AI Demand in MENA: The Role of Telcos in National AI Ambitions

MENA is moving from AI ambition to AI execution. Governments are publishing national AI strategies, developing regulatory frameworks, and investing heavily in local AI infrastructure, compute and cloud capabilities through initiatives such as G42, HUMAIN and QAI.  As national AI programmes move into implementation, governments and buyers need trusted partners that can deploy AI solutions at scale. Mobile operators already provide the infrastructure, reach and local presence to support this transition through secure networks and edge capabilities. Their established relationships with governments and enterprise customers position them to be able to serve this demand.

At the same time, operators are looking to unlock new AI-driven growth opportunities. Mobile technology contributed around $350 billion to regional GDP in 2024, and while 57% of operators have adopted AI, most deployments were focused on internal efficiency. Revenue-focused AI deployments in MENA more than doubled between 2025 and 2026, signalling growing interest in commercial AI services and new business models.

As part of the GSMA MENA AI for Impact Initiative, this roundtable will bring together MNOs and international/regional organisations partners to discuss opportunities for supporting national AI priorities in MENA and share perspectives on use cases with a public value that could enable operators to unlock new sustainable partnerships.