UAE Enterprises Shift From AI Pilots To Business Transformation

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) As artificial intelligence adoption gathers pace across the UAE and wider Middle East, enterprises are moving beyond using AI as a productivity tool and are increasingly looking to redesign business processes, workflows and operating models around the technology.

That shift is driving demand for more structured AI strategies, stronger governance frameworks and locally hosted infrastructure, according to Prasanna Rajendran, Vice President for EMEA at Kissflow.

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Rajendran said enterprise conversations around AI have evolved rapidly over the past year.“People were mainly using AI as a productivity tool to help improve productivity, such as generating code and similar tasks,” he said. But with the rise of agentic AI and advances from leading AI providers, organisations are now focused on developing broader AI strategies rather than simply deploying isolated tools.

In the Middle East, spending on AI is also becoming more disciplined as organisations seek clearer returns on investment.

“When you look at the Middle East market, spending is also becoming very structured and disciplined,” Rajendran said.“Organisations want to make sure they are spending on the right technology.”

One of the biggest factors influencing enterprise AI strategies is data sovereignty. Governments and regulators across the region are placing greater emphasis on keeping data within national or regional borders, prompting companies to rethink infrastructure decisions.

“We are seeing a lot of focus on areas such as sovereign infrastructure because, according to evolving regulations, organisations want data to remain within the region,” Rajendran said. He added that some customers now want data and AI services hosted inside their own countries rather than elsewhere in the region.

The next stage of AI adoption, he argues, will come from fundamentally changing how businesses operate rather than simply automating existing processes.“The question now is, 'Where can I incorporate AI so that I can run my business differently, not the same way?'” Rajendran said.

He pointed to research cited from Deloitte showing that around 65 per cent of enterprises in the region report efficiency and productivity gains from AI initiatives, but only about 30 per cent have substantially changed products or business processes as a result.

“That is the gap still today,” he said.“It is not about automating a workflow. It is about how you convert an agent, the equivalent of a digital worker, into the system.”

According to Rajendran, many enterprises are still experimenting with AI while maintaining conventional workflows and job structures. As a result, organisations increasingly need consulting support to identify where AI agents can be deployed and how different types of agents should interact within enterprise systems.

The rapid growth of AI is also exposing talent shortages. Companies face rising demand for applications while IT teams remain understaffed and often lack specialised AI expertise.

“People have to upskill. They cannot continue with the standard programming approach,” Rajendran said.“They have to upskill a lot and should know how to use AI tools.”

At the same time, he warned against assuming that AI-generated code alone can create enterprise-grade applications. While AI coding tools can accelerate prototyping, maintenance and long-term management remain major challenges, particularly as applications become more complex.

Looking ahead, Rajendran expects demand for AI-enabled enterprise solutions to accelerate as governments and businesses across the Middle East continue to prioritise adoption.

“The conversation is shifting from traditional digital transformation towards AI-driven transformation, with growing interest in agentic AI in particular,” he said.“The market momentum is clearly heading towards AI-enabled and increasingly agentic ways of working.”

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