UAE IT Leaders Embrace Agentic AI but Struggle with Readiness and Compliance, Salesforce Report Reveals

A new report from Salesforce has revealed that IT security leaders in the UAE are optimistic about the transformative potential of agentic AI, but are simultaneously grappling with organizational readiness and compliance concerns. The findings, part of Salesforce’s latest State of IT report, highlight a complex landscape as AI adoption surges and cyber threats grow more sophisticated.

High Hopes for Agentic AI Amid Infrastructure Gaps

According to the survey of over 2,000 global IT security leaders — including respondents from the UAE — 100% of UAE security leaders recognize the potential of AI agents to improve security processes. However, 64% fear their current data foundations are not prepared to fully leverage the benefits of agentic AI, and 42% lack confidence in their ability to deploy the necessary guardrails for secure and ethical AI use.

“Trusted AI agents are built on trusted data. IT security teams that prioritize data governance will be able to augment their security capabilities with agents while protecting data and staying compliant,” said Alice Steinglass, EVP & GM, Salesforce Platform, Integration and Automation.

Compliance is a Double-Edged Sword

Despite their enthusiasm, 86% of UAE IT leaders say AI agents pose compliance challenges, even though 84% believe they offer opportunities to strengthen regulatory adherence. Only 42% of UAE organizations are fully confident they can deploy AI agents in line with all relevant regulations and standards.

The key issues include:

• Limited automation in compliance processes (90% of UAE organizations still rely on manual procedures)

• Rising complexity in regulatory environments across sectors

• Increased risks, such as data poisoning of AI training sets

“While the research underscores the confidence that organizations in the UAE have in agentic AI, it also reveals significant concerns,” said Mohammed Alkhotani, SVP and GM, Salesforce Middle East. “It is clear that many IT security leaders are worried about compliance, data readiness, and deployment safeguards. Amid these anxieties, organizations must work with trusted partners like Salesforce to scale agentic AI effectively and ethically.”

Trust Remains a Barrier

Public skepticism toward AI ethics is growing. Globally:

• Only 42% of consumers trust companies to use AI ethically (down from 58% in 2023)

• 57% of organizations are not confident in the accuracy or explainability of their AI models

• 60% lack transparency around how customer data is used in AI

• 59% haven’t finalized ethical guidelines for AI use

These trust gaps, especially in high-stakes fields like cybersecurity and compliance, highlight the importance of governance, transparency, and responsible AI frameworks.

Agentic AI Adoption Expected to Double

In the UAE, 32% of IT security teams already use AI agents, and that figure is expected to reach 80% within two years. As deployment ramps up, IT leaders foresee AI agents helping in:

• Threat detection

• Security automation

• Auditing AI model performance

Despite this optimism, just 38% of UAE IT teams believe their current security and compliance strategies are AI-ready.

Focus Shifts Toward Data Infrastructure Investment

A parallel CIO survey revealed a 4x greater investment in data infrastructure over AI itself, emphasizing that organizations are taking foundational steps to support long-term agentic adoption. This trend underscores the view that strong data governance is the linchpin for successfully implementing AI agents.

A Model Use Case: Arizona State University

Arizona State University (ASU) is among the early adopters of Agentforce, Salesforce’s AI-powered digital labor platform. By integrating OwnBackup for data recovery, archiving, and compliance, ASU exemplifies how data governance and smart tooling can empower secure and scalable agentic AI initiatives.

Conclusion

As AI-driven agents become an essential component of modern IT security, UAE organizations must act quickly to shore up their data foundations, automate compliance, and build trustworthy AI ecosystems. The Salesforce report provides both a warning and a roadmap, revealing that while the promise of AI is vast, success hinges on ethical, secure, and well-governed deployment.