GCC’s Strategic Advantage Lies in Speed to Scale, Says PwC’s Hadi Kobeissi

DUBAI — The Middle East technology sector is undergoing a profound structural shift, transitioning from a phase defined by rapid digital adoption and heavy infrastructure build-out into a critical period of economic conversion. According to Hadi Kobeissi, Partner for Technology & Digital Consulting at PwC Middle East, the GCC’s primary competitive advantage in the global technology landscape is its unique capacity to move digital solutions from initial concept to large-scale deployment at unprecedented speed.

Speaking as a member of the judging panel for the Middle East Technology Excellence Awards 2026, Kobeissi emphasized that the region's distinctiveness stems from an alignment of high-level national ambitions, strong capital reserves, modernizing digital infrastructure, and large public-sector anchor customers. Unlike mature Western markets where these elements often operate in isolated silos, national transformation programs across the GCC effectively synthesize them around clear, priority economic outcomes.

This demand-led execution model allows governments and enterprise leaders to rapidly deploy solutions across artificial intelligence, cloud architecture, smart mobility, energy transition, and public service delivery. Data from PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey underscores this momentum, revealing that more than a third of Middle East and GCC corporate leaders report integrating AI directly into their core product and service offerings, compared to fewer than one in five executives globally.

Moving from Adoption to Value Conversion

However, Kobeissi noted that the region's next strategic horizon is not simply accumulating digital tools, but achieving true economic conversion. This entails translating massive capital expenditures into sustainable commercial value, locally engineered intellectual property, and deeply embedded domestic capability.

"The GCC’s durable advantage will come from being a high-speed testing and scaling environment for technologies applied to real economic systems, whilst using commercial outcomes, trust, and talent development to determine what endures and sustains," Kobeissi explained.

Harmonization and AI Governance

To maximize this advantage across borders, Kobeissi advocated for greater regional interoperability across GCC states. Rather than attempting to craft identical, rigid regulatory frameworks, the highest-value collaboration lies in developing compatible, interoperable standards across digital identity, cross-border payments, cybersecurity, cloud governance, and AI assurance. This approach creates a larger addressable market for technology firms and aligns with market behavior, as PwC data indicates that 88% of Middle East CEOs plan to invest outside their home markets, with nearly three-quarters of those investments remaining within the region.

On the topic of artificial intelligence governance, Kobeissi urged governments to adopt a proportionate, impact-based model rather than regulating AI as a uniform category. High-impact applications—such as those directly affecting healthcare, finance, public safety, or critical infrastructure—warrant rigorous testing, clear traceability, and human oversight. Conversely, lower-risk innovations should benefit from regulatory sandboxes and streamlined compliance to preserve agility.

Unlocking High-Value Sectors

Over the next five years, the largest value pools from AI deployment in the GCC are projected to concentrate in asset-heavy, data-rich sectors. Energy and utilities lead this wave through production optimization, asset reliability, and intelligent grid management. Additional high-impact opportunities exist across financial services (fraud detection and automated risk compliance), logistics and aviation (network and route optimization), and real estate (predictive analytics and digital twins).

Concluding his vision for future technology leadership, Kobeissi emphasized that achieving true value from emerging technologies requires technology executives to look beyond technical depth. Leaders must master value architecture, trust leadership, operating model redesign, and ecosystem fluency to successfully merge human capabilities with AI autonomy.