Research Reveals AI Front-Runners and Laggards in Europe, Middle East, and Africa
It highlights how healthcare, retail, and BFSI sectors are shaping distinct paths in AI investment and outcomes across the region.
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[Image source: Chetan Jha/MITSMR Middle East]
As AI adoption accelerates across the globe, a new report sheds light on how industry leaders in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) are navigating the complexities of integration, investment, and execution. Drawing insights from over 600 IT decision-makers, including respondents from the Middle East, the research reveals a striking divergence in strategies across healthcare, retail, and BFSI sectors.
The findings not only highlight differing levels of maturity and risk appetite but also underscore the importance of tailoring AI approaches to sector-specific needs and capabilities. For CIOs and executive leaders in the Middle East, the report offers benchmarks and cautionary lessons in digital transformation.
Cautious Optimism Defines BFSI and Retail
In an era of accelerated innovation, the BFSI sector is taking a markedly conservative approach to AI. Only 7% of BFSI organisations have implemented AI to date, by far the lowest among the sectors surveyed. Moreover, just 38% of their 2025 AI budgets are earmarked for Generative AI, suggesting ongoing caution in deploying more experimental technologies.
Yet this restraint may be yielding positive results. The sector reported the highest proportion of AI initiatives that exceeded expectations (33%), indicating a strong alignment between AI deployment and clearly defined business use cases.
Retail follows a similarly measured path. With 61% of companies still in the pilot phase and a below-average projected AI spending growth of 97%, the sector nonetheless posted the highest combined satisfaction rate, with 96% of AI projects either meeting or exceeding expectations.
The outcomes reflect a trend of prioritising business fit over speed. “These findings confirm that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to AI,” said Simone Larsson, Head of Enterprise AI at Lenovo. “Whether businesses are looking to take a bold leap with AI, or a more measured step-by-step approach, every industry faces unique challenges and opportunities.”
Healthcare Bets Big—But with Mixed Results
In contrast to the cautious optimism of BFSI and retail, the healthcare sector is entering a phase of rapid acceleration. With a planned 169% increase in AI spending over 2025, the highest across all industries, healthcare organisations are signalling strong intent to catch up.
However, this surge in investment is not yet translating into consistent success. The report found that healthcare not only lags in AI adoption but also has the highest proportion of organisations stating that AI has underperformed against expectations.
This performance gap may reflect an internal capability deficit. According to the report, healthcare organisations may require stronger strategic guidance and external partnerships to translate investment into effective outcomes.
Building a Foundation for AI-Nomics
As AI continues to evolve from experimentation to enterprise-scale deployment, industry leaders are increasingly focused on aligning technology with operational and strategic goals.
“Identification of business challenges and opportunity areas followed by the development of a robust plan provides a foundation to build a successful AI deployment,” Larsson added.
