UAE ranks first in MENA and sixth globally for AI readiness in Coursera’s new AI-Human Skills Synergy Index
AI security enrollments grew 243% and generative AI 117%, alongside increases of 56% in complex problem-solving and 39% in critical thinking.
The United Arab Emirates ranks first in the Middle East and North Africa and sixth globally on the new AI-Human Skills Synergy Index featured in Coursera’s Global Skills Report 2026, ahead of the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, China, and India. The Index, the first of its kind, measures the extent to which learners across 98 countries are developing AI skills alongside the human skills needed to apply them, while accounting for each country’s broader AI readiness.
The report identifies the UAE as a country where skills development and the conditions for putting AI into practice reinforce each other. Stanford’s 2026 AI Index Report estimates generative AI adoption in the UAE at 64%, among the highest country rates reported.
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