Artificial intelligence is rapidly shifting from boardroom experimentation to full-scale operational deployment across the Middle East.
Standing at the forefront of this commercial shift is the United Arab Emirates, where a sharp rise in digital transformation is drawing international expertise straight to its commercial hubs. Responding directly to this momentum, UK-founded AI transformation firm Nextgen has officially relocated its global headquarters to the UAE, positioning the business at the heart of one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for enterprise AI adoption.
The decision to move its central base to Dubai reflects a wider structural evolution within the regional economy. Organisations are no longer simply testing the waters with pilot programmes; the focus has turned firmly towards achieving enterprise scale and generating measurable returns from emerging technologies.
The surge in UAE business AI adoption
The timing of Nextgen’s arrival coincides with a notable upward trajectory in corporate technology uptake across the Emirates. According to new research conducted by Strand Partners, which was developed in collaboration with the UAE Artificial Intelligence Office and Amazon Web Services (AWS), commercial AI integration has expanded substantially over the past twelve months.
Key findings from the research highlight the pace of this transition:
- Widespread Corporate Uptake: Exactly 72% of businesses operating in the UAE have now adopted AI, jumping from 53% a year earlier.
- Rapid Annual Expansion: That jump represents an increase of around 36% in year-on-year growth.
- Accelerated Transformation: Amongst the organisations already utilising AI, 85% reported that the technology has directly accelerated their wider business transformation.
- Room for Advanced Scaling: Roughly 31% of AI-adopting businesses are currently deploying the technology’s most advanced applications, pointing to a major growth opportunity for deeper engineering and enterprise scaling.
Moving enterprise AI from experimentation to production
While initial adoption rates are high, the critical challenge for modern enterprises lies in bridging the gap between basic tools and sophisticated, production-ready systems.
The firm works closely with both government bodies and large-scale enterprises operating across complex, highly regulated sectors. Rather than pushing a single proprietary platform, Nextgen operates across a broad ecosystem of global AI models and enterprise platforms. This model-agnostic methodology allows its specialist teams to select and tailor technology based strictly on an individual organisation's specific requirements, specific use case, and existing infrastructure environment. By uniting strategic planning with technical engineering, the company helps enterprises move past experimental phases to become genuinely AI-native.
“Under the clear vision of its leadership, the UAE has built one of the world’s most compelling environments for AI, with a focus that sets it apart: putting AI to work, not just developing it,” the company said in a statement. “That is exactly where we work. We help organisations move AI into production and make sure their people have the skills to use it and benefit from it. Making the UAE our home places us at the heart of that ambition and gives us a base to build AI capability for the region and beyond.”
Nextgen’s Global Footprint at a Glance
Bringing over a decade of cross-market delivery to the Gulf, the firm enters the local market with an established operational track record:
Founded: 2012 in the United Kingdom.
Workforce: Over 75 dedicated specialists working across five international offices.
Client Base: Supporting more than 50 enterprise and government clients.
Proven Delivery: 200 distinct AI use cases already live in production.
Geographic Reach: Previous expansion from the UK into India and China, building deep delivery experience across both European and Asian markets.
A Strategic Bridge for Global Capability
Relocating its global headquarters to the Emirates allows Nextgen to capitalise on the nation's long-standing strategic position as a commercial crossroads between East and West, as well as between North and South. Having already established operations across the UK, India, and China, the company is now channelling its cross-market expertise into the Gulf. From its new UAE base, Nextgen aims to equip regional and international enterprises with both the technical architecture and the workforce skills required to turn ambitious AI strategies into lasting, real-world impact.
Enterprise AI adoption hits 72% in the UAE as Nextgen relocates HQ
Nextgen has officially relocated its global headquarters to the UAE, positioning the business at the heart of one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for enterprise AI adoption.
