Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Forbes Middle East revealed the Most Influential Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) in the Middle East 2026 list, recognizing their strong marketing efforts to turn awareness into value.
The list, which surveyed hundreds of CMOs and their equivalents, featured 101 individuals across 100 entries who lead marketing within their companies, with Egyptians leading the list with 21 executives, followed by 13 Emiratis and 12 Saudis.
The Saudi CMOs are: Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz Almulhem, Bank Albilad; Mousa Bahri, Flynas; Basim Wali, Juffali Automotive Company (JACO); Muhannad Kadi, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre; Ammar Ahmed Alnahdi, Bahri; Abdulrahman Sulaiman AlTrairi, Royal Commission for AlUla; Nayef Al-Athel, Saudi Tadawul Group; Raad Alkhanbashi, Saudi Tourism Authority; Khaled Tash, Saudia Group; Hamad Alsalman, TAIBA Investments; Abdullah Abahussain, Tawuniya Insurance; and Abdulaziz Elyas, The Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB).
The survey covered companies headquartered across eight countries in the region, with 49 based in the UAE, 17 in Saudi Arabia, 16 in Egypt, and the remainder spread across Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Jordan.
Among the companies, 22.6% have a fully documented and funded formal AI strategy embedded within marketing, while 47.7% have partially implemented one, 24.27% are developing one, and only 5.44% have no formal strategy.
In terms of AI-led decision-making, 43.9% of respondents said they make between 25–50% of their marketing decisions using AI, while 13.5% make 50–75%, and 5.5% use AI to make more than 75% of their marketing decisions.