Coursera’s Global Skills Report 2026 ranks the UAE first in the Middle East and North Africa and sixth worldwide on its new AI-Human Skills Synergy Index, TradeArabia reported on 1 October 2026. The ranking comes with sharp increases in AI security and generative AI course enrolments, as well as growth in the human skills the index tracks.
Key points
- The UAE places first in MENA and sixth globally on Coursera’s AI-Human Skills Synergy Index.
- UAE enrolments rose 243% in AI security and 117% in generative AI year on year.
- Enrolments grew 56% in complex problem-solving and 39% in critical thinking.
- AI-related micro-credential enrolments increased 101% in the UAE.
Coursera’s index pairs AI and human skills
The new index measures how learners in 98 countries build AI skills together with the human skills used to apply them. It also takes account of broader national conditions for AI readiness. Coursera places the UAE ahead of the US, Singapore, the UK, China and India on that measure.
The Global Skills Report is in its eighth edition and uses a subset of learning data from more than 300 million people across Coursera and Udemy. It combines the skills data with national readiness information from Oxford Insights’ Government AI Readiness Index.
For the UAE, Coursera identifies stakeholder alignment and influence as a recurring human skill paired with AI and machine learning foundations, prompting and AI interaction, and generative AI. Those pairings put the headline ranking in more specific terms: the index tracks people learning to work with others on AI, alongside learning the technology itself.
UAE AI security enrolments rise 243%
Enrolments in AI courses across the UAE increased 75% year on year, according to Coursera’s figures. Within that total, AI security grew 243%, generative AI rose 117% and agentic workflows increased 100%.
The growth reaches beyond technical courses. Coursera records a 56% increase in complex problem-solving enrolments and a 39% rise in critical thinking, while innovation enrolments grew 7%. Communication and presentation, people leadership and management, and ethics and governance also feature among the human-skills themes in the report.
Coursera’s regional general manager, Kais Zribi, said employers and educators have a role in linking those skills to practical experience. His argument is that learning must keep pace with investment in AI technology if people are to use it effectively at work.
UAE job postings add AI requirements
Stanford’s 2026 AI Index Report estimates generative AI adoption in the UAE at 64%, TradeArabia reported. That is an adoption estimate, while Coursera’s year-on-year figures count enrolments on learning platforms.
AI skills also account for a larger share of advertised jobs. The proportion of UAE postings requiring them rose from 1% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2025, according to figures from PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer reported by TradeArabia.
Coursera puts year-on-year growth in all UAE micro-credential enrolments at 38%, and growth in AI-related micro-credential enrolments at 101%. The UAE approved plans for a federal Artificial Intelligence and Data Authority tasked with coordinating AI, data and digital government.
