A new survey, "300,000 Voices – UAE Edition" by the Oliver Wyman Forum, has found that 85 per cent of UAE employees now use artificial intelligence at work, outpacing North America (72 per cent) and Europe (66 per cent). Nearly half use AI tools daily, and more than 60 per cent rely on them at least three times a week.

Yet the enthusiasm comes paired with anxiety: 67 per cent of UAE employees say they fear AI could cost them their jobs. In a striking twist, 42 per cent said they would actually prefer an AI colleague or manager over a human one — suggesting the unease is less about AI itself than about how it's being rolled out.

The survey, drawn from five years of data and 5,285 participants, plus a supplementary poll of 503 respondents in April 2026, points to a communication gap as a key driver of the anxiety. Only 26 per cent of executives confirmed their companies had clearly explained their AI strategy to staff, and that figure drops to just 6 per cent among front-line employees asked the same question.

On job satisfaction, 75 per cent of respondents said they were generally satisfied with their jobs, but only 25 per cent reported feeling genuinely fulfilled in their roles — a gap that researchers say reflects deeper questions about purpose rather than AI alone.

Mona Hammami, an Oliver Wyman partner in the UAE, said "high adoption alone does not resolve concerns about job security." She argued that employers need to be clearer about career progression paths and how AI will reshape roles and the skills required, noting that much of the current unease stems from poor internal communication rather than an actual displacement threat.