UAE Firms Step Up the Use of Clouds and AI to Grow Business

New survey commissioned by SAP and conducted by YouGov demonstrates that there has been a significant change in the direction taken by UAE businesses in adopting cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) as means of achieving effectiveness and efficiency in operations.

The process of digitalization has serious traction in the UAE. The new report revealed that 67% of businesses in the UAE are already migrating their core business processes to the cloud and 22% more businesses in the next 15 months. It is due to this fast adoption of cloud infrastructure that the capacity of AI to become a major source of innovation and growth in diverse fields has found a way in.

The significance of Cloud in AI Why Cloud is relevant to AI

Cloud computing plays a key role in the development of AI integration in the businesses. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and other essential processes stored to the cloud create an opportunity to access real-time data, dynamically scale the power of processes, and integrate AI models, which are essential to achieving the full efficiency of AI.

According to Marwan Zeineddine, the Managing Director, SAP UAE, the company integrates AI throughout the enterprise cloud estate, so its customers can avail of the benefits of AI-based operations and improvements instantly. This assists in the transformation of all aspects of business- financial aspects, human resource and the supply chain management.

AI Is Making Progress But It Is Not Spreading Everywhere.

Through the survey, it was established that businesses in the UAE are already utilizing AI in important areas such as:

• Marketing & Communications – 42 %
• Customer Service- 40%
• Sales- 38%
• Accounting & Finance-38 %

Nevertheless, it is less adopted in the areas that are important in its operation like:

• Supply Chain & logistics 27%
• Product/ Service Development 27 %

The existence of this gap proves that there is still a lot that AI can achieve in terms of changing the way business is carried out end-to-end.

The Data Quality Problem

Data quality is one of the key issues which can be a barrier to effective application of AI. Sixty five percent of the firms reported being very confident about the quality of their business data, which is a key input needed by AI systems to train, adjust and respond with dependable analytics.

Zeineddine noted the importance of well-organized and quality data:
By providing clean, organized, and real-time data to their business, it is possible to implement solutions such as SAP S/4HANA to give the AI models the ability to predict demand well, to streamline operations, and remove bias.

The main Challenges to AI Adoption

Although the AI enthusiasm has not waned, there is a set of challenges the businesses experience:

• 43% mention problems of integration with the former systems
• 43 percent have the problem of shortage of skilled personnel
• 40 percent fear privacy and data security
• 40% cite it as having huge implementation costs

SAP provides solutions to such an issue by integrating AI into core systems and providing inclusive tools, such as SAP Joule, a copilot that uses AI to enable users to carry out tasks, generate real-time insights, and control and manage all data and decisions. Joule now even has its AI agents handle multi-step tasks in finance, procurement and the supply chain.

Creating Future Workforce that Business AI can utilize:

As the demand of AI expertise increases, SAP also focuses on developing the new generation of technological specialists in the UAE. Such programs as SAP Dual Study Program and SAP Young Professionals Program can provide real-life training on AI-based SAP solutions, which can close the skills shortage and offer a future-ready workforce.

AI: A World and Domestic Priority

SAP has been telling the world that 30 percent of contracts it signed in Q3-2024 had AI-based use cases, an indication of the growing dependency on Business AI. The trend is likely to push forward in UAE where an increasing number of business enterprises will realize the importance of such capabilities where AI functionalities are integrated within all business activities, without incorporating several separate tools.

Final Thoughts

UAE companies are rapidly selecting a route of cloud maturity and AI-enabled innovation. Even though issues such as data quality, integration, and talent continue to affect it, the stage is now ready to take a giant step.

The presence of an integrated Business AI, cloud-native ERP and skills training measures as offered by SAP will enable companies in the UAE to take center stage in the second wave of digital transformation.