Jordan has a genuine opportunity to capitalize on the rapid global shift toward artificial intelligence, particularly in exportable digital services, productivity gains and workforce development, technology experts say. But they caution that realizing this potential will require a coordinated national strategy rather than a series of standalone initiatives.
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The assessment follows the World Bank's World Development Report 2026, titled "The Promise of AI," which identified Jordan, alongside Egypt and Morocco, as a regional hub for service exports. The report suggests Jordan is well placed to benefit from rising international demand for digital and knowledge-based services, with AI potentially boosting worker productivity and expanding the range of services Jordanian companies can offer abroad.
Haitham Rawajbeh, an engineer and representative of the telecommunications and information technology sector, said Jordan has a real chance to become a regional center for exporting digital and AI-related services. He noted that the Jordanian economy already has a strong base in information technology, software, financial services, education, health and outsourcing and technical support.
Rawajbeh added that the World Bank report's classification of Jordan as a regional services export hub opens the door for the country to move beyond simply using technology toward developing solutions and providing services to companies and institutions across the Gulf, Iraq and wider regional and global markets.
He pointed to Jordan's educated workforce, its concentration of engineering and technology graduates, and its bilingual capability in Arabic and English as key assets, along with an active entrepreneurship sector and technology firms with regional market experience. He also cited Jordan's proximity to Gulf, Iraqi and Levantine markets, a relatively developed telecommunications sector, and a regulatory environment that has begun evolving around data protection, AI and the digital economy.
More than a thousand companies currently operate in Jordan's information and communications technology sector, according to recent data cited in the report, giving the Kingdom an edge in technical talent and competitive operating costs relative to several regional markets.
Rawajbeh said AI could serve as the primary accelerator of this vision, enabling the growth of companies and regional centers focused on AI systems development, data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud computing, automation, and smart customer service, as well as financial, health and education technology. He argued Jordan could become an Arab hub for developing AI models and applications tailored to Arabic language needs, while attracting global firms to establish development, support and research centers in the Kingdom.
Achieving this, he said, requires linking universities directly to market needs, expanding AI and data science training for young people, supporting local firms in reaching foreign markets, and using government digital transformation efforts as a testing ground for Jordanian solutions before export.
Rawajbeh acknowledged obstacles that need urgent attention, including limited AI adoption within many Jordanian companies, a gap between educational program outcomes and the skills the technology market demands, difficulty financing companies during growth and international expansion phases, and the emigration of skilled workers to markets offering higher salaries. He also cited the cost of energy and infrastructure investment, slow-moving regulatory procedures, and weak coordination between different initiatives and entities as additional challenges.
Hani Batash, an expert in digital transformation and entrepreneurship, said Jordan has a genuine opportunity to establish itself as a regional hub for exporting digital and knowledge-based services, since competitiveness in the digital economy no longer depends on market size or natural resources but on human capital and the ability to deliver high-value remote services.
Batash said AI could double the productivity of Jordanian companies, reduce the cost of service delivery, and allow expansion into Gulf, European and African markets without requiring physical presence. He said that if Jordan succeeds in integrating AI into sectors such as software, financial services, digital health, education, engineering consulting, cybersecurity, and business and knowledge process outsourcing, it could strengthen its service exports and generate higher added value.
He listed Jordan's competitive strengths as including a qualified workforce, a strong regional reputation for Jordanian IT talent, notably improved digital infrastructure, political stability, geographic location, and free trade agreements that ease access to multiple markets. He also cited widespread English proficiency among technical workers and the presence of universities and training centers capable of supplying the market with needed skills.
Batash said the central challenge today is no longer technology availability but the speed of its adoption. He referenced the World Bank report's findings that the main obstacles include the high cost of adopting AI solutions, limited awareness of practical applications within companies, privacy and cybersecurity concerns, and a shortage of specialists capable of designing, operating and managing AI systems.
He said a gap also remains between companies possessing basic digital tools and their ability to integrate AI into operations and decision-making, which requires greater investment in capacity building, innovation and institutional transformation.
He called for the next phase to focus on accelerating the shift from a digital economy to an AI-driven one, through support for small and medium enterprises adopting AI solutions, the creation of national innovation and application centers, incentives for research and development, stronger links between universities and market needs, and expanded training programs in data science, AI and cybersecurity. He added that developing a national AI governance framework, encouraging partnerships with global companies, and attracting regional development centers would help transform Jordan from a technology consumer into a producer and exporter of digital solutions.
Wasfi Safadi, an expert in telecommunications and technology, said Jordan has a broad services sector whose productivity can be raised and whose exports can be expanded. He noted that Jordan's geographic location and economic and cultural ties allow it to serve markets in the Gulf, Iraq, the Levant and North Africa, an advantage reinforced by the National AI Strategy 2023–2027 and the Digital Transformation Strategy 2026–2028, alongside World Bank support for reforms related to investment, digitization and competitiveness.
Safadi said the main obstacle lies in Jordan's ability to convert AI use into actual productivity, economic value and exports, rather than merely expanding the use of digital tools. He listed challenges including the high cost of accessing advanced computing capacity, fragmented and inconsistent data quality, limited financing available to small technology firms, a gap between some educational outcomes and labor market needs, and the emigration of skilled workers amid regional competition from countries with greater investment resources.
He also pointed to social challenges, chief among them high unemployment and limited economic participation by women, along with concerns over data protection, privacy, cybersecurity and trust in decisions made by intelligent systems.
He said the World Bank warns that using AI merely for writing, research or translation does not by itself constitute economic transformation, since the greatest gains occur when the technology is integrated into core production processes and supported by skills, data, management, financing and effective institutions.
Safadi recommended that Jordanian policy focus on converting AI from isolated technical projects into exportable productive capacity. He suggested the government could use its own needs in health, water, energy, education, taxation, transport and tourism as an initial market for Jordanian companies, then help successful solutions expand regionally.
He called for supporting small and medium enterprises in financing technology adoption and workforce training, providing low-cost access to computing services, improving and opening government databases under clear rules, developing high-quality Arabic datasets, and linking universities directly to the needs of economic sectors.
He said the private sector should lead product development, investment, hiring and exports, while government handles regulation, infrastructure, data, procurement and incentives. Success, he added, should be measured by the value of digital service exports, productivity gains, high-wage job creation, private investment, and the number of Jordanian solutions reaching foreign markets, rather than by the number of initiatives or training courses launched.
Safadi said that if these policies are implemented in an integrated manner between 2026 and 2030, Jordan could gradually become a regional hub for applying AI and exporting Arabic-language digital and knowledge services, rather than attempting to compete with larger economies in building costly large-scale computing models and data centers.
He said Jordan could instead distinguish itself in software development, digital financial and health services, cybersecurity, smart government services, data and document analysis, knowledge process outsourcing, and specialized Arabic-language solutions.
He said the economic benefits would include higher productivity among Jordanian workers, increased value of service exports, the creation of better knowledge-based jobs, greater investment attraction, more efficient government services, and expanded participation by young people and women in the digital economy.
