New research from Dell Technologies reveals that the United Arab Emirates has officially moved past the experimentation phase of Artificial Intelligence. According to the State of Innovation and AI Survey, a staggering 92% of UAE organizations now anchor their business strategy in AI and GenAI.
The momentum is fueled by results: 88% of businesses report substantial productivity gains or financial returns on their initial AI investments. However, the path to full-scale enterprise integration is blocked by a universal challenge.
| Metric | Percentage | Significance |
| Strategic Integration | 92% | AI is no longer a “side project”; it is the core strategy. |
| Proven ROI | 88% | Demonstrates that AI investments are paying off early. |
| Sustainability Link | 92% | AI is seen as the primary tool for resource optimization. |
| The Skills Gap | 100% | Every single respondent feels their team lacks necessary AI skills. |
UAE businesses are moving away from purely cloud-based AI to focus on Data Sovereignty and Localized Execution.
- Data Readiness First: 64% of IT leaders are prioritizing the cleaning and prepping of data infrastructure to feed AI models.
- The Rise of Local AI: 74% of businesses plan to run AI locally on AI PCs and on-premise software over the next year. This shift addresses both latency and strict regional data compliance laws.
- Infrastructure Stress: Many legacy environments are buckling under AI workloads. There is an urgent demand for increased processing power (CPUs/GPUs) and AI-optimized hardware.
Despite the high enthusiasm, 78% of businesses struggle to weave AI into every facet of their operations. The wall consists of:
- The Universal Skills Gap: In a shocking finding, 100% of respondents believe their teams lack the skills to fully leverage AI. Specifically, 66% feel they don’t know enough about the safe implementation of GenAI.
- The Trust Factor: 72% of companies fear exposing sensitive IP to third-party AI tools. Finding the balance between innovation and cyber-risk is cited as a major challenge by 80% of organizations.
- Lack of Buy-In: Even with proven ROI, nearly a third of organizations (30%) report a lack of senior management buy-in for large-scale integration.
A standout trend in the 2026 research is the marriage of AI and Green IT. 92% of UAE firms use AI to drive energy efficiency, including:
- Smarter Data Centers: Minimizing idle workloads and optimizing cooling.
- Edge Computing: Moving inferencing tasks to the edge to save on massive data-center energy costs.
- Circular IT: 82% of organizations are collaborating with third parties to implement sustainable IT life-cycle practices.
“UAE businesses are moving beyond piloting AI and are instead beginning to embed it at the core of their strategies. This transition underscores the transformative potential of AI, but achieving its full impact will require addressing critical challenges, from workforce upskilling to secure and collaborative implementation.” — Walid Yehia, Managing Director, South Gulf at Dell Technologies
