{"id":138777,"date":"2026-07-14T11:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T10:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/?p=138777"},"modified":"2026-08-11T17:18:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:18:53","slug":"limited-control-and-rising-dependencies-leave-uae-enterprises-exposed-in-the-age-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/2026\/07\/14\/limited-control-and-rising-dependencies-leave-uae-enterprises-exposed-in-the-age-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Limited control and rising dependencies leave UAE enterprises exposed in the age of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0A new global study by the\u00a0IBM Institute for Business Value finds that as enterprises embed AI deeper into core business operations, most surveyed organisations remain locked into AI systems they cannot easily change, reinforcing the growing importance of AI sovereignty to maintain business continuity and performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on insights from\u00a01,000\u00a0senior executives,\u00a0The Calculus of AI Sovereignty<\/u><\/em>\u00a0study<\/u> reveals that\u00a088%\u00a0of surveyed executives in the UAE say switching their primary AI vendor or model would be difficult if they had to do it today, highlighting the extent of AI vendor lock-in. Additionally,\u00a074%\u00a0of surveyed executives say meeting data residency and sovereignty requirements across geographies is challenging, creating complexity in moving AI systems or data across environments. These dynamics point to growing pressure on organisations to strengthen control and oversight as AI adoption and compliance requirements expand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the need for control is intensifying, most UAE organisations still lack the visibility required to act on it:\u00a096%\u00a0of those surveyed say they don\u2019t fully understand their organisation\u2019s dependencies across AI vendors, models and infrastructure, limiting the ability to assess risk and plan for disruption. Surveyed leaders report an average of\u00a0seven AI-related disruptions over the past two years, largely driven by vendor services, yet\u00a084% say a seven-day vendor outage would still cause severe or critical disruption, effectively halting operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respondents also cite unexpected changes across the AI ecosystem, including price increases, usage restrictions, model deprecations, and performance degradation. These findings underscore the challenges enterprises face in managing AI dependencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shukri Eid, General Manager,\u00a0IBM\u00a0Gulf, Levant and Paki<\/strong>stan, said:\u00a0“The UAE has created one of the world’s most ambitious environments for AI innovation. As organisations move from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, success will increasingly depend on their ability to retain control over their AI ecosystem. AI sovereignty enables organisations to innovate with greater confidence by reducing dependency, strengthening resilience and giving business leaders the flexibility to adapt as technology, regulation and market demands continue to evolve.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the study, organizations globally that design AI systems to adapt data, models and infrastructure as conditions change \u2013 a core element of AI sovereignty \u2013 are outperforming peers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n