New UAE AI turns raw data into business insights without hiring expensive experts

Researchers at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) have developed an AI system that could help solve shortage of data scientists by giving small businesses the analytical power they need without hiring expensive specialists.

Data Wise is an autonomous AI platform that transforms raw business data into actionable recommendations within minutes, potentially saving UAE companies thousands of dollars in consulting fees, according to Farkhad Akimov, master’s graduate in Machine Learning; Zangir Iklassov, assistant teaching professor in Machine Learning; and Munachiso Nwadike, research engineer.

The launch addresses a critical business challenge. The demand for data scientists and analysts is growing rapidly in the UAE, as businesses are increasingly looking to use data to improve their operations, yet most small and medium enterprises cannot afford full-time specialists who typically command premium salaries.

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Data science ranks among the UAE’s top 10 skill shortages, according to Cooper Fitch reports. While 74 per cent of SMEs in the UAE are confident about business growth, most lack the analytical tools to support expansion decisions.

“Organisations today are drowning in data, but we wanted to build a system that empowers leaders to act without waiting on technical teams,” said Munachiso Nwadike, research engineer and co-creator of Data Wise. “Data Wise helps anyone — not just data scientists — test hypotheses, discover patterns, and make decisions," he noted.

Munachiso Nwadike

How does it work

The platform works by allowing users to upload business data like purchase history or customer surveys, specify their goals, and receive plain-language insights backed by sophisticated analysis. Unlike existing tools that require technical expertise, Data Wise manages the entire analytical process automatically.

“It is fundamentally intended to replicate how a data scientist operates in real life,” Akimov, the main founder of the startup explained. “Data scientists are often handed a pile of numbers, text, or images and asked to figure out what is going on and what to do next. Our platform mirrors that process.

”The system uses multiple AI agents working in parallel to generate hypotheses about business patterns, test them for accuracy, and surface only the most reliable insights. This approach eliminates the weeks typically required for traditional data analysis projects," he said.

Farkhad Akimov

Outperforming expert-built solutions

To prove its effectiveness, the team tested Data Wise against top-ranked specialists on Kaggle, the world’s leading data science competition platform. Across datasets covering customer behavior, health risks, and pricing strategies, the AI system outperformed expert-built solutions.

“The key limitation of most platforms — even great ones like Tableau — is that they automate workflows for data scientists, not decision-makers,” said Iklassov, assistant teaching professor and co-creator. “We built Data Wise so a business owner, not just a technical expert, could get to the ‘why’ behind the data."

Zangir Iklassov

The breakthrough comes as global data analytics market size is expected to reach $256.6 billion by 2029, while the US faces a shortage of more than 250,000 data scientists, with demand projected to exceed supply by 50 per cent by 2026.

For UAE businesses, this is a savings opportunity. While hiring a data scientist costs upwards of Dh300,000 annually, Data Wise could provide similar analytical capabilities for a fraction of that investment.

The platform is particularly valuable for the retail, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors. Business owners can now predict customer churn, optimize inventory, or identify cost savings without technical teams.

“We envision Data Wise unlocking value for decision-makers in every vertical – whether predicting patient readmission in hospitals, optimizing marketing budgets, or reducing inventory costs in manufacturing,” Akimov said.

The system is currently live as a working demo on Amazon Web Services. The team is developing the next version through MBZUAI’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, with plans for commercial deployment.

“We believe data science is moving from static dashboards to dynamic conversations,” Nwadike said. “Business leaders can now interact directly with their data and trust the answers they receive.”

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