Some roles in advertising and marketing are considered to be vulnerable to the increasing use of AI. Getty Images
Some roles in advertising and marketing are considered to be vulnerable to the increasing use of AI. Getty Images
Some roles in advertising and marketing are considered to be vulnerable to the increasing use of AI. Getty Images
Some roles in advertising and marketing are considered to be vulnerable to the increasing use of AI. Getty Images

UAE professionals fear AI could replace jobs but admit it's made work easier


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The rise of artificial intelligence has many white-collar professionals around the world worried. From lawyers to creatives, there is real fear that AI could soon replace the roles they do.

Many firms in the UAE are embracing new tools to automate tasks – no surprises in a country that wants to be number one for AI use. Often, senior staff find them a work in progress and say AI tools cannot yet replace skilled workers.

About a quarter of the 200 professionals polled by The National on LinkedIn say they are worried that AI will affect their jobs in future – but not right now.

On the plus side, more than half claim the technology has made their job easier. Seven per cent – admittedly from a small polling base – say their role has already been replaced by AI.

Among the most vulnerable are content writers in media, advertising and marketing.

We experiment with AI a lot but have seen it drop the ball many times
Sakher Al Adaileh,
Velocity Growth

Sreejith NK, a content writer for a corporate services company in Dubai, said AI has already disrupted his job. "Before the advent of AI, I enjoyed commanding power in the company, especially while negotiating salary hikes,” he told The National.

“But the other day the company offered me two options: either search for a new job or become a remote freelancer for them at half the salary. I accepted the second option due to my financial commitments."

His company believes AI can produce and craft content, and a junior worker on a lower salary can check it over to save on marketing costs, Mr Sreejith said.

"I believe AI has diminished the relevance of content writers and minimised our negotiating power," he added.

But more skilled or hands-on roles are generally safe for now, said David Mackenzie, of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones. He believes it will take five to 10 years before it causes major job disruption in the UAE.

AI can only replace repetitive processes, he said. “AI is currently not sophisticated enough to do the roles of senior white-collar professionals that count on experience," he added. "As a senior person, you'll stay in your job for the next 10 years."

Mr Mackenzie said roles in technology, health care diagnostics, insurance and tellers in banking, where there are repetitive processes, would be affected by AI.

Speciality roles

Similarly, transactional roles in financial services may be affected by AI but not decision-making jobs, said Oscar Orellana-Hyder of executive search firm Cordell Partners.

Fund and investment managers are currently experimenting with AI to understand cost-benefit analysis and check whether automation can replace a junior worker, he said.

“Junior roles could potentially be replaced but there is no threat of immediate displacement,” Mr Orellana-Hyder said. "For example, an execution trader, executing orders from a portfolio manager, could potentially be replaced over time.

“Senior-level roles are relatively insulated from AI because of the decision-making involved, seniority, tenure at the firm and respect gained over years.”

David Mackenzie, owner of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East, believes AI will not replace white-collar roles in the UAE for the next five to 10 years at least. Ravindranath K / The National
David Mackenzie, owner of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East, believes AI will not replace white-collar roles in the UAE for the next five to 10 years at least. Ravindranath K / The National

The International Monetary Fund says nearly 60 per cent of jobs in advanced economies may be affected by AI – though only about half of those might suffer negatively, while the rest could benefit from enhanced productivity.

The World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, AI and automation could eliminate 75 million jobs while creating 133 million more, a net gain of 58 million roles.

Al-Futtaim, one of the Middle East's largest private sector employers with 33,000 staff, said AI is positively affecting a variety of roles across the conglomerate. It is also leading to the creation of new roles.

“AI-driven automation has absorbed many of the repetitive, data-intensive tasks that were previously a drain on our teams’ time,” said Himanshu Shrivastava, chief technology officer. "This has allowed our employees to shift their focus towards higher-value activities such as strategic planning, creative problem-solving and building stronger customer relationships."

Upskilling for 1,000 staff in the space of a few months and the creation of new roles, including data officers, are a major focus, he said.

Watch: Amazon backs AI that lets you make your own TV show

Citing strong demand for expertise in data science, analytics and machine-learning roles, Mr Shrivastava highlighted popular roles in the tech world such as AI product management, prompt engineering, AI architects, AI ethics experts and AI security experts, among others.

AI shortcomings

Sakher Al Adaileh, managing partner of consulting firm Velocity Growth, said AI is becoming a “real force” in creative, analytical and executional roles. Although it is less embedded is in decision-making roles, where AI can be trusted is to respond to customer queries quickly and project budgets, but it still needs a human in the loop.

“We experiment with AI a lot but have seen it drop the ball many times, hence there’s always a human element to varying degrees in our AI-powered workstreams," he said. "AI is only as good as the model it’s trained on but a human can read between the lines."

Perplexity AI has made research so much faster that business development teams can spend more time engaging with clients instead of gathering background information, he said.

Also, a few designers with AI-based design tools can now do the work of a much larger team. Machine-learning models such as Meta’s Prophet or Google’s Bert help produce forecasts and sentiment analysis within hours, “work that used to take days or even weeks of manual effort only a year or two ago”, he said.

Savings and costs

Similarly, Flowwow, a UAE-based gift marketplace, said it now uses an AI-powered support assistant to resolve 30 per cent of all tickets, equivalent to the workload of three agents.

“Take an e-commerce company using AI every day. Instead of paying hundreds or thousands for stock photography or professional shoots, they subscribe to Midjourney for $30 a month to generate images for their site, ads and communications. AI still can’t compete with the quality, emotions and authenticity a real photographer brings out in their shots, but at some point businesses are happy with 70 per cent to 80 per cent quality at a fraction of the cost,” Mr Al Adaileh said.

“Their WhatsApp AI-powered chatbot answers customer questions instantly, 24/7, with no night shifts or large customer service team required. AI also reshuffles their homepage and pushes relevant categories to the top based on live conversion data, which boosts sales, while tools like Loveable allow companies to test product ideas in days, instead of weeks.”

However, the infrastructure costs to power AI can scale up faster than one would like. While working with enterprise or government clients, change management and getting end users to embrace the technology is also a journey in itself, Mr Al Adaileh warned.

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Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

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Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

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Ahmed Saadawi
​​​​​​​Penguin Press

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If you go...

Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).

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  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

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1921

1888

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

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A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

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Updated: August 29, 2025, 6:09 AM