Nearly nine in ten organisations worldwide now use AI regularly in at least one business function, but only 37 per cent say it has contributed to their earnings, according to McKinsey’s state of AI 2026 survey. AIONSE FZE, a Dubai based consulting and technology company, says one reason is that companies are asking general purpose AI chatbot platforms for help with decisions that need a specialist. This month AIONSE is releasing Ask AIONSE to the public: six specialist AI business advisors, working as one consulting team, that companies across Dubai and the broader Gulf can reach 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in Arabic, English or German. The release follows testing on real business cases with C-level executives from marketing and advertising, hospitality, insurance, logistics and human resources. Among those who reviewed it, a former partner at a global consulting firm, who tested it on 10 cases and a former German chief executive each rates its answers 9 out 10. “Generic AI is brilliant at language and weak at judgement,” said Nader Salloum, founder of AIONSE. “A company facing a staffing issue in Dubai or a market entry decision in Riyadh needs an advisor who knows the field and the region, at the moment the question comes up, not when a consulting engagement can start.”
The gap is sharper in the Gulf. McKinsey’s 2025 study of GCC organisations found that 84 per cent have adopted AI in at least one business function, but only 11 per cent are scaling it and can attribute at least 5 per cent of earnings to it. Gulf decisions also turn on rules and market conditions that differ from one country to the next. Ask AIONSE’s advisors work from the region’s regulations, costs and market conditions and can analyse a company’s own reports, so leadership teams get advice they can act on, not a generic answer they still have to adapt. “Strategy rarely fails in the Gulf for lack of ambition. It fails in translation, between a global playbook and a local market, and between the boardroom and the front line,” Salloum said. “Ask AIONSE closes that distance. A leadership team gets advice shaped by Gulf regulation, Gulf costs and its own numbers, in Arabic or English, at the moment the decision has to be made.”
Each advisor covers one area of the business.
HR and people handles hiring, performance, pay and policies.
Strategy and management handles growth plans, market entry and organisation design.
Sales handles pipeline, proposals and negotiation.
Marketing handles positioning, campaigns and digital channels.
Operations handles processes, costs, suppliers and KPIs.
Digital and AI handles adoption, automation and choosing the right systems.
The service is aimed at founders testing an idea, business owners facing a pressing decision, and managers in SMEs and large organisations who want a second opinion before a board meeting, from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Riyadh and Doha.
When a question needs hands-on work, the conversation can be passed to AIONSE’s consultants and engineers in Dubai.
“Big decisions deserve specialist AI, with people still in control,” Salloum said.
“Every user’s questions, files and numbers stay private to their own account,” Salloum said. “Our consultants see a conversation only if the client chooses to share it, and the AI we use does not train on client questions.”
Salloum, who holds an MBA, spent more than 20 years in senior management roles across the region before founding AIONSE in June 2026.
Ask AIONSE is now available to companies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, with plans to expand beyond the Gulf.
