As Saudi Arabia accelerates its Vision 2030 agenda, artificial intelligence is emerging as a core driver of productivity, competitiveness, and workforce transformation. New data suggests the Kingdom is well-positioned to lead the global shift toward digital labor, provided organizations move quickly.

Slack’s latest Workforce Index shows that daily AI usage among desk workers has surged 233 percent in just six months. Employees who utilize AI daily report significantly higher productivity and workplace satisfaction, indicating that AI is no longer experimental but has become a fundamental component of modern enterprise performance.

“Saudi Arabia has all the ingredients to lead this shift: a young population, a government willing to modernize at extraordinary speed, and industries preparing for global competition,” said Mohammad Al-Khotani, senior vice president and general manager of Salesforce Middle East.

Beyond productivity gains, AI is transforming the structure of work. Most users report that AI enables them to perform tasks they previously lacked the skills to complete, and trust in AI grows with continued use. Increasingly, AI is being applied not only for automation but also to enhance creativity, communication, and decision-making.

This evolution is now advancing toward what industry leaders describe as the “agentic enterprise,” where autonomous AI agents manage workflows with minimal human intervention. According to the MuleSoft Connectivity Benchmark Report, 93 percent of IT leaders plan to deploy such agents within the next two years.

“AI agents offer a multiplier effect across sectors that Vision 2030 prioritizes. This same efficiency can shift the economics of different industries,” Al-Khotani said.

Regulation is another critical frontier. “When we talk about digital labor in Saudi Arabia, we have to acknowledge that legal and regulatory AI is not optional,” said Mohamad El-Charif, founder of Qadi. “Moving early with governed, sovereign agents, lets Saudi organizations encode their own local laws, internal policies, escalation paths and audit trails into the infrastructure.”

Rather than replacing people, AI is freeing them. “AI must be introduced as augmentation, not substitution,” Al-Khotani emphasized. As global adoption accelerates, Saudi Arabia’s opportunity is clear. By building integrated, AI-ready foundations now, the Kingdom can continue advancing Vision 2030 and turn its ambitions into a human-centric, innovation-driven reality.