A new workforce sentiment survey shows that 80% of HR practitioners in UAE and 81% in Saudi Arabia consider human intuition essential for hiring, even as AI tool usage rapidly expands globally today.
Over half of UAE HR professionals and two in five in KSA trust AI tools as their primary career advisor, which may seem contradictory. However, this blend of human judgment and technological progress is seen as a strength in the region.
After 11 years as a regional director at LinkedIn, it’s become clear that AI is viewed as a consultant, providing insights to help humans make final decisions.
The MENA region is known for its fast-paced environment, leaving little room for slow movers. 70% of UAE and 80% of KSA HR professionals feel pressured to make decisions quickly to succeed at work.
50% of UAE and 38% of KSA HR professionals say decisions are piling up faster than they can act on them. This pressure is reflected in conversations with recruiters and HR professionals, who emphasize the need to source talent quickly and efficiently.
In a conversation with Matarat Holdings, they explained the importance of sourcing relevant talent quickly, particularly for hard-to-fill and high-impact roles.
Almost 80% of HR professionals in the UAE and KSA are seeking AI training to manage their increasing workload, demonstrating a clear appetite for tools that accelerate routine tasks while preserving space for human judgment.
HR teams in the region are leaning into the challenge, using AI to make the hiring process faster and smoother without losing the human touch.
This approach is rooted in the region’s cultural emphasis on relationships, trust, and long-term thinking, and is seen as sophisticated risk management rather than decision paralysis.
The future of work is not about humans versus AI, but humans working with AI. The real opportunity lies in creating a balanced partnership, which is prominent in the region where organizations are adopting AI tools to enhance efficiency while maintaining a strong focus on human decision-making.
LinkedIn‘s latest talent agent, Hiring Assistant, is designed to take on repetitive tasks, allowing recruiters to focus on building connections and creating great candidate experiences.
By combining speed with human insight, Hiring Assistant helps MENA companies strike a balance between technology and human judgment, using AI to handle routine tasks while leaving humans to make informed decisions.
This balance is seen as a strength in the region, and tools like Hiring Assistant are already proving their effectiveness in practice.
The human-AI balance matters because talent decisions shape the growth of entire economies, and the ability to harness AI without losing sight of the human element could give MENA a competitive edge.
The MENA region’s approach to AI adoption is focused on creating a balanced partnership between humans and AI, and this approach is likely to have a lasting impact on the region’s economy.
