A gentic AI is rapidly moving from concept to reality. Across the Middle East, organisations are beginning to explore how autonomous AI agents can transform business operations, automate decision-making and execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention.
The momentum is particularly evident in the UAE. The federal government recently announced plans to transform 50 % of government sectors and services within the next two years through agentic AI, enabling autonomous execution and decision-making across public services. The announcement signals not only confidence in the technology’ s potential, but also the pace at which autonomous AI is expected to become embedded in everyday operations.
The commercial opportunity is equally compelling. According to McKinsey, agentic AI systems could unlock between US $ 2.6 trillion and US $ 4.4 trillion in annual value across more than 60 generative AI use cases, spanning customer service, software development, supply chain optimisation and regulatory compliance.
Yet beneath the excitement lies an uncomfortable reality. Unlike conventional AI assistants that simply respond to prompts, agentic AI systems act independently. They access enterprise data, interact with applications, invoke APIs, make decisions and trigger actions across multiple systems. That autonomy also introduces entirely new categories of cyber risk.
According to McKinsey, agentic AI systems could unlock between US $ 2.6 trillion and US $ 4.4 trillion in annual value across more than 60 generative AI use cases, spanning customer service, software development, supply chain optimisation and regulatory compliance.
Why agentic AI is forcing enterprises to rethink cybersecurity from the ground up.
As organisations prepare to deploy AI agents at scale, cybersecurity leaders are discovering that protecting these autonomous digital workers requires an entirely different approach to identity, governance and operational security.
The first challenge is understanding how dramatically agentic AI reshapes the enterprise attack surface.
According to Praneeth V, Technical Evangelist at ManageEngine, the change is fundamental because organisations are no longer protecting traditional software applications but autonomous entities capable of acting on behalf of employees.
Praneeth V, Technical Evangelist at ManageEngine
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