According to global management consulting firm McKinsey, 72 per cent of organisations globally adopted Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 2024, with the number of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) use cases doubling in just one year.
What’s more, AI could generate up to $23 (€21) trillion annually by 2040. Malta is at a pivotal stage in its journey towards AI adoption, with pockets of innovation emerging alongside persistent challenges.
The local landscape has made strides, particularly in sectors like FinTech, iGaming and logistics, where AI applications such as fraud detection, predictive analytics and customer service automation are reshaping operations.
However, the broader picture reveals uneven uptake, with some businesses hesitant to embrace AI due to cost concerns, regulatory ambiguity and a lack of skilled talent. Local success stories – such as AI-powered traffic management systems in the public sector, and innovative healthcare tools by EBO.ai – showcase the transformative potential of AI when applied strategically.
Yet, many businesses remain cautious, struggling to pinpoint AI’s relevance to their operations or to quantify its return on investment. For smaller enterprises, the skills gap in areas like machine learning and data science remains a significant hurdle, underscoring the need for reskilling initiatives and cross-sector collaboration. There is optimism, nonetheless, as the experts featured here highlight AI’s growing role in operational efficiency, customer personalisation and compliance.
Their advice to businesses is to ease into AI adoption with smaller projects that target immediate problem areas, laying the groundwork for more ambitious initiatives as their capability grows. Public-private partnerships and Government incentives – such as financial support and AI-readiness assessments – also aim to accelerate integration, particularly among SMEs.
By bridging skill gaps, fostering trust and encouraging investment, Malta undoubtedly has the potential to position itself as a hub for AI innovation, driving sustainable growth across industries.
As the sentiment among Maltese business leaders towards AI evolves, one thing is evident: adopting AI has, almost overnight, become a strategic imperative for businesses to maintain competitiveness on the global stage.
Love it or hate it, AI is here to stay – and it’s only going to become more integral.
In this upcoming series, we delve into the current state of AI adoption in Malta, exploring the successes, challenges and opportunities that define this critical phase in the island’s technological evolution, as told by those most in the know.
In the coming days, we will share insights from Gege Gatt – CEO, Ebo.ai; Jackie Mallia – Head of Legal, BDO Malta; Natalia Mallia – Senior AI Engineer, Axon Park; Claudia Borg – Associate Professor at the Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Malta; Alexiei Dingli – Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of Malta; and Nikolai Livori – Founder and Owner, SKIVORI.
This forms part of a feature first published on Malta CEOs 2025, the sister print brand to MaltaCEOs.mt, both owned by Content House.
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