Technology

Middle East dominates industrial AI shift. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Manufacturers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are leading the way globally in adopting and scaling advanced technologies, according to Rockwell Automation's 11th annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report 

The report draws on research conducted with manufacturing executives worldwide, including a representative sample from the Middle East. Findings indicate that manufacturers in the region are moving beyond planning and experimentation, with a growing focus on deploying digital technologies at scale to improve operational performance.

According to the study, the Middle East has emerged as the world's most committed region when it comes to digital transformation. Nearly all respondents, 98%, consider digital transformation essential to their business, placing the region ahead of Europe, the United States and the global average. This commitment is reflected in spending priorities, with manufacturers dedicating close to 30% of their operating budgets to industrial technology investments.

“Manufacturers in the Middle East are not just adopting digital technologies, they are scaling them at pace,” said Ediz Eren, regional vice-president, Middle East, Africa and Türkiye, Rockwell Automation.

“What sets the region apart is the combination of strong investment, clear strategic intent and a willingness to embed advanced technologies directly into operational environments.”

AI drives industrial transformation

Artificial intelligence continues to play a central role in the region’s manufacturing evolution. The report shows that AI adoption has reached near-universal levels, with almost every manufacturer either already using AI technologies or planning to do so. Generative AI has also gained widespread acceptance, becoming integrated across industrial operations throughout the region.

Rather than being limited to experimental applications, AI is increasingly being incorporated into operational technology environments. Manufacturers are using it to enhance quality management, strengthen cybersecurity measures and optimise production processes.

The study found that organisations are prioritising technologies capable of delivering measurable business outcomes. AI and machine learning were identified as the technologies generating the highest return on investment, reinforcing the region’s focus on practical and performance-driven digital transformation strategies.

Workforce and cyber security remain priorities

As digital adoption accelerates, manufacturers are facing new organisational challenges. Workforce readiness has become a major concern, with change management emerging as the leading challenge as companies introduce advanced technologies throughout their operations.

To address these issues, manufacturers are expanding reskilling initiatives and increasing efforts to recruit employees with expertise in digital technologies and artificial intelligence. The report highlights a growing recognition that future manufacturing competitiveness will depend heavily on workforce capabilities.

Cybersecurity continues to rank among the highest priorities for industrial organisations. As operational environments become more connected, manufacturers are investing heavily in protecting digital systems while managing the risks associated with increased connectivity.

The report also highlights growing interest in simulation technologies such as digital twins. Adoption plans in the Middle East exceed those seen in other regions, with many organisations preparing to invest in these technologies over the coming year. Digital twins are increasingly being used to model production environments, test operational changes and improve efficiency before implementation.

Despite strong progress in digitalisation, the research indicates that many manufacturers still struggle to maximise the value of their operational data. While significant volumes of data are being collected, a substantial proportion remains underutilised, highlighting the need for stronger data-driven decision-making capabilities.

Overall, the findings suggest that manufacturers in the Middle East are pursuing a distinctive approach to digital transformation characterised by significant investment, widespread technology adoption and a strong emphasis on operational outcomes. The report concludes that the region is not only keeping pace with global manufacturing trends but is increasingly helping shape the future direction of industrial transformation.

The State of Smart Manufacturing Report captures perspectives from manufacturing leaders across a range of sectors, including automotive, life sciences, consumer goods and industrial manufacturing. The research examines how organisations are adopting technologies such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity solutions, digital twins and workforce development strategies as they respond to growing operational complexity and competitive pressures.

The new platform enables organisations to measure, disclose, and optimise their carbon emissions across Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 categories. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

IFS, the leading provider of Industrial AI software has launched IFS Zero, an agentic emissions operating system designed for asset-intensive industries

The new solution, designed specifically for carbon emissions management and created through extensive consultation with IFS customers in asset-intensive industries, works with IFS's broader Sustainability Management module, for corporate sustainability reporting, providing a single, unified calculation platform that enables organisations to measure, disclose, and optimise their carbon emissions across Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 categories.

IFS Zero uses agentic AI across the entire data lifecycle – mapping sources, validating data, flagging anomalies, and producing audit-ready outputs, resulting in an audit-ready baseline in weeks, hundreds of hours of operational time saved annually, and a 30% reduction in data collection effort.

The rapid advancement of agentic Industrial AI presents a major opportunity to reduce emissions across asset-intensive industries. Research from sustainable investment firm Generation Investment Management, an IFS investor, suggests that, with full adoption across the three largest industrial sectors it serves, IFS technology could help abate over 2% of global CO₂ emissions. IFS Zero helps unlock this potential by giving industrial companies the ability to analyse emissions data and take action in real time.

Caitlin Keam, VP Manufacturing and Sustainability Applications, at IFS said, "With IFS Zero, we're fundamentally changing how industrial companies approach emissions management. For too long, sustainability has meant slow deployments, manual spreadsheets, and reporting after the fact. IFS Zero replaces that with an agentic operating system that delivers an emissions baseline in short timescales and enables visibility into your day-to-day operations. It allows customers to move beyond compliance and start using sustainability as a true strategic advantage."

Alessandra Leggieri, senior analyst, Net Zero & Energy Transition at Verdantix, said, “As asset intensive industries move beyond static carbon reporting toward operational decarbonization, buyers are gravitating toward vendors with strong data and operational foundations - particularly those that can handle asset level complexity, connect emissions data to energy consumption and efficiency analysis, and integrate sustainability insights into day to day operational and investment decision making”

IFS Zero launches alongside IFS Cloud 26R1, which became generally available on 28 May and delivers targeted enhancements across Enterprise Resource Planning, Service Management, Enterprise Asset Management, and Aviation Maintenance.

Aramco will combine its expertise and intellectual property with Emerson’s advanced corrosion solutions to digitalise and transform corrosion management. (Image source: Emerson)

Emerson has announced it will co-develop next-generation corrosion management solutions for Aramco

Corrosion management is a strategic priority for Aramco, tied directly to operational performance, safety and environmental responsibility. Continuous corrosion monitoring eliminates difficult, inefficient and dangerous manual corrosion measurements and provides a reliable digital data stream for improved decision making.

At the Middle East Metallurgy, Corrosion & Coatings (MECOC) Expo earlier this year, Aramco’s executive vice president of technical services, Wail A Al Jaafari said that Aramco has invested more than US$70mn in corrosion management technologies, achieving over US$770mn in cost savings and avoidance.

“AI-powered solutions are now anticipating corrosion before it happens, leveraging a cast network of IIOT sensors across our facilities and pipelines. These sensors provide more than 10mn corrosion-motoring readings annually across over 40 facilities,” he said.

Aramco’s Hybrid Statistical Corrosion Prediction Model, HySCorr, leverages 20 years’ worth of data, using machine learning and advanced flow and corrosion modelling to produce dynamic, predictive and more accurate monitoring of pipeline health, therefore protecting thousands of kilometres of pipelines.

As part of the corrosion research and development collaboration with Emerson, Aramco will combine its expertise and intellectual property with Emerson’s advanced corrosion solutions to digitalise and transform corrosion management. Emerson will provide its technology leadership in ultrasonic online corrosion monitoring technology; seamless wireless connectivity for corrosion wall thickness monitors, and real-time and continuous data collection to develop a fit-for-purpose corrosion management solution for Aramco processes.

“Emerson, with our complete technology stack, is uniquely positioned to co-innovate the next-generation corrosion monitoring solutions that are cost-effective, scalable and customised for Aramco,” said Ram Krishnan, chief operating officer for Emerson. “We look forward to working with Aramco to develop not only a corrosion solution for its vast operations, but one that will also be a valuable tool for many other industries.”

Professor Michael Wade and Caspar Herzberg, CEO of AVEVA discuss the report findings at AVEVA World 2026. (Image source: Alain Charles Publishing)

A new report from AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, and the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) discusses what makes digital ecosystems succeed

Based on a global survey of 275 senior business leaders across 12 industry sectors and 19 expert interviews, the inaugural Industrial intelligence Report on Digital Ecosystems and the Future of Connected Industries explores how organisations can harness their industrial intelligence to build, orchestrate and scale business ecosystems that create value, and highlights the main barriers to success.

Increasingly, organisations are seeking to construct digital ecosystems to address business challenges, whether that is innovating faster, navigating supply volatility, or decarbonising complex global operations. Such ecosystems – networks of independent but interdependent organisations that interact through shared digital infrastructure, shared data and co-ordinated decision making – create value that no single organisation could produce alone. Digital ecosystems are delivering measurable operational value in areas such as customer experience, commercialisation speed and ecosystem-wide automation.

Yet, as the research shows, the gap between digital ecosystem ambition and execution remains wide. Where ecosystems are working, companies are realising tangible value through harnessing their industrial intelligence. But the barriers to success remain challenging, spanning the areas of corporate strategy, governance, and technology.

In a fireside chat at AVEVA World in Milan, where the report was launched, AVEVA CEO, Caspar Herzberg spoke about the findings with Michael Wade, director of IMD Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation and Professor of Strategy and Digital, IMD.

Importance of data sharing and good governance

Professor Wade highlighted that the two key factors posing challenges were data sharing and governance, both of which are critical for value to be created, delivered and captured.

While 74% of leaders surveyed consider digital ecosystems a top strategic priority, only 27% report sharing data substantially or extensively with ecosystem partners, and only 9% have achieved joint, integrated cross-organisation data governance.

“The more data was shared, the more value was created, but at the but at the same time, paradoxically, we saw a quite a large reluctance to share data,” Professor Wade said.

Discussing the importance of setting up good governance, he commented, “Poor governance or lack of governance reduces value. Those organisations that had set up strong joint governance celebrated value in their digital ecosystems.” Governance maturity is strongly associated with ecosystem value, the report shows.

Ai is widespread but shallow, according to the findings, with only 3% treating it as a core platform capability. Infrastructure constraints, rather than trust or regulation, represent the main barrier to AI deployment in ecosystems.

Several illustrative case studies also emphasise the gap between ambition and execution: integration complexity, legacy systems and weak governance. Most organisations are investing in digital ecosystem strategy while underinvesting in the operational foundations that make ecosystems work.

The report concludes that organisations most likely to lead the next phase of digital ecosystem development will be those that solve the fundamental problems that currently prevent ecosystems from delivering on their promise: governance structures aligned across partners, deeper data sharing and the capability to collaborate broadly across diverse partner types.

Herzberg explained, “With this collaboration with IMD, our ambition is not merely to understand the motivations behind the move to digital ecosystems, but to define the frameworks, competencies and leadership practices that will concretely enable companies to transcend silos and build more adaptive, ecosystem driven operating models.”

“Governance, integration and learning matter more right now than algorithms. Ecosystems are already delivering operational value. The next phase is about converting that foundation into strategic advantage through better data sharing, coordination, clearer roles and more deliberate leadership... Industrial sectors have decades of experience collaborating out of operational necessity. What is changing is that data, AI and connected platforms are turning those collaborations into real time, intelligence driven systems,” commented Professor Wade.