The United Arab Emirates has emerged as a global leader in the deployment of agentic artificial intelligence (AI), with businesses across the country increasingly putting AI agents into production, according to new research from Dataiku.
The study, titled Global AI Confessions: CIO Edition, was conducted by Harris Poll and examines how organisations are adopting and managing AI agents across multiple markets.
According to the findings, 62 per cent of UAE chief information officers (CIOs) estimate that more than 50 AI agents are actively running in production within their organisations. At the national level, 15 per cent of UAE organisations reported operating more than 500 AI agents, the highest proportion among the eight markets surveyed and significantly above the global average of 9 per cent.
UAE Businesses Expand AI Expertise
The rapid adoption of agentic AI is also driving demand for specialised talent.
Among CIOs whose organisations are creating or planning embedded roles for AI experts or forward engineers, 22 per cent in the UAE expect to recruit more than 10 people over the next year. This was the highest proportion recorded among the markets included in the research.
Florian Douetteau, CEO and co-founder of Dataiku, said the findings demonstrate that UAE organisations are deploying AI agents at a scale that remains uncommon globally.
He noted that UAE organisations appear to have strong capabilities for identifying potentially harmful agent behaviour, but said detection does not necessarily mean an organisation can immediately contain or stop an agent across all environments.
Agent Management Remains a Challenge
The growing use of AI agents across business applications, data environments and digital platforms is creating new challenges around visibility and control.
Only 18 per cent of UAE CIOs surveyed said they have a fully unified view of AI agents operating across these environments. Meanwhile, just 12 per cent reported that agent lifecycle management is standardised across their organisations.
The findings suggest that organisations could face difficulties containing an AI agent if it is identified in one environment but continues operating through another system or platform.
The research also found that 100 per cent of UAE CIOs surveyed reported increased pressure from their boards to demonstrate measurable returns on AI investments compared with 2025.
Sid Bhatia, Area Vice President and General Manager for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Dataiku, said the UAE has built a strong foundation for agentic AI through large-scale deployments, investment in specialised expertise and efforts to reduce the impact of AI-related incidents.
He said the next phase will require organisations to connect these safeguards across their wider technology environments.
This includes providing CIOs with a unified view of their AI agent population, establishing clear authority over agent actions and enabling organisations to intervene quickly regardless of where an agent was developed or which system it operates within.
As agentic AI becomes increasingly integrated into business operations, effective monitoring, governance and rapid containment are expected to become important elements of managing its expansion across the UAE economy.
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