AI workflow automation UAE: what a Saudi air cargo operator reports
Zeta42 · 26 October 2026
SAL Logistics Services says its digital programme saves more than 300,000 working hours a year. Here is what UAE operations teams can take from how it was built.
AI workflow automation UAE operators are weighing has a recent reference point in Saudi Arabia, where SAL Logistics Services has been replacing manual air cargo steps with connected digital ones. According to Arab News, the company's digital programme has removed enough repetitive and manual work to save more than 300,000 working hours a year. The detail behind that figure is more useful to a buyer than the figure itself.
What SAL built and what it reports
SAL's chief digital officer, Simon Hassannia, described the programme to Arab News. Its main piece so far is CargoGate, a gateway that puts booking, online verification, payments and shipment information on one platform. SAL says it has processed more than 200,000 online bookings since launch, reached 92% customer adoption and registered more than 12,000 drivers and trucks.
A second system, Smart Station, covers cargo handling from the moment an aircraft arrives until the customer collects the shipment. It gives real time shipment visibility and uses automated processes, paperless warehouses and planning tools. A third, the Smart Operations Platform, has not launched yet. It will combine operational data so that teams can set task priorities and decide where staff and equipment are needed.
Underneath these systems are real time data links with airlines, the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and customers. SAL says the links replace manual coordination between those parties.
AI workflow automation UAE teams can take from the case
SAL put booking, verification and payment into one flow before it moved to planning, and the Smart Operations Platform is only possible because the data from those earlier steps now sits in one place. Hassannia expects the technology to move, over the next three to five years, from showing where a shipment is to predicting operational needs before aircraft arrive. A company that wants prediction later has to capture clean data now.
The adoption figure is the second thing to check. A system that customers work around saves no hours, so a 92% adoption rate says more about the build than the booking count does. When a supplier quotes savings, ask who uses the system and for what share of the work.
The third point is the outside links. SAL treats its connections to airlines, regulators and customers as part of the system itself. A UAE company with approvals, customs paperwork or partner reporting can start from the same question: which steps wait on someone else's data, and can that data arrive on its own?
People still make the decisions
Hassannia told Arab News that people stay responsible for decisions and that technology helps them act faster. He also said customers should only notice better service, not the AI behind it. That is close to how Zeta42 builds AI workflows: approvals, reporting, data sync and integrations run end to end, with AI where judgement is needed and plain code where it is not. The person who did the work reviews the exceptions.
Reading the financial figures with care
SAL reported a net profit of SR347.99 million ($92.8 million) for the first half of 2026, up 10.35% on the year, with revenue up 23.12% to SR957.92 million. Arab News gives these figures next to the digital programme but does not credit the programme for them, and a buyer should not either. The hours saved are the number to test against your own operation.
Where to start
Pick one process where staff retype the same information between systems or chase approvals by hand. Count the hours it takes today, then build that single flow on your own data before adding a second. Where a process involves reading documents and acting on them, such as procurement, HR or finance, AI agents can do the reading within limits you set, with every action logged.
SAL also sees a chance to turn its digital capabilities into paid services for customers and partners. A system built with clean links to outside parties can later serve them too.
Common questions
- How many hours can AI workflow automation save a company?
- It depends on the process. SAL Logistics Services reports more than 300,000 working hours a year saved by removing repetitive and manual tasks. Count the hours your own process takes before you set a target.
- Which process should a UAE company automate first?
- Start with one process where staff retype data between systems or chase approvals by hand. A single flow built on your own data gives you hours to measure before you add a second.
- Do people still review decisions in an automated workflow?
- Yes. SAL's chief digital officer says people stay responsible for decisions, with technology helping them act faster. In Zeta42 builds, the person who did the work reviews the exceptions.
Source: arabnews.com
