UAE Businesses Urged to Rethink Foundations to Unlock AI Potential

The AI opportunity is vast and could equate to $4.68 trillion to the Middle East’s GDP by 2035, according to PwC. Yet short-term returns remain less obvious. A report by Boston Consulting Group found that only five percent of companies are “AI future-built,” while 60 percent report minimal revenue or cost gains despite existing investments.

Experts say the gap is not just about technology, but the foundational systems required to support it, including alignment, data, workflows, and leadership. As 2026 unfolds, business leaders in the UAE face critical questions on how to move beyond simple adoption and create sustainable, organisation-wide AI value.

Simply automating existing processes can backfire. If data and workflows are flawed, automation only scales inefficiency. Modern business management systems now integrate AI capabilities such as conversational intelligence, agentic workflows, and natural-language search. These features allow organisations to automate reconciliations, identify exceptions, accelerate approvals, and guide next steps without adding complexity. The benefits multiply when teams work from unified data, processes, and governance frameworks.

Without a connected system, including shared data, oversight, and consistent adoption, AI risks generating busywork rather than meaningful impact. Leaders are urged to review legacy processes and redesign them around outcomes supported by a single source of truth, ensuring automation amplifies value rather than inefficiency.

Trust in AI decisions also depends on data integrity. Many organisations hold vast information, but only a fraction is consistent, governed, and accessible. Responsible AI must be explainable. Centralising real-time data across finance, operations, HR, and supply chain allows leaders to base decisions on one source of truth, giving employees across departments access to the same consistent information and uncovering insights that might otherwise be missed.

Shadow AI tools pose another challenge. Employees often use AI independently, creating productivity gains but also potential compliance and security risks. Experts recommend providing secure, governed ways for staff to use AI aligned with organisational policy, ensuring outputs rely on approved data while maintaining flexibility and innovation.

The way employees interact with AI is also evolving. Conversational queries and autonomous agents embedded in daily applications are replacing dashboards and menus. Leaders must rethink skills, governance, and employee experience to fully harness AI. Reskilling initiatives should extend beyond technical competencies to critical reasoning and creative synthesis, skills that complement AI and remain essential for decision-making.

In 2026, experts say, the companies that capture AI’s full potential will be those that rethink the foundations on which tools operate, rather than simply deploying more technology. Building integrated, explainable, and outcome-focused systems will be key to turning AI investments into measurable business value in the UAE.