LLMs) is validated by an equally large captive audience. A Deloitte 2025 survey revealed 58 percent of Baby Boomers reported having used generative AI, against 89 percent of Generation Z, who lead the way in adoption, with tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini.
As per the EY GCC Pulse Survey 2025, 24 percent of enterprise tasks are fully automatable and another 42 percent can be significantly augmented, signaling a major enterprise automation shift and accelerating generative AI adoption across industries.
Top GCC Companies using AI
Saudi stc Group signed 75 strategic agreements in 2025 for AI adoption to build enterprise-level generative AI solutions for localized Arabic marketing and customer engagement, registering the highest-ever revenues in Q3 2025 at $15.44 billion, thanks to the adoption of digital solutions.
Center3, an stc Group subsidiary, announced a strategic partnership with HUMAIN to develop AI-dedicated data center infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, with operational capacity reaching up to 1 gigawatt and initial capacity starting at 250 megawatts, to support advanced computing requirements. The partnerships also included strategic agreements in cloud computing and AI, such as a partnership with Cohere to enhance the development of generative AI solutions for enterprises.
UAE’s Majid Al Futtaim deployed Genesys Cloud AI for end-to-end customer experiences, where AI-powered bots support seamless banking and retail transactions, achieving 43 percent savings in contact center costs.
Careem transitioned to an “AI-first” chapter, using AI-driven triage, proactive notifications, and automation to personalize the “Everything App” experience.
e& (Etisalat) reported $2.8 billion for the full year 2025, driven by a 20 percent increase in enterprise revenues, where the group provides cloud and AI-managed services for both government and private sectors.
The Chalhoub Group is a leader in luxury retail and is utilizing a group-wide AI strategy to unify disparate data points into a cohesive, highly personalized customer experience.
Market reactions to key AI questions
What is your strategy behind using or not yet using LLMs, AI, and Agentic AI?
Sophie Simpson, Managing Director, Ruder Finn Atteline MENA, a GCC integrated communications agency, said: “LLMs and AI are a core part of how we market products and build reputation. Our dedicated RF Tech Lab helps brands and people understand how they show up inside AI answers and structure content so it’s findable, useful and citable.”
Hicham Auajjar, Founding Partner & CEO at Heroiks MENA, a 2026 Dubai-based performance media agency, said: “For us, the strategy is not to use AI as a creative shortcut, but as a way to make marketing more responsive. The GCC is where consumer sentiment can shift quickly. LLMs and AI tools help teams analyze signals faster, adapt messaging, test creative routes, and understand what is working while campaigns are still live.”
Emma Goode, founder of digital marketing consultancy 24 Fingers, said: “If your brand isn’t visible in AI-generated answers, a competitor will be. The strategy has to start with GEO – Generative Engine Optimization, ensuring brand content is structured, authoritative, and citable across the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Everything else builds from there.”
Hetarth Patel, Vice President MEA, Americas & Asia Pacific at WebEngage, said: “LLMs are generating personalized content at scale, while agentic systems are beginning to handle real-time decisions around timing, channel selection, and offer logic.”
Pravgya Mundra, a Dubai-based marketing consultant operating Taaraa, said: “My approach focuses on structuring brand signals so they are credible, consistent, and easily retrievable by LLMs. I increasingly see these AI engines becoming the next word-of-mouth layer, from day-to-day health queries to travel planning and purchase decisions.”
Are your marketing techniques working towards your growth strategies?
“Yes, but only when AI is tied to commercial outcomes. The real value is not producing more content; it is improving the speed and precision of decision-making. If AI is used only for volume, it risks adding noise rather than value,” Auajjar said.
For her part, Goode said: “Alongside traditional SEO, GEO creates presence at the research (and decision) stage of the buying journey. Brands that show up consistently at that moment, across both AI search and social media, are the ones converting interest into sustainable growth.”
Patel added: “The brands seeing the clearest results are running AI across the full retention cycle, from acquisition through to re-engagement. That chain is measurable, and we are seeing it play out consistently across e-commerce, fintech, and travel clients in the region.”
As for Mundra: “I view LLMs like ChatGPT as a new distribution layer for brands, where intent is high even if search traffic is still emerging. I see Answer Engine Optimization as both branding and performance, since what AI says about your brand increasingly defines how it is understood and perceived. In my work with one of my clients, I’ve seen a 6x increase in AI visibility in under 30 days.”
What is the next innovation in marketing that uses AI?
“The next shift is adaptive marketing. Brands will need campaigns that can evolve in real time without losing consistency or trust. In volatile markets, static messaging becomes risky very quickly. AI can help brands read context, adjust tone, localize creative, and respond faster, but the human judgment around when to speak, how to speak, and when to stay quiet remains critical,” Auajjar said.
Patel offered this: “The next meaningful step is systems that can adapt their messaging and channel logic automatically when conditions change, without needing a human to intervene first. That kind of autonomy is what durable consumer engagement will depend on going forward.”
Finally, according to Mundra, “I still believe that the strongest marketing strategies remain hybrid – consistent storytelling across digital ecosystems, including LLMs, alongside on-ground activations like events and launches that build brand trust and recall in the MENA region.”
