UAE IT leaders cannot afford to ignore the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) if they want to stay ahead of the game, warn industry analysts.
According to a recent survey conducted by Equinix, a staggering 77 percent of IT leaders in the UAE believe their existing IT infrastructure is ready to handle the demands of the latest technology.
The UAE is emerging as a frontrunner in embracing AI across various industries, surpassing other countries in terms of preparedness. While only 58 percent of global IT leaders and 51 percent of IT leaders in the EMEA region believe their infrastructure is equipped for AI, the UAE stands out with its higher percentage of preparedness.
The survey, which delved into IT leaders’ perspectives on AI advancements within their organisations, follows a year marked by significant breakthroughs in AI deployment across both business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors.
Kaladhar Voruganti, Senior Technologist at Equinix, emphasises the urgency of integrating AI into organisations worldwide, stating that it has become an essential capability for powering modern businesses with intelligent and autonomous systems. Voruganti warns that those who fail to capitalise on AI’s potential risk falling behind.
Equinix’s global survey of 2,900 IT decision-makers reveals a rising trend in AI adoption across all industry sectors. A remarkable 85 percent of respondents worldwide plan to leverage AI’s advantages, with many already implementing it or in the process of planning its utilisation across various key functions.
In the UAE, AI usage or planned implementation is most prevalent in IT operations (97 percent), followed closely by cybersecurity (95 percent) and sales (95 percent).
Voruganti highlights the importance of secure and high-speed access to internal and external data sources spread across multiple clouds and data brokers for the successful development of accurate AI models. He emphasises that as more data is generated at the edge, AI processing must shift to the edge for improved performance, privacy, and cost-efficiency.
To meet these requirements, tech leaders can consider hybrid solutions, allowing AI model training and inference to occur in different locations. Scalable AI solutions also necessitate careful consideration of IT frameworks to accommodate the ingestion, sharing, storage, and processing of vast and diverse datasets while prioritising sustainability.
Kamel Al-Tawil, Managing Director at Equinix MENA, points out that UAE businesses demonstrate a higher level of comfort in adapting to the growing use of AI compared to the global average. Al-Tawil attributes this achievement to the visionary leadership in the country, which launched its Artificial Intelligence Strategy in 2017 with the goal of becoming the world leader in AI by 2031.
IT leaders in the EMEA region show the most uncertainty about their infrastructure’s ability to accommodate AI’s needs, with 49 percent expressing doubts. In comparison, leaders in the Asia-Pacific region display 44 percent uncertainty, while the Americas report the lowest level at 32 percent.
Aside from updating digital infrastructure, the survey highlights the need for education and collaboration to empower IT teams in optimising the deployment of such infrastructure. Fifty-two percent of those expanding their IT teams are actively seeking AI and machine learning expertise.
Overall, the survey underscores the critical importance for IT leaders in the UAE and beyond to embrace AI and ensure their infrastructure is AI-ready, as failing to do so could result in lagging behind competitors in this rapidly evolving technological landscape.
