From Data-Centric AI to Organizational Intelligence: Why Data Quality, Governance, and Human Oversight Determine the Success of AI Adoption in MENA Organizations

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-711-8_19How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Data-centric AI; Organizational intelligence; AI governance; Human-in-the-loop; MENA region

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is expanding across organizations worldwide, including those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Yet many organizations continue to struggle to translate AI investments into sustained organizational value. This gap has drawn attention to factors beyond model performance, especially the way AI systems are embedded in data practices, governance structures, and decision-making processes. Drawing on recent interdisciplinary literature, this paper examines AI adoption through a data-centric and sociotechnical lens, with particular attention to the MENA context. It argues that successful AI adoption depends less on algorithmic sophistication alone than on the alignment between data quality, governance mechanisms, and human oversight. The paper constructs a conceptual framework illustrating how these elements influence organizational intelligence and the strategic value obtained from AI. The study also proposes four hypotheses about data maturity, governance, human-in-the-loop design, and contextual factors in MENA organizations. By placing AI adoption within larger context of organizational and institutional structures, the study provides a conceptual foundation for future empirical research and for more responsible, context-aware AI deployment in the region.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Khalida Zanouda
AU  - Khaled Rezeg
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/24
TI  - From Data-Centric AI to Organizational Intelligence: Why Data Quality, Governance, and Human Oversight Determine the Success of AI Adoption in MENA Organizations
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications in Business Administration in MENA Region (ICAIABA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 194
EP  - 204
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-711-8_19
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-711-8_19
ID  - Zanouda2026
ER  -