Middle East Companies Adopt AI-Powered Translation as Daily Operations Go Multilingual

Faced with a globalized workforce and cross-border operations, companies across the Middle East are now embedding live translation into the fabric of daily work, adopting a hybrid human-artificial intelligence strategy to break down language barriers.

For years, multilingual translation in the region was reserved for annual shareholder meetings, flagship conferences, or international trade shows. Today, it has become a core operational tool, supporting daily collaboration, internal training, and strategy updates.

Nour Al-Hassan, founder and CEO of Tarjama and Arabic.AI, told Arab News that “as companies in the Middle East expand globally, multilingual communication is no longer occasional, it is part of everyday work.” Tarjama, a MENA-based language technology company, launched Arabic.AI to deliver high-quality, culturally nuanced, industry-specific translation and content solutions.

Edward Crook, vice president of strategy at AI-powered neural machine translation service DeepL, noted that 84 percent of professionals in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have integrated AI translation into daily workflows. “This signals a rapid shift from using language AI tools for big events to making them a staple of daily operations,” he said.

Oddmund Braaten, CEO of multilingual event technology company Interprefy, explained that live translation was previously limited to major external sessions, where in-person interpreters covered specific language pairs. Today, companies run recurring virtual trainings and internal briefings with multilingual access built in by default. “This allows Arabic- and English-speaking teams, along with other language groups, to participate on equal terms,” Braaten said.

Companies are adopting a hybrid approach, combining professional human interpreters with AI-driven translation and live captions. Sensitive negotiations, board discussions, legal proceedings, or technical workshops rely on human expertise for nuance and accuracy, while AI supports daily interactions such as project check-ins, training modules, and company-wide communications.

Research supports the shift. An Interprefy study found that 82 percent of Middle Eastern business event organizers report high demand for multilingual services, with 61 percent seeing clear value in live translation for webinars, 55 percent for business meetings, and 54 percent for internal “all hands” sessions.

Al-Hassan emphasized that Arabic-first Translation Management Systems are increasingly critical for written content, including financial statements, marketing campaigns, and mobile app strings. “High expectations for Arabic quality, multiple dialects, and regulatory requirements mean generic tools are not enough,” she said. “Businesses now need specialized systems that fit into daily workflows and handle language with consistency, security, and cultural awareness.”

The trend is accelerating, with 77 percent of Saudi and Emirati professionals believing AI will positively impact workplace efficiency by 2029. Companies report measurable returns, including faster project turnaround, reduced costs, smoother market entry, and improved employee engagement.

Braaten noted that leaders justify investments in live translation by removing friction, reducing risk, and enabling more effective contributions at scale. Al-Hassan described the shift as moving from “conference-scale” to “workflow-scale” translation, where multilingual capabilities are embedded into business systems and processes.