DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Walid Yehia ell Technologies has released

Readiness Study 2026, conducted in collaboration with independent research firm Vanson Bourne. The study surveyed 1,500 business and IT decision-makers across EMEA, including the UAE, as part of a global survey of 2,950 respondents across 35 countries.

Conducted in June 2026, the research covered organisations across financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, energy and utilities and the public sector.

The findings reveal that UAE organisations are entering a new phase of Digital Transformation, shaped by economic uncertainty, accelerating AI adoption, growing cyber threats and evolving regulatory requirements.

As businesses seek to balance innovation with resilience and compliance, technology investments are increasingly being evaluated against measurable business outcomes and their ability to support longterm competitiveness.

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in everyday business workflows, workplace technology is evolving from a productivity tool into a strategic enabler of enterprise transformation.

The study found that 98 % of respondents believe modern devices improve collaboration and workforce productivity, while 66 % say outdated devices limit their ability to adopt emerging technologies, including AI-powered applications.

This growing reliance on intelligent applications is influencing technology refresh priorities, with 94 % of UAE leaders indicating that AI PCs and modern endpoints will play an important role in their organisation’ s future workplace strategy.

AI adoption continues to accelerate across the UAE, but organisations are recognising that scaling AI successfully requires more than deploying models and applications.

Security, compliance and privacy have emerged as critical considerations as businesses navigate evolving regulatory frameworks and increasing scrutiny of data usage.

According to the research, 68 % of UAE leaders are concerned about complying with government regulations when using data for AI. An equal proportion report that security and compliance concerns have already slowed or delayed AI adoption initiatives.

Infrastructure readiness presents another significant challenge, with 68 % of IT leaders acknowledging that their infrastructure is not yet fully prepared to support AI and analytics workloads at production scale.

As organisations move beyond experimentation towards operational deployment, success increasingly depends on modern infrastructure, trusted data, robust governance frameworks and alignment with regulatory requirements.

Cybersecurity is increasingly viewed as an integral component of enterprise technology strategies rather than a standalone investment.

The research found that 90 % of UAE business and IT leaders expect security to be included in every proposal from a strategic technology partner instead of being treated as a separate consideration.

Reflecting growing concerns about cyber resilience and business continuity, 94 % identify integrated data protection and cyber recovery capabilities as important criteria when evaluating infrastructure platforms.

Organisations are also increasingly turning to external expertise, with 78 % expecting their use of managed security services to increase over the next two to three years.

Regulatory requirements are further reinforcing the importance of embedding security and resilience into enterprise technology strategies from the outset.

These include the UAE Cyber Security Council’ s Critical Information Infrastructure Protection framework, Information Assurance requirements, the UAE Personal Data Protection Law and sector-specific regulations, including the Central Bank of the UAE’ s operational resilience and ICT cybersecurity requirements.

Together, these developments are elevating cyber readiness from an ITspecific responsibility to a board-level business priority.

Walid Yehia, Managing Director – South Gulf, Dell Technologies, said:“ The message from business leaders is clear: the time for AI experimentation is ending, and the focus is shifting to execution. Organisations across the UAE need secure infrastructure, trusted data, cyber resilience and the right ecosystem of partners to scale innovation successfully. Those that build these foundations today will be the ones that lead tomorrow. At Dell Technologies, we’ re helping customers take the next step – transforming AI ambition into business advantage through secure, modern and scalable technology solutions.”

28 WWW. INTELLIGENTCISO. COM / MIDDLE-EAST