UAE AI Governance Readiness Index 2026
An research study scoring UAE mid-market companies — 20 to 200 employees — on how well they govern the artificial intelligence already running inside their operations. Five dimensions, 20 points each, six sectors.
Status: in preparation — register interest to receive your organisation's pre-publication scorecard.
The mid-market carries the obligations without the compliance function.
Large enterprises have risk committees, and micro-businesses have a single owner who knows every tool in use. Between them sits the segment this study measures: companies of 20 to 200 people, running client data through AI-enabled software daily, with no register, no named owner and no reporting line.
Existing research on AI adoption counts tools. This Index counts control. It asks whether an organisation could describe, defend and evidence its AI use if a client, an insurer or an investor asked tomorrow — which, for most companies in this segment, is arriving sooner than any regulator.
Scoring is standardised, so a company can see where it sits against its own sector rather than against a global average that reflects a different regulatory and commercial environment.
Five dimensions, 20 points each.
Each dimension is scored on documented evidence rather than on stated intention. An organisation that intends to maintain a register but cannot produce one scores as though it does not.
AI inventory maturity
Whether the organisation holds a written, owned and regularly reviewed register of every AI-enabled system in use — including features embedded in software already licensed, and tools adopted by staff without procurement.
Governance documents
The existence, readability and reach of an acceptable-use policy, a tool-approval route, and an incident procedure that names AI-specific failure modes rather than relying on a general IT process.
Personal-data exposure mapping
Whether the company can state which categories of personal data pass through which AI systems, on what basis, where that data is processed and stored, and what the provider is contractually permitted to do with it.
Named ownership
Whether one accountable executive is identified by name, with a written mandate and the standing to stop a deployment — as opposed to responsibility shared across IT, legal and operations.
Board reporting
Whether AI is a standing agenda item supported by a written quarterly paper covering current use, changes, incidents and decisions required, rather than an occasional verbal update.
Five readiness bands.
A composite score out of 100 places each organisation in one of five bands. The band matters more than the number: it describes what the company can and cannot currently demonstrate.
Six sectors.
Chosen because each combines rapid informal AI adoption with meaningful exposure to personal, financial or client data — and because each is well represented in the UAE mid-market.
Wellness and healthcare
Real-estate brokerage
Aviation and travel operations
Professional services
Retail and hospitality
Fintech
Results are published in aggregate by sector and band. No participating organisation is named.
Register interest for a pre-publication scorecard.
The Index is in preparation. Companies that register interest receive their own confidential scorecard — score, band and the specific gaps behind it — ahead of the aggregate research.
Participation is a structured 45-minute conversation and a short document review. Your individual score is never published or attributed.
Before you register
The twenty-eight point governance checklist covers the same ground as the Index and can be worked through internally at no cost. Companies that complete it first tend to score higher and get more out of the scorecard conversation.
Read the governance checklistFrequently asked.
What is the UAE AI Governance Readiness Index?
An annual Hayat Advisory research study that scores UAE mid-market companies — broadly 20 to 200 employees — on how well they govern the artificial intelligence already in use across their operations. Each organisation is scored out of 100 across five dimensions worth 20 points each, and placed in one of five readiness bands.
Which companies are in scope?
UAE-based companies with roughly 20 to 200 employees, across six sectors: wellness and healthcare, real-estate brokerage, aviation and travel operations, professional services, retail and hospitality, and fintech. The mid-market band is deliberate: these organisations carry enterprise-grade obligations without enterprise-grade compliance functions.
Are individual companies named in the published research?
No. Results are reported in aggregate by sector and band. Scores attributable to a specific organisation are shared only with that organisation, in its own private scorecard.
What is a pre-publication scorecard?
A private assessment of your own organisation against the five dimensions, with your score, your band, and the specific gaps behind the score — sent to participating companies before the aggregate research is published. It is confidential to you.
How long does participation take?
A structured conversation of roughly 45 minutes with someone who knows what software the business runs, followed by a short document review. Most of the effort sits with us rather than with you.
Is the Index the same as the AI Governance Assessment?
No. The Index is research: a standardised score that positions you against your sector. The AED 5,000 AI Governance Assessment is a paid advisory engagement producing a full current-state audit, risk review and written action plan. Many organisations will start with their Index score and commission the Assessment once they have seen where they sit.
The thinking behind the dimensions.
Who regulates AI for a UAE company in 2026
National strategy, data protection law, free-zone regimes, sector regulators and the reach of the EU AI Act.
Twelve questions boards should ask about AI
A board-ready question set, each paired with what a credible management answer sounds like.
Fractional Chief AI Officer practice
Scope, engagement models and published pricing from AED 5,000 for the initial assessment.