Employees familiar with artificial intelligence are earning higher salaries in the UAE, but employers are reportedly making the screening process more rigorous and verifying credentials when hiring for such roles.
In a statement to Khaleej Times, James Randall, the Middle East sales director at HireRight, said they “are seeing strong demand for candidates with AI capability across sectors such as financial services, aviation, logistics, and professional services in the UAE. Rather than a fixed salary premium, the defining factor is competition — employers are often competing for a limited pool of proven talent. This has accelerated hiring timelines and increased cross-border recruitment, particularly for specialised roles.”
According to a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a UK-based multinational professional services network, the global trend has shifted towards skill-based hiring, with employers in the UAE prioritising roles with AI exposure instead of degrees.
However, 84% of job postings that require exposure to artificial intelligence posted in 2024 still required employees to have a degree certificate.
The study also suggests that from 2021 to 2024, AI-related jobs in the UAE have doubled from 5,000 to 10,000, with the majority of them in white-collar sectors.
It goes on to claim that AI job demand has increased two to three times in the UAE compared to overall postings, hinting at increased adoption across several sectors.
Randall also told the publication that the main challenge isn’t attracting talent, but quickly making accurate decisions.
“When AI-related skills carry higher commercial value, employers are placing greater emphasis on validating credentials, employment history, and technical experience to ensure they are hiring genuine capability, not just well-presented CVs. This trend reflects broader global patterns. In practical terms, roles that require AI capabilities attract notably higher wage premiums,” Randall told Khaleej Times.
With AI roles growing rapidly in the last couple of years, the screening process has become more important than before. Before hiring employees, Randall says many organisations are rethinking how they choose candidates for AI-exposed roles.
Randall says that traditional CV screening isn’t the only factor to consider, as roles have become more digital and employees are geographically dispersed. As a result, employers are focusing on identity verification, background screening and credential validation. This applies especially to remote and cross-border workers.
This year, HireRight says jobs in the UAE are turning their focus away from technical and coding-based roles and are instead looking for professionals who can use AI to add value to business.