INFORMATION technology spending in the Middle East and North Africa region is forecast to reach $169 billion in 2026, marking an 8.9 per cent increase from 2025, according to the latest projections from Gartner, reports Arab News.
The surge is driven by accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence, intelligent automation, and AI-optimised infrastructure upgrades, as organisations across the region prioritise digital transformation amid global economic and geopolitical uncertainties.
Gartner’s forecast is already taking shape in Saudi Arabia, where AI adoption is surging, as seen with the launch of Humain, a state-backed AI company unveiled in May by the Public Investment Fund.
Positioned at the forefront of the kingdom’s ambition to become a global AI hub, Humain focuses on deploying advanced AI infrastructure, developing Arabic multimodal large language models, and forging strategic partnerships with global technology leaders such as Nvidia, AMD, and Amazon Web Services.
“The Mena region is rapidly emerging as a global tech powerhouse, with the GCC leveraging its stability, infrastructure and forward-looking policies to attract global partners and build digital skills that empower innovation and support resilient AI-driven economies,” said Mim Burt, practice vice president at Gartner.
“Even amid global economic and geopolitical uncertainty, chief information officers in Mena are making strategic investments in AI, intelligent automation and multi-cloud strategies, while strengthening cyber defences and advancing talent upskilling,” Burt added.
Data centre systems will remain the highest-growth segment in 2026, with spending projected to increase by 37.3pc to $13bn.
However, Gartner noted that the pace will moderate compared to 2025’s 69.3pc growth, as the market transitions from rapid buildouts to more incremental and sustained investments.
“Data center system spending is expected to accelerate as Mena CIOs and technology leaders invest in AI-enabled software and AI-optimised infrastructure,” said Eyad Tachwali, vice president, advisory at Gartner.
“This surge is largely fuelled by pent-up demand for generative AI and advanced machine learning, which depend on robust computing power for large-scale data processing,” Tachwali added.
Software spending is also expected to see significant growth, rising 13.9pc to $20.4bn in 2026, as organisations across Mena integrate GenAI capabilities into their operations.
Gartner projects that by 2028, 75pc of global software spending will be directed towards solutions embedded with GenAI functionality.
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