GCC AI in HR: 93% explore, 1% ready

A Korn Ferry survey of 105 CHROs across six GCC countries reveals a striking gap between AI ambition and readiness: 93% of organisations are exploring, piloting, or deploying AI in HR, yet only 1% feel fully prepared to scale it enterprise-wide. While 49% are piloting AI in selected functions and 20% have deployed it in multiple areas, readiness lags—46% say they are only 'somewhat ready' and 30% are not ready at all. Key barriers include legacy technology integration (61%), lack of AI-skilled talent (44%), and uncertainty about ROI (37%). Notably, 42% are not recruiting for dedicated AI roles, and HR holds primary AI accountability in only 3% of organisations, with CIOs leading in 60%. The report also highlights that over half of talent leaders plan to introduce autonomous AI agents in 2026, signalling a shift toward AI as part of the workforce. Key signal: Only 1% of GCC organisations consider themselves fully ready to scale AI across the enterprise, despite 93% exploring or deploying it in HR. For hiring leaders, this matters because for CHROs and GCC leaders, this data underscores a critical strategic gap: investing in AI without building the underlying infrastructure, talent, and governance will stall transformation. The fact that HR is sidelined in AI strategy—only 3% have primary accountability—means workforce planning, reskilling, and job redesign may be misaligned with technology adoption. As autonomous AI agents enter the workplace, organisations must rethink workforce capacity, accountability, and skills. The 42% not hiring for AI roles suggests a disconnect between ambition and capability investment, which could lead to failed implementations and wasted spend. This is a wake-up call to integrate HR into AI strategy and close the readiness gap. Teksands view: The GCC's AI reality check is a mirror for India's GCCs and IT services firms. The 93% exploration vs. 1% readiness gap is a classic 'buying the tool, not the outcome' trap. If you're not investing in AI-skilled talent and data infrastructure, you're just adding a shiny dashboard to legacy chaos. And with HR holding only 3% accountability, the people side of AI is being ignored—that's a recipe for reskilling failures and talent mismatches. The 42% not hiring for AI roles is the most damning stat: you can't scale AI without the people to run it. Time to move from pilots to production, and that means hiring, not just experimenting.