Citizens in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are more comfortable with AI-powered government services than global peers, according to Boston Consulting Group’s 2026 Digital Government Citizen Survey.
The survey found that 79% of GCC respondents expect government services to be AI-centred, compared with 66% globally. The regional findings draw on more than 1,500 respondents, as part of a global sample of 48,500 people across 44 countries.
Comfort with AI and agentic services is 30 percentage points higher in the GCC than globally. Half of respondents prefer AI to handle simple services while people manage complex ones, up 9 points in two years. Only about 4% want human-only services.
GCC satisfaction with public digital services has risen 15% over the past decade. The region is also the only one surveyed where citizens rate government digital services above private-sector services, with 72% expressing that view compared with 44% globally.
However, the lead is narrowing. The share favouring government services fell from 75% in 2024 to 69% in 2026, while confidence that AI’s benefits outweigh its risks dropped 21 points. Job losses and accuracy were the top concerns, cited by about 33% and 28% of respondents, respectively.
BCG recommended hybrid service models, stronger safeguards, early investment in agentic services and broader AI literacy.
Source: Middle East AI News
