A study on enterprise AI maturity reveals that Saudi organizations increased artificial intelligence spending by 124% over the past year. However, only 21% of companies globally are converting these financial investments into measurable returns, according to the third Enterprise AI Maturity Index 2026 released by ServiceNow.
Saudi Arabia scored 50 out of 100 on the overall index, marking an increase from 33 points recorded in the previous year. Specifically, leadership, vision, and strategy reached 56 points, while AI-enabled workflows registered 39 points. This metric mirrors trends across Europe and the Middle East, where workflow execution remains the lowest-scoring area in enterprise modernization efforts within the business sector.
Regional Spending Trends and Budget Growth
Saudi Arabia recorded the highest annual growth rate in AI spending across EMEA at 124%. This figure surpassed major European markets, including Germany at 118%, France at 113%, and the United Kingdom at 102%, while also exceeding the global average rate of 110%.
Organizations in the Kingdom plan to allocate 19.4% of their IT budgets to artificial intelligence by 2027. Regionally, EMEA organizations increased spending by 113% over the past year, with projected IT budget allocations reaching 20.1% by 2027, driven in part by advancements in software solutions.
“The challenge today is not investment or commitment; it is building the operational foundation that enables AI to work seamlessly across the enterprise and deliver real business value.”
Naif Alanazi, Area Vice President, Saudi Arabia at ServiceNow
Gaps Impacting Enterprise AI Maturity
The study identified four operational barriers preventing organizations from scaling their enterprise AI maturity effectively. First, 67% of Saudi organizations identified data accuracy and management as a major obstacle, compared with 73% across EMEA.
Second, only 18% of Saudi organizations have established AI testing, auditing, and risk management processes, compared with 19% across EMEA. Third, legacy systems persist, with only 13% of Saudi organizations replacing outdated software with integrated platforms, compared to 15% across the wider region.
Adoption of Autonomous Workflows
Agentic AI adoption stands at 48% in Saudi Arabia, compared to 57% across the EMEA region. Nevertheless, only 10% of local organizations apply agentic models to create fully autonomous workflows, while 9% do so regionally, showing that deployment remains focused on supporting human staff rather than automated execution.
The Strategic Impact of Governance
Organizations with mature governance, data management, and risk controls achieve an average return on investment of 161%, which is expected to reach 194% within two years. Consequently, these leading firms demonstrate five times higher productivity, scale artificial intelligence 2.6 times more effectively, and manage digital risks 2.5 times better while supporting national digital transformation goals.
