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PwC’s EMEA Cloud Business Survey: Middle East Findings

Cloud, AI and Sovereignty: Building the Middle East’s digital advantage

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Cloud in the region is evolving into a platform for intelligence, resilience and national competitiveness. As geopolitical, regulatory and cost pressures intensify, cloud strategy is becoming a board-level lever for growth, trust and long-term digital advantage.

15/04/26

Cloud adoption in the Middle East is transitioning into a strategic foundation for resilience and innovation across the region. What began as a platform for digital enablement is now influencing national competitiveness and supporting the large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence (AI).

As organisations across the region advance in cloud maturity, they are navigating increasingly complex trade-offs, particularly around data sovereignty, security requirements, innovation priorities and cost discipline.

The survey compares Middle East results with the wider EMEA region and was conducted prior to the Middle East conflict. While perspectives may have since evolved, the findings, now in their third year, remain highly relevant.

In periods of disruption, resilience is closely tied to infrastructure strategy. Organisations leveraging cloud are better positioned to maintain continuity, adapt quickly, and respond to change.

Insights from PwC’s EMEA Cloud Business Survey: Middle East Findings show that organisations across the region are moving beyond early adoption toward optimisation, using cloud to power AI innovation, strengthen resilience and unlock new sources of growth.

Understanding the new cloud reality

Cloud adoption has reached critical mass, but maturity, governance, and value realisation still vary widely.

Across industries, organisations are moving beyond migration to focus on optimisation, sovereignty, and trust—all while preparing for agentic AI and the next generation of intelligent workloads.

The findings reveal a decisive shift: cloud is no longer just about scale and efficiency. It’s about resilience, accountability, and innovation at speed.

“The cloud was built for change – enabling organisations to innovate, adapt, and stay resilient in a disruptive environment.”

Sebastian Paas,Partner, EMEA Cloud Transformation Leader, PwC Germany

Key findings from the survey

78%

of organisations report medium to high cloud maturity, signalling a shift from adoption to optimisation.

78%

already use cloud-based AI and machine learning capabilities across parts of their organisation.

51%

use or plan to adopt sovereign public cloud solutions.

86%

plan to increase cloud investment in the next 12 months.

Key insights from the Middle East

Cloud maturity is accelerating 

Cloud adoption in the Middle East has entered a new phase. Organisations are moving from experimentation toward enterprise-wide deployment and optimisation. 

National digital strategies, large-scale transformation programmes and strong private sector investment are helping organisations accelerate cloud adoption and modernise their technology infrastructure. 

Regulation and geopolitics reshape cloud strategy 

Evolving regulatory frameworks and geopolitical developments are reshaping how organisations approach cloud adoption in the region. Governments are increasingly prioritising data sovereignty, cybersecurity and trusted digital infrastructure. 

As a result, cloud strategy is becoming closely linked to national digital agendas and regulatory expectations.

“Cybersecurity has become the currency of trust in the Middle East’s digital economy. As cloud architectures expand across borders, organisations are increasingly prioritising sovereignty, embedded security and resilience.”

Samer OmarPartner, PwC Middle East

Sovereign cloud and multi-cloud architectures gain momentum

Organisations across the Middle East are increasingly adopting multi-cloud architectures that combine public, private and sovereign cloud environments. 

This approach enables organisations to balance innovation with security, resilience and regulatory requirements while maintaining greater control over sensitive data and workloads. 

“Across the Middle East, clients are moving decisively toward sovereign and trusted cloud models, not as a compliance checkbox but as a foundation for innovation and resilience.”

Rajat Chowdhary,Partner, PwC Middle East

AI and agentic AI accelerate transformation

Artificial intelligence has become a leading transformation priority across the Middle East. Cloud infrastructure is enabling organisations to scale AI capabilities and integrate advanced analytics across their operations.

According to the survey, 43% of organisations are already implementing and scaling agentic AI, demonstrating how quickly AI adoption is advancing in the region.

“Agentic AI is moving swiftly from concept to capability and is increasingly being embedded within the cloud platforms that power the modern digital economies.”-

Derar Saifan,Partner, PwC Middle East

Managing cloud economics

As cloud adoption scales, organisations are placing greater emphasis on managing cloud costs and improving financial governance.

FinOps practices are helping organisations enhance cost transparency, strengthen accountability and ensure that cloud investments deliver measurable business value.

Sustainability becomes part of cloud strategy

Sustainability considerations are increasingly influencing cloud decision-making. Organisations are focusing on reducing their digital carbon footprint and embedding responsible practices within cloud and AI strategies.

45% of organisations say sustainability considerations influence their choice of cloud provider, highlighting the growing importance of environmentally sustainable digital infrastructure.

What technology leaders should do now

To unlock the full value of cloud and AI, organisations should:

  • Treat cloud as a strategic platform rather than simply infrastructure

  • Embed sovereignty and regulatory considerations into cloud architecture

  • Strengthen governance across cloud, data and digital platforms 

  • Improve financial transparency and cost optimisation through FinOps

  • Build trusted data foundations to support responsible AI adoption

Interested to learn more?

Download PwC’s EMEA Cloud Business Survey: Middle East Findings

(PDF of 18.69MB)

PwC surveyed 1,415 business and technology leaders across 26 territories within EMEA, including 280 respondents from the Middle East. 

Respondents represent a range of industries including financial services, technology, consumer markets, energy and government.

Within the Middle East sample:

  • 36% United Arab Emirates

  • 36% Saudi Arabia

  • 18% Qatar

  • 11% Egypt 

About the author(s)

Imad Abuizz
Imad Abuizz

Partner - Alliances & Delivery Centres Leader, PwC Middle East

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Rajat Chowdhary
Rajat Chowdhary

Partner, Technology Consulting, PwC Middle East

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Samer Omar
Samer Omar

Cybersecurity & Digital Trust Leader, PwC Middle East

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Derar Saifan
Derar Saifan

Technology Consulting Partner, and Digital Strategy & Realisation Solution Leader, PwC Middle East

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Jan Gloncak
Jan Gloncak

Partner, PwC Middle East

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Vikram Sharma
Vikram Sharma

Director, PwC Middle East, PwC Middle East

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