Gary Coffey
Chief Technology Officer
The GCC – a region ripe for AI-enabled technology
GCC governments are aligning with the global digital revolution, shifting their focus to e-commerce, smart cities, e-services, and digital health. These indicators and growing enthusiasm have paved the way for AI to be integrated within businesses from all sectors, including a leapfrog adoption cycle for AI across the healthcare sector.
Payers in the Middle East are uniquely positioned to become catalysts for system-wide transformation. With access to vast amounts of data across care settings, they can move from simply reimbursing care to actively enabling it.
AI-powered analytics allow insurers to identify high-risk populations early, personalize care plans, and support clinical decisions with real-time insights.
- In the U.S., AI-driven automation in healthcare could yield savings of $150–300 million per $10 billion in revenue, a model that Middle East payers can localize and scale (McKinsey, 2023).
- GCC-wide economic potential: To realise the full potential of AI, societies and organisations must commit to advanced healthcare analytics. This commitment is already underway in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. In fact, according to research highlights by PWC the GenAI market opportunity across the GCC, estimating potential overall economic impact of $23.5 billion per year by 2030. The research also indicated that GenAI-fuelled improvements in efficiency and effectiveness would have the greatest impact in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with significant benefits also seen in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain and healthcare was one of the key industries to be affected, along with media and entertainment, banking and financial services, and IT and telecommunications.
- UAE and Saudi Arabia leading: AI is expected to account for nearly 14% of UAE GDP and approximately 12.4% in Saudi Arabia by 2030.
Health data, once siloed in claims systems, is now being integrated with wearable devices, digital therapeutics, and behavioral analytics to drive proactive care at scale.
From Payouts to Outcomes: The Global Shift in Payor Strategy
Value-based care is gaining traction worldwide. The Middle East is following suit, with health ministries and regulators exploring bundled payment models, shared savings contracts, and public-private partnerships.
The Saudi Health Holding Company (SHHC), part of the Vision 2030 reform, is transitioning to outcome-based service delivery across multiple regions.
Globally, more than 40 countries now have value-based reimbursement frameworks in development or in place.
This shift demands a radical rethink of payer operations — from claims adjudication to member engagement. Consumer-facing tools such as AI chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming standard, not optional.
AI at Spectrum.Life: Guided by Clinicians, Grounded in Care
AI is no longer a future consideration in mental health – it’s rapidly becoming the operating system of modern care. At Spectrum, we believe in AI-powered care, but never AI-only care. The future lies in augmented care, where AI provides scale, speed, and consistency, while human clinicians ensure compassion, context, and clinical judgement. We have embedded AI across the entire care journey – not to replace clinicians, but to support them.
“AI brings scale and consistency. Humans bring context and compassion.” This philosophy underpins our entire care model.
And when human help is needed, it’s there – 24/7. Spectrum.Life has a team of clinicians available around the clock to support users in moments of distress, triage risk, or guide escalation. This ensures every AI-powered journey is grounded in human safety and clinical governance.